Boro 1-1 Reds: More draws, more woes

Fernando Torres saving our skin is becoming an all too familiar story but even today it was not enough to hide another draw, another poor result and another chance missed to catch up on the top three. Instead we find ourselves fourth but on the same points as Everton, Villa and Man City below us and at the moment looking more likely to be involved in a a scrap for the final Champions League spot instead of the title challenge we expected and hoped for after such a great start.

The autumn of promise has very much turned into a winter of discontent. On and off the field there is uncertainty about the future and that is certainly not helping things. Nor is the poor form of a number of players and the sheer lack of quality in the likes of Andriy Voronin and John Arne Riise who, lets face it, bar some periods of good form has never quite matched his debut season at the club six years ago. Harsh, but in hindsight, I think it's true.

We can look forward to the return of Daniel Agger, on the bench today, and Jermaine Pennant, although he's been mysteriously absent these last two games. But the likes of Dirk Kuyt, Peter Crouch (when played), Harry Kewell, and even Steve Finnan and Jamie Carragher are playing below the level we have to come to expect from them.

In Torres we have a genuine golden boy who can do great things but he can't do it all on his own and nor can Steven Gerrard. We need more goals coming from midfield and better distribution and final balls from the likes of Ryan Babel, whose introduction at Boro did change the game but his final ball is really lacking. It will come in time, but we don't have time.

As the newspapers and media concentrate all their powers on unsettling Rafa with Allardyce now gone it will become harder and harder for the team to perform when there's such uncertainty. Same goes for Rafa, how can he be expected to perform to his best as a manager when he doesn't know whether or not he'll be here next summer? It's an interesting question that not many have raised. He says it's not bothering him but subconsciously it must surely be having an affect.

These are uncertain times. With two home games coming up against crisis club Luton Town in the FA Cup on Wednesday and high flying Aston Villa in the league on Monday week there is a perfect opportunity to restore some stability and some confidence to the side but there was nothing inspiring about yesterday's result which makes me all the more nervous about these games.