It's Best It Ended When It Did for Liverpool

Liverpool crashed out of the Europa League at the hands of Braga on Thursday as the Reds failed to overturn a one goal deficit which they suffered in Portugal last week. I say "crashed out" - it would be far more suitable to compare the failing to a slow, tiresome burning out and eventual gentle stop rather than eventful, action packed full car chase ending in an exploding and manic "crash". I watched the match, and in hindsight I wished I hadn't.

If Kenny Dalglish's long term future relies on the upcoming performances and results in matches, then this was indeed worrying for him and his future. Of course he is probably the best choice for Liverpool as long term manager - having the full and undying support from the fans is and will be vital - but this performance, much like all of Liverpool's European performances this season, have been uninspiring and just plain boring. Fair enough if you get the end result, but when your not even getting a goal against the 6th place Portuguese League side, you know there are problems.

The fact that Andy Carroll started for Liverpool had pundits and commentators alike, excited beyond belief with the idea that long balls would be expertly nodded down by the big man for either Cole or Meireles to smash home. It actually conspired that Joe Cole was woeful as he has been during his short Liverpool career so far. I hesitate in blasting Cole who is obviously a quality player, but he did pretty much nothing against Braga to warrant £90,000 a week. This is, after all, a player whom Steven Gerrard compared to Lionel Messi when he first signed for Liverpool.

Carroll started his first game for Liverpool and couldn't get into the game. The team lacks the ability to cross from the wings, with Johnson often being the main provider. Johnson was coincidental swiftly closed down whenever he received the ball in a dangerous position as if to emphasise the danger of his and Carroll's combination. Carroll did what he does though - getting his head on anything he can and occasional holding the ball up well when he found it at his feet. He ran and ran, copying the template of the tireless Dirk Kuyt, but in this case, it was to no avail.

It was best it ended here though. Lets face it, Liverpool with this team had no chance of winning the competition when other teams in the competition have far more creativity and spark than the Reds do without the very important but cup-tied Luiz Suarez. It was a toothless display from Liverpool who can now concentrate on their domestic and far more important competition of the Premier League. They will be fighting for a place in the Europa League next year so they can bore us all over again. Joy!

Braga 2 - 0 Arsenal - Watch Goals - Fabregas & Eboue Injured

Watch the goals on the links below.

Braga First Goal

Braga Second Goal

Tempers were running high after the game, with Arsenal furious with the referees decision not to give a penalty to Arsenal, which could have changed the game in Arsenals favour. Carlos Vela was booked for a dive when he was clearly brought down, but this cannot mask the poor perfomance from the London side.

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was brought off in the 69th minute and Wenger said:

"Fabregas has a hamstring injury so it's difficult to predict how long he will be out for. But he will definitely be out for the weekend."

While Emmanuel Eboue was also added to the injury list after a nasty challenge on him from behind. Wenger said:

"Eboue will be out for a few weeks because he took a very bad tackle, unpunished. It is a medial knee ligament injury."

Wenger wasn't finished there however. He went on to claim his team are in an unlucky period of their season which will pass while he critisized UEFA's additional officials and branded the system "useless".

"We are going through a period where we have bad luck, we had Eboue kicked off the park without any punishment and we also had the penalty turned down.

"What was the fifth official doing? We have another proof that it is absolutely useless, this system.

"Then when we were 10 against 11, we made a mistake at the back, there was a minimum of communication and that's where we were punished."

"[Not having qualfied yet] is a concern, but we'll make it."

Defender Johan Djourou added:

"It's very hard to take."

The two goals came late on in the game - both in counter attacks from Braga in which Arsenal were left short at the back. Clinical finishing played a big part as you can see above, but Arsenal really should have been looking for a simple win against the Portugese club.

There will be calls again for Wengers reign to be over at Arsenal; extremist views, but views which are becoming more understandable as the dissapointing results keep coming in. It is hard to take for the patient Arsenal fans everywhere, but Wenger knows this. The bad results may be a wake-up call - a call that will alert Wenger to the need for improvements to his squad; a new goalkeeper? Stronger defenders? Or maybe it is simply a physcological problem.

Arsenal have good quality players, and they have a manager widely regarded as a football genius. It is odd then that they have so many weaknesses, or rather such a large single weakness.