Torres looks like a guy who is frustrated and miserable, I'd expect him to ask for a transfer this summer.
Liverpool's tactics in the first half were all wrong - got to blame the manager for that one.
I don't think Torres will go as long as Benitez stays and the club stays out of big financial trouble. Right now the owners can't afford to get rid of him - the fan backlash would be intense.
We started a 4-2-3-1 and it seemed like the midfield play was just a mess, leaving Torres isolated up front. A 4-5-1 or a 4-4-2 with Kuyt playing a more advanced role would have been better. Later in the game he got desperate and tracked back to get the ball, which is why he got yellow-carded tackling someone in his own half.
Credit to Wigan though, they played the ball on the ground and passed it around well, though to be fair they got lots of help from Liverpool. But Wigan also defended pretty well for most of the game. Even despite all the bad play we still gave Torres a couple good chances to score and he failed to do that. Bad times for the Reds.
I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for positives, but Mascherano put in another reasonably decent shift at right back, and we got Johnson back for at least a sub appearance.
All the criticism Liverpool faced earlier in the season was completely forgotten after Liverpool strung together a few half-arsed wins and draws. But this match shows that the problems are still there.
It goes from game to game, but the fact of the matter is that the teams in 4th-7th are all very inconsistent right now. Every time Man City wins a game, there are shouts about finishin in the top four, European football and even a title challenge. Spurs are perennially tipped to break the top four and always choke. Same with Villa now. This time Liverpool have really stumbled badly and considering how much money Man City have spent they'll only have themselves to blame if they fail to crack the top four. I wonder if Mancini will survive if that happens?
The most worrying thing for the Premier league is that, based on current form, none of the contenders for 4th spot look set to do anything in Europe next season. I suppose it won't affect the coefficient enough, but a few more seasons like this one and perhaps that 4th spot will lose its Champions League status...
When I look at the Europa League, I'm not convinced Benitez can count on much success there either...the way Liverpool are playing right now, teams like Rubin Kazan, Juventus or Valencia could dump us out of Europe fairly handily.
