'Crisis' over at Anfield but was there ever one in the first place?

Premier League / Feizal Rahman / 25 October 2009 / Leave a Comment

"Fine margins define success and failure in football and Liverpool are currently falling on the wrong side. But as a game fuelled by confidence, it takes only one result to turn fortunes around on all fronts."

Feizal Rahman thinks Benitez has not received enough praise for his achievements at Anfield, which will make today's win all the sweeter

What a difference a win makes.

On the back of four successive defeats, Liverpool's bid for league and European success this season appeared to be hanging by a thread. Prior to today's 2-0 victory over Manchester United and with the media eye fully trained on the 'chaos' at Anfield the Reds had drifted out to [18.0] to win the Premier League, a price that now sits at [12.0]. Something similar will be needed in Europe where Liverpool are [28.0] to win the Champions League after Lyon's win at Anfield.

With defensive shortcomings and a perceived reliance on two star players in attack, the knives of the headline writers were sharpened for manager Rafael Benitez. But a look at the facts, as the Spaniard himself might put it, suggest that questions over his future are premature and misguided.

In the summer of 2004, Benitez could not have arrived at the club at less auspicious time. With Arsenal on the back of an invincible season, Chelsea now bankrolled by a Russian billionaire and the ever-gargantuan presence of Manchester United, the job of making Liverpool genuine Premier League contenders was onerous. Left with a ragbag of has-beens and misfits by previous incumbent, Gerard Houllier, the task for Benitez was not just to make a good team great by adding a few top quality individuals but to completely overhaul a squad totally inept for the challenge.

Yet, the financial goalposts had been moved drastically. Where once Liverpool could attract the game's biggest names to an institution seeped in history and saturated with silverware, now it was money that talked. Priced out of the market for elite players, instead the new manager had to look at the budget options. But with every perceived bargain comes a risk that the product may not be a good as the one with a hefty price tag.

Since his arrival, Benitez has a net spend of just over £90m on around 40 first team signings compared to Manchester United's small net profit after the purchase of only half as many players, highlighting the ground that Liverpool have had to make up just to be within touching distance.

So five years on, with a European and FA Cup in the cabinet, continuous Champions League football and their closest title challenge in 18 years, there should be no doubts over the ability of Benitez as Liverpool manager - criticised for his defensive tactics, the sale of Xabi Alonso and the dependency on Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres (the latter [3.6] favourite to be Premier League top goalscorer).

Yet, each of Liverpool's main rivals have struggled defensively this season, all conceding sloppy goals. The form of stalwart Jamie Carragher is a concern but, once retrieved, he along with Pepe Reina, Glen Johnson, Martin Skrtel and Emiliano Insua still form one of Europe's strongest defences.

Having had his best season in a Liverpool shirt, the loss of Alonso was untimely but inevitable with the midfielder intent on a return to Spain. Yet, with two-thirds of his transfer fee reinvested in Roma's Alberto Aquilani, Benitez acquired a top-class replacement. Upon return from injury, the Italian will undoubtedly add guile and presence to the midfield, lessening the current burden on Javier Mascherano.

It should be no surprise that two of the world's greatest talents drive Liverpool on but Gerrard and Torres are responsible for 50 per cent of their team's league goals this season - the same as Wayne Rooney and Dmitar Berbatov at Manchester United. It should perhaps also be noted that but for a rogue beach ball, Liverpool would have taken a point away to Sunderland while Manchester United required a 94th minute own-goal to secure a draw at home to the same opponent.

Such fine margins define success and failure in football and Liverpool are currently falling on the wrong side. But as a game fuelled by confidence, it takes only one result to turn fortunes around on all fronts ([2.62] to qualify from Champions League Group E).

Skilled in disaster recovery, Benitez will revel in his third consecutive league win over Manchester United tonight. In what is looking to be the tightest competition for some years, even defeat would not have ruled Liverpool out of the title race at such an early stage. As it is the much-needed win has been secured and Benitez has written his own headline. Crisis? What Crisis?