The Gown – student newspaper at Queen's University Belfast.

SPORT: Adios Senor Benitez, your time is up

For Liverpool supporters like myself, there is an ominous cloud hanging over Anfield these days.

BY DON MCDERMOTT

It is sad that I can no longer blame the likes of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres should they actively seek a move away this summer. I don’t think any supporter would blame them; it must be disheartening having the responsibility of carrying an entire team on their shoulders. A footballer’s career is a short one; at the end you hope to look back at the medals you have won, but this does not seem to be something Liverpool can offer them any more. They would grace any team in the world, so why should they stay at a club that never delivers? It doesn’t help that for many of the occasions when Liverpool has failed to deliver; the manager has laid the blame with the squad door rather than take some kind of responsibility. It is pathetic when Benitez continues to blame injuries for disappointing performances. A manager’s job is to protect his players, not throw them to the wolves to save his own hide.

Rafa’s post match press conferences are a great source of embarrassment for the club. Every week it seems as if the officials are at fault for missing a penalty decision or getting something wrong for his team failing to win. When not complaining about referees, it’s not having enough money transfer funds. In his years at Liverpool, Rafa has spent over £250 million on players, including youth players. Only three have lived up to any of their hype; Fernando Torres, Pepe Reina, Xavi Alonso and Yossi Benayoun. The problem is that he rarely puts his faith in Benayoun, and forced out Alonso in a failed attempt to sign then Aston Villa’s Gareth Barry. Very few football fans would rather have Barry than Xavi Alonso. Let us take a look at the man who eventually replaced Alonso; Alberto Aquilani. Here is a player who was injured for the first few months of the season, yet is still worth £25 million. If he is apparently fit, where is he? On the bench. £25 million blown on a player for the bench. A footballer, who, when he has played has looked too light for the Premiership. He can’t even get into the team ahead of Lucas, who is simply not good enough to play for Liverpool. Kop fans can no longer be surprised by a manager who sells Robbie Keane half way through the season last year, leaving his squad with only one world class striker, and then failing to address the issue, thus applying more pressure on Torres.

With my final words I would implore Mr Benitez to admit to Liverpool fans that he has taken the club as far as he can. Rafa must voluntarily step aside to save the club from crippling itself financially by having to pay him off, even if this means waiting until the season’s end for a class act like Hiddink, Mourinho or Guardiola. No longer can Benitez hide behind excuses without being held to account.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 2:49 am and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.