It is one thing to lose, it is quite another to do so risking nothing. Doing nothing. Attempting f*ck all.
Sorry, I lie. There was a corner or two. Liverpool kept players high up the pitch instead of crowding the penalty area with defenders. Hull were forced to mark them. That was about it.
Liverpool were by no means a disgrace. They weren’t shockingly bad. They were just meh. And that is far worse. Because being awful would have meant trying something. Anything.
Brendan Rodgers will shoulder the blame. In the greater context it is hard not to focus derision upon him (although Matt Stanger makes a case), but the players were the real problem here.
They can’t escape contempt for their pathetic caution. Apart from Coutinho, no one tried to force anything. Instead they served up the sort of safety-first nonsense that deserves a b*llocking.
Hull City played to a plan and executed it well, but they weren’t remarkable. They showed fight and determination, but it was by no means heroic stuff. It didn’t need to be. Not against this shower.
Liverpool were sterile. They turned up and kicked the ball about. That’s just not good enough. Their protesting fans did more with their absence at the cost of ticket prices than these frauds.
They looked like a group of players who had nothing whatsoever to play for; a gang of risk-averse cowards saving themselves for a non-existent tournament in the summer.
They certainly weren’t playing for the prize of Champions League football. The performance wasn’t reckless enough for that. It was the self-preservation society and a rogue Brazilian who hadn’t got the memo.
No one but the South American wanted to take a risk. The prize of glory wasn’t worth the potential for personal blame. Instead they acted out a pantomime of zero-jeopardy.
They didn’t play for their manager. They didn’t play for the fans. It was a non-performance. It was nothingness. A complete and utter waste of everyone’s time.
Hull City 1 Apathy 0.
