Birmingham 0 Liverpool FC 0: Dominic King on how an instant fix is not a reality for the Reds

13 September 2010 04:00
PATIENCE is a quality lacking in the modern world but patience is needed more than ever in the modern world of Liverpool FC.[LNB]While goals rained in at grounds all across the country on Saturday, that happy trend did not continue at St Andrew's yesterday as the Reds laboured against a hard-working, determined Birmingham City side to secure a point.[LNB]Judging by some of the post-match chatter among certain anxious fans, this was evidence that the season - four games old, remember - is already moribund; here, after all, were Liverpool playing as if they had forgotten the Anfield mantra of pass and move.[LNB]It would be easy, then, to sit and pick holes in a lifeless performance and make proclamations that the end of the world is nigh; a side with a modicum of attacking verve would have put Birmingham to the sword in the final 15 minutes here but Liverpool never threatened to do so.[LNB] Of course, it wasn't good enough on many levels. That Ben Foster never made a save of note was a damning indictment of what they did in the final third and brows were furrowed that Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard did not get the service needed for them to make a significant impact.[LNB]But, hard though it might be, the display needs putting into context with the whole situation. Liverpool are in a state of flux right now and huge changes have been made on and off the pitch - it would, therefore, be naïve to expect them to start playing fantasy football straight away.[LNB]Waiting for them to get to that point, however, is proving to be torturous. All Liverpudlians want to see is the side they idolise slip effortlessly into a groove that will bring an avalanche of goals and enable them to carry on old traditions.

Source: Liverpool_Echo