Well the least said about this one the better if we're being honest as the Reds were woeful from start to finish and only had a goal from Craig Bellamy to take from the game.
The Reds travelled to lowly Bolton and I must admit I was in a positive state of mind for this one but sadly I don't play for the club and those that do were in a state of mind elsewhere.
From the start to the end of this one it was just a match to forget really. We massively lacked a midfielder who could shield the defence that had been so strong all season. With that gone it became very difficult and it was exposed as early as the fourth minute when Mark Davies ghosted straight through the middle of the defence after Skrtel had got caught following Ngog out of the area. Once the ball was played beyond Skrtel all Davies had to do was hold his nerve - which he did and it was 1-0.
The only thing with going behind so early in a match is that you get a huge amount of time to play your way back in to the game. That's the easy theory anyway but putting theory in to practice doesn't always happen does it.
It all seemed a bit rare for us to have a shot on goal - Henderson had a long ranger on seventeen minutes but Bogdan was equal to it as the Reds tried to get in to it but the heart just seemed to be elsewhere. We weren't winning the loose balls and were being outplayed by a side who started the game second from bottom.
Just before the half hour mark the score got worse for the Reds as Nigel Reo-Coker bagged Bolton's second of the day. He timed his run in to the box with perfection and with little in the way of a challenge who shot past Reina and with us looking so bad it felt game over.
With the Reds looking ordinary all over the pitch this was proving a very difficult match. You can normally accommodate say one player being below par but there was so many in this side it was hard to see anything coming from it.
On thirty six minutes we were given a lifeline to the game though as Adam flicked a ball to Carroll who in turn headed it over the back line and Bellamy raced on to it and despite what I thought was a poor touch the keeper was slow off his line and Beller's slotted home. If you need a lift then a goal is surely it and it had come before half time too. We'd played poorly but I guessed at two one and a half time rollicking we might still be ok in this one.
Sadly between this goal and half time there was little for us to cheer other than hoping that the one livewire - Bellamy would carve himself a chance - no-one else was likely to create it.
At half time there were no changes made although there could easily have been some - Carragher for one would have been ideal to sit in midfield and replace Adam who was getting lost in the middle.
Just four minutes in and whatever was said at half time was out of the window as Bolton scored their third goal through full back Steinsson who struck home from about twelve yards unmarked in the middle of the box after a corner wasn't cleared. Whatever was wrong their at the corner in some minds I could come up with a host of different ideas - no man on the post - no marking, no attempting to get to a loose ball first.
Jose Enrique picked up a yellow card just after the hour mark after he fouled Eagles - this was turning in to Enrique's worst game in a Red shirt and he was joined by many others on the day.
A minute later and the Reds tried to mix it up a bit with Kuyt replacing Maxi and Downing replacing Adam. It altered the players around position a bit but didn't alter the poor play and this just couldn't end soon enough. Had we battered them and just not got the rub of the green then fair enough sometimes that could happen but the players switched off and were obviously more worried about the cup semi final and the chance to go to Wembley - play like this and you won't reach there never mind deserve a place in the side.
The closest we came to a goal in the second half was when Daniel Agger strode forward from defence and hit a shot from thirty yards which flew off the top of the bar and over for a goal kick.
Scoring a second would only have given hope of a dramatic 3-3 comeback and frankly we got what we deserved from this one.
MotM : Craig Bellamy - about the only positive in the match and it was a shame for him that he had no real help.
Post game I've read that Kenny has criticised the players and that's right as well and not before time with some of them. Stating some thing behind closed doors obviously is good but I'm glad he did this one in the open.
