Woof: WBA 2 - Liverpool 1

I spent most of the weekend ranting and raving about Kyrgiakos, and how he pretty much cost us any points on Saturday. But then I remembered something and i fell into a deep sleep, and I haven't thought about him since. See, Kenny Dalglish probably didn't want to have to use Menelaus in a game where an opposing forward wasn't missing a leg, and thus would have more pace than Kyrgiakos. He had no choice. And this is just how thin our squad is.

I also should have known was coming when we lost two defenders, and thus had a backline that has all the ball skill and passing ability of roadkill. There was simply no way that we were going to build anything without Lucas having to drop way to deep to pick up the ball, leaving too much space up to Suarez and Carroll. So we spent what should have been a lovely morning watching ball after ball hoofed up to Carroll, in the vain hope that it would somehow bounce off his skull to a player in Red and all the Baggie defenders would suffer a simultaneous stroke. This was just the way it had to be.

And it almost worked, didn't it? Liverpool found a goal, though it could be argued it was against the run of play. Though WBA had the majority of the ball, Reina only had a few big saves to make. But then the Greek intervened, and pretty much all was lost.

Where do we go from here? Well, the forlorn hopes four fourth are now gone, and the hopes for fifth are trailing in its wake. Eight games left, five points back. Could Spurs be distracted by their European adventure? Maybe, they haven't handled the huge workload seamlessly this season. But that's a lot to ask.

What does this mean for Kenny Dalglish and his permanent appointment? You can make any sort of argument here. You could add this to the other insipid displays we've seen, mostly in Europe, under him and claim that he hasn't been that much of an improvement and Liverpool should go searching for more. Or you can use this game as an illustration of how thin this squad is, with only one-ball playing defender and one fullback who both bit it in the first half, and say that there's not much any manager could do. I don't know that either are wrong or either are right. I'm sort of glad that I'm not the one who has to make the decision, however.

-We were lucky Carroll wasn't sent off. Temper is going to have to be something we'll work with Big Andy, especially when the ref is as fussy as the one was on Saturday, Martin Atkinson. And when he's cautious than he's not nearly the weapon. And I still have no idea if he can keep up with a team that can really pass the ball and finish, because he hasn't been presented many chances to display that.

-Suarez nearly got us a point on his own in the last five minutes. Can't wait until he's got Gerrard to work with as well.

-Jay Spearing put in another good performance, which I find encouraging. Nothing that redefining the position, but certainly competent.

-What happened to Meireles? Hasn't been nearly the factor he was.

I don't think there's much left to play for this season, which would seem an excellent time to see if Danny Wilson can play in the center of defense and Spearing in the midfield. We might as well find out if these are going to be useful pieces for next year, even if they're going to be squad players. Shelvey as well, who just returned to the reserves.