Birmingham 0 Pool 0

Lets face we were awful against Brum regardless of what Roy says and if hadn't been for the class of Reina we would have returned up the M6 with our tails between our legs soundly beaten.

The fact is Roy that with a midfield of Maxi, Lucas, Poulsen and Jovanic you are not going to win many matches. Critics are saying that Torres didn't turn up but I think that is unfair.

Torres was only showing his frustration with not only not getting any service but having made a runs time after time when one of our midfielders had the ball he then had to watch as the said midfielder turned round and played the ball backwards. Or in the case of Jovanovic just ran with the ball until he lost possession. Gerrard got frustrated too and it is no surprise when you never get the ball from your midfield.

I just cannot see why Jovanovic is getting picked I said the first time I saw him I thought he was another bad buy by Benitez and he has only got worse since. There is never any end product.

You may as well just give the ball direct to the opposition rather than give it to him!

Roy you had better take warning from what happened here you are going to upset the dressing room if you persevere with this type of team selection.

Luckily Miereles looked sharp when he came on and did well, aslo Konchesky has an excellent debut despite getting no cover at all from the little boy lost Jovanovic in front of him. And we have Joe Cole available now so hopefully he will never have to field that same midfield quartet ever again.

Positives, we came away with avery fortuitous point on a day when Man U, Spurs, Man City had also drawn so instead of mving up to 4th in the table we didn't lose too much ground.

Conclusion; Not nearly good enough given the players he has at his disposal

Can't see any difference between how Hodgson sets up his side and Benitez. Just as bad and just as negative. Still earlydoors yet.

John Aldridge: Liverpool’s draw at St Andrews was no surprise
Sep 14 2010 Liverpool Echo

WHEN I looked at the team sheet before Liverpool took on Birmingham on Sunday, one question immediately sprang to my mind – how are we going to score a goal?

St Andrews has, of course, become something of a bogey ground for Liverpool but I was worried after the starting line-up was unveiled that we would struggle to secure a first win there since May 2004 and, sadly, that proved to be the case.

To my mind, it looked as if we were relying on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres conjuring up a moment of magic or making a set piece count.

Other than that, there was nothing and, for that reason, it was no shock Ben Foster remained untroubled in Birmingham’s goal.

Torres has come in for criticism in the time since the game but, in some ways, it does him a disservice; yes, there is no getting away from the fact he failed to fire on all cylinders but how was he supposed to be a threat with nobody supplying him?

In the last 18 months, it has become more and more noticeable that when things are not going for Fernando his mood changes.

His body language can be easily read in such situations and he becomes very temperamental.

But, to play devil’s advocate, what was he supposed to do on Sunday? Run to the halfway line, pick up the ball, explode past three or four challenges before drilling a shot from 30 yards into the top corner?

He had more chance of doing that than being provided with a string of chances.

Basically, Liverpool are crying out for someone to provide invention down the flanks; we have not had a proper left-winger since John Barnes was in his pomp and a search that has lasted almost 20 years is still on going.

Maxi Rodriguez and Milan Jovanovic didn’t offer any width at Birmingham but, again, they didn’t get great service either; I’ve seen the midfield axis of Lucas and Christian Poulsen twice now and I don’t think it is working – they are far too similar.

Pairing them together from the start, though, suggested Roy Hodgson was happy to settle for a point or, perhaps, pinch it; if we can build on the result all well and good but, if we are so negative again at Old Trafford next Sunday, you would have to be worried.

True, we will have Joe Cole to come back and provide some invention, while the captain will slot back into the midfield alongside Raul Meireles; that, hopefully, will provide Torres with the service he requires and he scores against United for the fourth game in succession.

Sitting back will mean it is a long, difficult afternoon.

Hi Nando looks like Aldo and myself are in agreement about how we saw this match and the midfield that was fielded although Aldo is a little kinder on Jovanovic than I was; I think the lad's hopeless.

Getting to your point though Nando about the team set up being the same as Benitez I agree with you and personally agree with Aldo there too when he says we were set up for a draw. Wasted opportunity with most of our competitiors for a the top 4 place slipping up. Birlingham are a good side at home no doubt about it but I thought they tired badly in the last 20 minutes and was screaming for Roy to put Babel on as an extra striker in place of Jovanovic and moving Gerrard into Lucas' place allowing Miereles to play in the hole should have been done sooner.

I don't know I just got the feeling that Roy does not believe in the players he has available as alternatives which is a shame. Either that or he was just so scared of losing the match that he didn't want to risk trying to win it.

If we could only put a couple of confidence boosting back to back wins together I am sure we would see a different side.