TO THE LIST OF questions for those wishing to know what goes inside Lee Bowyer’s head is added another: how on earth did he conclude that the opportunity to leave a stagnating Leeds United for Liverpool last summer “didn’t feel right”? It had little to do with loyalty, since the midfield player seems likely to leave Elland Road as a free agent when his contract runs out at the end of the season. Perhaps it is just another example of his unfortunate knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as cited during his trial at Hull Crown Court last year.

Leeds, frankly, are in a mess. The new-broom effect after the appointment of Terry Venables has long since dissipated. They have a single point and a single goal to show from four league matches. The natives, if not quite revolting, are struggling to disguise their discontent. Soon after they were condemned to a third home defeat of the season by Salif Diao’s goal midway through the second half, an audible minority of supporters started chanting the name of David O’Leary, Venables’s predecessor. “It’s a nice name. Why not chant it?” Venables joked nervously.

Contrast with Liverpool, who sit proudly on top of the table after extending what, courtesy of their neighbours’ surprise victory over Arsenal, is now the sole unbeaten record in the Barclaycard Premiership. They may have missed out on signing Bowyer, who managed to talk himself out of a £9 million transfer to Anfield by refusing to lower his wage demands, but their progress shows no signs of slowing. The continuing improvement of Danny Murphy, for example, makes one wonder where Bowyer might have fitted in anyway.

Bowyer retains the loyalty of the supporters and of his team-mates, perhaps Venables too, but the competitive instinct that drives him appears to have been blunted by the events of the past three years. Here, characteristically, he was reduced to niggling and squabbling with opponents who were content to ignore him.

Not that Bowyer was solely to be blamed for Leeds’s latest disappointment. His performance was symptomatic of a general malaise, which dates back to O’Leary’s time in charge and which Venables, for all his natural chirpiness, is struggling to address. Expectations were high after they won their first two matches of the season, but little has gone right since. “You would prefer everyone to be with you, but if they’re not, we’ll have to fight that too,” the manager said. “It’s a transitional period. Everyone around the club seems to be expecting too much. Maybe some people need to have a reality check.” Venables lost some sympathy with his dubious assertion that Leeds “dominated from start to finish” and “should have won the game”. While they did have three decent chances — Harry Kewell heading against the crossbar, forcing an excellent save from Jerzy Dudek and, with five minutes remaining, shooting over an open goal — Liverpool were always the better team. Dietmar Hamann, that most underrated of players, dictated from midfield and, even without Stephane Henchoz, Steven Gerrard, Emile Heskey and Michael Owen, they were too strong for Leeds.

Owen, rested ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League match away to Spartak Moscow, was just about to be summoned from the bench when Liverpool won the match through Diao in the 65th minute. Hamann’s pass opened the defence and Diao reacted quickly to convert a deflected cross from El-Hadji Diouf, his fellow Senegal international, at the near post.

Leeds United (4-3-1-2): P Robinson 5 — D Mills 6, J Woodgate 7, T Lucic 7, I Harte 4 — L Bowyer 5, S McPhail 4 (sub: O Dacourt, 75min 6), E Bakke 5 — N Barmby 5 — A Smith 5 (sub: M Viduka, 56 6), H Kewell 6. Substitutes not used: M Duberry, G Kelly, N Martyn. Booked: Harte. NEXT: Middlesbrough (a). FORM: LDLLWW.

Liverpool (4-4-2): J Dudek 7 — J Carragher 6, D Traoré 6, S Hyypia 6, J A Riise 6 — D Murphy 7, S Diao 7, D Hamann 8, B Cheyrou 5 — M Baros 7 (sub: M Owen, 70 5), E-H Diouf 6. Substitutes not used: M Babbel, I Biscan, V Smicer, P Arphexad. Booked: Carragher, Diouf. NEXT: Tottenham Hotspur (h). FORM: DWWWWD.

Shots on target: (h) 3 (a) 2. Fouls:(h) 13 (a) 13. Offsides:(h) 0 (a) 4