Did we really think we could win this one after the way we played the game? Maybe a draw would be possible but not victory. The question remains, why do we play like this?

Even with Arsenal down to nine men, not 10, but nine, we never got enough numbers up in front of the ball. Nobody consistently overlapped the ball and so no openings were created. Our best chances fell to Michael Owen and Nicolas Anelka, but both were denied by either Richard Wright or his post. But the truth is, with our current midfield options we cannot find a way back into games when we go a goal down.

Arsenal scored a simple but classic goal. Henry crossed the ball for Dennis Bergkamp, and he just glanced the ball past Dudek after 27 minutes. After that we never looked in it. There just wasn't any play with any purpose by Liverpool.

I have been supporting Liverpool FC since the early 70s and I cannot remember a single season when we have played so badly for so long, even under Souness. Maybe we have lost three or four games in a month, but we have never gone two months or probably more now, where we just cannot find any consistency. How many more scrappy wins do we need?

I don't want to harp on it but surely the club realise that we need better players in midfield? Tactics are not going to be enough for this group of lads. We need some quality in wide areas and behind the strikers.

Forget the idea of Gerard Houllier coming back and then all will be alright. This season will be too stressful for him to make any impact on the way the team plays. Besides we were playing the same way with Gerard on the sidelines. The facts are that other teams know how we play and have worked out how to contain us over long periods. All these reshuffles just compond the problem of lacking rhythmn and imagination. Arsenal are a whole level above us and we have to find players and a style that will not match them but out play them.