Liverpool in trouble – Benitez on the brink?

It really is difficult to know what else to write about the trials and tribulations of Liverpool this season. ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning,” was what the Portsmouth fans were chanting at the beleaguered Rafa Benitez as their bottom placed club eased to a 2-0 win over ten man Liverpool.

Costly

If Benitez hadn’t signed such a long contract just a short while ago he may well be facing the sack, but that option appears to be too costly for a club who are already heavily in debt.

Just last week Rafa said that he guaranteed a top four finish for Liverpool this season. Since then they have stuttered to an unconvincing 2-1 win at home to Wigan and lost 2-0 at Portsmouth. For a man who has previously said he only deals in facts, the guarantee he has given does seem to be a little flimsy.

Holding

In this particular game at Fratton Park Rafa had Torres and Gerrard on the pitch but insisted with going with his two holding midfielders and basically playing one up front.

They started the game reasonably well but a goal wouldn’t come and it was not too much of a shock when Belhadj fired home from an acute angle to give Pompey the lead just after the half hour.

Nasty

Things went from bad to worse for Liverpool when Mascherano put in a really nasty challenge that saw him rightly red carded before half-time.

After the break Liverpool showed very little fight and apart from a deflection on a poor Gerrard strike and a half chance for Torres, they never looked like salvaging anything from the game. Pompey’s second goal from Piquionne was no more than they deserved.

Worrying

If I was a Liverpool fan I am not sure what would be worrying most at the moment.

Would it be the fact that Benitez is unlikely to be sacked due to the financial commitment of his contract?

Maybe it would be the bizarre team selection that sees Torres in and out, two holding midfielders whoever the opposition and the non-appearance of Aquilani (he was injured for this game) despite spending a fortune on him and claiming that he was a replacement for Alonso.

I might be more worried by the fact that a top four finish is looking more unlikely as each week passes and can you see Torres staying at a club that aren’t in the Champions League?

I think the total lack of fight the team showed yesterday would probably be my greatest fear. Last week this team failed to have an attempt on goal in the whole of the second half against Arsenal whilst they were kicking towards the Kop. Yesterday the ten men showed none of the spirit you would normally expect to see from a team with a man down. Former Liverpool greats must be disgusted with what they are watching.

Decent

OK, Liverpool are still in the top half of the table and they could still win the Europa Cup and the FA Cup and that would be regarded as a decent season. Having said that, if they continue to perform in the manner in which they currently are, they have no chance of winning anything.

I truly believed that Liverpool would be challenging for the title this year and I never dreamt that they wouldn’t qualify out of the group stages of the Champions League. So far this season has been a disaster for Benitez and his team and the pressure really is building up.

Conceded

They have been knocked out of Europe and have lost seven Premier League games already. Last season they conceded just twenty-seven goals all season. So far, before Christmas, they have already conceded twenty-five this time around.

Something has gone horribly wrong at Anfield this season and it can’t simply be the departure of Alonso. The problems are much deeper than that and it is hard to see how they will be resolved with Benitez still at the helm.