Rafa Benitez cut a lonely figure at Anfield on Wednesday night having watched his Liverpool side unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle.The latest in the long list of disappointments this season, the Reds capitulated in front of their own supporters, extinguishing their last hope of collecting any domestic silverware this campaign.
The only crumb of comfort coming from the failure of fierce rivals Manchester United to avoid falling foul of the lower league curse; the first time in 50 years that both teams had exited at the first stage. Quite a comedown I imagine considering that Benitez's men pushed United all the way in last season's race to the Premiership crown.
Pre-match, many pundits and journalists were rolling out the cliches and platidudes looking at the potential 'cupset' omens facing Rafa's men. The last time Liverpool were knocked out by a Championship side was in 2008 when they came a cropper against Barnsley at Anfield. The man who stunned the Kop that day, Brian Howard, was back in the colours of Reading, his team-mates hoping that lightening dared to strike twice.
In fact, the Royals didn't need him. For a team struggling at the wrong end of their division and still reeling from the disastrous tenure of Brendan Rogers, the visitors played like a team deserving of a place in the fourth round. Fate seemed to be on their side: Fernando Torres, the man who could have sealed a Liverpool win in the initial tie at the Madejski Stadium was taken off in the first half as a precautionary measure. Skipper Steven Gerrard soon followed. After creating the opening goal for the home side, Gerrard never re-emerged for the second 45.
The home fans may have felt agrieved at the award of the penalty from which Reading equalised but there was no doubting they deserved to be level: Grzegorz Rasiak and Simon Church both had chances before Jobi McAnuff almost wrote his name into FA Cup folklore with a breathtaking solo run. The less said about his finish the better.
Benitez must have looked on wondering where his side's spark was going to come from. Roberto Aquilani may have been a highly anticipated signing but whenever he has pulled on the red of Liverpool, there is no doubting his struggle to adapt to the pace and physicality of the English game. Accompanied by the epic failure that is David N'Gog, the words "barn door" and "banjo" came to mind.
For all the prestige and clout that comes with the Liverpool brand, it's beyond me how Benitez has not managed to attrack more big name players to Merseyside. With the exception of Fernando Torres, there is a very long list of expensive flops to go alongside him. This defeat not only proves how they cannot function without Gerrard or Torres but also shows how far they have yet to go before they can end their well-documented title drought.
In his post-match interview Benitez was asked "was that a disappointing result for your team?" to which he replied "that depends on your point of view". Well from my point of view Rafa, you are a dead man walking.
(Photograph courtesy of www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football)
