COS Contributor Andrew Walker wonders if Rafa days are numbered.

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Liverpool fans have finally come to the end of their tether over Liverpool's form this season in the Premier and Champions league made clear by a deafening silence at the end of another loss at Anfield to Arsenal followed by an inept display at bottom of the table Portsmouth.

Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has told Jurgen Klinsmann he will NEVER manage Liverpool.
The Anfield hierarchy have been stunned by the German's recent attempts to undermine Rafa Benitez and offer himself up as the perfect replacement.
Klinsmann, who was sounded out about succeeding Benitez two years ago when the Spaniard was embroiled in a dispute with the club's two American owners, gave a damning assessment of Liverpool's team on a Champions League television show.

With his ineffective man-management skills, Rafa Benitez has alienated a whole host of players during his reign, including Peter Crouch, Robbie Keane, Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel and Xabi Alonso. The latest person to feel the full force of the 'Benitez Effect' is new signing Alberto Aquilani, who has become 'frustrated' with his manager's cautious approach.

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Yes, I realize this poll and the previous one are mere formalities. I appreciate you indulging my idiosyncratic need for completion.
I could have included eight in this list and still left out players that were better than some in other polls.

Much has been made of Liverpool's catastrophic start to the season; out of the European Cup; out of the Carling Cup, and in danger of finishing outside the top four. As they would if any of the top four were doing badly, the media has overreacted and (predictably) come up with age-old clichés to explain Liverpool's problems.

In April 2009, Holland coach Marco Van Basten criticised Rafael Benitez's handling of Ryan Babel, noting that the player had taken a step backward since his arrival at Anfield. This week, Babel has once again expressed his dissatisfaction with the way he is treated at Liverpool. Has Babel failed or is Rafa Benitez to blame for not giving the player a consistent chance?

COS contributor Aquaman takes a look at the players Rafa has ushered out of the Anfield exit since his arrival at the club.

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COS Contributor Thomas Maher considers whether Lucas is suffering from a bad reputation or is he just not good enough?

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WTF?

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Can someone please try to explain to me what is going on? Rafa Benitez bought a footballer who was suffering from a long term injury, in fact he invested £20m (albeit in installments) in said player, and yet when he finally gets himself fit and ready for action, he isn't picked!

The Official Liverpool club site reported that Alberto Aquilani will start tonight against Fiorentina in a meaningless Champions League match. Fernando Torres is also expected to be named on the substitutes bench. The initial reaction from me when I was told by a Red Devils fan was, "why oh why? Rafa has got things wrong yet again!

When is Rafa going to play our newest signing Alberto Aquilani?The guy cost between £17 and £20 million from Roma.He arrived at Anfield as an injured player, his ankle being the problem.That meant he had to spend a while in the treatment room with the physios at Melwood as he underwent prolonged rehab and fitness courses.

Rumours persist that Real Madrid striker Ruud Van Nistlelrooy is heading out of Spain and may be on his way to Liverpool.
The former Man Utd striker, now 33, has said to his advisors that he wants to move to Anfield as back-up to injury hit Fernando Torres.
The Dutchman is way down the pecking order at the Bernabeu with the arrival of Ronaldo, Benzema and Kaka and the established Raul and Higuain.

Whilst I was researching win percentages for Liverpool managers, I came across some very interesting similarities between Rafa Benitez and Gerard Houllier. They're more alike as managers than you might think!
Take a look at the following table: When it comes to win percentages and total career games, Benitez and Houllier have almost identical records!

1. Sir Alex Ferguson would probably lead even a chosen group of salesmen from Manchester to the knockout stages.

2. German persistence and believing that nothing is lost are often ridiculed but Bayern still have winning mentality in spite of their misfortunate boss.

After 5 and half years at Anfield, Rafa Benitez still has no idea how to manage Steven Gerrard effectively, something that was proven once again with his recent pubic comments about Liverpool's captain.
Can someone please explain to me the benefits of Benitez's supremely irritating recent PUBLIC comments about Gerrard, because I just don't see the positives.

