Rafa must prove he's the manager he believes himself to be - or else
What a difference a day makes, 24 little hours.
Just as Liverpool looked to be reaching a positive turning point in a season of toil , the dark clouds of doubt are now swirling around Merseyside all over again.
And how Rafa Benitez must now wish he could have woken this morning and turned the clock back after a night of utterly deserved despair.
Benitez, for all his vows of defiance, will know the boos that cascaded round Anfield at the end of the FA Cup defeat by Reading were justified too.
What made the mood so bitter was that it had looked like things were finally starting to go in the right direction.
Wednesday had begun with the news of the imminent signing of Bordeaux striker Marouanne Chamakh , and improved further as Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez put pen to paper on his own deal .
Yet as Shane Long glided clear of Jamie Carragher to nod Liverpool out of the FA Cup, leaving the Europe League – what former Anfield ace Ronnie Whelan dubbed “the Losers League” this morning – as their only remaining hope of silverware, the bright hopes were suddenly seeming more like a false dawn.
There could be no arguments, no complaints, either, even if events conspired against Benitez with the losses of both Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard before the start of the second half.
Liverpool were, frankly, woeful, all the problems of the season encapsulated in 120 minutes that ended with the Kop having to endure more painful lessons about their side’s limitations and vulnerabilities.
It may have taken until the final seconds of stoppage time for Reading to get their reward, as Yossi Benayoun’s clumsy trip on Long was spotted by Phil Dowd to allow Gylfi Sigurdsson to slip home from the spot.
But had Simon Church, Gregorz Rasiak or Jobi McAnuff showed equal composure when they missed gilt-edged chances in both halves, then Liverpool would have been out long before the need for the penalty to take the tie into that final, fateful half-hour.
It was not a case of a smash and grab raid, with Reading riding their luck and somehow emerging with the laurels of victory.
Instead, they were the better team, Liverpool, apart from a brief spell at the start of the second half, just dreadful.
And at some stage, Benitez has to stand up and take responsibility for that.
His response was the right one in the circumstances, determined and resolute.
After all, if a manager shows weakness and doubt, especially in the moments of real adversity, then his players will lose all remaining faith.
Yet after a while, keeping faith is not enough in itself.
Managing director Christian Purslow has vigorously and vehemently insisted Benitez’ future is not in question.
Certainly there is no appetite or enthusiasm for a change of helmsman at this stage, with the club taking the view that disruption now would transform the possibility of missing out on a top four place into a probability.
In allowing Benitez to sign Rodriguez and put the Chamakh deal in place, the board had signaled the Spaniard remained the right man for the long-term.
But the expectation of a response on the field to the off-pitch manoeuvring was not met against the lowly Royals.
With Torres and Gerrard off, Benitez needed his men to stand up and be counted.
Yes, Carragher did keep on galloping down the right in extra-time, Benayoun flirted with the ball on the edge of the box, David Ngog found himself in the right positions but then lacked the necessary calmness.
But where were Lucas and Alberto Aquiliani?
Benitez needed them to show why he has constantly championed the Brazilian, why he believed the Italian would more than simply replace Xabi Alonso.
Instead, when the going got tough, the weak got going, showing no leadership, no thrust, no desire.
That is not good enough for Liverpool players, for the inheritors of the greats of the past, including the watching duo, side by side in the directors’ box, of Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish.
Benitez is not, even after last night, a dead man walking.
He has the chance to redeem himself and his team, to show, in the month that brings crunch league clashes with Spurs, Everton, Arsenal and Manchester City, that he can galvanise and energise his players into fulfilling what started as their minimal expectation and has now become their real target for the season.
Yet every game is now a pressure cooker, ever hurdle more like a potential mountain, even defeat, or even draw, viewed of further evidence of a decline that cannot be halted unless there is a new manager.
That is the situation Benitez is now in. He cannot deny it, only defy it. Somehow, Benitez must now prove he is the manager he believes himself to be.
Is it time for Rafa to go? Let us know by leaving your comments below...
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