The situation over at Liverpool has started to become one of comic embarassment for everyone associated with the club. This season has seen the club lurch from one disaster to another. Liverpool have started to be compared to Newcastle in terms of sheer comedy. Never a good association to have.
The reason for this? Well as far as I can tell it can all be traced back to Rafa Benitez. Even if you ignore his dodgy tactics, his signings for Liverpool have been on a whole, terrible. Yes he's signed some cracking players in Reina, Mascherano, Torres and Agger, but beyond that the depth in the team is laughable. Players such as Alonso and Arbeloa have been sold without anyone coming in with the ability to replace them. There are some players who are competent, but not worthy of being in a potential top four side, such as Lucas, Babel, N'Gog, Aurelio, El Zhar and Cavalieri.
The sums of money he's spent on bringing in players is also beyond a joke. £22 million on Aquilani who doesn't even play. £17 million on Glen Johnson who's, although good, is a bloody right back. £20 million on Robbie Keane who was sold back to Spurs for less sixth months later. That's £59 million on three players. It's no wonder the club are in such dire straits financially. Yes the market is over-inflated, but that's verging on Real Madrid levels of madness, without the financial backing in place to prop it up.
Benitez fans will point to his success in Europe and finishing as runners up in the league last season. However, that's the past and at the moment Liverpool are struggling to finish in the European places in the league and have been dumped out of the Champions League. Defeat against Lille in the UEFA Cup shows how far the club has fallen in so short a time.
It seems apparent to me and anyone with half a brain that Benitez has taken the club as far as he can. It's time to bring in a new face to turn Liverpool's fortunes around. Mourinho is obviously an option. He's unhappy in Italy and has repeatedly told of his love of the English game.
Getting rid of Benitez is also less of a problem it seemed a few months ago. Real Madrid's unceremonious exit from the Champions League has left Manuel Pellegrini in an untennable position. It's highly likely that Madrid will hope to land Benitez at the end of the season, meaning that they'll have to pay compensation to release him from his contract at Liverpool.
While blaming Benitez is all well and good, there's also the matter of the owners. Gillet and Hicks have got to go, or at least provide some proper backing to the club. Getting their own man in at the end of the season may give the the drive to back the club further. Landing someone like Mourinho would also give them much needed support among Liverpool fans.
There also needs to be a big clear out of the dead wood at the club. Further emphasis needs to be made on the youth system as well, which has suffered under Benitez's tenure.
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