AFTER a weekend of high drama, football returned to the top of Liverpool’s priority list last night.
With so much chatter nowadays about ownership and takeovers, debts and finances, the new stadium and internal politics, it is easy to forget a football club still exists at Anfield, one that used to be the pre-eminent force in Europe.
Those days, of course, have long since gone but one thing that will never change on the Red half of Merseyside is a desire to talk about events on the field; about passing and movement, goals, great players and ambitions.
It’s a form of escapism or, more accurately, it used to be; Liverpudlians, you see, are caught in a terrifying nightmare, one where the farcical affairs in the boardroom are mirrored by the team’s desperate lack of quality – it is heartbreaking to watch.
Just when you thought things could not get any worse, Anfield witnessed the most gutless performance of Rafa Benitez’s five-and-a-half year reign, a display which deservedly sent them crashing out of another competition.
Disgrace is a word that does get used lightly even in this era of extreme hyperbole but, frankly, what else can you say about the situation now that Reading – 21st in the Championship, remember – have sent them tumbling out of the FA Cup?
Make no mistake, Liverpool, once a bastion of invincibility, is all but on its knees today; lacking leadership, devoid of direction, a calamity like the one 31,063 witnessed has been waiting to happen all season since the alarm bell ringing friendly in Espanyol.
There can be no excuses, no spin that the second half of the campaign will see them embark on the road to redemption; should this malaise continue, Liverpool will be lucky to finish in the top eight – the ramifications do not bare thinking about.
Having received rightful criticism for their poor second half display at the Madejski Stadium, it was not wrong to expect a positive response here from Liverpool but, incredibly, their start screamed lethargy.
Unable to string a sequence of meaningful passes together and failing to make the most of their superior talent, a sign of things to come arrived in the first minute when Fernando Torres was flattened by a crude challenge that effectively ended his night.
He laboured on for half an hour with a twisted knee but never gave the impression he was moving without pain and it made sense for Benitez to call an early halt to his evening before any further damage was done.
Even on one good leg, though, Torres still looked more of a threat and possessed greater interest than some of his team-mates, who gave the impression they would rather be anywhere but scrapping on a freezing cold evening.
Had you walked into the stadium to watch a match for the first time and had no idea about the background of both clubs, it would have been almost impossible to differentiate which team came from which division.
Quite simply, Liverpool’s efforts were so wretched in the first 45 minutes it frightened and raised the prospect that another horrible night in a competition that used to conjure up so much romance lay in store.
With the atmosphere flat and anxiety hanging heavily in the air, the mind immediately raced back to Barnsley’s visit in 2008 and, for an older generation, those excruciating games against Bristol City, Bolton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Apprehension increased in the stands when, first, Gregorz Rasiak squandered a gilt-edged opportunity following a misjudgement by Jamie Carragher and then Simon Church failed to connect with a glorious cross from Jobi McAnuff.
Would Liverpool have been booed off had the scoreline remained goal-less at half-time? More than likely. Supporters were becoming increasingly agitated with each passing second, howling out the fears and frustrations.
The only time they had remotely looked like having something to cheer about came when Philipp Degen surged in field and teed up Yossi Benayoun, whose shot arced just beyond the upright of Reading keeper Adam Federici.
Then, almost from nowhere, Liverpool took the lead; totally against the run of play, totally unexpected but totally needed, Steven Gerrard’s drive and determination inside the penalty area led to the unfortunate Ryan Bertrand putting through his own goal. And, as if by magic, the atmosphere changed; relief swept down from the Kop, the Centenary Stand, the Main Stand and the sparsely-populated Anfield Road that, possibly, the labouring was over.
Gerrard’s reaction, however, told its own story; shoulders slunk, head bowed and almost reluctant to shake hands in celebration, the skipper – who expects impeccably high standards – knew this was way below par.
Yet almost as quickly as Liverpool were given a lift, the feel good factor was taken away; Gerrard’s failure to return for the second 45 minutes owing to a hamstring problem was as worrying as this slipshod performance.
In taking off Gerrard and Torres so early, Benitez understandably erred on the side of caution but he – like everyone else – will be praying they do not suffer reactions which would preclude their involvement against Stoke City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Heaven knows what lies in store in those two games now; collapsing like a cheap deck of cards once Yossi Benayoun had tripped substitute Shane Long to concede an injury time penalty, it was like watching a car crash in slow motion.
Long’s header in the first period of extra time brought Liverpool’s world tumbling down and it is hard to see how they will recover from this ignominy; at present, they are in danger of becoming the laughing stock of world football.
Something, somewhere has to change.
Too many hearts have been broken, too many dreams have been shattered, too much faith has been lost. If not, this could be the end of Liverpool Football Club as you once knew it.
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