Three games into the 2009-10 English Premiership Season, Liverpool has suffered two defeats.
Or the same number of defeats they had all of last season.
Many people pointed at the departure of Xabi Alonso as the main reason for their slow start this season, but Yours Truly thinks otherwise.
While Xabi Alonso is an excellent player who can provide deadly passes and shots from midfield, his effectiveness has in fact been limited by Liverpool's deliberate passing game under Rafa Benitez.
Now imagine Xabi Alonso in an Arsenal uniform and the sparks he will ignite.
Without him, Liverpool has been playing in the same deliberate style this season so far. With or without him, the only real trump card for them has always been Steven Gerrard, like forever.
The main reason for Liverpool's slow start, in fact, is their failure to deal with deadball situations. In their 1-2 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur, they conceded two goals when they gave away two free kicks at the similar area of the field. And when they lost 1-3 to Aston Villa at home, the three goals came via a free kick, a corner and a penalty respectively.
Remarkably, they had yet conceded a goal from open play this season.
And that has been a major problem for them for quite a while, as their zone defending in deadball situations has left them extremely vulnerable to attackers coming up to meet the ball.
To rub salt into their wounds, the two players instrumental in their defeats so far, Robbie Keane and Brad Friedel, are both former Liverpool players. Just when everyone says that they need more quality strikers and goalkeeping help, bear in mind that the Reds gave up Keane for the likes of Andriy Voronin and David N'Gog last season, and they let Friedel leave on a free transfer in favour of Sander Westerveld back in 2000.
For diehard Reds fans like Yours Truly, we could only hope that the new signing, Alberto Aquilani, is worth the wait.
