Unfortunately for Liverpool they were also a little dour, functional, lacking in zip, and, by the close of the goalless draw, it was Rovers who were worrying the visitors.
Liverpool had arrived at Ewood minus Fernando Torres. And while their other stellar name, Steven Gerrard, insisted throughout he might turn the game he appeared surrounded by too many team-mates who are just not in his class.
A drag of Gerrard's right boot took him clear of traffic inside the area after 13 minutes, but Blackburn's rearguard cleared. However, they had been warned. Before the break it was the Liverpool captain again, this time wandering from his central berth in Rafael Benítez's midfield over to the left. He collected and, from a difficult angle, opened his body but could only manage a corner with a deflected shot.
Overall the half had been deficient in action, with Blackburn sporadically threatening, and Torres illustrating the effervescence he drains from Liverpool when absent.
Alberto Aquilani is rumoured to have bucket loads of that stuff, too. But with nearly a month now passing since his sole glimpse (seven minutes) of the Premier League what the £20m Italian midfielder might offer is fast becoming a myth.
When first Alberto Riera, then Yossi Benayon were replaced during the second half, Benítez continued to blank Aquilani. It cannot be long, surely, before questions are asked about a possible bust-up with the manager, or it emerges that he has contracted some mysterious injury which allows only bench-warming action.
David Ngog – on for Riera –came closest to grabbing victory for Liverpool, but the ball appeared to bobble as the striker connected and he could only bend Paul Robinson's bar.
Minutes later Benni McCarthy, who had an excellent game, had a clearer chance, but he failed to finish. It was that kind of afternoon.
