For the best part of three decades, Liverpool FC ruled English football - yet the 1990s have been a relatively barren time for the merseyside club, especially in terms of Premiership success. Last season saw a change of management, with Roy Evans the casualty - as Gerard Houllier attempted a lone attempt to strive for glory. Unfortunately, however, he failed to achieve any silverware and their final league placing, of seventh, was their second lowest since before the days of Bill Shankly. Clearly, this season is very much 'make or break time'.

Houllier's transfer activity over the summer has taken even die-hard Liverpool supporters by surprise. Bred on the continuity and stability of the years between Shankly and Dalglish, they have never seen anything to compare with the wholesale clearouts that have taken place during this pre-season. McManaman, Ince and James have all departed, yet it is the incoming transfers that have raised the most eyebrows. Liverpool now boast one of the most multi-cultural squads in the Premiership.

Whether the Liverpool manager's approach will prove successful, only time will tell. Yet early signs are far from promising. They did manage to produce an opening day win, at Sheffield Wednesday - but victory against the Premiership's bottom club is hardly something to set the pulse racing, especially as it has been followed up by a catastrophic home defeat against newcomers, Watford, and, on Saturday, a 1-0 defeat away to Middlesbrough, where United old boy Brian deane scored the winning goal.

Liverpool will clearly be arriving at Elland Road on Monday desperate for a win - with a third successive Premiership defeat, so early in the season, almost unthinkable. It will be interesting to see what are Houllier's tactics. Will he follow the Derby and Sunderland method - of attempting to spoil the play - or adopt a more attacking philosophy. Certainly, until recently, the latter would have been unthinkable for a Liverpool team visiting Elland Road. Yet last season, in the corresponding fixture, this was exactly the Liverpool Manager's approach - the most defensive minded Liverpool side I've ever seen more than happy to take away a single point, in a lack lustre 0-0 draw - with the Sky cameras present. Again, TV will be here on Monday night, hoping for a far more entertaining match.

Sometimes you get beat, feeling completely frustrated that you had much the better of the game. However, this was not one of those nights. Even the most die-hard United fans must have left Elland Road at the final whistle (if not before!) knowing that the visitors had totally deserved to take away the three points. The only real surprise was that a completely lack lustre Leeds outfit managed to keep the score down to a relatively respectable 2-1. It could have been much much worse!

From United's point of view, the game started well enough. But the immediate surprise was Liverpool's attitude to the match. Having seen the defensive way they approached last season's encounter at Elland Road, and considering the understandable pressure that an Elland Road defeat would force upon Houllier, I thought they might adopt a similar strategy tonight. However, this did not prove to be the case, as a highly open game unfolded. Surely, this would suit our free passing game, I mused. Unfortunately, this again did not prove to be the case.

Over the first quarter of an hour, Leeds had marginally the best of the action, but both sides were squandering possession too easily. The two main problems with the way this Leeds team play their football - which is all to do with pace, fancy flicks and one touch movement - is that, although when it comes off it can make us look like absolute worldbeaters, when it doesn't it can leave us looking rather lightweight. This proved to be the case tonight. Also, it is becoming increasingly noticeable just how weak we are in the air these days. To Leeds fans used to the aerial prowess of Chapman, Deane and even Jimmy, it takes a little getting used to, as the opposition beat us to almost every high ball, as was the case tonight. Lack of an aerial presence also makes us a little one dimensional in our attacks. If all the fancy football fails, we don't have another option, even at corner kicks - which, as was the case last season, offer little threat to our opponents.

As the first half continued, it was Liverpool who began to create the better chances. Their summer signing, the powerfully built (if rather unfortunately named) Titi Camara began to look an ominous figure down the left - and it was he who set up a good chance for David Thompson. However, the latter aimed his header directly at Nigel Martyn.

