Benitez on the ropes?

Ah poor Liverpool...Rafa seems to be teetering on the edge. No surprise to this blogger. The Spaniard has constantly "underperformed" at the helm of Liverpool. As one of the "Big 4" one would expect more from the Reds. The other members of this elite group have won a Premiership title...Liverpool has not won a league title since 1990, in the mean time hated rival Manchester United has caught up with the Reds at 18 domestic titles (Manchester United has 11 premier titles compared to Liverpool's 0). Couple this with Liverpool crashing out of the Champions League after being seen as an easy favorite to get through their group...oops. Once again I would call Rafa's ability into question. He has built a team that relies on 2 players - Torres and Gerrard. He has spent money like a drunken sailor and has very little to show for it - example - purchase Robbie Keane only to resell him 5 months later at a loss. He went out and spent big on players like Babel ... but where to play him? His side needs strikers yet he lets Voronin out on loan. I have never questioned his ability to manage in a knock out competition, he is a master mind when it comes to prepare his side for a 1 or 2 game match. When it comes to the other aspects of managing a football team, he is lacking.

Liverpool now sits 13 points behind Chelsea out of the Champions League and in general reeling. I would not be surprised if Rafa were not let go by Christmas. Allow another manager to take over the club and leverage the winter transfer window to try and redeem something from this season and prepare for 2010. Rafa will have no one to blame but himself. The Champions League title won in Istanbul gave Rafa an increased runway, which he has wasted. He has not demonstrated a shrewd eye on the transfer market, he has not been able to demonstrate a good sense of how to manage during the long slog of a domestic championship and overall has been given the keys to a high performing car and ruined the gear box, damaged the brake pads and turned it into a lemon.

I have never been a fan of the Spaniard...partial because I felt Houllier was not given a fair shot after having a medical emergency stall his ability to manage his team. He was able to turn around the Red, bring them silverware and apparently was moving the squad in a good direction. Rafa came in on a white horse with a lot of hype...and to me has failed to impress...albeit for a crazy 15 minutes in Turkey...