WITH friends like this, who needs enemies?

Having extended a warm welcome to Liverpool with one hand, Borussia Moenchengladbach delivered a slap in the face with the other.

After the encouragement of the Europa League stroll against FK Rabotnicki on Thursday came the stark reality check as Roy Hodgson's difficult start to life in the hotseat at Anfield continued.

Forget the result. Defeats in friendly matches count for nothing when the real stuff starts.

It is instead the performance of his team that will have caused Hodgson more concern and justified his fears they are ill-prepared for the beginning of the Premier League campaign.

Yes, some of Liverpool's players are ready. But as a whole, the squad appears a long, long way short of what will surely be required when Arsenal come to town on August 15.

That is just 13 days away. And with Hodgson only this morning enjoying the luxury of having an entire squad given the return of World Cup finalists Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Dirk Kuyt and Ryan Babel, it is impossible to expect everyone to be on the same level inside less than a fortnight.

Although bolstered by debutant Joe Cole and England colleagues Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Glen Johnson, yesterday's was a performance in keeping with those that have gone before this pre-season.

Sure, Hodgson's Liverpool, similar to his Fulham side, are already showing signs of good organisation and discipline, qualities any successful team must possess.

But going forward, the Anfield outfit have thus far been alarmingly toothless, their ongoing lack of threat and creativity highlighted by just a single shot on target yesterday.

Indeed, David Ngog's brace in Macedonia are the only goals Hodgson has seen his team score, the latest blank following a stalemate against Grasshopper and defeat to Kaiserslautern.