Why Liverpool will never win the Premier League
At their first press conference, Tom Hicks and George Gillett came across as a pair of bumbling idiots, cut from the same cloth as George W Bush. “If Rafa said he wanted to buy Snoogy Doogy we would back him” stated Gillett. Brilliant. Either Gillett is a comic genius, light years ahead of the rest of the population or he’s a complete buffoon. I’m going to plump for the latter and I don’t think there are many people who will argue. However, their buffoonery does not make them accountable for yet another miserable season in the league for Liverpool. Certainly they haven’t helped matters, but forking out several million on Spanish wunderkind Fernando Torres also hasn’t exactly damaged Liverpool.
Rafa Benitez loves a tinker. We’ve been told so many times by pundits and experts. Again, there is little argument from this correspondent that he has thrown away vital points with strange formation and personnel decisions. Putting Peter Crouch on the wing in the loss against Reading this season was the perfect microcosm for his time at Liverpool. Once again, no-one can argue that this hasn’t cost Liverpool dear, but Sir Alex Ferguson has also thrown games away with unnecessary rotation. Weakened teams against Bolton in the league and Coventry in the cup have seen United stumble and fall. However, even when Benitez gets his tinkering spot on, he is lampooned. Early this season, Liverpool beat their local rivals, Everton 2-1. With the scores level at 1-1 he took off his captain and local hero, Steven Gerrard for 20yr old Brazilian, Lucas. A chorus of boos rang out from the Liverpool faithful. In a later interview, Benitez said he wanted to play with less passion and keep possession more, hence his decision to bring on Lucas. As it turned out, Lucas played a vital role in Liverpool’s winning goal and had a steadying influence on what was previously a rudderless ship. Despite winning 2-1, the main focus of the game for many journalists was the substitution. Gary Lineker was almost speechless on MOTD that Benitez wanted to play with less passion in a local derby and it is this myopic view surrounding Steven Gerrard that will constantly cost Liverpool.
The fans will never hear a disparaging word against him, the media likewise, yet as the great John Giles said, I believe Steven Gerrard is a player who produces great moments, not a great player. England and Liverpool have both suffered at the hands of his style of midfield play. All 100mph stuff, all 50yard raking passes, all blood and thunder. He often squanders possession and even if his 50 yard passes find their target, the gap between the midfield and attack is then so great that the momentum stalls. Xavi and Iniesta at Barca, Fabregas at Arsenal and even Scholes at United know the importance of attacking as a unit, which means keeping possession, making angles and playing short, incisive passes. This is something, I fear, Steven Gerrard will never learn and why Liverpool will never be consistent enough in the premier league. The only solution this correspondent can see for Liverpool, is to put Gerrard on the wing, where his bursts and energy would be of greater benefit and play Alonso and Masherano in the middle. However, Benitez did this for a season, arguably Gerrard’s best season, when journalists and fans pointed to Gerrard’s fine goal scoring form as evidence he should be given a more central role. “Imagine how many more goals he would score from the middle” So, while Hicks, Gillett and Benitez take the brunt of the criticism for Liverpool’s stuttering season, this correspondent believes that until fans and the media allow Steven Gerrard’s cloak of invincibility to drop, Liverpool will go on stuttering, quite simply because, with Steven Gerrard in central midfield, they do not have the class, guile or quality to win the premiership.
