No more wondering why Liverpool went out and bought another striker.

Those who thought Brendan Rodgers was OK with three - Daniel Sturridge, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini - were clearly mistaken. (And, yes, I was among them and I was wrong).

Sturridge - or at least his hamstring - is made of glass, evidently. And Luis Suarez loomed so large last season it takes three newcomers to replace him. The England striker's latest injury setback will keep him out of today's clash with Queens Park Rangers and, more importantly, the Champions League tie against Real Madrid in midweek (and, probably, the return leg as well).

Back to Mario Balotelli then for a run of games that could define Liverpool's season. QPR and Newcastle away and Hull City at home are exactly the type of matches where a draw equals two points lost for a team of Liverpool's ambition (and wage bill). And if they don't take at least a point off Real Madrid over their two encounters, things could get very tricky very quickly in their Champions League group, particularly if Basel do the business over Ludogorets.

Against this backdrop, Rodgers needed to nurse the Raheem Sterling- Roy Hodgson affair back to some normality. He said he was "drawing a line under the whole matter", but not before pointing out he would never make a "private conversation" public.

It remains to be seen what the effect will be of being caught in the middle between Hodgson and, not just Rodgers, but the whole of Scousedom. Remember, it was Hodgson who got the blame for Sturridge's original injury, Hodgson who was crucified by the Anfield faithful during his reign at the club and Hodgson who suggested Wayne Rooney's scouse accent made him a less than ideal leader of men.

What's easy to forget is that Sterling is still just 19. Six days of incessant media scrutiny (and a healthy dose of mockery, of the how-can-a-guy-his-age-be-tired-let-him-go-work-down-the-coal-mine-for-a-12-hour-shift variety) is a lot to handle for a teenager.

It may be that he - and Liverpool - come out of this stronger. What's obvious now is that someone has to step up. With Balotelli not scoring, Sterling put through the wringer, Sturridge injured and Steven Gerrard not getting any younger, it's a tough spot to be in.

It's a refrain we have heard a billion times: politics should stay out of sport. We've also heard that Uefa were wrong not to keep Serbia and Albania apart in the Euro 2016 draw. The long-running dispute between Kosovo and Serbia has seen simmering tension boil over on many occasions. Kosovo remains independent, but short of universal recognition. There are Serbs living in Kosovo and Kosovars in Serbia. And because most Kosovars are ethnic Albanians, the game was inevitably seen as an at-risk fixture.

But if you're going to keep politics out of sport, is it right to keep nations apart for political reasons? Isn't there an inherent contradiction in that? Armenia and Azerbaijan are technically still at war, so you can see the logic in keeping those two separate. And, had the trouble in eastern Ukraine broken out before the Euro 2016 qualifying draw last February, it's a safe bet Russia and Ukraine would have been kept separate. Whether it was really necessary to keep Spain and Gibraltar apart is another matter.

Yet, except in the most severe situations, you'd think playing football matches is worth the risk, because that's the essence of keeping sport out of politics. Heighten security measures. Ban away fans. Do what you need to do. But show that sport won't allow politics to get in the way.

The reason we witnessed those awful scenes in Belgrade is down to a failure of police to provide adequate security (including allowing known hooligans with multiple convictions into the ground) and an idiotic provocation with the drone and the Greater Albania flag.

This is not to say the Serb fans who attacked the Albanian players, launched flares and missiles, invaded the pitch and sang violent, blood-thirsty, discriminatory songs weren't to blame. They were and should be punished.

That's the way the system should work. We will go ahead with the games and will do our best to guarantee safety. If you violate our rules you will be punished. But we're not going to let you intimidate us.

Kicking Serbia out of the Euros would serve no purpose. The way to effect change is to force the local authorities to enforce their own laws and to sanction them with closed-door games and, where applicable, dock points. That's how you get the silent, peaceful majority to step up and silence the hooligans and political opportunists.

Not playing a game - except in the most extreme, dangerous conditions - is tantamount to letting politics run football. And that's exactly what we supposedly all oppose.

Ched Evans, the Welsh striker found guilty of rape, was released from prison last week after serving a 30-month sentence, prompting a debate about whether he should be allowed to resume his career in professional football. When you have allegations of rape, ugliness is a given. But in this case, there is so much of it to colour our perception of what happened: from his friends trying to film the sex act to the campaign of harassment to which the victim was subjected.

What strikes me about this case is the folks who say he should only be allowed back if he shows remorse. If Evans genuinely doesn't believe he was at fault and is convinced he got a raw deal in court there is no reason he ought to admit responsibility and apologise. In fact, it would be hypocritical and meaningless.

He has served his time, he has a right to pursue his career. At the same time, people like the 150,000-plus who signed a petition asking Sheffield United not to reinstate him - the club yesterday denied offering him a two-year deal - have every right to remind the world of his conviction and campaign to keep him out. Evans has been punished by the courts and it's fair that he also be punished by the world knowing he is a convicted rapist. If he does show remorse - and it's genuine - then it could provide mitigation. But if it's just a hoop he jumps through, it would be entirely twisted and meaningless.