Qualification from the group stages of the Champions League is going to be hard. We need 3 wins and a favour from someone. It don’t look good. Lose on Sunday and the season as far as the Premier League is over. To be 10 points behind Man Utd in October is unthinkable. But after getting so close last season what has gone wrong at Anfield?
Some say the sale of Xabi Alonso has caused the red machine to derail. But I don’t buy that.
While yes it’s obvious we miss Alonso he wouldn’t have stopped the 11 goals conceded from set pieces so far this season.
The reason why we are doing so badly is that we have no quality in depth when we talk about our squad.
The first 11 is a good team and with the inclusion of Aquilani when fit it will be a great first 11 but after that we are struggling. While the other 3 from the big 4 can call on players whose names might not set the world alight they can do a job. Get them through the games that they are needed for. Liverpool Football Club don’t have that.
It was obvious that as soon as Gerrard and Torres either got injured, suspended or had a loss of form then we would struggle. Who from the squad can replace them? When I say replace I mean come in a do a job. No one can replace these 2 players as they are probably the best in the world in those positions.
For example if Utd lost Rooney, Scholes and Vidic then they could bring in Owen, Fletcher and Brown. All good solid pros who can step up to the plate. Who can we bring in for our best players? Babel, Voronin and Ngog. It’s not good is it? When I look at our bench there is no one who can take the game by the scruff of the neck if brought on. The quality just isn’t there.
From the moment pre-season began it was plain to see that our squad wasn’t good enough. Especially up front. Think of all the forwards we have let go over the years. Bellamy, Crouch & Keane to name three. How many of them would you have at the club now? All of them is the answer. It was a massive gamble leaving Torres as our only top class forward. One severe injury and we would be in big trouble.
We know that Rafa wanted Voronin out and was hoping to sell him but after Hertha Berlin (where he was on loan last season scoring 14 goals) baulked at the £5m asking price no one else came in for him. There was talk of Hull making a bid but even they weren’t that desperate. So we are stuck with him.
David Ngog is 19 and just not ready for first team action. He looks better every time he plays but he couldn’t play 20 games on the bounce if Torres was badly injured. He just doesn’t have the body and stamina yet to deal with the physical side of Premier League football.
While no transfer can be a guaranteed success Rafa has signed a fair few poor players. For every Riena, Agger, Alonso, Macscherano and Torres there has been an Istandje, Dossena, Babel, Reira and Morrientes.
We have wasted a lot of money but people say that this is Rafas squad and these are the players he wanted but are they? You rarely get world class players for under £15m and most of the squad cost less than that. Rafa wanted Silva and Villa but was told there was no money despite the owners telling us that they hadn’t taken the £32m from the sale of Alonso to pay off debts. So where did £32m go? Not on Aquilani and Johnson who despite what the press told you cost roughly £13m and not £40m.
Has Rafa lost the fans? Not yet but I think a few crazy decisions like subbing Benayoun for Voronin in Tuesdays defeat against Lyon won’t help. Benayoun has been LFCs best player this season and on Tuesday night so this decision was total madness.
So its Manchester United up next and as tough as this game might be I think there’s no better team to try and change your luck against. We beat Utd twice last season and at Anfield we done it without Torres and Gerrard. I have a feeling this will be the game that could turn things around for us. But what if we lose? Could it be Rafas last game in charge?
I doubt it. The Americans say that his job is safe and the main reason for that is he signed a new 5 year deal only a few months ago. It would cost nearly the owners £15m to sack him and another £15m+ to get a replacement better than him.
But what if Rafa was sacked. Many LFC want legend Kenny Dalglish back in charge. I don’t agree with this. King Kenny has been out of the game for over 10 years and football has changed massively. He may be a temporary option while we wait for the new man to arrive. If Rafa was to be sacked there’s only 1 man that can replace him. Jose Mourinho.
Love him or hate him Mourinho would make us great again. He done it with Porto, Chelsea and now Inter Milan so I would have no worries if he took the job should it become available.
I personally feel that Benitez should step aside. He has been at the club for 5 years and we have won the CL, FA Cup & Super Cup under his management. We have also been to another CL final and Carling Cup final. Last season we finished 2nd in the league but this season we have gone backwards. We are meant to build on what we had last season but have somehow not done that.
As I said earlier it’s not all down to the selling of Alonso but signing his replacement Aquilani when injured and out for nearly 4 months was crazy no matter how good he will be. We should have signed someone on a 6 month loan deal to void the gap left by Alonso until Aquilani’s rehabilitation was finished. I also don’t like it when Lucas and Mascherano are in the same team and we have forgot the basics of defending. We lack that something that title teams have. Last season we took 14 points out of 18 points against the big four. That won’t happen again.
This season we are beating the teams who got draws against us but we also need to beat the big teams. Last season City wasn’t the team they are now and neither were Spurs. All of them have got stronger while we have become weaker with our lack of depth. I also think that some of the senior players have lost faith in Rafa and its starting to show on the pitch. In my opinion it’s time for a change. But I like Rafa and hope he can turn it around.
A win against Utd won’t solve all our problems but will certainly give us confidence going forward. plus Aquilani is set to make his debut next week against Arsenal in the Carling Cup so things might be looking brighter next weekend. A week is a long time in football….
Coming soon.
Pro Evolution Soccer 10 review
2009s albums of the year
