NOW not even the usual solace of European competition can offer Rafael Benitez refuge from his woes.
A miserable run of form continued with Liverpool’s Champions League hopes taking another significant knock with a dreadful defeat at home to Lyon.
After the failure at Fiorentina, the collapse at Chelsea and the surrender to Sunderland, this was a fourth successive loss for Benitez’s confidence-shot side.
Not since April 1987 have Liverpool registered such a poor run of form. But while the team that season reached a domestic cup final and finished runners-up in the league, such consolations at present seem beyond this vintage.
The boos that thundered around a disbelieving Anfield at the final whistle underlined the frustration that has been growing among the home faithful for some time.
No wonder. Those supporters can see a season that began with great expectations slowly slipping away, and with Manchester United and Arsenal to play in the next week, there appears no imminent respite.
Even the return of Steven Gerrard last night from an adductor problem ultimately offered no encouragement, the skipper lasting only 25 minutes having aggravated the injury and now a major doubt for Sunday’s visit of United.
Benitez’s injury worries show no signs of abating. Already without Fernando Torres and Albert Riera, the duo were joined by Glen Johnson on the sidelines last night.
Liverpool had given little evidence at the Stadium of Light on Saturday that their squad could cope with the absence of a number of key personnel, a view that will only be enhanced by this latest disappointment.
Creativity from central midfield remains a major concern. Lucas remains an all-too-easy target for supporters, but neither he nor Javier Mascherano have shown a consistent ability to unlock defences with a killer pass.
One must surely be sacrificed once Alberto Aquilani makes his belated bow. The Italian is an unknown quantity but the only certainty around Anfield at present is that things simply have to change.
When Marseille became the last French team to win at Anfield two years ago, it sparked a sequence of events that almost cost Benitez his job.
A strong finish to that Champions League group ensured the Liverpool manager retreated from the abyss, and it will take a similar recovery to win through to the knockout stages this time.
The confusion that reigns in the corridors of power at Anfield means Benitez’s position appears not under any immediate threat. But the jeers that greeted his decision to replace goalscorer Yossi Benayoun in the closing moments suggest he is testing the patience of some sections of the Liverpool support.
Having scored for fun during the opening weeks of the season, the goals have suddenly dried up for Liverpool. Yet the leaky defence remains, not helped by constant chopping and changing.
A third successive blank at Sunderland prompted Benitez to reshuffle his attack with David Ngog asked to lead the line in only the seventh start of his Liverpool career, one of five changes from the weekend.
A rare chink of light on a dark evening was the full debut at right-back of Martin Kelly. There are high hopes for the 19-year-old, who impressed during pre-season and on a brief loan spell at Huddersfield Town last season.
