LETHARGY

The result was all-important last night, and the 1-0 win sealed our place in the next round of the Champions League.
All well and good.
But it was alarming to say the least the way a mediocre Marseille side virtually bossed the second half as we stood on the tightrope trying to repell wave after wave of dangerous attacks.
Gerets easily deserved the draw, possibly more.
It's difficult to pinpoint the reason for the malaise at Anfield at present, but there was scarcely a good performance last night.
There seems to an unwritten rule amongst some Liverpool fans that you can't criticize Mascherano.
But he was woeful and produced a similarly lacklustre display against Fulham on Saturday.
He needs dropping. at least for a game.
His stock and trade harrying and tackles was nowhere to be seen and that was part of the reason why Marseille drew pretty patterns around us to converge on our box, particularly in the second half.
His tackle in the second half which drew his yellow card was borne of frustration that he couldn't get near Marseille's skilful midfielders.
And he was lucky not to see Red for his shove on the player as he lay injured.

The 'Thank God for Gerrard' mantra is getting very samey now. A great header handing us the three points.
And a word here for Alonso who pinged in a great ball, and was probably, along with Carragher and Agger, our best player.
Kuyt and Riera have struggled in recent games, and their tendency to come inside rather than stay wide have made us easy to defend against.
Dossena continued to amuse, and not in a good way. He got skinned dangerously on the right when a solid full back would have given his life not to let the winger fire in a cross.
And there were a couple of bizarre 50p headed clearances that actually put us in more trouble.
But he did put in one cracking sliding block.....

Even when we're not carving teams open, Liverpool tend to dominate possession and territory at Anfield.
Last night, we didn't even have that. We looked tired, lethargic and devoid of any ideas.
We are defintely in a rut, but a rut that has demonstrated our professionalism and a will to win.
That run has produced a 1-0 win against Marseille, a 1-1 draw with Athletico, a 2-0 Bolton win away, and conversely, a drubbing away to Spurs in the Carling Cup and a 0-0 at home to Fulham.
The thing about the loss in the league to Spurs, almost more than the three points dropped, is the air of invincibility it took away from us.
We were robbed, but when we realised we could lose a game, that fear transmitted itself through the players and confidence began to drain.
Two healthy wins over West Ham and Hull could get us back on track and get that appetite coursing through the veins again.