Source: Telegraph
Liverpool in crisis: have your say
The 2-1 Champions League failure at home to Lyons was Liverpool's fourth loss in a row in all competitions – the first time such a run of defeats has occurred in 22 years.
Benítez has admitted that Liverpool must win their remaining three Champions League group matches to progress. They've done that before, but the club's Premier League form has dipped alarmingly also, with four defeats, having suffered only two last season. To cap it all Manchester United are the next visitors to Anfield.
What are the big issues?
The owners
George Gillett and Tom Hicks. The warring Americans' plans for a new stadium at Stanley Park remain a distant dream. Money has been made available for players – Benítez continues to gripe that there isn't enough – but the club's debt to banks continues to be a burden, with no sign of any new investors or owners.
The players
With a full-strength starting XI, Benítez has a side capable of challenging the best in the world. But take out Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres and the Reds looks decidedly short on cutting edge. Xabi Alonso went to Real Madrid. Injury has prevented his replacement, Alberto Aquilani, from making any contribution.
The fans
Liverpool supporters' mantra has been 'In Rafa we trust', their ire directed at Hicks and Gillett. But last night, boos rang out as Benítez replaced the inventive Yossi Benayoun with the ineffectual Andriy Voronin. As Kevin Garside writes today: "Love for Benítez is not universal... it is not that fans no longer believe, more that they do not know what to believe." Is Rafa beginning to lose the supporters?
The manager
And is Benítez losing some of his will for the fight? The man who railed at Sir Alex Ferguson with a famous "facts" rant last season, who has rallied struggling teams in the past, was curiously muted after the shambolic beach ball goal at Sunderland. Could it be that Benítez, with no sign of a change in club ownership, feels his best chance of reclaiming the English championship for Liverpool came and went last season?
However...
Two seasons ago, Liverpool recovered from similar problems in Europe to surge into the knockout rounds. The return of Gerrard and Torres will lift the team, as will a fit Aquilani. Jamie Carragher, the Mersey heartbeat, will surely rediscover his lost form.
Things can only get better – right?
