Anatomy of Downfall: The 2009 Liverpool Year Review

It's been a year of two halves for the Merseyside club. The Reds began the year sitting at the top of the league and, perhaps for the first time since the Premier League's inception, put up a real fight for the title, but what happened next wasn’t even imagined by Satan himself. Here’s a Liverpool 2009 Season Review

Circa January 2009- Liverpool are sitting pretty at the top of the league. The perennial belief: "This is OUR Season" seems to be finally coming true. The Pudilians are, as usual, on a roll in Champions League. There is a real belief surrounding Anfield.

Liverpool goes on a series of silly draws. Manchester United, meanwhile, beats Wigan to go top of the BPL, ahead of Liverpool.

By March, it is assumed that United is going to “walk the title” now. But Liverpool still pulls a feather out of their hat by beating Red Devils 4-1 at the Theatre of Dreams. United would then go on to lose at Fulham to transform that ray of hope into distinct visible light at the end of the tunnel.

April 2009- Liverpool is dumped out of the Champions League with a Quarter Final defeat to Chelsea (nobody forgets that 4-4 draw at Stamford Bridge). Their only hope remains a PL crown if United suffers no less than 2 highly unlikely slip-ups.

May-All hopes are dashed as United comfortable wrap-ups the title against Arsenal in OT.

Looking back, the 2008-09 season will always be remembered as Liverpool’s best ever display in the Premier League in a long-long time. Even though they eventually fell four points short of the title, there was genuine belief around Anfield that Liverpool was finally ready to end their 19-year long wait for league success. A stunning 4-1 victory at Old Trafford in March was seen as a real statement of intent, and things seem to be heading in the right direction as manager Rafael Benitez ended speculation over his future by signing a new five-year contract.

Off-Season/Transfer Window

 The inevitable couldn’t be delayed anymore. Rafa wanted Barry; Alonso wanted Madrid. The latter got his wishes granted, as Alonso went off to Madrid in a $30 million British pound deal while Barry headed to Eastlands. What Benitez was left with was a gaping hole in the midfield to support his talismanic captain, Stevie G. Rafa ably brought Alberto Aquilani from Roma for $20 million British pounds. Does the deal look good? Hell Yeah!! A new HERO is, or let’s say was, set to arise at Anfield. Glen Johnson’s addition in defence from Pompey was enough to strike the usual note from the Kop, “THIS IS OUR SEASON”.

The 2009-10 Season

BUMP!! Opening day shock, as Liverpool loses to Spurs. It is shrugged off as an off-day due to the ‘rustic’ pre-season (if someone calls that a ‘pre-season’).

The Downfall - The was just the beginning .The Reds would go on to lose more than a handful of matches in the Premier League, Champs’ League, Carling Cup and the FA Cup. The condition was so dire that they went on an outrageous winning streak of 3 wins in 15 matches (as of December 14th 2009). The end-of-the-year win over Aston Villa was considered by fans as an adieu to a REALLY long year. But the ‘absolute ebb’ was yet to pass by, as the 2010 started off on a horrendous note for the Reds.   Liverpool lost to Reading at Anfield in the FA Cup 3^rd Round replay.

Analysis

So what’s sinking Liverpool? A lot, actually. I will start with injuries. Stevie G hasn’t been in the best of form whenever he has been on the field. Torres seems to have decided to keep his “Best Striker on the Planet” tag safe at his home. He barely shows up on the field. To add insult to the injury of Reading defeat, it turned out that Torres, Gerrard and Benayoun would sit out for the better part of about 2 months. Horus!

Secondly, Finance. Ok, every club faces this scenario once every decade but Liverpool wouldn’t have minded if they would have avoided ‘swamp’ in the midst of the worst crisis in the history of the club. Infighting owners are a further nuisance. Often, frustration goes out of bounds and that’s when Hicks Jr. decides to give a mouthful to his own club’s supporters. And now they have a further headache of finding his replacement.

Digging deeper, it seems everybody wants Rafa’s head, as the majority now call him the “Fat Spanish Waiter”. Ok, his youth policy hasn’t been spot-on. His transfers (to and fro) don’t generally produce the best of results. To annoy the already injured fans, the guy just refuses to play Aquilani (I don’t consider a 3 minute 54 second appearance any sort of ‘play’). Furthermore, every lost match (and cause) comes with a fourth place assurance from the Liverpool manager. It’s like slitting your wrist and then promising you a surgery.  But then the guy won them the most coveted trophy in Club Football. But, as they say, patience is in short supply in the big bad world of Football (Mark Hughes will tell you more about this). The biggest problem is, as told earlier, Liverpool just doesn’t have the money to even, sack Benitez. Oh God!! I can’t believe this is happening in the “Shankly Golden Jubilee Year”.  

Things aren’t just going Liverpool’s way. Not even the “Placenta Cure”. Their assumed new hero, Aquilani, seems nothing more than a crocked eye-pleaser. So much so, that even new (and free) signing Maxi Rodriguez is now being touted as their saviour.

Hope for the Future- But things aren’t that bad for the odd optimistic fella. Dispute being horrible, to say the least, Livepool are just 1 point off the contractually coveted 4^th place finish. They have beaten Villa and Spurs in the last month and look set to mount a solid challenge for the fourth place finish, albeit a majority of it will be without Fernando Torres. Expect a scrap to a fourth place finish and the “Spanish Waiter” to survive in his seat.

Remedy for Resurrection:

How to make it click? Here are some tips a that, if adhered, may go a long distance in Liverpool’s history:

1) Replace Lucas- Agreed they don’t have the money, but this guy isn’t just good enough to be the midfield anchor of a team with Premier League title ambitions. How does one compare him to the likes of Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, or, even Darren Fletcher? This guy is no Xabi Alonso, period. Alberto Aquilani could be the answer, provided someone reminds Rafa that he isn’t meant to grace the bench.

2) Please Rafa, at least tell the fans why exactly isnt Aquilani playing? Is he not fully paid or what? That would at least save your job for some time.

3) For all the talked about “turning points” of the season, let me assure you, it won’t arrive without another of those super-human performance from Stevie G ,and that is long overdue.

 What if?

Let’s just assume that Liverpool finishes fifth. What then? The impact would be GLOBAL, to be very truthful. First, it would not only be the last nail in Rafael Benitez’s Liverpool coffin, but also a big blow to the club as a whole. It would be the start of the inevitable decline for one of the most prestigious and successful clubs in World Football. Don’t expect Torres and Gerrard to stay, at least.

Fingers are crossed. Hopes are pinned to a few mortal souls to save Liverpool FC and the pride of more than a 100 million souls craving for salvation. The signs are there. Nobody knows what they suggest. Let’s hope Spirit of Shankly invokes upon Anfiled and takes them out of this slump before it gets too grave to be amended.