Scousers at Crossroads: Liverpool FC Must End Negative Tactics

A resounding 3-0 win over Sunderland only partly kept alive Liverpool's Champions League aspirations. The momentum had already ceased to exist, and to build up fragile confidence once again will prove to be a difficult task with Benitez's side playing away from Anfield next week - surely a bad sign when they average less than 1 goal per match away.

Manchester United was the golden opportunity for a decisive change in momentum, coming off successive thrashings of Lille and Portsmouth. Aquilani, Babel, and Benayoun had finally provided a formidable support for Stevie G and Number 9 on the attack.

But Lucas was to be found in midfield, once again.

Another wasted opportunity at Old Trafford. Another loss in yet another disappointing season in the Rafa Benitez regime. That was last week.

Today Benitez finally stopped playing Lucas in midfield and instead put Gerrard back in his natural midfield position.

But Kuyt was once again found on the pitch, despite his lack of control and precision, and Aquilani, unsurprisingly, benched again. Another stomach virus?

People will claim that this is just ONE bad season. But this is certainly not the first of the Rafalution. In his first season, Benitez failed to put Liverpool over 60 points.

They are in danger of doing the same this year, if they can't string together six more wins.

It is true that Liverpool has endured financial woes through the indiscretions and greed of the American owners, but the record of Benitez's questionable transfers since arriving speaks volumes.

Morrientes, Leto, Dossena, Gonzalez, Pennant, Keane are the flops, vs. Mascherano, Alonso, Garcia, Torres, Reina, and Kuyt as the better buys.

The ratio is surprisingly bad for the so-called "genius" of tactics. If his tactics are so good, it should not matter too much who is used, as long as they are world-class. Most of the buys that Bentiez shelled out were not very cheap at all.

Which points fingers at the main culprit of the club's recent failings: negative tactics. The role of the manager is to make sure the team plays attacking football without sacrificing defense; no manager is paid to keep the score 0-0 or try to nick it 1-0 against even the most underpowered teams.

Yet Benitez has, Gerrard himself admitted, continually stressed the importance of "nicking" games 1-0.

Clean sheets are nice, but wins by more than a two-goal difference are much more helpful to boosting confidence and teamwork than a foolhardy game of foolish tackles and defensive ballhandling.

Lucas and Mascherano, anyone with half a brain has to admit, does not work if you want to score goals. If Liverpool is up with 20 or fewer minutes remaining, Lucas is a superb choice to hold the midfield.

But to start a game with Lucas in the middle and thus displacing the iconic Gerrard is beyond foolish. Lucas is not even a poor man's Sissoko, let alone a capable passer like Alonso, whose role he was supposed to replace. 

The lad has potential, but his confidence remains fragile,and his attacking abilities are rather stale.

Furthermore, there is a direct replacement for Alonso...on the bench. Mr. Aquilani has started less than 10 EPL matches this season and continues to struggle to attain top form.

Is this what Benitez bought for almost 20 million? A broken BMW that can't even be subbed until the 70th minute? The two big buys of the summer have both turned out to be broken engines.

Against Portsmouth in Pompey in December of last year, Benitez played nine defensive backs against a decimated Portsmouth squad, featuring Dossena at left midfield.

Against United, Babel, who had begun to finally show flashes of brilliance consistently at Anfield, was once again plopped on the bench in favor of Kuyt.

And so, against Manchester United, as against many teams in the season, Liverpool had its best attacking options on the bench until they either fell behind or had a lead.

It is time to play the best attackers from the start. Babel, Aquilani, and Benayoun should be handed starts, not 10 minutes of guilt.

Lucas should be benched, and Kuyt either played in the right position or brought on as a substitute. Most important, Benitez needs to find a way to instill the team with pride.

So today's result should not be a surprise. Liverpool SHOULD have won this game decisively, if not by a larger margin. They are capable of more, but Rafa's defensive tactics are holding them back.

And if you watched the whole game, after the 3rd goal there was just a bunch of backward passes and pointless running around, as if goal difference meant nothing to these millionaire footballers, as if giving the fans something more to cheer didn't matter. For the last 30 or so minutes, Liverpool reverted to the stale, unimaginative form that has become a staple of Benitez's negative football tactics.

Nonetheless, at least this time Gerrard manned the center midfield instead of playing half-striker, and Benitez had enough sense to play 4-4-2 rather than his overused, predictably defensive 4-2-3-1.

For five years Benitez has failed to impassion his players with free-flowing football. There is no reason for him to start. So when Liverpool comes back next week with a draw or loss against Birmingham, don't be surprised to hear the same old defensive drivel from the gaffer.