Liverpool beaten by Hull, field new recruits Henderson and Downing

Kenny Dalglish was not overtly disappointed with the result but expected better

Liverpool suffered their first pre-season defeat to Hull City on a trip to the KC stadium. Liverpool conceded three goals in the match to the shock of the Kop. Dalglish blamed “fatigue” for the pre-season defeat. Liverpool just concluded their Asia tour and have been training vociferously since then Dalglish said, “We trained yesterday as if it was a game.” Robby Brady, Robert Koren and Jay Simpson scored for Hull in the match.

The dismal result for Liverpool comes in the wake of some ambitious statements from the players but the performance on the pitch has been contradictory. Dalglish was quick to admit that the loss cannot be taken lightly even though it was just a pre-season match. He said that he “expected a bit better than that”.

The match was furthermore significant for it saw Jordan Henderson, Alexander Doni and Stewart Downing make their first appearance in the Reds jersey. Charlie Adam was appreciated on the Asia tour and he was a part of this game as well. Out of the new additions, Jordan Henderson looked most impressive on the ball. He was full of energy and power. There has been enough debate on the young English mid-fielder’s signing and the extravagant fee paid for him to Sunderland but he seems to be overcoming all that.

The other new Reds player on the pitch was Stewart Downing. The former Aston Villa winger was substituted by Dalglish post halftime. He was one of the 11 changes made and almost made an instant impact. He forced a fine save from Hull’s goalkeeper Adriano Basso. The purpose of signing Downing was to give Liverpool the width that they have been lacking so far. Downing’s crossing was satisfactory but could have been much better. He said in a post match interview, “I’ve enjoyed it up to now and it was nice to be out there. It was a disappointing result but pre-season is all about fitness.”

Meanwhile, another Liverpool recruit Luis Suarez scored in the Copa America final to help his national side to lift the cup. Suarez was the first to open the scoring for Uruguay and Diego Forlan scored twice to give Uruguay a comfortable 3-0 win over Paraguay. Liverpool is putting a lot of faith in the forward and his absence in the pre-season might have a bearing on the club’s performance. David Ngog who started against Hull was disappointing once again as he missed some very good opportunities handed out to him by the Liverpool mid-field.