Compelling Soccer

Remember when Liverpool rose from the ashes against Manchester United and gave the Anfield faithful hope as they managed to down the Red Devils 2-0? Remember how Fernando Torres returned from injury and fought off Rio Ferdnand's constant fouling to put home the winner? Remember how that Lazarus performance was going to rekindle the Reds season?

One trip to London ended all that.

In fairness, had they just lost 1-0, the result wouldn't have changed matters. It was the loss that counted; how they lost was more adding insult to injury. But the insult was added and the Reds only have themselves, or perhaps their manager, to blame.

Watching the end of that match yesterday was interesting if no other reason to witness a great team completely melt down. It was something I really had never seen before; an embarrassment and spectacle. Some might call it symbolic of the Liverpool campaign, but what I saw yesterday went beyond it. Poor decision combined with desperation turned the end of the game into a mockery fit for a video game screen, not a professional pitch. Two red cards to one team? Almost unheard of.

The carnage began in some respects when Fulham scored their second goal to go one up. But in reality, it started when Rafa pulled Fernando Torres off. I mentioned mid week that we would get a true sense of what he thought of the Carling Cup's importance with what he did with Torres. When the striker wasn't even on the bench despite the fact they were facing Arsenal, the answer was clear. Now I'm left wondering, as Torres, the lone Liverpool goalscorer, the most irreplaceable player on the team, was pulled off the field in a 1-1 game with plenty of time remaining, what he thinks of the Premiership. Liverpool had next to zero shot at hardware going in. Now it's official. But with a Champions League tie upcoming on Wednesday, did Rafa try to save Torres for that game? In essence, isn't that conceding the Premiership in hopes to trying to claw back into the CL?

I'm not sure if that would be an attempt to save face; saying they did well in the CL. (Which is still looking like long odds right now) But if it is that, then it would be a hollow victory. The pressure Rafa is facing has little to do with success in Europe; he has a championship and a finals appearance already. It has everything to do with winning the Premiership, which he still has not done. Whether or not it's justified, sacrificing a Premiership game for the hopes of Europe will probably not go over well. Perhaps the best news here for Rafa is that the owners are American, and titles are titles. EPL or Champion's League; it may not matter to them.

But regardless, when Torres exited, if I may borrow a phrase from Gregg Easterbrook, I could have written game over in my notebook. Or typed it on my laptop. If I were liveblogging it, I would have. I'm not a huge fan of the concept of momentum, but from that moment on, the action was downhill towards Liverpool's goal. Fulham came out of their shell. Why? Probably because everyone and their cousin realizes that without Torres and Gerrard Liverpool's high powered offensive attack could probably be outdone by some Championship squads. Fulham took advantage and scored the game winner, which was followed by hell breaking loose.

Liverpool was unfortunate when Philip Degen was sent off for a hard slide tackle on Clint Dempsey. Was it rough? Yes. Was it a red card offense? No, probably not. I mentioned Brian Ching's tackle in the game Thursday night as being a red card offense that received a mere talking to; this was the opposite. Degen probably deserved a yellow, but not a red. Down a man, down a goal and with Torres on the bench, you couldn't see the path to a draw, let alone victory. And then Jamie Carragher pulled down Bobby Zamora when he was clear in on goal. Whether or not Degen deserved a card was irrelevant; Carragher's offense is a straight red. The referee showed no leniency and the debacle was concluded. Liverpool was now playing 9 on 11. Dempsey took advantage a few minutes later and slotted home a finish Reina stood no chance on. It was the final nail in the coffin of Liverpool's title hopes and potentially could be lid closing moment of Rafa's.

From here, the Reds will travel to Lyon to salvage what's left of their season. A loss there and they've got... um... the FA Cup? Realistically, they'll have to start looking towards 2010-2011. There's a lot to be done in order to build the depth necessary to survive when Torres or Gerrard go out. The question once again is will Rafa be the one to orchestrate it?