Saturday, September 30, 2006 . 9:57 PM

After a good run of home wins which saw them beat Newcastle, Tottenham and Galatasaray, the Reds were looking to extend their winning run against Bolton at the Reebok Stadium. However, Liverpool's poor away form continued to haunt them as they failed to pick up any points at all.

In an overly physical and scrappy match that saw a few injuries and several bookings, chances were few and far between. Neither team could manufacture a clear-cut chance to take the lead. Bolton, with their characteristic physical play, looked to injure as many Liverpool players as possible as Abdoulaye Faye hauled Gerrard to the ground after 15 minutes, earning a yellow card in the process, then looked to give Dirk Kuyt a concussion as he headbutted the Dutchman from behind, giving him a gash that required 8 clips to temporarily stop the bleeding.

30 minutes into the game, the linesman decided to make the game more interesting. Jose Reina caught the ball from open play and looked to launch it up the field, running to the edge of the box as he always does. Unfortunately for him, the linesman either forgot to put on his contact lenses, or left his brain at home today, and he signalled for a Bolton free kick to be taken just outside of Liverpool's penalty area, as he deemed Reina to have handled the ball outside of his box during his kick. Television replays showed later that the linesman was indeed suffering from myopia and dyslexia. We wish him all the worst in his recovery.

Gary Speed took the free kick, blasting the ball into the far corner. Why Reina dived in the opposite direction is a mystery. Sam Allardyce, who cheats in transfer dealings by accepting "bungs", also managed to somehow cheat his way to gaining the lead. (We spotted large bundles of cash sticking out of the referee's and linesmen's pockets as they were jogging up and down the field, probably explains the raising of the flags for offside when Liverpool clearly were not.)

Liverpool only had three worthy attempts on target in the first half, an Alonso shot that hit the post, a Gerrard volley, and a Kuyt header, both saved by the keeper. During the first half, it was clear that Benitez had got his tactics wrong, fielding Gerrard on the left and leaving the in-form Crouch and Luis Garcia out of the first team.

However, Benitez did not seem to think that he had done something wrong tactically, making no changes at the break. Liverpool came out in search for the equalizer, but looked lame and short of ideas as their attacks broke down. They could not find a way past the Bolton defence, and time was running out.

Then Bolton struck again. With their second shot of the match, (Bolton only had two shots in the entire match) Ivan Campo did a Umit Karan, rising above Steve Finnan to head the ball to the underside of the bar. The ball bounced over the line before bouncing out again and the linesman, who seemed to have lost all the effects of myopia and dyslexia, (probably cured by the wad of cash in his pocket), waved his flag fiercely to signal the goal. 2-0 to Bolton.

With that scoreline, Bolton were content to sit back and park a bus in front of their goal, limiting Liverpool to long shots that mostly went off-target. Liverpool did not have the creativity to penetrate the defence and whenever the ball landed in the Bolton box, it was quickly smothered by the goalkeeper or cleared by a Bolton defender. Eventually it came to a point where Bolton were just running down the time with their substitutions, while a desperate and frustrated Liverpool never came close to scoring.

Liverpool lacked the creativity in attack, and the solidity in defence. Even with Sami Hyypia and Jamie Carragher at the back, the club's most successful parternship, they still shipped 2 goals today. Rafael Benitez must remedy this situation if he wants to make a credible charge for the premiership title this season.

Player Ratings:

Jose Reina - 4
Another very poor performance from Reina again. Should have saved Campo's header as it was right at him. Every other club's keeper looks assured and confident but Reina never looks that way. His dive in the opposite direction in an attempt to save the free kick just affirms his poor judgement as a keeper.

Steve Finnan - 6
Failed to deal with Ivan Campo's aerial presence for the second goal, but had a credible performance.

John Arne Riise - 5
Wasted a few chances, and looked shaky in defence as his mis-headed the ball a few times, and nearly let Kevin Nolan through on goal through a mistake.

Sami Hyypia - 6
Average performance, but he was caught out of position for the second goal.

Jamie Carragher - 6
Liverpool's best defender. Wanted to take the responsibility of lifting the team himself when they looked to be going nowhere.

Jermaine Pennant - 5
Not effective at all, did not make good runs or crosses and was terribly off the pace in the game. I am still not convinced that he is the right-winger for Liverpool.

Steven Gerrard - 6
Tried to carry the team on his shoulders, but lacked form. He has not been playing well this season. Drifted in an out of the game and could not influence the outcome.

Xabi Alonso - 6
Had several good shots on goal, but could not manufacture the chance for Liverpool to score. Xabi's creativity looks to have abandoned him.

Mohamed Sissoko - 5
Terrible performance. Did not put in his characteristic strong tackles, which Benitez always praises him for. Cannot pass to save his life and has a very, very poor first touch. Benitez should stop trying to fit him into the team. Needs major improvement.

Dirk Kuyt - 7
Looked lively up front, led the line well for the first half. Nearly got a goal as well.

Craig Bellamy - 6
Yet another game in the premiership where Bellamy has failed to score. Seemed to lack confidence in front of goal and failed to score when he had the chance.

Substitutes:

Peter Crouch - 6
Could not influence the game after he came off the bench, first touch was poor and he failed to link up with Bellamy.

Luis Garcia - 6
Had a few good ideas but failed to execute them.

Boudewijn Zenden - 6
Failed to influence the game as he came on to the left flank. Looked short of ideas.

Final Score: Bolton Wanderers 2-0 Liverpool

Archangel's Man Of The Match: Gary Speed

"You'll Never Walk Alone"

Archangel