A dejected Liverpool fan reacts following his team’s 3-3 draw during the Barclays Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park
Liverpool’s season took another turn for the worst as Crystal Palace threw a spanner in the works of their title bid, after a remarkable comeback against the Reds.
The league leaders led 3-0 with just under a quarter of the game left to go, however, a Delaney goal and two from Dwight Gayle threw the Palace fans into hysteria and left the Liverpool faithful in tears.
Luis Suarez and co. were visibly distressed at what unravelled before their eyes at Selhurst Park after seeming so comfortable throughout large parts of the game.
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Brendan Rodgers has rescued Liverpool many times this season with his shrewd tactical nous, but the Northern Irishman did not cover himself in glory during the nightmare in London.
Below are three things Rodgers got wrong.
1. Taking off Raheem Sterling
Kagisho Dikgacoi of Crystal Palace and Raheem Sterling of Liverpool battle for the ball
Sterling had a quiet first-half by his standards, but he really came to life in the second-half as he ran riot against the Palace back-line. He assisted Suarez for one of the goals and was a constant outlet for his Liverpool side.
Rodgers decided to take off the electric youngster and it was a move the backfired against his side. Young Philippe Coutinho, struggling with an injury before the game, was introduced and it was evident the Brazilian could not cope with the pace of the game. His lack of strength on the ball was a particular worry and Liverpool began to struggle with the little magician not the outlet Liverpool desired. Within one minute, Palace scored and Coutinho was constantly ambushed from there on.
2. Bringing on Victor Moses
Yannick Bolasie of Crystal Palace and Victor Moses of Liverpool compete for the ball during the Barclays Premier League match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool
By this point, the 85th minute, Liverpool were well and truly under the cosh and struggling to cope with the pace of Yannick Bolasie and Dwight Gayle. With the score at 3-2, Victor Moses stepped on to the pitch replacing goalscorer Daniel Sturridge.
With the scoreline on a knife edge, Moses was most certainly not the right man to bring on. Daniel Agger would have been a far better replacement to shore up the back-line. The introduction of the Dane would have put three centre-backs for the Reds, allowing Martin Skrtel to cover Glen Johnson more than usual along the right-hand side, with the England right-back being tormented towards the end. Within one minute and a half, Palace scored to level it up at 3-3. Daniel Agger was pictured being readied just as that goal went in, but it was too little too late for the Merseyside outfit by that point.
3. Failing to shut up shop at 3-1
Brendan Rodgers failed to arrest the slide that the Reds were on in the last 10 minutes against Crystal Palace
Credit to Liverpool for their attitude as they looked to maul Crystal Palace in order to boost their goal difference. They were never realistically going to go into double figures, but they were eager to put Pulis’ men to the sword to give them some hope on the final day. However, when Crystal Palace struck to make it 3-1, it was then time for Rodgers to send out a message.
Telling his men to calm down and stop committing too many forward would have worked wonders for Liverpool and they may have even grabbed a couple on the break, with Palace likely to mount an onslaught. However, remarkably, Palace’s second goal came after a corner from Rodgers’ men where his side had almost nine players in the opposition box. The ball eventually fell to Bolasie who made up great ground to go on and assist Gayle for the second.
A sense of naivety appeared in the Liverpool side and while it may have been impossible for Rodgers to send out a message in the rapturous noise that was Selhurst Park, he should have at least called over a leader in Steven Gerrard to pass on the words.
