Reds in crisis?

Is off-field drama affecting Reds' performances? Join the Sky Sports debate

Last updated: 22nd January 2008  

Reds in crisis?

Steven Gerrard says off-field speculation about the club is making it difficult for the side to concentrate on football. Do you agree with the Liverpool captain?

Uncertainty over the Reds' ownership and the position of manager Rafael Benitez have made for recurring headlines but do you think it is contributing to Liverpool's stuttering form?

There has been speculation owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett are considering selling the club. Do you think changing ownership now would help the situation or should the American duo stay?

What about Rafa Benitez? Has the constant speculation about his future undermined his long-term position?

Join the Sky Sports debate using the form below.

Comments (93)

Lorna Jean-baptiste says...

As a rival red (Man U), it makes me sick that players blame outside facts for not performing. We do the same thing by beating a quality European team and then lose against a team that should be no real contest. I really believe that these players should be paid on a performance basis. A basic wage for all and then bonus based on performance. Maybe that would ensure that they at least give it 100% (which is not a lot to ask for the amount of money they get paid). Players from the 70's have said time and time again that they would have played every day if they have been allowed. This bunch moan if they have to play twice a week. Come on lads, get a grip and instill some of that British stiff upper lip attitute. Maybe the problem is that the Brit is falling out of British football. 4 foreign players per team on the pitch at any given time. Lorna Jean-Baptiste

Posted 12:28 25th January 2008

Andrew Richardson (liverpool) says...

The drop in form has nothing to do with the owners, the manager's rotation policy or speculation of a buy-out. Those in the squad are professional sportsmen, and should be able to take the off-field pressures and still produce quality performances against all teams in the league, not just in Europe or the old enemies. Every year there is the same story line, we beat the likes of Barca, and lose or draw to the likes of Reading (no disrespect to Reading, but they're not in the same class). The players need to acknowledge this, they and only they are letting us the fans down. Time to start playing for your wages, if Shanks were still in that change room, he'll have them jumping and playing for the shirt. Rafa is great, but he needs a meaner streak in him to get the red-men back focused. We are behind the team, we always will be, You'll never walk alone' we the fans perform every week, around the world in all time zones, it's time the players start to do the same.

Posted 07:58 25th January 2008

Ya Dafty says...

Rafa has to go. The players look board like I am with his pre/post match chat. He looks clueless and our play is so dull. Compare league progress Martin O'Neil and David Moyes have made to Rafa. Rafa is stuck... short of ideas! We won the Champions League on chess style tactics and moments of brilliance. These are not the right ingrediants for the league. Rafa doesn't know how to embed creativity in our play. I would sack him for that reason alone.

Posted 06:20 25th January 2008

Suki Nagra says...

Its simple, lack of funds, lack of creativity, lack of world class players and a serious lack of desire and committement by the owners (yanks) and select players. Do we really want to be playing second fiddle to Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea??? Rafa, should resign gracefully at the end of the season - however until then he should play his best 11 in EVER GAME that means Babbel, Torres, Stevie G, Masso', Carra', Alonso, Agger, Arbeloa and Sissoko...he is brilliant - RB has destroyed his confidence..play him in each game...he'll soon be back!! Bring in Jose M, for next season and he'll soon have them playing... sell Kuyt, Vor, Finnan, Pennant, John A.R, Kewell, Fabio Aurelio and crouch..and buy in a PROVEN WORLD CLASS left back, a Right back, a natural left winger and a natural right winger, a proven striker to play along side Torres...such as Drogba...or ETO then we will get the EPL title that we have been waiting for... for such a long time..The owners well if DIC can committe themselves to giving the new manager at least £70 million at the start of each season for the next 5 years to spend on new signings then let them in...As Jose said its all about Class 1 eggs.... we have 2 or three the rest are all Class 4...

Posted 18:04 23rd January 2008

Ants Martin says...