Speculation is hot from England that LIVERPOOL FC is negotiatingwith REAL MADRID the possible loan of Dutch forward RUUD VANNISTELROOY. One would suspect that Liverpool expects "a favour"from the Spanish team after they managed to pull away their keymidfielder Xabi Alonso this season.Liverpool Coach Benitez sees in Van Nistelrooy the prefect substituteto Fernando Torres whose injuries are causing

Everton came back from 2-0 down to draw at Goodison Park 2-2.
The result means Harry's Hotspurs stay in 4th on 27 points.
We currently lie in seventh on 24 points, three points outside the top four with Aston Villa and Man City ahead of us in fifth and sixth.
So, it ain't all bad, we are in touching distance of the top four despite being without Torres for ages now.

Rafa Benitez was falling over himself to praise Steven Gerrard in the run-up to his skipper's 500th Liverpool appearance, against Blackburn on Saturday.

Ironic, that, as Stevie G was falling over himself to win the match for Rafa:

From the side angle, it certainly looks like a crafty dive by Gerrard it wouldn't be the first time he's gone down in the box despite minimal contact.

There are various snippets of information floating around on the net about Rafa Benitez's career, but the full and complete stats for his entire managerial career have never been published on or offline before. Until now!
When researching Benitez's career, I've been frustrated by the lack of complete and accurate information available; and in order to judge his career (and that of any other manager) fairly, complete statistics are necessary.

No it isn't the beginning of a joke (well, perhaps a sick one), but here we go again. Listening to Rafa after another dire performance in midweek, I heard the words 'new start' for what seems like the umpteenth time already this season.
After the Fiorentina game Rafa said:
‘I don't think this defeat will affect us and now we have to get ready to face Arsenal.

"Rafa, remember me?"

Alberto Aquilani has told the Liverpool Daily Post that he is desperate to play against Arsenal this weekend:

"I need to play, play, play because I'm in a new team, and I need games now. My ankle is fine now, I feel good, and now I need to work hard in training for my body.

Yet another HOME defeat for Liverpool. That's two in week now, and the same old problems that have plagued the club all season were very much in evidence at Anfield today.
The GOOD
Benitez played his favoured XI
Alberto Aquilani aside, Rafa Benitez was able to field what he considers to be his strongest team:
------------------ Reina
Johnson ----- Carra --- Agger --- Aurelio
Lucas ------------- Masch
Kuyt ------------ Gerrard ----------- Benayoun
------------------ Torres
Benitez can have no complaints; all his top players were fit, and even if everyone in the squad was fit and available, that is the team he probably would've chosen.

After an abject, hapless performance earlier today down at bottom of the table, Portsmouth, the only positive I can take from the day's football is that Man Utd were thumped 3-0 by Fulham with former Red, Danny Murphy opening the scoring.God, we are having a nightmare season.Humiliated in the Champions League, out of the Carling Cup and seventh in the League.

Another weekend, another set of crazy results. The 'Big Four' looked more like the Three Stooges, taking a mere four points. (Liverpool is such a non-factor that they've assumed Curly Joe status. What, too dated a reference? C'mon they're making a movie starring Jim Carrey, Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro.

I suppose it's all good news for Spurs in relation to the media leaving us alone as regards "Spurs to make the top four", especially with the Liverpool boss making the near impossible comment of "we will make the top four", although to be fair, he didn't mention which season he was implying that they accomplish this, did he?

Glen Johnson has made many costly defensive mistakes since he arrived at Liverpool, the most recent of which led directly to Liverpool losing against Arsenal and Portsmouth. With this in mind, how is swanning around a London nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning a professional way to prepare for the next game?

photo credit: Presidente

I haven't heard this one in a while and though I appreciate the introspective nature of this idea I have to pan it because it basically makes no sense to me. Barca's manager, Pep Guardiola, has delayed signing an extension with the club even after he's led them to every major title you can imagine and here is his reason:

"He has managed for the best time in the history of Barca.

Kop flops Andriy Voronin and Ryan Babel could all leave Liverpool next month as Rafa Benitez looks to raise funds in order to strengthen his stuttering squad.
The Spaniard has grown frustrated with the form and attitude of £10million Dutch forward Ryan Babel, who was last seen limping out of his side's draw with Manchester City in mid-November.

Wow, someone at the north pole must really like Rafa Benitez as he got everything he wished for this Christmas.

An injury time winner from Fernando Torres gave Liverpool a huge 1-0 win at Aston Villa. Combined with Liverpool's 2-0 win over Wolves on Boxing Day, Rafa's reds find themselves only four points out from the last Champions League place as we end the year.