Then, in the fourteenth minute, a swift Liverpool move on the left led to Berger crossing to Redknapp on the edge of the United area. The Liverpool man brushed past Harte, then unleashed a powerful shot past Martyn. From behind the Revie stand, it looked like the ball must hit the back of the net, but somehow Lee Bowyer flew across the goal-line to head the ball to safety. It was a miraculous clearance, reminiscent of Paul Reaney, and it should have sent the alarm bells ringing. It certainly did with the fans, if not the players.

Then , in the twentieth minute, rather against the run of play, we took the lead. Harte's corner dropped at the feet of Liverpool defender, Rigobert Song, and with Huckerby threatening to prod the ball home, the Cameroon man promptly saved him the bother, knocking the ball into his own net.

Surely, this rather fortuitous breakthrough would rouse the Leeds team into being a more dominant force? Well, marginally so, but once again possession was squandered in promising positions. In particular, Huckerby and Kewell seemed to be on different wavelengths down the left flank. However, with the half time whistle imminent, we would have been more than happy to take a 1-0 lead into the second half. However, seconds before the break, disaster struck.

Liverpool mounted yet another pacy attack into the Leeds area, with the United defence very much on the back foot. Radebe, who during the opening period had been his usual dependable self, managed to get a tackle in on Berger but the ball rebounded to Camara on the left hand edge of the box. Still there didn't seem to be a major danger but the Liverpool new boy hit a first time shot, which looped over the outstretched arms of Martyn, off the crossbar and into the goal. It was about the only spot which would have beaten the Leeds keeper but was no more than the visitors deserved. Almost immediately, the half time whistle blew.

Surely O'Leary must have given the players a major blasting at half time. But you would never have guessed it from the way the players returned after the interval. It was symbolic that the scousers arrived onto the pitch two minutes before United, going through what looked like an exhausting warm up routine. Someone near me in the Revie stand joked that they'd be knackered by the time the game recommenced. Unfortunately, though, the opposite proved to be the case. They started with a real spring in their step, leaving Leeds looking sluggish in comparison.

As far as how the rest of the match went, from a United point of view, there isn't really much to be said. With our players seemingly unable to string more than a handful of passes together and squandering the ball in all areas of the pack, we never looked like troubling the Liverpool defence. On the other hand, as they attacked at every opportunity, with pace and precision, there seemed to be an inevitability that they would be the ones to take the lead.

In the 53rd minute, Berger came within a whisker of putting the reds 2-1 up. Matteo fed him from the left, he moved menacingly towards goal but hit his shot too close to the Leeds keeper. However, moments later, we weren't to escape. Berger was again involved as he played a calculated ball behind the United defence. Radebe and Fowler both attacked the ball but the final touch came off the Leeds Captain as it skewed into the net, between the fingertips of Martyn and his right hand post. As with the first goal, a few centimetres either way and the shot would have been either saved or hit the post. Perhaps a little unlucky, especially for the valiant Radebe but, again, a more than fair reflection of the play.

O'Leary replaced Bridges with the freshly scalped Smith and Hopkin with Bakke but to no avail. As the Leeds Manager pointed out afterwards, this was without doubt the worst performance since he took control, a night when almost every one of the outfield players had an 'off' day, the only possible exceptions being the ever-eager Bowyer and the unfortunate Radebe. The whole match was perhaps best typified by a dead ball situation, close to the end, with United desperately looking for what would have been an undeserved equaliser. Instead of Kewell tapping the free kick to Harte, to hammer the ball towards goal, they attempted an elaborate series of flicks which immediately squandered possession feebly to Liverpool.

A night where we had hoped to go level on points with Man United actually saw us slip a place to seventh - but more importantly left some serious doubts over our realistic ambitions this season. Although it might well turn out to be a solitary lapse, similar to the game at Southampton last season, it now puts pressure on us for the Spurs game on Saturday. In the topsy turvy world Of Premiership football, should we lose that one, O'Leary will be facing his first real managerial challenge since he took control twelve months ago.

Leeds Star Man: Lee Bowyer