Liverpool: A Major Scare on the horizon?
Posted by Young'un in Liverpool | 31 October 2009
First of all, I accept that being an Arsenal fan leads to obvious bias in this department, but I don't think even the most die hard Reds fan can deny that Liverpool are in serious trouble. A simply ridiculous 8 losses before November has even started is a far cry from title winning form - something many Merseysiders were anticipating this season. Knocked out of the Carling Cup by Arsenal's wonderkids, Liverpool also find themselves outside the top 4 with the likes of Manchester City and Aston Villa breathing down their necks. Not to mention their dire start in Europe. A scrappy 1-0 win at Anfield against minnows Debrecen was followed by equally unispiring performances; consecutive defeats away at Fiorentina, at best the third best team in Italy, and then at home to Lyon, a side who failed to win the Ligue 1 title last season and are now without talismanic striker Karim Benzema, who moved to Real Madrid in the summer. Surely, for a club of Liverpool's stature this is simply not good enough. They now travel to France with a depleted squad and simply must beat Lyon to retain any realistic hopes of progressing from their group. Failure to qualify may see the end of Rafa Benitez's reign at the helm of the club - especially considering they can effectively be considered out of the title race already.
Last week's triumph over bitter rivals Manchester United seems to have only papered over the cracks. Now don't get me wrong, I think the likes of Pepe Reina, Javier Mascherano and Yossi Benayoun are decent players, but now everybody knows that Liverpool rely far too heavily on their only really top class players, injury prone goal machine Fernando Torres and talismanic skipper Steven Gerrard. With the latter missing at the moment there is a gaping hole in Liverpool's midfield and without him (and arguably more so, Torres) the Reds are simply no more than a top 6 side at best. Fans will argue that Alberto Aquilani is a talented prospect, but I fail to see any logic in buying a player who has been ravaged by injuries for £20 million. And I don't think he's even what they need. The sale of Xabi Alonso looks to be a horrible bit of business, especially conisdering his boots are being filled by the distinctly average Lucas Leiva. When Torres is injured, Benitez has the, ahem, luxury of deciding whether to pick David N'Gog or Andriy Voronin. With no due respect, I doubt even Hull City's back 4 will be shaking at the prospect of either of them spearheading Liverpool's attack. What puzzles me is why all the football 'experts' have only just realised this blatant lack of depth, when certainly most football fans I know, had deduced that this was the case a long time ago. People argue that Benitez had no funds. Bollocks. This is partly the case because he has wasted ridiculous sums of money on 'quality' players like Robbie Keane, Ryan Babel, Albert Riera, Andrea Dossena, Jermaine Pennant and Fernando Morientes. Shrewd. I don't see why the American owners are despised so much. They have backed Benitez in the transfer market and are willing, eventually we are lead to believe, to plan the new stadium the fans crave for. They moan because they have not spent a penny this summer - because they raised around £40 million by selling Alonso and others. But he has bought Glen Johnson and Alberto Aquilani for around £20 million each. Arsene Wenger has guided Arsenal to a terrific start. Now, The Gunners are short on funds, as they aim to pay off the stadium debt, a project which will inevitably benefit Arsenal in the long run. Wenger also didn't spend a penny. He made a £30 million profit: selling Adebayor and Toure to Man City, who have flattered to decieve, either by their performances or attitudes, and bringing in Thomas Vermaelen, arguably the best bit of business in recent seasons. So, come on, let's all shed a tear for Liverpool.
So, worst case scenario (and at this rate a very realistic one): Liverpool are knocked out of the Champions League at the first hurdle and fail to qualify for the competition next season. Benitez is sacked and replaced by a manager who the fans are not fond of. The money continues to dry up, especially due to the season failures. Fernando Torres, disillusioned with Europa League football, leaves for Real Madrid/Barcelona, and Liverpool can not afford to spend the big bucks they recieved on a genuine replacement. Steven Gerrard has to decide whether to fight with his boyhood club or join a team that is actually going to challenge for the Premier League crown he desires. The Reds begin season 2010/2011 with a strikeforce of Voronin, N'Gog, Heskey (because all legends return, apparently!) and some youngster their deluded manager drafted in.
Drastic? Yes. Overdramatic? Yes. Likely to happen? Probably not exactly as I have depicted. Will I laugh if it does? There's more chance of Tottenham winning the league than me not.
Happy Halloween.
Comments
I won't laugh about the Reds ... I will laugh about the pundits who got it so completely wrong not realising that there is neither any big potential in the making nor any adequate depth in the squad ....
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.reallifenews.com/cgi-bin/mt/mt-tb.cgi/1256
