Aldo: Rafa's the man

Under pressure: Benitez

Rafa Benitez hasn't turned into a bad manager overnight. The pressure is on, but I'm fairly confident that when they get the likes of Steven Gerrard back after the international break, they have a squad good enough to go on a run.

John Aldridge
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Despite Liverpool's desperate start to the season John Aldridge still believes manager Rafa Benitez is the right man for the job.

The Reds' hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League are now out of their hands following Lyon's late leveller on Wednesday night. They now have to hope Lyon do them a favour and come away from Florence with at least a point.

Having already suffered eight defeats this campaign the knives are out for Benitez. However, Liverpool legend Aldridge still supports the Spaniard, and insists that a change of manager would destabilise the club even further.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, Aldridge stated that the fans are still behind Benitez. "Liverpool fans aren't as fickle as most," he said. "They don't press the panic button. There's enough uncertainty around the club with the owner, the debt and the new stadium. The last thing you need is to be going out looking for a new manager.

"Rafa Benitez hasn't turned into a bad manager overnight. The pressure is on, but I'm fairly confident that when they get the likes of Steven Gerrard back after the international break, they have a squad good enough to go on a good run and move into the top four, and hopefully get six points in the Champions League and progress."

Lopez late show

Liverpool only came away with a point from their trip to France, despite dominating proceedings. Substitute Ryan Babel's long range stunner looked to have secured a vital victory for the visitors, only for Lisandro Lopez to strike seconds from the final whistle.

"It went to plan brilliantly until the 90th minute," said Aldridge, who scored 63 goals for the club. "They played well, defended well, there was no real threat apart from when they scored. To drop their guard and concede so soon after scoring was very disappointing.

"The door was open for Liverpool to progress and then all of a sudden it was slammed in their face. It was strange the way it happened. Fernando Torres goes off, which takes away a bit of attacking threat. That gives Cris the licence to go forward and all of a sudden you've a different threat; he's very good in the air.

"Kyrgiakos got a little too close, Cris got a flick on and it was a tremendous finish. Liverpool just got caught out. That can happen because the lads put a lot of effort into it. A lack of concentration just caught them out. You have to give Lyon credit for that."

Hope

Liverpool now need to win their final two group games, starting at home to Debrecen, and hope that Lyon can get a result away to Fiorentina. It's a big ask, but it's a situation they're familiar with in this competition.

"It happened in 2005 and 2007; is a hat trick asking too much?" asked Aldridge. "Law of averages says you can't keep going to the well. Lyon will go to Fiorentina looking to win the group, as it gives them a favourable draw in the knockout stages. If they can do so it's in Liverpool's own hands.

"They should been Debrecen as they're the whipping boys, which would leave them needing to beat Fiorentina by more than two goals. They'd settle for that at the moment."