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At the start of the 2006/2007 Premiership season many pundits predicted that the Premiership title race would be between four teams: Chelsea, Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Now the league is at the quarter mark has one of the contenders already fallen at the first hurdle?
During the summer Liverpool assembled one of their strongest squads in a long time. They purchased Dutch striker Dirk Kuyt (from Feyenoord) and Craig Bellamy (from Blackburn) to complement Peter Crouch and Robbie Fowler.
In midfield Mark Gonzalez returned back from loan to compete with Harry kewell on the left wing and Jermaine Pennant arrived from Liverpool to add more competition on the flanks. Benitez also strengthened his defence with the capture of Gabriel Paletta and Fแbio Aur้lio.
On paper Liverpool have a very strong squad which can compete with the likes of Chelsea, Mancheter United and Arsenal for the Premiership title. Things have not gone according to plan for Liverpool and they now find themselves 11 points off the pace.
So what has gone wrong with Rafa’s Liverpool so earliy in the season? You can not blame injuries or lack of strength-in-depth for Liverpool’s faltering as mentioned above they have only strengthened their squad this summer and have no major injury concerns.
There are two main factors which have contributed to Liverpool falling at the first hurdle of the Premiership race. In my opinion these two factors are Liverpool’s poor form away from Anfield and Rafa’s constent need to rotate his squad.
Liverpool’s recent form at Anfield has reminded many pundits that the stadium used to be a fortress. That is evident this season as Liverpool remain unbeaten at home with wins over West Ham (2-1), Newcastle (2-0) and Spurs (3-0) and one draw against Blackburn (1-1).
Why can Liverpool not transfer this form away from Anfield? Liverpool have one of the worst away records this season as they have only picked up one point and that was during a 1-1 draw on the opening day against Sheff Utd. That result has been followed with convincing defeats at the hands of Everton (3-0), Chelsea (1-0), Bolton (2-0) and Man Utd (2-0).
The statistics away from home look very worrying for manager Rafa Benitez as they have only managed to score one goal and that was on the opening day against newly promoted Sheff Utd.
Some of the same problems from last season seem to exist despite Rafa assembling an expensive squad. Pundits last season suggested Liverpool did not challenge as much as they should have done as they did not have an out-and-out goal scorer.
Que the arrival of Dirk Kuyt who has scored 71 goals in his last three Eredivise seasons, making him one of Europe’s most prolific strikers. Kuyt will struggle to continue his amazing scoring record due to Liverpools second factor – Rafa’s rotation system.
Any player at any football level needs a good run in the team to produce his best form and become consistent. It is a well know fact that a settled starting XI is more productive then one which is changing each week. You only need to look at the success over the past decade of Manchester United to see this and now Chelsea are applying the same logic.
So why does Rafa Benitez decide to change his starting XI each week? Is it due to the fact he wants to keep his squad happy or does he want to keep his player fresh by giving them a break?
I think those two questions only play a minor part in the answer. In my opinion the real answer is that Rafa does not know his strongest starting XI. If you ask any Liverpool fan or neutral for that matter they would be able to rattle off similar starting XI’s.
Rafa Benitez needs a settled starting XI that plays with each other week in week out. That way he will be able to get the best out of his players as they will start to develop an undestading of each other. That is the only way you will see Dirk Kuyt hit 20 plus goals a season and see Liverpool’s form away from Anfield pick-up.
Is it two late for Rafa to address these two factors though? Liverpool are already a 11 points behind Chelsea and Manchester United and seem to have a massive hurdle to climb.
I can see Liverpool picking up slightly but unless Rafa’s addresses his squad rotation system and Liverpool’s away form then they will not be entering the title race.
In my opinion Arsenal should win their game in hand leaving them only two points behind Manchester United and Chelsea. That means it will only be a three horse race this season as Liverpool seem to have fallen at the first hurlde at the quarter mark.
Only a brave Liverpool fan or gambler would be willing to take the odds of 100/1 for Liverpool to claim their first title since 1990.
Steven Gore is the editor of SoccerManager.com, the free online soccer game

Author: Steven Gore
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Founded in 1892, Liverpool FC is surely one of the greatest names in English football. However, in one of those odd twists of history, things nearly didn’t turn out how they have. The first occupiers of Liverpool’s ground which stands on Anfield Road, L4 was none other than Everton who had played there since their own formation fourteen years previously. The landlord of the site, one John Houlding was an eminent local businessman and politician who decided, amongst other things, that he wanted to increase Everton’s rent. No satisfactory agreement could be found between the parties and in 1892 the great schism occured. On forming his new club, Houlding wanted to retain the name Everton, but sensibly enough, FA rules prevented two teams from having the same name, so he needed to come up with an alternative name for his new club. Of course he decided upon the name Liverpool. Elected to the second division of the Football League in time for the 1893-94 season, Liverpool won the first of its eighteen Football League Championships in 1900-01.

For a team with such a long list of trophies, it may come as a surprise to learn that the Reds didn’t win their first FA Cup until 1965. Two previous finals (in 1914 v Burnley and 1950 v Arsenal) had been lost, but in ‘65 the Reds were up and coming under Bill Shankly. In the final they faced fellow up and comers Leeds, managed by Don Revie. Fans of a certain vintage will not be surprised to read that Liverpool were the more inventive and adventurous of the two. However, the deadlock wasn’t broken until the 3rd minute of extra time. Roger Hunt, perhaps the Reds’ greatest goalscorer stooped low to conquer from a cross from broken arm victim Gerry Byrne, struggling on at left back – there were no substitutes until 1967. Unfortunately Liverpool’s lead was held for just 2 minutes before Billy Bremner equalised following a header from Jackie Charlton. So, it was back to the previous stalemate then, until Ian St John got the first FA Cup winner for Liverpool. This time it was a young Ian Callaghan who supplied the cross.

Roger Hunt MBE, or ‘Sir’ Roger as he was dubbed by Liverpool’s famous Kop was a scoring sensation for the Reds in the late 50’s and sixties. Signed by Phil Taylor in the summer of 1958 it was Shankly for whom Hunt really shone. Born in Golborne in South Lancashire, Hunt plundered a mouthwatering 245 goals in 404 league appearances for the Reds, for his country his record was 18 goals from 34 appearances. He played an important part in helping Liverpool escape from the second division in 1962, when he scored an average of goal a game in his 41 starts. Then in season 1963-64 he notched 31 goals from 41 games as Liverpool won the first division. In England’s World Cup winning season, Sir Roger registered 30 times in 37 Liverpool games as the league was won again. He scored 3 goals and started all six of England’s games, including of course the World Cup Final. By now though, Shankly was busy with a new team for the new decade and in December 1969 Hunt moved to Bolton Wanderers where his record reads 24 goals in 76 appearances.

Author: Simon J Lewis
Source: ezinearticles.com