Source: Daily_Mail
HATCHET MAN: Rafa rues his casualty list but making a mess in the transfer market cost Liverpool the
Rafa Benitez has finally resorted to the age old excuse favoured by managers who have run out of ideas: injuries.
After virtually conceding the title to Manchester United, the Liverpool
boss blamed his inability to keep their bid on track on Fernando Torres being unavailable too often.
He should also have mentioned Steven Gerrard but there always seem to be politics involved when it comes to the Spaniard dealing with his skipper.
Sidelined: Liverpool have been unable to cope with the loss of Torres
But even if he had, that would be pretty pathetic wouldn't it? What he is saying is a shocking indictment of his ability to manage: We would have won the title this season but we hung all our hopes on two players and without them we are nothing.
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Benitez is so desperate to justify his increasingly tenuous position he also dredged up some UEFA co-efficient to prove how good Liverpool have become under his guidance.
He knows as well as anyone that the club are great in the Champions League and little else.
They don't have the consistency to win the Premier League because their transfer record under the Spaniard has been poor.
There have been too many bad buys such as Ryan Babel, who cost £11.5million, or Jermaine Pennant at £6.7m and Alberto Riera at £8m.
Torres may have been a coup but Robbie Keane was a disaster on several levels and Benitez cannot claim that every poor signing was Rick Parry's fault.
Liverpool's squad is not good enough after five years under this management regime and Benitez has had money to spend.
Other contributing negative factors include his odd style and squad rotation, which his players hate, but if he had to pick one reason for another League failure it is transfers not injuries.
Missing out on Aston Villa's Gareth Barry is irrelevant - he would not have made the difference - and Benitez has to accept responsibility for leaving Liverpool hamstrung where the title is concerned.
