One of the biggest storylines over in Europe this week is over the future of Liverpool coach Rafa Benitez. The club is mired in one its worst slumps in 20 years after losing four in a row, injury concerns loom over Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, and they face Manchester United over the weekend.
Much has been made of the club and its financial struggles, and their Tuesday loss to Lyon in the Champions League many are calling for the Liverpool brass to fire Benitez — though it has been reported that the club couldn't afford it, as Benitez recently signed a contract extention. Liverpool would have to pay in the neighborhood of £20 million if they were to sack the Spaniard.
Even so, if Liverpool fails to qualify for the knockout stages of the Champions League, the financial fallout would be huge. And while they aren't dead quite yet, with the injury problems, trouble is brewing indeed.
So what do you think — should Benitez get fired? Cast your vote below.
Will Liverpool turn it around? How long will Benitez stay? Crazy to suggest he should be fired?
Share your thoughts below.
Liverpool fans should be praying that Russia loses their playoff with Slovenia. Then lucky Guus Hiddink will be on the table and we can kick Rafa to the curb.
A change NEEDS to be made at Anfield, but I don’t want to see a change just for change’s sake. Let’s make sure whoever is brought in is a real winner.
I agree with you, Omar. But doesn’t Rafa really make you scratch your head sometimes and wish he wasn’t so stubborn? I really think he is his own worst enemy at times.
He’s doing a fantastic job! There are two trophies Liverpool don’t have — the Premier League and the Europa League. Rafa’s definitely bringing one of those to Anfield!
That is such a stupid comment. When they won the Champions League where was Torres?
I read that the fans are more disappointed with the owners and want them out. They have apparently driven Liverpool in debt, haven’t built a stadium they promised and used Liverpool’s money to fund their other businesses.
Firing coach is only a short term solution, but in the long run they must do something about the whole club.
And maybe they shouldn’t have let Hyypia go. Their defense is a mess and at the same time Sami is ranked as the best defender in the Bundesliga (by the German football bible Kicker).
Michael Owen is crappy right now for Man U but I bet Rafa sure can use him right now since he doesn’t have any quality strikers on the bench….
Whatever happened to all the talented players in their reserve team?
The ownership backed him plenty during the offseason. He spent 42mil pounds on two players, one who is a rightback and another who hasn’t played yet. They have a fine first choice 11 when everyone is healthy, but realistically how often is that going to happen? Arsenal, Man United, Man City and Chelsea have cover. Even Spurs have held their own with their best player, Luka Modric, out injured. When Liverpool are faced with injuries to their top stars, they can’t cope. I bet Rafa wishes he never let the likes of Bellamy and Crouch go.
The owners need to go. They don’t know what they are doing. Rafa wanted to bring in fresh legs in the transfer window, they didn’t. But the coaches are always the scapegoats in sports.
Nope. This isn’t last year. Alonso was their backbone and they have nothing resembling a replacement. They’ll get crushed by United this weekend and be 6 points behind Arsenal for the 4th spot already with Arsenal having a game in hand. Without big changes in January, Liverpool is a Europa side at best.
how can you say that when he is never given a chance there
Babel sucks as top striker, he is not a top striker, the Dutch national team will never play him their either
I can’t believe that when the owners give 40mil for 2 forwards, 17mil for a back and 20+ mil for an injured midfielder in the past 3 season how the run of form this year can be put on their shoulders.
75+mil on 4 players is crazy for a team that is trying to compete with the deep pockets of chelsea/man city and the quality youth of man u/arse
If any of those get injured (2 are right now, and keano got sent back).
They aren’t the greatest owners, but at the end of the day, they do what they should (put of the money). If rafa wants to buy the shiny new thing in the window and it breaks, then thats on him.
Put Babel up top by himself and he will perform. My point is that he has to play closest to the goal and not out wide where Benitez continually plays him.
See his hattrick the other day? For crying out loud, he IS the best striker in the world. His style fits Liverpool perfectly. He just happens to be injured at the moment.
The problem is not the manager. It’s the ownership. If only they could be fired…
Torres would be the best player in the world if he wasn’t on Liverpool. The team play doesn’t really fit his style.
Finish Top 4 With FIVE losses already? Unless teams in the top four loses some more games and they do not lose a single game for the rest of the season. They can start this weekend, they have United at home.
They’re the 5th most expensive team in Britain, with the 5th highest wage bill. Rafa has taken them to 2 Champions League finals, won 1 of them, won 1 FA Cup, and made the team’s best run at the title in a decade last year. Rafa’s done about as well as most other Prem managers there are today.
Yeah, fire the A-hole. Geez. I get so sick of the British itchiness to fire managers one season, treat them like gods the next.
Well-run clubs stick by good men; let’s hope Liverpool does so.
I said top striker not support. That’s the problem with Liverpool once Torres is out there is nobody to take his place.
Yup, but Carragher is looking bad out there and his partner aint helping out
I say “rich American owners” because these are typical businessmen who did a hostile takeover of these clubs. You seem pretty heated. Some clubs the owners/chairmen are very knowledgeable of talent and are involved in the transfer market more than the manager.
Some clubs(such as manU and liverpool) the manager is trusted with the future of the club because the owners do not feel they have enough knowledge of the game.
