Basel FC 1, Liverpool 0: 'We didn't get going quickly'? Rubbish.

I have plenty to say about today's match and will wait to be more objective, but for Rodgers to come out and say 'We didn't get going quickly' is complete ox arse.  At least Gerrard admitted, 'We were not good enough tonight.'  Damn right you weren't.  In fact there was no 'we' to begin with, our boys had as much cohesiveness as a half-drunk Sunday side in the park who had never played together before and quite frankly, it was embarrassing.

We were tired, quite obviously.  Yes, our squad has been decimated with injuries, but that doesn't excuse the dreadful passing display.  I honestly think Sterling should have been given the day off and Suso given his spot.  A win would have been nice, but a draw more ideal.  We got neither though.

I can say their goal was 'luck', but unlike Everton last Saturday, Basel created many more legitimate chances.  They deserved that goal and it's hard to argue against it.  We deserved to score as well, but didn't.  Sterling wasted many a chance and the rest of the side didn't do much better.

We were dispossessed entirely too easily and it was mainly because of our indecisiveness on the ball.  We were predictable and clearly lacked the intuitiveness needed to anticipate fellow players' moves. I don't want to blame one player in particular for our 'self-stifling' attack, but I will say this, Loic Remy, bad heart and all, or Samuel Eto'o, wheelchair and all, would have been better acquisitions.

This was a rare occasion.  Maybe it was because of the foreign atmosphere, but Hendo and Sterling did not play well.  Despite travel time in the England squad, they appeared quite uncomfortable in the unfamiliar confines of Saint Jakob-Park.  They are the heart of the side now with Gerrard playing third fiddle.  Had Sir Gerrard crumbled, we would have been in huge trouble.

On the other end of the spectrum, Coutinho was fantastic, at least in the first half.  Some of the passes he made were spot on, especially to his diminutive English counterpart.  In fact, he might be the poster child to being a more efficient side and player as Sterling clearly needs some time off.  Hendo's performance was surprising though, since he's yet to show any affects from fatigue.

I'm getting really tired of the Markovic criticism though.  Once again, he's 20-years-old, and showed much improvement today.  Sure he made a few mindless passes, mostly due to misinterpreting his clubmates' moves, but he was much better on the ball.  He's going to be a great buy, but needs time, much like Sterling and Coutinho did.

I don't know how much I want to write about Balotelli.  Until he and the club realize he is not the player they are trying to utilize him as, it's a waste of every one's time.  He will not beat one yet two defenders on the dribble, he will not make many brilliant passes, and he will not get as many calls as he should.  I don't necessarily believe he needs a 'partner' striker, but he does need solid service and with Sterling, Coutinho, Gerrard, Can, and Henderson, that should be the issue.  The issue relies in his positioning and communicating between he and his potential assisters.

In the end, I think I agree with our Captain, we aren't good enough.  Fortunately for us, I think we have the ability to get much better, so I don't think bringing in another player is necessary.   We look like a bunch of individuals out there masquerading as a team.  That has to stop, we have to gel, or we are looking at a long and down-winding road.

Three weeks of hell? Or has the Fixture God shown mercy?

Liverpool play seven matches in three weeks starting with Villa at Anfield on Saturday.  The thing is, all seven are winnable, even with the injuries we have sustained recently.  The 2-0-1 record, 7 points, and current third place standing on the table are flattering to deceive for the Villans.  To say they've been lucky would be the understatement of the season by far.  They were manhandled at Stoke in their first match, but somehow managed a 1-0 win. They needed a red card by Newcastle to get a 0-0 result at home in week two, and barely managed to hold on against Hull at Villa Park two weekends ago.  Karma has to catch up with them at some point and history says it could very well come Saturday.

Next up we host Ludogorets on Tuesday, our easiest Champions League fixture by far.  I can see Rodgers going with a 'weaker' side in this match, hopefully Suso will play a part.  I don't know if he'll go as far as starting Borini, but he could make the bench.  Then we go to Upton Park to take on the Hammers, where Liverpool has won 7 of the last 9 matches and Rodgers has never lost to Allardyce or West Ham.   The London club has the sixth most efficient defence, but sixth worst attacking efficiency, who knows how that could change when they face the equally volatile Hull City on Monday.

