Is Rafa's Transfer History at Liverpool a Deciding Factor in His Future?

Rafael Benitez is under the kind of pressure that no Liverpool manager before him has had to endure. Presiding over the club's worst run in decades, Rafa has had to brave abuse from a growing number of fans, Tweets from players, and questioning from ex-players.

His detractors point to his "poor judgement" in the transfer market, negative tactics, atrocious player management skills, and a growing sense that the dressing room is turning against him.

Meanwhile his many "Rafaelites" portray a man who has has his hands tied as far as the transfer market is concerned, a tactical genius who his players worship, and the only man capable of bringing the glory years back to the club.

It has been 20 years since Liverpool last won the league title, as the empire built by Alex Ferguson has been all but eclipsed the old world order.

In a bid to move the club back onto a level playing field with the immense finances enjoyed by the Red half of Manchester, ex-chairman David Moore agreed to sell the club to Americans Tom Hicks and George Gillett.

Under the duo Benitez's future has always been questioned. Not long after taking over, they approached Jurgen Klinsmann for the manager job; this in turn led to a massive breakdown in communication and the club basically split into two factions.

In short, Rafa has had to operate under severe duress. But he has also proved to be an adept politician, brokering a five-year deal during this time. With the board split into equal factions making each other impotent, Benitez became the king maker, and received his demands.

However, this season, which started with such optimism, has now all but faded to a mere shadow.

The expected title challenge is gone, as is the lucrative Champions League. Minor distractions like the FA Cup and League Cup's ended before they even began, and Liverpool found themselves battling with four other teams for that last vital Champions League position, being entered into a meaningless cup competition that will provide more distraction than is needed, but may yet provide the club's only silverware this year.

Rafa was able to point to an injury crisis of biblical proportions as his title challenge faded by October, while critics said many of the players were mere squad players.

Either way, the club which was once a "who's who" of football, became a "who's that" as Rafa picked some fringe reserve players who obviously were not good enough.

As it stands now, many feel that the team that challenged for the league last season, finishing second, is now a very average side without their star duo of Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard.

It all comes back to Benitez's dealings in the transfer market. He is the man who had to rebuild the mess that was careening out of control under Gerard Houillier, and over the past six years he has had ample time.

Is this current squad good enough to win the league? Evidence would suggest no. Does it only require tweaking, or does the club need a massive face lift? Your answer would suggest which side of the fence you sit regarding Benitez.

When all is said and done, Rafa has brought some incredible players to the club.

The Spanish trio of Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, and Pepe Reina are all supreme talents; Yossi Benayoun has grown immensely as a players since he came in in 2007, and Gerrard was re-invented as a player under Rafa.

There is no doubting that he has done much right.

On the other hand, he has been accused of not knowing what he is doing in the transfer market. By bringing in 72 players, many feel he is buying quantity over quality. Although only 49 of those 72 players would be recognised as being of first team or reserve quality.

One rumor now surfacing is that Rafa has placed much faith in the Prozone statistic system, and that his 49 signings may have been influenced by statistics over scouting.

This could go some way to explaining why the Spaniard has let go of many of his purchased players. Only 24 of 49 players signed remain with the club, and that includes four players who joined this season.

Here is a list of all the major players bought and sold by Benitez during his six year reign.

As mentioned before, there have been some spectacular successes, but there have also been some disastrous signings. Ryan Babel, Robbie Keane, Andei Voronin, and Alberto Aquilani come to mind.

It may be harsh to include the £20m Italian in this list as he was injured when Benitez signed him, but as far as this season is concerned he has been an unmitigated disaster.

PLAYERS	IN	FEE	OUT	FEE	SUCCESS
Josemi	2004	£2.0m	2005	swap	No
Luis Garcia	2004	£6.0m	2007	£4.0m	Yes
Xabi Alonso	2004	£10.5m	2009	£30.5m	Yes
Antonio Nunez	2004	swap deal	2005	undisclosed	No
Mauricio Pellegrino	2004	free	2005	free	No
Fer. Morientes	2004	£6.3m	2006	£3.0m	No
Scott Carson	2004	£0.7m	2008	£3.2m	No but...
Markus Babbel			2004	free
Danny Murphy			2004	£2.5m
Michael Owen			2004	£8.0m
Chris Butler			2004	free
Stephane Henchoz			2004	free
Wlad. Smicer			2004	free
El Hadji Diouf			2004	undisclosed
Patrice Bernardi			2004	free
Alou Diarra			2004	free
Igor Biscan			2004	free

Pepe Reina	2005	£6.0m			Yes
Mark Gonzalez	2005	£4.5m	2007	£4.2m	No
Bou. Zenden	2005	free	2007	free	No
Antonio Barragan	2005	undisclosed	2006	£0.6m	No
M. Sissoko	2005	£5.6m	2008	£8.2m	No
Peter Crouch	2005	£7.0m	2008	£9.0m	No
Godwin Antwi	2005	undisclosed	2009	free	No
Jack Hobbs	2005	£0.7m	2009	undisclosed	No but...
Paul Anderson	2006	swap	2009	£0.2m
Jan Kromkamp	2006	swap	2006	undisclosed	No
David Martin	2006	undisclosed
Daniel Agger	2006	£5.8m
Robbie Fowler	2006	free	2007	free	Yes
Craig Bellamy	2006	£6.5m	2007	£7.5m	No
Gabriel Pauletta	2006	£2.0m	2007	swap	No
John Otsombor			2005	free
Gregory Vignal			2005	free
Richie Partridge			2005	undisclosed
Milan Baros			2005	£6.5m
Paul Harrison			2005	free
Mark Smyth			2005	free
John Welsh			2006	swap
Conal Platt			2006	free
Zak Whitbred			2006	free
Bruno Cheyrou			2006	free
Calum Woods			2006	free
Paul Willis			2006	free

Fabio Aurelio	2006	free			No
Jermaine Pennant	2006	£6.7m	2009	free	No
Dirk Kuyt	2006	£9.0m			Yes
Nabil El Zhar	2006	undisclosed
Alvaro Arbeloa	2006	£2.6m	2009	£3.5m	No
Fran. Duran	2006	undisclosed	2007	free	No
Javier Mascherano	2006	£18.6m			Yes
Andrei Voronin	2006	free			No
Krisztian Nemeth	2006	undisclosed
Charles Itandtje	2006	free			Yes
Fernando Torres	2006	£26.5m			Yes
David Raven			2006	free
Ramon Calliste			2006	free
Dietmar Hamann			2006	£0.4m
Carl Medjani			2006	undisclosed
Robbie Foy			2006	free
Djimi Traore			2006	£2.0m
Neil Mellor			2006	undisclosed
Chris Kirkland			2006	undisclosed
David Mannix			2007	free
Darren Potter			2007	free
Stephen Warnock			2007	£1.5m
Salif Diao			2007	free
Flor. Pongolle			2007	£2.7m
Danny O'Donnell			2007	£0.1m
Djibril Cisse			2007	£6.0m

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