Why the clouds of Euro failure could yet have a silver lining for Liverpool

By Richard Buxton in Liverpool Fans Blog

Published 16:05 25/11/09

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Cockermouth was not the only place to be severely hit by a heavy downpour this week. Last night, the streets in Pontypridd and Walton were flooded with the tears of Evertonians crying with laughter at Liverpool's Champions League demise.

Our first European humiliation since crashing out to FC Basel in December 2002 didn't wrangle me as much as seven years ago. It was like standing on the poop deck of the Titanic as it powered towards that iceberg.

The team Rafael Benitez fielded in Budapest was as strong as he could possibly select given our current injury crisis, but the approach taken after Ngog's opener was negative to say the least. ‘Going backwards’ I think it is called or, in Liverpool's case, repeat ad nauseum.

Sitting back and consolidating a one-goal lead against the Hungarian alternative to Tranmere Rovers was something we grew accustomed to during the days of Souness, Evans and Houllier; it didn't work for them and it certainly won't work for Benitez.

Bringing on Aquilani in stoppage time was a highly baffling decision and has given the media more ammunition to fire at him. A 30-second cameo on a lumpy pitch in Budapest does not really justify the case for having a world-class, attack-minded midfielder on the bench for 90 minutes when it was imperative to go for broke.

Admittedly matters were out of our hands due to events in Florence, but as Steven Gerrard said last night, "you get what you deserve in football". Liverpool have deserved nothing from this season's Champions League because performances have been sub-par and half-hearted. Even during the opening game against Debrecen, there was no heart and no determination to succeed.

However, there could be a silver lining to the Euro exit as it might just make the club's less than competent American owners realise that they will have to speculate to accumulate if they wish to continue creaming off the club's profits.

Success in modern football cannot be generated by giving the manager of a top four club limited funds. If supporters think Benitez isn't the right man for the job then they should look at his record domestically AND on the continent compared to his predecessors before they start buying lottery tickets in a bid to raise the £18million required to sack him.

So on we march to our old friend the UEFA Cup or, as Platini and co have branded it, the Europa League where we could come up against Benitez's old club Valencia or even reacquaint ourselves with the fiery AS Roma. We could also be making the shortest European trip in living memory as we take 1,244 steps across north Liverpool to Goodison Park to face our ‘beloved’ neighbours, who we play on Sunday.

We have to banish the pain of Europe and treat the game with Everton as if it were a cup final. It seems to work for David Moyes' side so why not apply a similar approach? Fiery encounters and divided families are the order of the day where Merseyside derbies are concerned and Sunday's will be no different. Expect tackles flying in thick and fast and a very closely contested match.

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