Liverpool-Wigan: Some Good, Mostly Bad, But a Lot Worse If Rafa Leaves

Nobody should defend the lackluster performance served up by a Liverpool team bereft of (*delete as applicable)
Passion/ Inspiration/ Consistency/ Professionalism/ Quality/ Leadership/ Goals/ All of the Above

However, despite some players seemingly forgetting the character that helped them get close to the league title for the first time in 20 years, there was still some (albeit a few) signs of the attacking unit that scored more than any other last year.

There is no defense of how damaging the Wigan defeat will be to the race for the last Champions League position (with Villa having three games in hand and City two) and certainly no defense of a petulant performance from some of the more senior players; but the team did provide an optimistic reason to assume there is still ability in their somewhere.

It just seems it's becoming harder for the side to find and maintain this season.

It did take the introduction of Alberto Aquilani, Javier Mascherano back into the middle, and Steven Gerrard reverting to the support role behind Torres before the cohesion started to resurface, but the team began stringing decent, quick, penetrating passes around that would probably have been rewarded with more goals had they been leading the fixture instead of playing catch up.

But those clever passing moments didn't last anywhere near long enough or provide the decisive ball to win the game.

As well as chasing the game under immense pressure, with both short- and long-term consequences weighing heavy on everyone's shoulders, once again clinical finishing and final passes during both this game and this disappointing campaign are where it all seems to go wrong.

Liverpool fans can dream of players such as Pato, Alves, Ramsey, and Walcott - identified by Rafa Benitez but overlooked by Rick Parry - and they can point to a continued failure at boardroom level when the manager needed backing: but in reality the team that left an under filled DW Stadium had more than enough talent and ability to get all three points.

In the current climate, supporters would probably have been happy with a Liverpool victory if it was borne out of the perspiration and belief that gave the team so many last-minute triumphs during the previous campaign.

And they might have accepted three points without a display similar to the ones that swept aside Real Madrid, Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Manchester United, et al.

But there was practically nothing for fans to see as their team seemingly rolled over and gave up the fight.

Clear chances missed, lack of imagination in the final third, and a poor attitude under pressure are not going to be rewarded with success in the race to finish ahead of City, Spurs, and Villa.

With a long and fruitful run in the Europa League next year and the £20million cash injection from new shirt sponsors Standard Chartered coming in July, the financial loss might not be as damaging to building a title-winning squad as it could be.

But the most important ramification of finishing outside of the top four would be the pressure from an increasing percentage of supporters intent on getting Benitez out of Liverpool FC.

It would be a shame for Liverpool not to qualify for the Champions League, and the return to a lesser pedigree of European football will be sorely felt by supporters.

But they must not forget that it's Rafa Benitez who gave them back the European football that has been missing from Anfield for so long.

Losing top four status this year would be a step backwards after clear progression under the Spaniard, but losing Rafael Benitez would be much more damaging for the future prospects of the club.