RED WATCH: Rumours just won’t go away

Jan 9 2008 by Andy Proudfoot, Liverpool Daily Post

JUST how safe is Rafa’s job?

Of course if the national Press were to be believed and any attention paid to the lunatics who bombard Six-O-Six every week, he’d have gone several weeks ago.

Despite Benitez provoking an unnecessary spat with some childish public antics, the show of support he received last month remains one of the most heart-warming gestures perpetrated by the Anfield crowd.

Yet just six weeks later, there is a discernible shift in the ether, a palpable sense of discontent emerging amongst the Liverpool faithful.

The displays against Wigan and Luton, involving just about everyone in the current senior squad, have shaken the underlying belief of the fans to a point where many are starting to question whether Rafa really is the man to return the Holy Grail to its rightful resting place.

Of course we’re a long way from public displays of discontent, but the whines of those who remain unconvinced by two Champions League finals and an FA Cup win are starting to resonate with a wider audience. The ghost of Gerard Houllier walks the streets of Anfield.

We used to face the criticism that we were a one-man team; now it appears we’re a two-man team. The fact is that, without Gerrard and Torres, we’re toothless. Without boring you with statistics about the proportion of our goals scored by these two virtuosos, just think through whatever you consider to be our first-string XI, and see how many rarely or never score.

When Gerrard was absent at the weekend, we had two holding midfield players on the park, and another on the bench (and another on the way to Africa). Against Luton!

We’ve got no-one who even resembles a shadow of Gerrard to drive forward when he’s absent. So it rings a little hollow to complain after matches that we’d be all right if we took our chances; we haven’t got many players who can take these chances.

The brilliance of Torres up front has the unfortunate side-effect of throwing into sharp relief the limitations of his fellow forwards.

Crouch at least scores when he plays, but can’t get a serious start; Kuyt has deteriorated alarmingly after a brilliant first season; and after a bright spell in which he scored three goals in his first month, Voronin has faded.

The truth is beginning to emerge that, although we have a fantastic spine to the side, most of the players who populate the wings aren’t anywhere near the same quality.

There’s hope for Benayoun and Babel, but Pennant and Kewell just aren’t up to it. Some of the others, like Riise, Kuyt and Sissoko, are getting worse rather than improving under Rafa.

Having a big squad may aid rotation, but I’d rather have a smaller squad of higher quality players. So as Rafa dips into the Scrabble bag for the likes of Ujfalusi and Skrtel, let’s hope he also has his sights on some bigger fish, and that we can finance them through a combination of unloading inferior players, and another generous donation from our owners.

Otherwise I’ll be looking for Spoony’s number of a Saturday evening any time soon.

The one bright spot of the weekend was the hilarious suggestion by Luton’s Administrators that Liverpool donate their share of the gate receipts to help the struggling club.

I suppose they had to ask, but quite why Liverpool should subsidise their financial incompetence is anyone’s guess.

Luton, remember, had more than 50 charges levied against them by the FA for irregularities, including illegal payments to agents.

They’ve built up debt not through some devastating unforeseen calamity, but through living beyond their means.

So why should we help bail them out? We might reconsider it though should the Administrators agree to waive their fee.