Lee, I think you're trying to excuse how badly you're doing by saying "oh well we could be doing worse". The point is you're doing badly for Liverpool standards. You should be securely inside that top 4 and you aren't. Also, of course expectations can be based on the previous season, how else are you mean't to accurately measure how well your squad can perform? It's not like there was an exodus over the summer that completely changed your squad. Smells like a sordid excuse to me.
I didn't say that Ad. We're not getting the right results at the moment and there's certainly no denying that. What I'm saying is that people shouldn't get so angry because we are out of the title race, when we have no right of even being in it in the first place.
Basing our expectations on a season where we overachieved is just poor decision making and is illogical. It's why the board only expect Champions League qualification each season at the moment. Like I said earlier expectations should be based on the squad, finances, and the other teams. Of course it's always possible for Liverpool to be challenging for the title but if you base it on the facts & figures there was only a 3% (I think it was 3%, somewhere around that anyway) chance of us actually topping the table this season.
If you want reasons for why we're not playing well then there are various factors to consider. The amount of injuries we have had, the lack of finances, poor refereeing decisions, and in some cases just plain bad luck.
Its seems like there is a witch hunt out for Benitez at the moment. It has been happening for the last couple of seasons now. This guy gave Liverpool one of their best nights in Istanbul and since then it has been overshadowed by the fallout between the two owners Which is now filtering down to affect the players. I say keep Benitez.
Last season you only lost 2 games in the premier league. Alonso was sold because he wanted to go and the two world class players have been injured nearly most of the season so far. Try being a Spurs fan for sacking managers and then you know what inconsistency is about.
There is definitely some sort of vendetta from the media against Rafa Benitez. Everything he does is criticised, whereas other managers are given easy rides by the press. Ferguson and 'arry Redknapp are probably the biggest examples I can think of.
When Redknapp leaves Crouch or Keane on the bench after they have been on a good run of form, nothing is said about it but if it was Benitez the cameras would be cutting to Keane at every break in play. When Redknapp plays Robbie Keane on the left wing nothing is said about it, but when it's Benitez he gets criticised for wasting his talents.
If Benitez was the manager who was putting
the Michael Owen on the bench after scoring a mid-week hat-trick only to lose the game without scoring a goal. Benitez would be ripped to shreds. Don't even get me started on the Rafa Rant and Fergusons (embarrassingly inaccurate) Rant on Liverpools spending and how they were both portrayed.
I'm not criticising those two managers for their decisions, because they have their reasons, but it just goes to show that the way they are treated is not equal.
i do not think people should look at past events it is the here and now that counts, at the moment benitez must go as they are out of the title race, out of the league cup and out of europe (well champions league) and there is no garuentee they will win the europa cup.... and then there is the aquilliani factor and the fact when he is given money to spend on players he alwasy plays him on the bench when he is fit enough to start so in my eyes Benitez should definatly go and bring in Lippi or Hiddink
Benitez has introduced Aquilani at the perfect time in my opinion. Maybe if some of our other players had been 100% fit you would of seen him introduced a bit earlier (but not against Debrechen and Blackburn for his own well being). Introducing an unfit, unsharp player into a team already carrying other players is just a bad idea.
Also, how do
you know that Aquilani is fit enough? Surely the managers, coaches, and physios who have worked with him for the past few months know a lot more about his match fitness than you.
