Liverpool FC: Sack Rafael Benitez

We know that the present unrest at Liverpool has instilled a downtrodden morale among the players, which is costing them valuable points in the league.

So who is to blame for this?

I hold Rafael Benitez solely responsible for the club’s recent lackluster performance. So, the co-owners don’t understand football or the transfer market, does this mean they are not meddling with the team line-ups?

There are some valid reasons as to why I’ve made such a bold statement. Before you scousers rave at me, I want you to have a walk down memory lane and assess Liverpool’s seasons under Rafa.

It’s a harsh reality, but Liverpool is the most successful club in England in terms of winning league trophies, and Rafael Benitez was called on for the reprise of those glorious years.

Barren years for a club of Liverpool’s stature is certainly not a satisfactory fact for a Reds supporter is it?

However, Rafa came in, took the club by storm, changed everything right down to the feet and the outcome was a European glory - its first UEFA Champions League title or fourth European Cup. But what about the league?

Same old story: fourth place.

Things even got worse for them in the following season when they finished fifth, but still managed to defend their title unsuccessfully by virtue of UEFA’s benevolence.

If Rafa has only been brought for European and Domestic Cup success, then I suppose Gerard Houllier was better. Remember the year 2001 when Houllier won a bizarre treble for the club- FA Cup, UEFA Cup and League Cup?

He even took Liverpool to second and third in one or two occasions, but look what Rafa has done?

Houllier didn’t go for lavish spending like Rafa, and still won the trophies he wished to win (except the EPL). 

Houllier didn’t have a star-studded squad, though Michael Owen and Steven Gerrard were playing at the top of their game. He didn’t even grumble for transfer window fundings, and spent with prudence according to the needs of the club.

Granted Rafa didn’t have a multi-star team which won them the Champions League, but if you take that glory out of this equation, then you may question why Liverpool are still holding on to Rafa.

We’ve seen in the previous seasons how many serial signings Rafa made, and how many rotations he made in his starting line-ups, and how many players he kicked out.

The rule of thumb for a manager has always been that after several rotations, if you have found the winning team, cling on to that and give it a run. But why Rafa needs to be unorthodox here?

It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to disappoint the bench-warmers or his backup players, but what’s the point then to have such a ginormous squad?

Apart from injuries, I don’t see any logic behind this, but then again the question comes that how many players can get injured in a club? Hundreds?

I hope you’re not still in memory lane. If you are, then just fast forward and look at this horrible season of the Reds.

After an albeit jaw dropping start to the season, Liverpool has suddenly started to forget how to win.. They are loosing  points on the occasions they were expected to win comfortably.

Don’t you think with the likes of Torres, Babel, the evergreen Steve G. and Carragher the Red Army should roll on?

If there’s any positivism that Liverpool can take from this season so far, that would be the acquisition of a top draw striker-Fernando Torres, who has been the savior for them.

To wrap up my critique, all I can see is a lackluster, boring, last gasp winning: Liverpool and hanging to the fourth position forever until they see off the Spaniard and look for a fresh start under a new manager.