“We have missed a very good opportunity to establish a lead over Newcastle and the others,” he said, “and that’s down to the fact we didn’t play well enough. Some people might say it’s finished, but we have to keep going.”
The truth is that Liverpool, to Houllier’s considerable distress, have not even started to get going this term. This was their tenth defeat of the Premiership campaign — five home, five away — and, unless they can find their form in their remaining five matches, this could prove to be the defining moment of a hugely anticlimactic season. Not until after they fell behind to Shaun Bartlett’s 63rd-minute header, did they acquire even the slightest sense of urgency.
Their cause was not aided by a Charlton side who quickly proved they were made of stronger stuff than Blackburn Rovers, who were 3-0 down after only 24 minutes at Anfield eight days earlier. Alan Curbishley, the Charlton manager, said that survival had been the extent of his ambitions in the opening stages, in which Michael Owen and Emile Heskey went close, but with Jonathan Fortune and Hermann Hreidarsson outstanding in defence, they were rarely stretched.
To Curbishley’s disgust, they had a strong penalty appeal turned down after 62 minutes, when Hreidarsson was pushed by Steven Gerrard. Justice was done a minute later, though, as Bartlett rose unchallenged to head home a corner by Claus Jensen that, Houllier suggested, had been awarded by a referee who was eager to atone for his earlier error.
That was the cue for a predictable Liverpool rally — with Dietmar Hamann and Vladimir Smicer, a substitute, seeing close-range headers blocked by the agility of Hreidarsson and Dean Kiely respectively — but clear opportunities were surprisingly scarce.
Curbishley praised the “fantastic” resolve of his players as he toasted his first success at Anfield as player or manager and Charlton’s return to contention for a Champions League place, but Houllier did not attempt to disguise his disappointment as he admitted that the home dressing-room was “not the happiest spot in the ground”. It was certainly no less despondent, though, than the Kop, from where derision spilt forth at the final whistle. Perfect day? Not if you were a Liverpool supporter.