You might excuse the exuberance and the naivety of a teenage Liverpool kid throwing a big balloon in his own team’s penalty area but you can’t excuse the disjointed ninety minute performance by the Liverpool lads today at the Stadium of Light. The manager might have had a whole series of grievances under his sleeve before a ball has been even kicked but his eleven today have left him down and rendered all the grievances as simply excuses. An international week is always welcomed by Benitez as much as the sight of Hicks and Gillett in his office unannounced. Usually, it seems to happen in the middle of a run of positive results that simply kills the momentum. This time it was not the case as so far this season Liverpool has never garnered any kind of momentum. The injuries of both Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were more like an unwarranted dress down by the same Yanks. But things like that happen, and at times as recent as last year, such circumstances would lead the whole setup of Liverpool Football Club to huddle together, and stand up to be counted in the face of such adversity.

Just before kick-off, the news of a Chelsea defeat to Aston Villa should have made such a huddle the more enticing, as through all this rain and adversity there was a rainbow on the horizon. But it seems a huddle is only effective when there is a togetherness. It is true that it was a freak goal. It is as true that this happened as early as the fourth minute and there was ample time for a proper response. But Liverpool were at times outrun, and at other times outfought. The other excuse might be that the combo of shirt and shorts was unmatching and an eyesore. Then again, not many of the eleven were fit to wear the whole combo of red shirt and red shorts as once in the sixties Bill Shankly has devised.

Any squad, any team would miss his two main stars. But let us not forget that there is a mass gulf between a supposed top four side like Liverpool and the rest. Sunderland this season has punched above Steve Bruce’s weight, and that is some achievement. At home, they are a decent side, bordering on the dangerous. Give them space and time and they can hurt. Today, Liverpool afforded them both. How they themselves cope under pressure, I am unable to tell, as Liverpool never pressurized them, which is the most disappointing or even depressing aspect of the day. And Liverpool had enough talent and millions of pounds on the field to at least do that to Sunderland.

Just before the ninetieth minute, the fourth official announced seven minutes of extra-time. He just added salt to the wound. For one particular moment, David N’Gog went agonizingly close but that was that. While there were no balloons to help Liverpool score, there wasn’t much intent and urgency making up for the lack of a balloon.

Liverpool are left with a lump of four defeats out of nine matches though. It is still October and the mere talk of a title challenge is as out of context as a red balloon in a funeral. And another balloon might be needed, not to travel the world in eighty days but to cling to a Champions League berth.