It is been some time since I did my post-match analysis so it seems rather unfair to pick it up again when the team is playing so poorly. And they were woeful for most of the game against Middlesbrough. Granted, we always struggle at the Riverside but this time it was as if all confidence had been flushed from the players. How else can you explain that many misplaced passes?

Rafael Benitez has to take responsability as well. As much as I hate criticising players, I don't think that Andrei Voronin will ever be anything near good enought to play for Liverpool. So too, playing Riise at left midfield just isn't going to work.

Good Game
Fernando Torres actually had a very quite first half but that was purely due to the way in which the team was playing - Torres upfront and Voronin working behind him - but when he started going wider in the second half he began giving the Middlesbrough back four some serious problems before scoring a fantastic goal. My man of the match. As always, Javier Mascherano had a solid game in front of the back four and there's nothing he did which can be faulted. That said, I did think that it was a waste to keep him on the pitch once Alonso came on. For me, Yossi Benayoun is another who had a decent game - taking him off certainly seemed strange to me - and when he gets the ball you can sense that he can create something. Opposing defenders seem to feel the same way too seeing how they tend to back off. Unfortunately, he didn't get that much of the ball to cause them too many problems.

Bad Game
Partially at fault in the goal Pepe Reina also gave us a couple of frights when coming for the ball outside the box. The back four held their line well - continuously catching the Boro forwards offside - yet they conceeded a stupid goal and creatively they were shocking. I can't recall how many times Jamie Carragher and Steve Finnan aimlessly launched the ball forward. Sami Hyppia too was poor with his passing but my personal theory is that Hyppia has been carrying a knock for the past couple of games and is only playing because there is no one else.

Alvaro Arbeloa was really struggling but he too has the possible excuse of being injured - that's why I think he was taken off - but that's not something available to John Arne Riise who didn't send in a single decent cross in the first half despite seeing a lot of the ball. To be fair to him, he got better when moved to left-back but at this rate he'll have to thank the lack of alternatives on the left for keeping his place in the side.

He's carried us a bit lately but Steven Gerrard was poor against Wigan and so too against Middlesbrough. Perhaps the realisation that he won't be winning the league is seeping in.

And then we get to Andrei Voronin. When I saw him in the first pre-season friendlies I was really excited by Voronin. He looked intelligent and he looked as if he could finish. As the season has progressed, however, he's gone from bad to worse. He can't seem to pass, head or do anything with the ball. On the few occasions that Liverpool looked like setting up a decent move in the first half, it all fell down when the ball got to him. The worst player on the pitch which, seeing what Boro have got, is saying something.

Substitutes
If there's one thing that we learned against Middlesbrough, it is that Ryan Babbel must start. I'd rather he did so as a striker alongside Torres but on the left will do as well. I'm one of those who feel that Liverpool have missed Xabi Alonso a lot but when he came on yesterday he seemed to get into the overall mood of the side. His passing was poor and he looked awfully slow. Benitez wanted him to start dictating play but he let his manager - and the side - down. Dirk Kuyt was played on the left wing to allow Babbel to move up front and barely got a kick of the ball. Still, a massive improvement on Voronin.