Achilles Heel

Liverpool 3-1 Zenit (3-3; Zenit win on away goals) | Europa League | Football | The Guardian
From the first time I watched Liverpool play, and increasingly as telecasts became common and pandemic, the back pass to the goalie has always seemed cringeworthy. This has always tended to derail all the good effort of teams in the past. This Achilles heel came back to haunt Liverpool last night with Jamie Carragher at the center of the issue. It had to be, of course, with him playing in his 150th and possibly his last European tie. Thus, Jamie wrote himself into history by being the catalyst for departure from Europe in his last season.
In truth, this departure was already set in the first leg. The hero of the second leg, Luis Suarez, was culpable of at least 5 misses in Russia, any one of which would have swung the tie Liverpool's way. Not to say that the rest of the team was blameless, with defensive lapses being the norm of this team.
Positives from last night included Ossama Assaidi's display and the inspiring comeback of the team from adversity. Now we need to build on this release from European burden to chase back to the continent next year. And to finish above Everton, of course.