It is the longest drawn out saga to surround Anfield since David Moores decided in the late 1990s a new stadium was exactly what Liverpool needed. But at last it looks like the wait could soon be over.
Not for the stadium - that plan has been filed neatly in the "distant future" cabinet of Anfield's offices.

On New Year's Day 1989, Liverpool lost 3-1 to Manchester United at Old Trafford, a defeat that left the club languishing 17 points adrift of runaway leaders Arsenal. A cloud of pessimism descended over Anfield and the title seemed a million miles away. Sound familiar?
After the winning the title in such scintillating style in 87-88, Liverpool were clear favourites to retain the title in 88-89.

Over the last 50 years, which Liverpool manager has the highest unbeaten game percentage, and how do managerial rivals – both past and present - compare?
Here are the figures for all Liverpool managers from 1959-present (all competitions):

Years

Total
Games

Wins

Draws

Total
Unbeaten

%
Unbeaten

1

Kenny Dalglish

6

307

187

78

265

86%

2

Joe Fagan

2

133

70

37

107

82%

3

Bob Paisley

9

535

307

132

439

82%

4

Rafa Benitez

5

315

178

69

247

78%

5

Bill Shankly

15

783

407

198

605

77%

6

Gerard Houllier

7

325

165

81

246

76%

7

Roy Evans

5

244

123

63

186

76%

8

Graeme Souness

3

157

65

47

112

71%

It's no real surprise to see Graeme Souness propping up the table (!

Winter has bitten for the first time this week but, like the rest of his team-mates, Fabio Aurelio has kept himself warm by basking in the glow of a Merseyside derby victory.
Last Sunday's hard fought 2-0 win over Everton has, at long last, released some of the pressure that had been building on Liverpool and given Rafa Benitez and his players reason to breathe out a little.

Rafa Benitez has been falling over himself to praise Steven Gerrard in the run-up to his skipper's 500th Liverpool appearance, but having seen Blackburn Rovers hold his side to a tepid goalless draw at Ewood Park, the Spaniard may now cast his eye at the rest of his squad as he looks to inject some consistency into his side's season.

Rafa Benitez is braced for a £30million New Year showdown with Barcelona over Javier Mascherano.
Liverpool boss Benitez has warned the La Liga champions they're fighting a losing battle in their ongoing efforts to lure the Argentinian to the Nou Camp.
Benitez will also deliver another blow to the Catalans by securing Pepe Reina's new deal after Christmas.

In a recent article, I looked at unbeaten ratios for the top managers in English football over the last 50 years. Today, I take a look at win ratios: who has the highest win percentage, and how have Liverpool's managers compared with their rivals over the years?
Here are the figures for all Liverpool managers from 1959-present (all competitions):

Years

Total
Games

Wins

Win %

1

Kenny Dalglish

6

307

187

61%

2

Bob Paisley

9

535

307

57%

3

Rafa Benitez

5

315

178

56%

4

Joe Fagan

2

133

70

53%

5

Bill Shankly

15

783

407

52%

6

Gerard Houllier

7

325

165

51%

7

Roy Evans

5

244

123

50%

8

Graeme Souness

3

157

65

41%

Rafa Benitez is holding his own against some of Liverpool's legendary managers of the past!

Despite the fact that Javier Mascherano wanted to leave only a few months ago, Rafa Benitez is still trying his best to tie the Argentinean to a long-term contract. What's the point? Why can't Liverpool just let him leave? There seems to be this idea that Mascherano is somehow irreplaceable and integral to Liverpool's success, but in my view, Liverpool could cope perfectly well without him.

Lucas Leiva is confident Alberto Aquilani will be a hit at Liverpool once he settles into life at Anfield.
The Italian has endured a frustrating opening to his Reds career, with a long-standing injury carried over from his time at Roma hindering his early opportunities to make an impression.

It's all about Strength In Depth, and we don't have it!

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Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard admits he is frustrated by the side's failure to challenge for the Premier League title this season.

Barcelona beat Liverpool to the signing of Brazilian striker Keirrison last summer in a deal worth £12m. However, reports in both Brazil and Portugal suggest the player on loan at Benfica may well be moving to Anfield in January in a 6-month loan deal. Barca's summer move disappointed Rafa Benitez who had been tracking the youngster for some time had failed with a move in the last January transfer window.