Barnsley's Delight: Liverpool's Season Hits A New Low

Electing to rest his star players in Fernando Torres, Javier Mascherano, Jose Reina and Steven Gerrard for Tuesday night's crucial tie up against an in-form Internazionale in the UEFA Champions League, Liverpool bench boss Rafael Benitez saw his side crumble to a 2-1 shock defeat against Barnsley during the fifth round of the FA Cup at Anfield. 

Heading into the match, one would have thought the Spanish boss might have learned from his mistakes after his side's showing in the fourth round in the FA Cup when they came out flat against Blue Square South amateur side Havant and Waterlooville. Had it not been for Yossi Benayoun's hat-trick at Anfield, Liverpool could have found themselves out of contention in the FA Cup sooner than they would have expected.

Liverpool looked on their way to advancing to the next round after Dirk Kuyt's first goal in 14 games gave them the lead in the 32nd minute. Taking the lead into half-time, Liverpool seemed to sit back a little too comfortably and were left to rue as they failed to convert on their chances.

After receiving a much needed wake-up call following Barnsley's Stephen Foster equalized in the 57th minute off a wonderful cross from Martin Devaney, Liverpool rushed forward and piled on the pressure.

Peter Crouch had a golden opportunity in the first half, Yossi Benayoun had a few of his chances blocked by a stellar Barnsley defence, Harry Kewell had three opportunities to put one past Luke Steele and Sami Hyypia had a chance to convert of his own. That's not mentioning all the blocked shots from the likes of Barnsley's Dennis Souuza, Steven Foster and Bobby Hassell.

That's not to say Barnsley didn't have chances of their own.

In the 3rd minute of the match, Barnsley striker Steve Howard was close to capitalizing on as scoring chance until a last ditch effort by Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher saved his side the embarrassment of going 1-0 down in the opening moments. Liverpool suffered another lapse in concentration after some uncharacteristically sloppy play from Finnish defender Sami Hyypia. Gifting a chance to Barnsley's Daniel Nardiello, Liverpool's backup keeper Charles Itandje was called to action as he came to the rescue by making a crucial stop.

Finally deciding the need to put in his "big boys", Benitez replaced the Brazilian born Lucas in favor of his captain Steven Gerrard. Hoping to break the deadlock, one could tell that Benitez was worried about the prospect of having to participate in a replay. Even more suprisingly, Benitez made an controversial decision when he decided to take off Ryan Babel--his most dangerous player on the pitch in favor of Harry Kewell in the 69th minute. Perhaps had he left his Dutch winger on the field, Liverpool could have snatched a deserved victory. In spite of the overabundance of top quality players, media outlets and fans will be left scratching their heads over his misuse and tactical decisions.

Despite constantly piling on the pressure throughout nearly the entire game, the Reds still found themselves on the losing end--thanks in part to some fantastic goalkeeping from West Brom loaner Luke Steele in his debut for Barnsley. Producing the performance of his life, Tykes captain Brian Howard made sure Steele's work wouldn't go unrewarded as he sealed the deal by pouncing on a chance in the 93rd minute of injury time.

Not surprisingly, Tykes manager Simon Davey was singing the praises for his squad.

"Credit to the players, they have been fantastic from the first minute and now they have got their rewards - they are in the next round," he said in jubilation.

"I always thought we would be in the game. We kept it tight, at half-time we were 1-0 down and if you get one chance and stick it away, you have got a chance. We kept it going and scored two great goals. I am pleased for them."

Instead of heading out with an "automatic" victory, the boys in red hit a new season low as they listened to the boos of their own supporters ringing around the stadium and the adulation from the 7,000 Tykes fans' that had made the trip to Anfield to support their club. Unquestionably, the Yorkshire fans will be remember this famous win for many years to come.

For Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez the season that was once filled with so much promise is now quickly fading away. Many football experts in England expected Liverpool to make a strong run at breaking their eighteen year drought without a domestic league championship--especially with the £20.5 transfer of Spanish striker Fernando Torres.

Conversely, the Reds find themselves in the same position that they were in last year--fighting for fourth place in a bid for a Champions League spot. In a highly competitive English Premier League, Liverpool are trailing their bitter Merseyside rivals Everton for the fourth and final spot into Europe's most prestigious club competition. Now combined with early exits in the FA Cup and the Carling Cup, the season could be regarded by many fans at the Kop as a failure.

With speculation over his future at the club, the Spaniard will need to convince his American owners in Tom Hicks and George Gillett that their £60 million investment in the transfer market does not go to waste. After already being informed by the media of his owner's meetings with German manager Jurgen Klinsmann, Benitez has been the subject of uncertainty at Anfield.

Nonetheless, he will need to find a quick way to rally his troops when his side enters the most important match of Liverpool's season thus far when they take on Internazionale. Liverpool will need to produce a phenomenally greater effort if they are even to challenge arguably the best club team in the world at the moment.

If not, Benitez could find himself walking alone out of Anfield--with a big pink slip courtesy of Hicks and Gillett.