Three days later, Liverpool host Middlesborough in the League Cup.  We should definitely see an 'experimental' side here.  If Markovic hasn't broken his duck by then, this will be his best opportunity.  Liverpool have not lost to the Boro at Anfield since March 6, 1976, 38 years ago and before I was born.  The two have not met since 2009, when the then Premier League side beat Liverpool 2-0 at Riverside.  I remember the dismal affair, Nabil El Zhar started for us, Xabi scored an own goal, and Tuncay sealed it in the 63rd minute.  LFC dominated the match in every aspect, winning 9 corners to Boro's 2, having 16 shots, 7 on-target to the home side's 5 and 3 respectively, 84.7% to 65.6% passing, and 72% to 28% possession, but just couldn't score.  It was one of the matches looked back on as costing Liverpool the title that season and baffled many as the Reds had just beat Real Madrid 1-0 at the Bernabeu three days earlier.

One of the harder matches of the lot is Liverpool hosting Everton the Saturday following the Boro fixture.  I'm not really that worried as much as I probably should be when it comes to hosting the lesser Liverpool club.  They have not beaten us in four years, at Anfield in 19 years, and how suspect their defence has been this season, we should be able to get the goals needed for three points.  Any result less than a win will be unacceptable and detrimental to any chance of winning the League.

If a visit from the Blue side of Merseyside isn't the hardest fixture of this bunch, the trip to Basel four days later definitely is.  Kicking off October at the defending Swiss Super League Champions in our second CL fixture isn't the worst of scenarios, but even if our squad isn't as injury depleted as it is now, we will still have fatigued players.  That'll be six matches in 19 days, only Man City have the depth to maintain a high level of football during that kind of run.  The good news is, we've never lost to Basel, that bad news is, we've never beaten Basel and we've only ever played them twice.  The 'Rotblau' currently sit atop the SSL table, are unbeaten in 7 matches with 6 wins, and lead the league in goals scored with 18.  I still think we can get a win here, but will not be too aggrieved if we only manage a draw.  Wins at home are a must in CL group play and that should be enough to get us through to the elimination round.

Finally, we end the Shine on Harvest Moon tour with a visit from West Brom.  The Baggies have baffled us the past few years, a ship that seemed to be righted with our 4-1 dismantling of the West Midlands club, but a title costly 1-1 result at the Hawthorns last February rekindled the recent pain. Before winning at Anfield in two of the last three meetings, WBA hadn't won there since 1965.  Liverpool are 3-1-4 versus West Brom in their last 8 meetings in all comps, but the Baggies have the least efficient defence in the league by quite a distance.  We should be able to end this run with three points as long as we don't beat ourselves.

CL draw: A club we've beaten every time, a club Gerrard has a grudge against, and the 'Chelsea' of Bulgaria

Though nothing will be 'easy', good fortune gifted LFC with a very manageable Champions League group.  Though we have met only three times ever, we have beaten Real Madrid each time.  The first time in the 1981 European Cup final in the Parc De Princes in France. Alan Kennedy's lone effort in the 81st minutes gave the Reds a 1-0 victory and a return to European supremacy after being dethroned by Nottingham Forest the previous two seasons.

Sergio Ramos & company will look to make amends for his club's embarassing display in their only trip ever to Anfield in March 2009.  They were dismantled by Gerrard and Torres with Andre Dossena adding further to their misery with a late goal of his own.

We were drawn against Basel in the group stage of the 2002 Champions League as well.  Both ties ended in draws, 1-1 at Anfield and 3-3 at St. Jakob-Park.  In the latter match, Gerrard was subbed for Salif Diao in one of his most embarassing career moments.

PFC Ludogorets Razgrad were founded in 2001.  They have about as much a history as Chelsea.