I am sorry but what Steven Gerrard said, during the week, that outside issues are affecting the players is utter nonsense! These players are paid a vast amount of money on weekly basis. What goes on with the owners/managers has nothing to do with them unless they are been transferred to another club. If Liverpool owners are not happy with performance, then rightly they should take it up with their Manager. Liverpool fans have short memory's. When Man U were brought by the Glaziers, there was a toatal uproar from fans, to the point some even went away to form thier own club. But what did that prove? NOT MUCH! Man U went out & played football to the best of thier ability. Okay they may not of won the league that year, but it only goes to prove, that as football players they have to act as professionals. Last season with Chelsea there were rumours on-going about the Manager & owner not seeing eye to eye. This lasted the whole season. Okay we never won the legue but won other cups. We came 2nd in the league many points above Liverppol. The problem stated with Rafa, who slated the owners after the final in the Champions league, for not giving him enough money. But as a manager he needs to remember that you are not bigger than the club. Jose tried this & was sacked! Its only a matter of time before Rafa is shown the door as well. Liverpool have a big enough squad, but cannot challenge the likes of Man U, Chelsea & Arsenal. Liverpool are not capable of killing offgames. The players should not try to blame outside politic's but blame themselves for under performing. It will be interesting to see how they preform for the rest of the season with Everton, Aston Villa & Man City fighting for 4th place. All the Best Guys.

Posted 18:02 23rd January 2008

Sean thornton (Liverpool fan) says...

I think recent off field events could just be taking the heat off Rafa at the moment.After all he is picking and rotating the team and it is not working.Team spirit is not what it should be and certain players no matter how good their last performance still get dropped.A team needs stability and confidence.Liverpool clearly do not have a good enough squad to rotate in such a way. Always pick your strongest side.10 draws and failure to kill off the opposing side has left us trailing again.

Posted 17:30 23rd January 2008

Etienne Groenewald (Liverpool fan) says...

I honestly don't understand why the Liverpool fans are so behind Rafa. His choice of rotating the squad is obviously not working and this has been shown not only this season but last season as well. He has made poor signings in Kuyt - who is absolutely useless. Yes, he works hard and runs till the cows come home but I can do that as well. Pay me that money and I will be the fittest person on the field. I won't be able to score goals but he obviously can't either. Crouch keeps scoring but he doesn't get the chance to play. Sissoko is a wonderful player but doesn't get the chance. No wonder he is leaving. The style of football we are playing is shocking and the results speak for themselves. Stop blaming off field antics and start looking at Rafa!!! I am so tired of watching Pool play as I could rather walk outside and watch grass grow to be honest. Boring!!!!! Ferguson, Avram, Wenger play their best side at all opportunities (In the league of course) Rafa needs to go and the fans should stop living in the past - 2005 Champions League. We want the Premier League and Rafa can not provide this.

Posted 11:55 23rd January 2008

Stuart Bannerman (Manchester United fan) says...

A year ago Liverpool fans were claiming that their new owners were different from the Glazers because they, apparantly, were genuine sports fans and were going to make Liverpool a force again. How things have changed. It is now very clear that Gillett and Hicks came to Liverpool for one reason and one reason only, to make money. Anyone who understands Football though will have known from day one that these new owners were not fans. Very few owners are. Nobody is going to take over a club and simply throw money at them. It does not make good business sense, and that is where the problem lies. They are buying clubs as business investments, not as supporters. It will be exactly the same if DIC take over at Anfield. They are also in it to earn a profit, not to support Liverpool. All these fans who are coming out with banners like "Dubai SOS" are very naive indeed. The Dubai won't come running and give Liverpool £100m a season to spend. They want to earn from their investment, and the only way to earn from a Football club is from the fans. Simple as. At United we knew the problems that the Glazer takeover would create for us, and we have been proved right. Everyone took delight in seeing United being taken over and Americans and then plunging us into debt. Now it is happening at Liverpool and the laughter has died done somewhat hasn't it? At least United fans were clued up enough to know the score at the very beginning. We could not stop the takeover but we tried. Compare that to Liverpool fans, who genuinely thought that their owners loved the club and were there to throw money at the team. They really did fall for the American PR exercise hook line and sinker. United are not in a better situation, but we have never claimed to be. It is just very ironic that the fans who took so much pleasure out the Glazers taking over United are now in the same situation themselves.

Posted 11:45 23rd January 2008

Nick Mumby (Liverpool fan) says...

