LIVERPOOL FC had a really poor time at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. And while that does happen occasionally, Kenny Dalglish will know it now can’t again for a long time.

Forget about the going down to nine men. Liverpool just didn’t start the game and that was their downfall.

They were poor, whereas Tottenham were excellent.

There were always going to be problems with Martin Skrtel playing as right-back against Gareth Bale. It was a complete mismatch.

I felt a bit sorry for Skrtel. He’s a big, six-foot-plus lumbering centre-back. Glen Johnson against Bale would have been a good contest. This, though, was not.

What you are looking for is support for Skrtel, whether it’s from the right-sided centre-back or the right-sided midfielder. He got none.

For example, Everton went there last year and double-marked Bale with Phil Neville involved.

Liverpool, though, thought they could have a go at Tottenham as they aren’t the best defensively.

But they had no platform to build attacks from, and it meant every time Tottenham had the ball they looked like they would score. Liverpool were just continually sliced through.

You could possibly go to Arsenal and even Chelsea with a centre-back as right-back because neither team plays with great width, but you can’t visit the likes of Tottenham or Manchester United and expect to get away with it.