Source: Liverpool_Echo
Blackburn 0 Liverpool FC 0 - Dominic King's verdict
OUT of the Champions League, floundering in the Premier League but now a new low in this season of woe - relegated to the graveyard slot on Match of the Day.[LNB]Liverpool have become accustomed in recent years to having the majority of their games broadcast live and even when matches have kicked-off at the traditional 3pm on Saturday afternoon, extended highlights can be pretty much guaranteed.[LNB]Things, however, are changing. While the Reds' trip to Blackburn was never going to command top billing in the weekend just gone, they can consider themselves fortunate that the 'MOTD' producers decided to give this fixture air time at all.[LNB]But should Liverpool keep playing like this in the future, they will have to get used to being shuffled down the pecking order as, ultimately, there were moments at Ewood Park when watching paint dry would have provided infinitely more entertainment.[LNB]Though it was never going to be a stroll against a side who pride themselves on being hard to beat and relish a physical battle, Liverpool ought to have seized the chance to maintain the momentum a derby day win had given them in the Ribble Valley.[LNB]In keeping with the way the past two months have gone, though, here was another missed opportunity, another hugely frustrating experience for Rafa Benitez, his players and supporters, another stuttering step.[LNB]While it is true to say Liverpool enjoyed the greater possession and threatened occasionally to break the deadlock, there can be no complaints that they returned to Merseyside with just a point.[LNB]Quite simply, they didn't do enough to win the contest and the fact Blackburn keeper Paul Robinson was relatively untroubled during 90 humdrum minutes says everything you need to know about Liverpool's shortcomings as an attacking force.[LNB]Yes, they could have emerged victorious and had Glen Johnson's ball into David Ngog not taken an outrageous bobble as he shaped to shoot, there is reason to believe his effort would have whistled past Robinson rather than crashed off the crossbar.[LNB]'It was the worst bobble I've ever seen,' Johnson, who caught the eye once again, groaned. 'Sometimes luck doesn't go for you. We were pushing and pushing and it was so frustrating we couldn't get that goal our play deserved.'[LNB]Still, for a side that has designs on reclaiming its place among the Champions League elite, it was nowhere near enough and you only have to compare Blackburn's fortunes against the Reds' biggest rivals this season to see their failings.