Rafa is a great manager and knows what he is doing. The owners need to sell up because it is making the team perform badly!

Posted 10:22 23rd January 2008

Darren Preskey (Manchester United fan) says...

Any person/group looking to buy a club are doing it to make money and not to make the fans happy, the only way you make money is by being sucsessful. so with that being said the DIC will be no dif from the yanks the problem liverpool have is lack of creativty and are a 2 man team shut them down you stop liverpool so to all the fans who think that by getting rid of rafa/yanks and think that will win the title WAKE UP! i mean you only have to finish above Man Utd, Arsnel and Chelsea so easy done is it??

Posted 10:12 23rd January 2008

Shea Leonard (Liverpool fan) says...

I believe that the off- field debates are causing a lot of problems on the pitch. they are causing tremendous stress on the players and its just so selfish. i think that these americans should just shift off elsewhere because they are only in it for the money. Also Raf should go because i believe he has lost it and what happened to Paco ?

Posted 10:00 23rd January 2008

Wes Rogerson (Liverpool fan) says...

Come on now, are you all stupid? Who in their right mind says get rid of Rafa? Rafa is the man that can/will bring us glory again. You people lamenting some of Rafa's signings which have been average, what do you expect? We wanted Simao, they wanted 15mil, we didn't have the money! So Rafa has had to make-do-and-mend, a proper Englishman! So instead of Simao we get Pennant. All the money brought in from players sold in the summer means Rafa probably only spent 20-25mil. Man Utd spent about 70mil on Tevez, Hargreaves, Anderson & Nani without really recouping any, how do you expect us to compete with that? The others have been spending like that all throughout Rafa's reign & he's had to make-do-and-mend all the while. Rafa needs backing all the way! Give him some money & they will come. We need players like Danny Alvez, David Villa, Mascherano, Quaresma, can we get them without money? erm... No! If Rafa went, then so would Torres, Alonso, Reina, Arbeloa (who's been a sensation). If they went then would Gerrard stay? Going by the fact he nearly left just after Istanbul then I'd expect not. We need to throw all our support behind Rafa and against the Hicks! Given backing, Rafa will build Liverpool into a bastion of invincibility!! Hicks and Gillette, the worst LFC could get! Get rid of them because if Rafa goes that¿s gonna put us back 10 years!

Posted 09:53 23rd January 2008

Mark Garland says...

Why did Paco leave when he did? Why did TH think RB was going to leave? When Rafa went "public" on the transfer issues, I believe he was already aware of the Klinsmann approach, yet he was expected to continue as if that had not happened. The Texan has done nothing but stir things up since he first got involved. Why have Gillett/Parry/Moores all remained quiet? The players and fans need some clarification on what is happening sooner rather than later so we can get back to focussing on the football. Lets put this all behind us and start doing what we do best.

Posted 09:17 23rd January 2008

David Larkin says...

Of the 11 players who started against Villa on Monday, 8 were bought by Benitez. And they were brutal. He bought Pennant, and then bought Benayoun. they're about equal in ability; neither is the clear no. 1 right winger, and more importantly neither is good enough for a team wanting to win the EPL. Compared to Ronaldo / Joe Cole (plays right side sometimes) / Rosicky or Hleb, they are poor. Same for Kuyt versus Rooney / Tevez / Drogba / anelka / Adebayor / Van Persie. Same for Kewell versus Giggs, Arbeloa versus Eboue, Neville or even Brown, maybe as good as Ferreira. And so on. Benitez just hasn't bought enough quality or created a strong enough team / squad. The only 'pool players who might get near a Utd/Arsenal/Chelsea team are Reina, Gerrard, Mascherano (and he's only on loan), and Torres.

Posted 08:33 23rd January 2008

Delaney Simon says...

I agree that the American owners were wrong to talk to Klinsmann behind the managers back. I believe this was at a time when we were in a much stronger position in the league than we are now. I believe that the Americans should leave the club as they are looking to fund the club through debt. Despite this Rafa needs to take agreat deal of blame. He appears to be living off the 2 champion league finals. His constant rotation of the team annoys me and he continues to show to much faith in Kewell. How many chances does he want? He has bought very medocre players who are just not good enough, like Kuyt. I think Torres was a great signing but we are now a 2 man team whereas we were 1 man team last season. We are going to struugle to finish 4th. Maybe Rafa has took us far as he can.

