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Premier League

Rafael Benitez’s struggling Liverpool will have to summon their best in the next 10 days to resuscitate their sagging fortunes.

By Anshul Baijal

Struggling Liverpool are facing a crucial phase of their journey starting this weekend. Rafael Benitez will have to summon the best from his team as the Reds host a star-studded Manchester City at Anfield on Saturday.

The Reds have more or less squandered their chance of winning the Premier League, yet again. But their top four finish will also be jeopardized if they lose the home game. Three days later, Liverpool take on Hungarian side Debrecen in a must-win Champions League fixture. The following week they travel to Everton for the Merseyside derby, where not only points but pride will also be at stake.

The team will face a tough 10-day phase starting with the clash against City, and Benitez may need a magic wand to change his team's fortunes around. But whatever he does, he has to do it soon, or the Spaniard’s adventure with the most successful club in England’s history may soon be over.

The season so far has been nothing short of a disaster. Liverpool have already dropped 17 points and lie a lowly seventh in the Premier League table. They face qualification problems in the Champions League second round and were knocked out by a young Arsenal side in the Carling Cup Fourth round. It couldn’t have been worse.

It was 14-years and waiting when Benitez joined Liverpool from Valencia in 2004. The Spaniard guided the team to their fifth Champions League crown in his debut season and went on to win the FA Cup the following season. But since then, he has not been able to live up to the expectations. And five years on, the wait for the 19th Premier League crown has increased and so has the frustration.
 
Liverpool had a forgettable pre-season, winning only two of the seven games played. Many thought, all this would change once the real action began and the quest for the "awaited 19th" began. But this was not to be.

Liverpool lost their Premier League opener to Tottenham Hotspurs and people dismissed it as first-day jitters. They went on to win the next game but lost their third to Aston Villa. This was going to be the story of the team in the next three months. The team lacked consistency, and faltered most often than not.
 
With such a dismal performance, fingers were obviously pointed at Benitez. His starting formations, his strategy and his team compositions all came under the scanner. But it may not be entirely the Spaniard's fault that the team is in disarray. 

Things have not exactly gone in Benitez’s favour, right from the pre-season. Spanish sharpshooter Xabi Alonso departed for Real Madrid and veteran defender Sami Hyypia left for Bayer Leverkusen.

Benitez signed Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani to fill the void left by Alonso. But that gap still remains to be filled as Aquilani has been injured since arriving at Anfield and other midfielders are not just capable enough to fill Alonso’s slot.

The rest of the midfield too has had a disappointing season. The midfield commander-in-chief, Steven Gerrard, is not in great form and physical shape. Important goals have suddenly dried up in the midfield. Barring Yossi Benayoun's hat-trick against Burnley, no one has sparkled in this crucial zone.

The man who, for many years has been the general of Liverpool defence, Jamie Carragher, is arguably in the worst form of his life. His temperament has not really helped.

Glen Johnson, who arrived from Porstmouth showed great promise at the start of the campaign, but has had a stop-gap season owing to injuries. Sotirios Kyrgiakos, who arrived from AEK Athens is still finding his feet in English football and is clearly struggling.
 
The lack of Fernando Torres’ support striker has always bothered the five-time European Champions. This short-coming was felt even more in the Spaniard's absence. Dutch forward Dirk Kuyt has been a pale shadow of his performance at Feynoord, where he netted 71 goals in 101 appearances.

Ryan Babel has scored some important goals, including one in the 1-1 draw against Lyon in Champions League, but is definitely not a goal-machine. French forward David Ngog is an improved player since last year, but is a bit young and inexperienced to start games consistently.
 
Time is running out for Benitez. The fans are getting impatient and the pundits are questioning his stay at Anfield. Even as the Liverpool management keeps its faith on the Spanish coach, a manager can only be as good as his players. D-Day has arrived for the Reds again.