Source: Liverpool_Echo
James Pearce Liverpool FC must fear losing touch with footballs elite
STEVEN GERRARD smooching with the camera in front of the delirious travelling Kop and Old Trafford stunned into silence - it was like Liverpool had turned back the clock.
The last time their skipper started planting smackers on Sky Sports' lens in that particular corner of enemy territory he had fired Liverpool in front and on course for an emphatic 4-1 victory over their arch rivals.
It was March 2009 and after the Reds' biggest win at Old Trafford for 73 years, supporters were dreaming of the Premier League title.
Manchester United had been ripped to bits by a rampant attacking display and fans left chuckling at Alex Ferguson's bizarre claim that United were 'the better team'.
Nine-times European Cup winners Real Madrid had been hammered 4-0 at Anfield four days earlier and the quarter-final draw of the Champions League was eagerly anticipated.
Just 18 months have past since those unforgettable contests but how times have changed. Liverpool have taken a quantum leap - backwards.
The Reds no longer get to mix with Europe's elite and the real fear is they are fast losing touch with those at the top end of the domestic game.
Dogged by the disastrous reign of their absentee American owners, there's been a chronic lack of investment in a squad in desperate need of strengthening to compete at the highest level.
Key players have been let down by a trail of broken promises over investment and that compounded with the mistakes Rafa Benitez made last season ensured a malaise has set in.