Posted 07:20 23rd January 2008

Marc Thompson (Manchester United fan) says...

The problem seems to be that businessmen like Hicks and Gillett are buying into football clubs in the UK and do not have the understanding of how the running club football in Europe works. In addition, and we have seen it with around nine managers that have been sacked in the premiership already, the powers that be at the clubs are not giving the managers sufficent time to settle in. Benitez is a great manager, he has a proven track record but he needs time to settle in and be allowed the time to implement his vision. Have a look at the premeirship teams that chop and change managers, they never seem to improve or move forward. Managers like Benitez have to deal with the likes of Hicks and Gillett that know nothing about football but want to play a role in the decision making at the club. Take a look at the Glazier family, they allow Ferguson to run the club, because they know he is the one that has the experience and knowledge that is needed, likewise with Wenge at Arsenal. Both of these clubs and managers are contiually challenging successfully for both domestic and European cups. Look at how the likes of Everton and Portsmouth are growing in strength, year in and year out, due to these clubs allowing the managers to build over the years. Feathers need to be drawn from these caps. I do respect liverpool for what they have accomplished in the past, but over the last few years, I do not regard them as a "top" side anymore, which is a shame.

Posted 06:53 23rd January 2008

Martin O'hare (Everton fan) says...

When you compare Benitez to Moyes there is no comparison, Rafa has spent an absolute fortune on overated players like Kuyt and Sissoko while David Moys has bought bargains such as Howard, Cahil and Pienarr. Liverpool will be heavilly in debt with this new Stadium People forget that Liverpool were a second fiddle club to Everton until the success of the seventies sides with Kevin Keegan and Kenny Dalglish. Benitez will be history by the end of the season

Posted 06:26 23rd January 2008

Andy Mashimo (Liverpool fan) says...

Wow, I think Liverpool fans are over reacting here. Yes, Rafa has made some poor choices in his choice on team, but to say players like Babel and Benayoun are better than Kewell and Kuyt is just ludicrous. Kuyt has one of the best work rates in the squad and Kewell when he returned was one of the best players on the park, especially vs Porto and there were no complaints then. I just think Liverpool fans are looking for a scapegoat, blame players who haven't had the best runs of yet while ignoring a lot of their choices such as Babel who when he plays 90 minutes is perhaps the most wasteful player in the squad. Liverpool is in crisis because a very talented team is under performing and as a mega Liverpool fan, I am sad to see it but I will admit the team is as much to blame for playing terrible as Rafa has made poor choices. Crouch needs to be played more though...

Posted 05:44 23rd January 2008

Ross Maldon (Liverpool fan) says...

I think we need a clean slate. Gillett, Hicks and Benitez to go. We need to get Gillett and Hicks out by lobbying RBS not to extend any credit. We need to get Benitez out by quitting this unquestioning support, which has merely clouded over the fact that he is not up to the job. I think he is a talented manager, a good man and there is no doubt that he helped us improve. However. the fact of the matter is the other teams have also improved and we are now no better off than we were before. This is coupled with the fact that Benitez is stubborn and pig headed. How else can you explain letting his assistant Paco go and his refusal to quit the rotation policy. He has taken us as far as he can and it is time for someone who can inspire the team to realise that they wear a great team with a great heritage who deserve to be back where they were.

Posted 05:26 23rd January 2008

Ryan Gallagher (Liverpool fan) says...

I think Tom Hicks and George Gillett should sell up because there getting us into debt they have started a war of words with Rafa just because he wanted to talk about securing the deal for mascherano and other players and the kop want them out how do they expect to run our club when there in America it's a joke were a laughing stock i've supported liverpool all my life and for what two owners to do this to are club. I personally think Rafa should stay but get an assistant to help him out let DIC buy are club and get rid of players such as Hyypia Aurelio Riise Kewell Pennant Voronin and Kuyt because there not good enough to win us the league.

Posted 05:25 23rd January 2008

Add Comment*

Send us your views

Are you a Sky Sports subscriber?

*All fields required, your email address will be kept private