Gerard Houllier found a storm in a port yesterday, his disjointed side left all at sea down by the Solent. Walking through storms is part of managerial life at Liverpool but the clouds darken ever angrily around Houllier's head.
The embarrassment of this FA Cup surrender will be assuaged only by sustained progress in the UEFA Cup and by securing the Premiership's fourth Champions League place. Tension, and increasing supporter dissent, stalk Houllier. The Frenchman had hoped to prosper in the FA Cup, a competition that brings such joy to fans craving a day out in the May sunshine. Houllier had all his major forces fit, barring Harry Kewell, but they shamefully failed to support the lonely Michael Owen properly in the first half and then squandered their chances in the second. Liverpool's following, who had made the long, awkward journey, deserved far better than this insipid display, the tireless Steven Gerrard apart.
Henry Winter, Telegraph
Liverpool pay the penalty for Owen failure
A season that began with so much hope for Liverpool continues to unravel. The FA Cup yesterday joined the list of trophies beyond their reach and it is not just this result that will heighten the debate about whether Gérard Houllier should start next season at Anfield. This was hardly a display that suggested his team is moving in the right direction. "I know I'm going to get slaughtered," the manager said frankly. Houllier followed that by insisting he felt under no more pressure than before but he was surely alone in viewing this as an acceptable Liverpool performance. The visitors lacked imagination, fire and conviction. Though they had more possession, it was hard to feel sorry for them. Portsmouth were lacking several key men and deserve their home tie against Arsenal. Even when Liverpool got an undeserved penalty from which they could have taken the lead just after the hour, they blew their chance. Michael Owen's kick was weak and Shaka Hislop saved. It summed up the visitors' afternoon. They were laboured and, on the few occasions when they threatened, Portsmouth's goalkeeper denied them. Increasingly Liverpool look a team in need of fresh direction. No one should decry Houllier's reign as a failure but results this season have been below expectation. Bolton dumped them out of the Carling Cup at Anfield, and this loss to struggling Pompey comes after Liverpool could only draw at home in the initial tie. Now the Uefa Cup is the sole silverware open to Houllier, with Levski Sofia visiting Anfield on Thursday. But more significant to the club is qualifying for the Champions League. How sad that some Liverpool fans hope the club fail to finish in the top four because doing so might keep the manager in a job. The fans here showed no audible dissent towards Houllier but performances like this offer little reason to believe Liverpool will finish fourth. There was rarely a flow or consistent threat to their game.
Jon Brodkin, Guardian
Liverpool pay for Owen miss
If there is anything positive for Gérard Houllier, the Liverpool manager, to take from this FA Cup fifth-round replay defeat by Portsmouth, it is that he will not have to visit Fratton Park again this season. On a ground where they had produced one of their most anaemic performances of the campaign in a 1-0 defeat in the Barclaycard Premiership in October, Liverpool offered a display yesterday that showed little improvement. Against a Portsmouth team missing as many as 13 players through injury, suspension and ineligibility, Liverpool had no excuses for failing to advance to a sixth-round tie at home to Arsenal. While Harry Redknapp was forced to field five free transfers among his makeshift starting XI, Liverpool’s only significant absence from their expensively-assembled squad was the suspended Harry Kewell. Yet it was only when they had gone behind to Richard Hughes’s first goal for Portsmouth, after 71 minutes, that they began to show any urgency. Their confidence in front of goal was as low as usual. Even when Michael Owen was handed a chance to score from a penalty by a poor refereeing decision, he saw his kick saved by Shaka Hislop. Houllier, despite only a second defeat in 13 games, was all too aware that a growing section of the club’s supporters would be baying for his job. “I know I’m going to get slaughtered, but I don’t feel under any more pressure now than before, ” he said. “It isn’t about me, it’s about the team. I can’t blame my players. Right up to the end they could have equalised or won. We had enough chances to win. I don’t think Chris Kirkland had a save to make before their goal.”
Nick Szczepanik, The Times