There has been a sense building that somebody was due a hammering at the hands of the Red men and Swansea could have been sent from central casting to fulfill the role; a newly promoted side with a commitment to playing football rather than parking the bus. They came to Anfield with a respect for the home side but a stated determination to use the occasion to show that they belonged among the big boys. They also arrived to face a Liverpool side unchanged from the one that has easily defeated West Brom the previous week and who had peppered the opposition goal in the two previous home fixtures without getting their full reward. The stage was set for Dalglish’s team to improve their goal difference and mete out a hiding.
Events, of course turned, out very different. What might have been was evident in the eighth minute as Downing and Adam combined superbly on the left and Carroll’s left foot met a perfect curling cross from six yards out. As Anfield rose to celebrate the opening of the floodgates the strikers shot struck the crossbar and rather than a procession it marked the beginning of an evenly fought contest.
The sides traded chances with Suarez and Routledge testing the respective keepers from distance, the latter’s teasing cross bringing a superb reaction save from Reina. If the script had been written then Liverpool would have emerged from a half time talk from Dalglish to take the visitors apart. Instead Swansea looked the more likely
side to break the deadlock. The Reds were sloppy in possession and slow to close down, leaving plenty of space for Swansea’s Dyer, Graham and Gower to cause problems. It was that combination that produced Swansea’s clearest chance of the afternoon as ,with ten minutes to go, Graham headed down Dyer’s cross only for Gower to spoon his shot high into the Kop.
The near miss and Bellamy’s introduction for Carroll galvanized the home side and the final ten minutes were played out around Swansea’s penalty box, with Kuyt having a goal disallowed and Suarez and Johnson denied by fine saves from Vorm, the last minute spectacular stops from visiting keepers now being the norm at Anfield. Had either shot gone in it would have been hard on Swansea who deserved their point and they were rightly applauded off by both sets of fans.
As a spectacle it was a good game, open, with chances at both ends and an unpredictability that defies the instinctive belief that a 0-0 draw must lack interest. From the perspective of Liverpool’s ambitions it was a hugely frustrating day. Despite the chances created the team were completely out of sorts. Reina was careless, Henderson and Downing largely ineffective, Lucas and Adam failed to get a grip in the middle of the park and Suarez and Carroll were often isolated or too easily closed out of the game. It was one of those days when the latent ability of the players is buried under something difficult to put your finger on. A lapse of concentration, an early complacency that never gets shrugged off or a lack of a pure winners mentality? It’s hard to say but collectively the team failed to dominate a side they should have defeated.
As Arsenal recover from their poor start to the season and are now level on nineteen points and Tottenham continue to rack up victories the failure to take three points from these type of opposition is threatening Liverpool’s Champion’s League ambitions. The consolation is that at least we are not losing but the pressure to get at least three points from the next two games against Chelsea and City has been increased by the two needlessly dropped here. However, if the season isn’t to be a story of what might have been then Stamford Bridge is a good place to start a new chapter.