Poll: who's to blame for Liverpool's woes?
So, finally, Steven Gerrard has gone public on the damage that has been done to Liverpool by the falling out between the club's American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jnr, and the manager, Rafael Benitez.
Gerrard expressed regret that much of the club's dirty linen had been washed in public this season - calling the situation "damaging" - but at the same time refused to make excuses and stated an opinion shared by every Liverpool fan: 17 points adrift of Arsenal, the leaders, is simply not good enough.
Cue the Stevie G rallying cry: "In the position we find ourselves now, fourth place is the least that is acceptable,” Gerrard said. “We need to improve dramatically and, even if we do finish fourth, it doesn’t mean we’ve had a good season. We have bigger ambitions than that."
Quite.
It is easy to point the finger at the owners, but if you can't beat Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic or Aston Villa at home, do you deserve to call yourselves one of the big four?
Who do you think is to blame for Liverpool's disappointing showing in the Premier League - cast your vote and leave a comment in the box at the bottom of this page.
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I think we are one of the big 4 simply cos we have won more than any other English club & have been in 2 Champions League Finals in the last 3 years and have also finished in the top 4 about 95% of the last 40 seasons in the top flight.........Name a team with a better record than that? Chelsea & United have both been in the second division in the last 30+years and Arsenal I consider to be one of the top four in the same vein as Liverpool because of their incredible consistency over the last couple of decades. United were also-rans until the early to mid 90's when they won their first championship in 26 seasons. Chelsea are a joke, 3 championships and a couple of cups in 100 years hha ha ha ha ha ha. Everton & Villa are what I would call a big club also !!
Posted by: Stephen | 29 Feb 2008 12:38:16
ZAK is right. Liverpool have had some awful games but they've played a few blinders too. They were unlucky not to beat Chelsea twice and the way they ran Inter Milan off the park was a joy to behold. And who can forget Barcelona last year? We live in Milan and my son, an AC Milan season ticket holder, doesn't wail and scream because his team have no chance of winning Serie A this season and has just drawn at home against Palermo. Problems on the pitch are down to the fact that you can only rotate players of equally high quality and we don't have the strength in depth to be able to do that. Ownership battles haven't bothered Man Utd and probably won't derail Arsenal either so let's stop using this as some sort of excuse. Only one team can with the Premiership. Does that mean all the others have had a bad season?
Posted by: Roger | 29 Feb 2008 06:19:46
They are not good enough,the manager has made some bad buys.They have only two decent players.If Rafa stays there it will be another 18 years before they win the league.
Posted by: Nev Riley | 29 Feb 2008 01:26:03
Benitez - he needs to learn from Ferguson & Wenger how to rotate a squad. And how to motivate his players against the so-called weaker teams
Posted by: Claire | 28 Feb 2008 23:46:33
Except for Crouch, Gerrard, Carragher,Torres, and Reina, the squad does not make the traditional Liverpool F. C. impression of 'do-or-die'. As fot the owners, they are cack-handed and utterly out of touch with L. F. C. values.
Posted by: Roger Stephenson | 28 Feb 2008 20:23:47
David Moores and Rick Parry must take the blame for Liverpool's problems.It took them 5 Years to choose Yanks who do n't understand the club or it's supporters. Rafa was expecting money to spend in the January window, which must have been discussed at the start of the season. When he was told to focus on coaching the team, that is when the problems started to escalate.
Posted by: DOC | 28 Feb 2008 20:21:08
2 words:
The Media!!!
Posted by: Eddie | 28 Feb 2008 16:40:57
I think everyone is really to blame to some extent.
The behaviour of Hicks has not been helpful, as it has caused rifts amongst the board and has destroyed the relationship with the manager.
Benitez has been at fault for his constant rotation - which has failed him so far in the league since he took the reigns.
And finally the players. They do their best, but the best is not good enough from most of the players. This side will not go closer to winning the title with players like Kuijt, Voronin, Kewell, Pennant, Riise playing.
At times, the quality of the football being played is just down right embarrassing and pathetic.
Posted by: Roop | 28 Feb 2008 16:33:28
Who is to blame for Liverpool's disappointing league position? The fact that it's 'disappointing' stems mainly from the deluded fans, ex-players and pundits with starry-eyed memories of the eighties, who believe that Liverpool should, by rights of their history, be in a better position than they are. From a realistic viewpoint, Newcastle's is an example of a disappointing season. Liverpool are in with a shout of qualifying for the Champions League, they should be happy with that.
Posted by: Ronnie | 28 Feb 2008 16:08:46
The americans are useless and know nothing about football.
Rafa has had 4 seasons, and he hasn't made us any better in the league. And every year, he always blames it on everything else but himself. Its either the injuries, or the internal breaks, or the pitch etc. Arsenal, Man Utd and Chelsea have to deal with these problems too.
The team haven't lived up to their hype either.
As much as I despise the american owners, the manager picked/rotated the team, and the players played the football.
Seems to me this years excuse is going to be the "evil americans". What are we gonna come up with next year?
Posted by: Zak | 28 Feb 2008 15:27:49
Why does it have to be someone's fault if Liverpool are not challenging for the title? Could it just be that the title contenders have more strength in depth and are better teams week in week out? Liverpool have no divine right to be challenging for the title. They are not a bad team because they do so well against the best teams on the continent but they just do not have enough strength in depth.
Posted by: Sir Jock Stein | 28 Feb 2008 09:04:29
I wouldn't blame any of them. I think Liverpool's position in the league is a fair reflection of their squad. It'll take another 2 seasons before they are on a level playing field with Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United.
Liverpool have vastly improved since Benitez has been in charge over the last 3 seasons. However, the competition has also improved.
Posted by: Matt | 28 Feb 2008 09:03:27
Liverpool FC players should remember whose shirt is on their backs when they run out, and how much is in their weekly pay packets on average; and try much harder!
Posted by: Richard Newey | 28 Feb 2008 08:43:52
The board are not predominantly to blame, but they are not the chairmen we need at Anfiled. DIC should take over, Rafa needs to kiss and make up with Paco, bringing back the team unity and fluidity we all saw at the begining of the season.
Posted by: John Millington | 28 Feb 2008 08:30:49
rafa benitez is a chancer a good chancer but he has been found out eventually.
Posted by: g | 28 Feb 2008 03:56:15
I still can not believe some of the idiotic Liverpool fans placing all the blame on the owners and sticking up for Benitez. Face it people, it was his horrendous mistakes that have cost Liverpool. Resting key players time and again in face of such strong opposition and sticking to his stubborness while trying to turn the supporters against the owners is not a man I respect. When has he ever owned up to the responsibility he has. He has blamed everyone from the players to the owners to even the media while refusing to accept his part in the whole affair. Its time for this guy to go.
Posted by: Aman | 28 Feb 2008 02:59:44