Am I assuming something about someone I don’t know? Yes. But, based on reading their biographies I can assume they are typical sports club investors owning some of the biggest clubs in the world for the sole purpose of it being a good investment.
Geez, they finished second last year. Second. They’ve had a hellacious stretch of injuries and lost Alonso. The Prem is much tougher this season. Are they going to win? No. But they’ll finish top 4 for sure.
I agree with Joamiq. Liverpool have suffered from a lack of depth and that is no ones fault but Rafa. Look at his substitutions yesterday. Gerrard goes of injured and he brings on a fullback! Granted most teams would struggle when losing a player of Gerrard’s caliber, but can you imagine Sir Alex replacing Wayne Rooney with John O’Shea 20min into a scoreless game at home? Any injury to Torres or Gerrard and this team is without any cutting edge going forward.
We’ve heard cries that Liverpool doesn’t have the financial might to compete with Chelsea and Man United, but let’s face it. He spend 17mil pounds on a right back and 25mil pounds on a midfielder who hasn’t even played this season. That money should have been invested in 4 or 5 players, rather than 2. A 17mil pound rightback is a luxury few clubs can afford.
Shut up, Sven.
You know, it’s nice that even though Everton isn’t doing as well as I’d like, at least Liverpool is doing worse than I hoped. Really, beating Liverpool in the table would be just as good as qualifying for the Champion’s League. Actually it would be better…
A center back should be in his prime at 31.
The big problem is the way the team is constructed. You have to bet on injuries occurring when you construct your team. No other team in the Premiership loses so much without one (or both) of its top two players. They have no depth anywhere. Without Gerrard and Torres they barely look midtable.
the owners should give him some time – but firing Rafa will cost a LOT less than missing out on the Champs league next year… they need someone who knows what they are doing by the time the January window opens… if not, say goodbye to the top of the table for a couple of years.
Personally, I am shedding no tears. Gillette and Hicks are a couple of clowns. Liverpool supporters deserve better, but, all the better for City!!!
CTID
@ghost
Why don’t you blame the injuries to Gerrard and Torres on the “rich American owners” too. Are there any “poor” owners of EPL teams? What does being American have anything to do with it. You disproved your own ridiculous statement by mentioning Manchester United. Dumb comment.
The team isn’t good enough, no matter who the manager is. People have been talking about their “championship” hopes. Well those have been well and clearly dashed, but I would also say that they are no longer part of the “big 4” in England – and their final place in the table will reflect that.
Re Rafa I would say his crappy transfer record + mancrush on Lucas might warrant using him as a scapegoat.
This is very true and more so for Liverpool than most teams because the owners(rich Americans) give him all the power to make these decisions since they most likely know nothing about futbol talent and what the team needs.
Its the same with Man U except Alex is the best in the world at the transfer market and managing the clubs future than he is as a coach.
If it wasn’t for the 5 years (which was stupid to begin with) then I would say fire his a$$. But you are right they can’t afford it. I can’t see how with his track record the past 2-3 seasons of buying players that LPool would agree to another 5 years.
If Rafa didn’t like Keano then I would tell him too bad cause your boy Torres is out for 10 games a year with his thigh strains every 3 weeks.
And how is more money in the transfer market gonna make a difference, honestly its just a bigger shovel for rafa to bury himself and this club.
As a pool supporter it is more frustrating then anything, because honestly i can’t see a light at the end of the tunnel
His decisions in the transfer market over the years seem to be catching up with him. The squad has never had any sort of depth, and he buys players in positions they don’t need. Not to mention his in game decisions often lead me to scratch my head. The team’s success has always hinged on Torres and Gerrard, and not Rafa’s coaching. He doesn’t have the ability to win without those two, that’s plain to see.
Rafa is under some serious pressure,
Next two games is critical
Sunday in form Man U
Wednesday in form Arsenal
They arent getting a break, and i see 2 losses to add to the four
“Looks like they’ll be walking alone”
Put Babel next to Torres up top and you will see a class act from him. Babel is not a winger like Benitez plays him as. He is an out and out striker just like Torres.
it would cost them 20 million pounds. They cannot afford to at this point.
No. But only because I hate Liverpool and love to watch them and their faithful suffer. Keep him in charge and drive the team into the ground. Couldn’t manage his way out of a paper bag. fffft.
Rafa cannot be hung out as the only reason why Liverpool looks poor this season. Last term they had the opportunity to replace Alonso with Barry, they didn’t. This term they let Alonso go with adequate replacement, Lucas is not and also once Torres is injured, there is no striker coming off the bench; same goes for Stevie G. And please Voronin, Ngog or Babel are not top strikers. Plus Jamie Carragher is looking like the 31 year-old he is and Skrtel is a poor man’s Vidic.
It’s true they can’t afford it.
on 18 March 2009 BenÃtez signed a new five-year deal with the club.
So if you fire him, you owe him lots of money then you have to hire some other high profile manager for lots of money… not going to happen.
He shouldn’t of subbed out Yossi Benayoun last game and instead subbed where they needed help. That was a very tough loss for them.
Fire Bob and hire Rafa lol im pretty sure this will be what people will start posting pretty soon
They can’t afford it. Besides, who’s gonna replace him and at what cost?
Liverfools.
Rafs one of the best. You gotta keep him.