As Danny Murphy shook hands with the stand-in captain Jamie Carragher before the match, it was hard not to reminisce how much the opposing captain of the day was seen and proved as a banker at Old Trafford in his Liverpool playing days. Fulham at home is as equally a banker, but at the end of the ninety minutes this banker proved solid and reliable as much as the failed mortgage banks in the United States. Comparatively enough to the situation, Newcastle bailed out the day and the joint leading position by replicating Fulham’s feat and keeping Chelsea at bay.

It was more a case of missing what you haven’t got rather than appreciating and making the most of what was on offer. With the captain Steven Gerrard on the sidelines due to an injury, Rafa had to shuffle his midfield, and I guess it was one shuffle too many as one of the men of the moment, Xabi Alonso ended up on the bench, with Lucas Leiva taking his place. It was another chance for the Brazilian to shine, but rather than standing out, he fitted well with the drab and gloomy weather that a November afternoon like yesterday can offer. The defence did alright, keeping a clean sheet, even though admittedly Pepe Reina had to be as alert as ever, and actually pulled out a couple of great saves to save the day. The midfield found it hard to get going and never actually did. Bursts into the penalty areas were few and far in between. Albert Riera was busying himself, making himself available and carrying the ball forward but ultimately on the day he was more of a hod-carrier than a builder. On the other side of the flank, Dirk Kuyt was as busy as usual, and got even pretty close as soon as the fifth minute, but that was the closest he ever got all game.

Alongside Robbie Keane, Fernando Torres looked lively and had the urgency that some of his team-mates looked to have missing, a signature of his on the score-sheet looked promising but never materialised. Xabi Alonso did make an appearance later on the match, but while doing all the right things his cameo appearance failed to pull the strings one more time and give Liverpool what they wanted and needed, as patience was being transformed to nail biting, not much by the work on the pitch as much as that of the clock. The last throw of the dice by Rafa was the throwing of the youthful Nabil El Zhar. The latter had a couple of bursts into their defence that his energy seems to afford him to but ultimately his nine minutes on the pitch could not forget us the previous eighty-one.

Liverpool have failed a banker, and as Murphy trotted out the pitch with his head held respectably high, the consolation of the day was the respectable position that Liverpool kept, the same respect an ex-Liverpool player who treats the red shirt with dignity will ever get on a return to Anfield.