Limp Liverpool leave questions unanswered

TITLE contenders traditionally announce their intentions with a swagger and a strut — a ‘look-at-me’ attitude which engenders respect and fear in equal measure in their opponents.

Somebody clearly forgot to tell Liverpool. Rafael Benitez’s side have rarely looked comfortable Premier League leaders, especially on home soil, and their limp has become so pronounced in recent weeks that now only an incredible optimist would back them to win the title.

Performances like this have been too regular to be explained away as one-offs and it is a genuine trait of this Liverpool team that they find it harder than Chelsea, Manchester United or Arsenal to break teams down.

They were able to ride their luck at Anfield earlier in the season but home draws against Fulham, West Ham and now Hull have opened the cracks.

At the hub of it all once again was Robbie Keane, who for the second successive league game was an unused substitute despite the continued absence of the injured Fernando Torres.

All discussion of friction between Benitez and the Irishman is dismissed but having clawed back a two-goal deficit with Steven Gerrard’s brace — the second of which came in the 32nd minute — the player that cost £20.3 million and was seen as the key to avoiding days like this was ignored.

Benitez’s reasoning for leaving Keane on the sidelines was that he preferred to keep players in wide areas.

But what is the forward supposed to think when Nabil El Zhar, who would get nowhere near the 18-man squad of their title rivals, Ryan Babel, who continues to frustrate, and then Lucas — a holding midfield player — were brought on in search of a goal?

Although he was impressive in the 3-1 win over PSV Eindhoven in midweek, Keane’s patchy form means he could not claim he should be a guaranteed starter but there was little wonder he was shaking his head when he was not even given 10 minutes to try to eke out a win.

Falling into a similar pigeon-hole is Daniel Agger. We are told that Benitez wants to keep him at Anfield but yet again he was bizarrely left on the bench in preference to Sami Hyypia.

It is easy to see why Hyypia is still trusted for games like Bolton and Blackburn away, but for home games against the likes of Hull and with Martin Skrtel still out, Agger’s greater ability in possession should see him start.

While the nervy atmosphere that permeates Anfield these days hardly helps and Benitez’s team are creaking, Hyypia, 35, refuses to acknowledge it and Keane might disagree with the Finn’s assertion that Liverpool tried “everything” to swipe three points.

“Of course things could be better, we could have more points, but we just have to live with it,” he said.

“It’s disappointing to draw at home again but we need to look forward. If we knew what it was we’d address it and wouldn’t have had three draws. I didn’t feel personally that there was extra pressure on us or anything.”

That was probably how Paul McShane felt as he headed Hull ahead with 11 minutes gone, with Andrea Dossena — the £7 million answer to Liverpool’s age old left-back problem — cowering underneath him. It came from a Geovanni free-kick that evaded everyone in the area and was crossed back in for former Manchester United defender McShane to head in.

Dossena was largely at fault again for the second goal as Bernard Mendy dashed past him, just as he did all afternoon, and crossed into the centre, where Jamie Carragher clumsily turned into his own net.

Two minutes later, Liverpool pulled one back when Gerrard stabbed in from Kuyt’s cross after Albert Riera and Michael Turner tangled at the near post. Hull also felt aggrieved at the challenge from Kuyt that allowed the Dutchman to head Carragher’s cross back across goal before it was put in the top corner by Gerrard.

Apart from Hyypia hitting the post with a header and Boaz Myhill making a late save from El Zhar, the visitors were comfortable.

“Other teams can come here and do what they want to do but we don’t have that kind of mind-set at Hull City,” Phil Brown, the manager, said. “In the main this season so far we have got the balance right.”

Benitez can not convincingly make the same claim.

REFEREE: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire) 5: Phil Brown is right to feel aggrieved about his team’s treatment. At least one of Liverpool’s goals should not have stood, while Mascherano was not punished for a handball.

MATCH RATING: **** This was great drama, although a more tense affair in the second half. Hull are proving they have staying power.