When admiration and agony, support and sympathy, incomprehension and ignominy are married on the same evening, it is proof that life at Liverpool grows more surreal by the day. Only at Anfield, right now, are such sharply contrasting emotions merging within 90 minutes.
The immediate focus may be on the embarrassment caused by Liverpool's plight. Monday's 2-2 draw with Birmingham means they have only won one of their last nine games, the sort of run more normally associated with their spirited visitors. When they trailed 2-1, a seventh defeat in that time was threatened. Liverpool, it goes without saying, are not accustomed to this. It was averted by Steven Gerrard, scoring a penalty David Ngog won. The young Frenchman was branded a cheat by Birmingham and Benitez himself, in a gesture few of his managerial counterparts would have made, admitted it was not a foul. Only at Anfield, perhaps, would it have been said.
Birmingham's disbelief at the decision mirrored Liverpool's incredulity at the position they found themselves in. Wave after wave of Red attacks produced a solitary legitimate strike, scored by Ngog; two breaks by Birmingham brought goals for a shot-shy side who had been the Premier League's lowest scorers. Only at Anfield, it seems, are Alex McLeish's men prolific. Their second, by Cameron Jerome, ranked among the finest of the season, yet it was his first strike for seven months. Only at Anfield, it appears, do such things happen right.
But despite the angst, the man-ager retains the backing of the crowd. Only at Anfield, he may be grateful, if that is the case. Benitez's fondness for the facts is much mocked, but it is understandable if such a methodical man struggles to comprehend them. Liverpool had 35 attempts at goal, enjoyed 78 per cent of possession, spent so much time encamped in the Birmingham half that they effectively operated with four forwards and Glen Johnson as an auxiliary right winger.
They played with character, verve and some quality, yet their reprieve came courtesy of a penalty that should not have been awarded. "If someone had told you at the start of the season that you'd win one in nine, you'd be laughing your head off," said the outstanding Johnson. "The record sounds awful and it is awful for a club like Liverpool. But things like this happen in football. You stick together and keep fighting.
"We want to be winning these games and I felt we did more than enough to take three points but it just wasn't meant to be." Indeed a winner appeared an inevitability amid incessant pressure. But Liverpool, wounded by the concession of late goals in the Champions League, were unable to score one. "We had chances, we dominated the game and you can see everyone was working for the cause," added Johnson. "It's just one of those times for us at the minute and we just need to keep working.
"As long as we keep showing the togetherness and passion that we did here, then I'm sure we will come through with a smile on our face." Smiles, however, have become something of a rarity. From the under-pressure manager to the overworked club doctor, it is a trying time. Analysis of the performance has to be assessed along with the latest medical bulletins. After a month on the sidelines, Albert Riera's comeback was curtailed when he left with a hamstring problem. Yossi Benayoun incurred a similar injury.
Fernando Torres did not figure at all while Gerrard, who was Riera's replacement, threatened another of his virtuoso displays without appearing fully fit. Nor, seemingly, was Alberto Aquilani, a late replacement who made his Premier League debut. With 10 days remaining before Manchester City visit Anfield, Benitez is already embarking on the now-familiar search for a fully fit first 11. Even then, 10 days without a fixture may not offer respite. While Torres and Gerrard have been omitted by Vicente del Bosque and Fabio Capello respectively, the Liverpool squad have a collective and unfortunate habit of returning from a call-up for their country in an unfit condition to figure for their employers.
Only at Anfield do international breaks appear to exacerbate the injury problems. And given the club's seeming ability to shoot themselves in the foot, the irony escaped few when Birmingham's first goal came from Benitez: Christian Benitez, their Ecuadorian striker. And only at Anfield could that happen @Email:rjolly@thenational.ae
