New Liverpool era begins with 2-0 loss at Everton

Posted Monday, October 18, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

LIVERPOOL, England (AP)—Liverpool rid itself of unpopular owners but not relegation form as local rival Everton inflicted a 2-0 loss on the side in front of new owner John Henry on Sunday.

Goals from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta either side of the break left Liverpool off the bottom of the Premier League standings only on goal difference after eight matches.

Liverpool looked devoid of guile and attacking threat at Goodison Park, quickly banishing hopes that ousting Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. in favor of the owners of baseball’s Boston Red Sox would solve their troubles.

“It’s unfortunate for such a good game of football that everything revolves around the fact Liverpool didn’t win it—this was always going to be a difficult game to win,” Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson said. “This would have been the ideal opportunity to really turn things around on the back of the positive entry of the new owners. To win the game would have been utopia.

“There’s no point attempting to analyze dreams. We had to play a game of football.”

While Liverpool’s legal team won a week of court battles to oust the previous owners, the players couldn’t replicate their success on the pitch.

And the extent of Liverpool’s worst start for more than 50 years was all too apparent to the watching Henry and New England Sports Ventures chairman Tom Werner.

They saw a side contained inside its own half from the outset as Everton confidently piled on the pressure.

The home side squandered the best of its early chances when Phil Jagielka shot over after Arteta’s free kick came off the wall.

“We suffered at the hand of an early onslaught, which you invariably do here at Goodison,” Hodgson said.

Managing his first Merseyside derby was becoming an uncomfortable experience for manager Roy Hodgson as he berated sloppy Liverpool play from the sidelines. Werner had earlier said that Hodgson’s job was safe.

It took almost 25 minutes for Liverpool to get sight of goal, with struggling striker Fernando Torres flicking in a header that was turned over by United States goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Henry had his head in his hands and the joy from completing the takeover on Friday was fast diminishing when in the 34th minute Cahill broke the deadlock.

Pepe Reina’s low diving save had thwarted a Yakubu Ayegbeni shot, but he couldn’t stop Cahill from lashing the ball inside the near post.

Seamus Coleman did all the hard work, forcing his way down the left flank to the byline and then cutting the ball back for Cahill.

Liverpool was unable to penetrate Everton and the deficit was doubled after the break when Arteta picked up Leighton Baines’ corner on the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a fierce volley past Reina.

“I refuse to accept we were in any way outplayed or in any way inferior,” Hodgson said. “In the second half that’s as good as I have seen a Liverpool team under my management. I thought we caused them plenty of problems.”

While the second goal did rouse Liverpool into a more assertive approach, its attacks fizzled out.

Torres lashed over after latching onto Maxi Rodriguez’s throughball, with the Spain striker looking a shadow of the player who netted 34 goals in 2007-08.

“Fernando is going through a bad time, he needs a goal, his confidence is low,” Hodgson said. “He got battered during the World Cup and mentally he is probably a bit low.”

While Everton moved up to 11th, Liverpool remains in the bottom three with just one win from eight matches,

“We’re not trying to disguise the fact this is a predicament,” Hodgson said. “For any team to take six points from eight games from the start of a season, is a predicament.”

Hodgson, though, still believes that a top-four finish—and lucrative Champions League qualification—should not be ruled out.

“Thirty games to go, 90 points to play for, we’d have to do something a bit special I suppose,” Hodgson said. “I thought there were signs that the quality of football is there.

“We think there’s a lot of things that still need sorting out in the club. When it comes to playing, we’ve got the squad of players we’ve got, we will have to keep working with them.”