Wanted: a slick sidekick for Owen

Lack of variety is hampering Liverpool. Alex Hayes says Houllier may have to buy

Gérard Houllier has always favoured team graft over individual genius. That is why the Frenchman has been asking his players to rediscover their self-belief as a collective unit in recent weeks. Beggars, though, cannot be choosers, so Michael Owen's return to goalscoring habits will have to do for now.

Liverpool's performance against a limited Vitesse Arnhem side in the Uefa Cup on Thursday did little to suggest that the present malaise has passed. This was yet another bitty performance, where the Reds continued to play as if they had the blues. The greatest concern is lack of variety in the team's approach. No one was expecting Houllier's strugglers to knock the ball around with effortless ease or score a glut of goals, but the repetitive use of the long ball down the middle produced only two clear chances all evening.

Ian Rush – now he did know where the net was – admits that he was surprised Liverpool were not able to hit the target more often on Thursday. "Liverpool have been threatening to dish out a real hammering," says the former striker, who has just completed his Uefa A coaching licence. "Nothing is better for a side's confidence than crashing in a few goals, and I thought the Vitesse match would present them with the ideal opportunity to do that. But it didn't happen because too many key players are not delivering."

At least Thursday saw Owen score his first goal in five games. Houllier may prefer group therapy, but he will be delighted that his cherished striker has managed to find his own hangover cure. Owen's strike was by no means crisp, but it took him to within one of Rush's club record of 18 European goals. This has not been the most consistent of starts to the new campaign for the man who barely had time to rest because of World Cup commitments, and yet he has already found the net 15 times. As Rush himself pointed out: "If this is a bad season, I wish I'd had more of them."

The same could be said of Liverpool, who despite all the criticism are still in the title race and safely through to the fourth round of the Uefa Cup. Their next opponents will be Auxerre, a club managed by Houllier's friend of 30 years, Guy Roux. Both Frenchmen have suffered heart attacks in the last 18 months, and both recuperated together in Corsica. "We were like two old pensioners," Houllier joked on Friday. "Guy is a very good manager and a very good man. I have been at Liverpool for more than four years but this will be the first French club I've faced. I look forward to it."

Between now and the first leg in February, keeping Owen fit remains a priority. But finding him a regular partner has become a necessity. It tells you everything about the lack of stability up front that Houllier has used seven different combinations over the course of the 28 games played. That is, in effect, a change of partnership every four games. No wonder the likes of Emile Heskey and El Hadji Diouf are so often low on confidence. Strikers need to play together for at least a dozen matches before they can build up a genuine understanding, and yet none of the pairings has been used more than 10 times this season. The former Liverpool greats, such as Kevin Keegan and John Toshack, or Kenny Dalglish and Rush, were given time to find their feet. Even allowing for the much heavier schedule, Houllier must do the same with two of his front men. But which ones?

If we accept that Owen is a "must" starter, then there are three players vying for the second striker's berth. Considering he has made 10 appearances up front, Heskey remains the favoured option. Yet Houllier has admitted the England international is less effective than he once was in the central role, "because defenders have worked out how to play against him". Heskey has strength and pace, but put two players close to him and his lack of trickery is a barrier. He may not get out of his suit for today's match against Sunderland if he has not recovered from ankle injury.

Diouf arrived in the summer, on the back of an explosive World Cup with Senegal, as Owen's first-choice partner. He started brightly enough, but has gone off the boil since the cold weather set in. You suspect he will eventually settle, although the concern remains that his best position is the same as Owen's.

Which leaves Houllier with one last option: Milan Baros. The Czech Republic striker is still only 20, but looks the most hungry and confident of the three at the moment. It said much about their respective states of mind that, on Thursday evening, Diouf trotted off as soon as he saw the substitutes' board being prepared although his number was not originally up there, while Baros created more havoc in the Vitesse defence in the last 10 minutes than his colleagues had managed during the whole match.

Baros will surely start alongside Owen at the Stadium of Light, but you cannot help thinking that the answer to Liverpool's problems lies outside the club. What Houllier needs is a creator, a real No 10 who can offer something different. Teams have worked out that the best way to play against Liverpool is to sit back and soak up their long balls through the centre. If Houllier could find a magician (like Paolo di Canio?) when the transfer window reopens next month, then Liverpool might be less predictable. Investing in the individualistic might go against Houllier's principles, but in this case it would be for the good of the team.