Liverpool need a wake-up call after 'nightmare'

The 18-time English champions continued their torrid start to the season with a 2-1 defeat to Blackpool.

LIVERPOOL // Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, summed up his team's afternoon yesterday with one word - nightmare.

The 18-time English champions continued their torrid start to the season as Charlie Adam's penalty and Luke Varney's perfectly-timed run and finish gave Premier League newcomers Blackpool a shock win at Anfield. Although Sotirios Kyrgiakos's header pulled one back, the result leaves Liverpool in the bottom three.

They have won just one of their seven league matches - a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at home - and are 18th in the table with just six points. "I'd rather not think about it," was Hodgson's response to being asked about the game. "We had the ball as much as them but did not do anything with it anywhere near enough to satisfy my, the club's or the players' demands.

"Their great result is our nightmare result. It is a very bad day and there is nothing I can say. I am not going to think too much about relegation with 31 games to go." Ian Holloway, Blackpool's manager, admitted the departure of Fernando Torres, the Liverpool striker, with an injury after just 10 minutes gave his side an unexpected boost.

"To see the best striker in the world limp off after a few minutes, I can't tell you what that did for us," he said. "His mere presence is awesome so to see him come off played into our hands and helped us."

Holloway said it was one of the best days of his football career. "It is one of the dreams I've had for years," added Holloway, whose side were applauded off by the home fans. "When the fans were singing 'You'll Never Walk Alone' - it's my dad's favourite song but he's no longer with me - I was singing myself and it was a bit emotional.

"The boys made me so proud and for that set of supporters to clap us off that is all I wanted - that was what my dream was last night."

* Press Association