HAVING passed the halfway mark, there are six seasons left to go in the search for the best, and worst, season in the new millennium for Liverpool Football Club.
Part One oversaw the reign of Gerard Houllier while Part Two introduced Rafael Benitez and the miracle of Istanbul.
For Part Three, Rafa’s reign will be brought to an end – again with ups and downs.
2007/08 – Premier League (4th), Champions League (SF), FA Cup (5th Round), League Cup (QF), Top Scorer (Fernando Torres – 33 goals):
Although this was another season which failed to deliver on title expectations, looking back now we would dream for such as season as this – but on the pitch, not off it. Liverpool possessed a strong squad that season with the additions of one Fernando Torres, Lucas, Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel among others, while Martin Skrtel arrived in January and Javier Mascherano was bought in on a permanent deal.
Expenditure here must have gone well over £60m from the new American owners, illustrating the start of a period of serious hope and promise as we believed that we had enough financial muscle to take on the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea. The summer of 2007 seemed a very good start, but it all went downhill from there. Spectacularly.
It became obvious quite quickly that Hicks and Gillett couldn’t afford to build the new stadium they had been promising, with all the plans being to borrow money and increase the club’s debt with no apparent way out. They even borrowed to pay for the likes of Torres in the summer, with rumours we would have to sell star players just to balance the books! The situation soon spiraled out of control into a boardroom war, with Hicks falling out with Gillett and both falling out with Benitez, who was rumoured to be losing his job when the Americans had their infamous meeting with Jurgen Klinsmann.
The off pitch battles would continue to rage on well after Liverpool finally got rid of the deadly duo who almost sent the club into administration, with FSG coming to the rescue in October 2010.
Getting back to the season on the pitch, there was another tremendous run in the Champions League, overcoming a tough group with memorable wins over Besiktas, FC Porto and Marseille before overcoming giants Inter Milan and Arsenal in classic ties. Alas, Chelsea finally got a win over the Reds in the Champions League as our run ended in the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, Liverpool once again lost to the Blues, this time in the League Cup quarter-finals, while a last minute goal from Brian Howard saw Barnsley knock Liverpool out of the FA Cup at Anfield in the 5th round. Despite finishing a place lower in the league, Liverpool were 8 points better off, demonstrating increased consistency, but in a more top-heavy league.
This explains why Liverpool still had to fight with Everton for a top four spot despite the points improvement, getting revenge for 2005. Fernando Torres broke Ruud van Nistelrooy’s record for the amount of league goals scored by a foreigner in a debut season with 24, scoring 33 goals in all competitions. Gerrard too had a very good campaign, forming a deadly partnership with Torres and scoring 21 goals himself.
A decent season, but if not for the antics off the field, Liverpool could have perhaps achieved a lot more with the squad they had. Verdict: B-.
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2008/09 – Premier League (2nd), Champions League (QF), FA Cup (4th Round), League Cup (4th Round), Top Scorer (Steven Gerrard – 24 goals):
The year where we came so close, yet so far. In terms of the league season, it had everything. 4-1 at Old Trafford. 2 defeats, which is a record for a team to not win the Premier League. 3-2 against Man City. Ending Chelsea’s unbeaten home run. 11 draws, most of them stupid ones which cost us the league. It had it all.
However, there were other unforgettable moments that went beyond the league. The 4-4s immediately come to mind – in one aspect for the brilliant determination to come back, especially against Chelsea, but the other aspect being the failure that those two results brought. The Arsenal result was one of the final nails in the coffin for the title, while, despite a couple of mini-Istanbul comebacks, Chelsea eventually knocked us out of the Champions League, this time at the quarter finals.
The domestic cups were one of the real let-downs during the season, losing in the 4th round in both, with Tottenham triumphing over a very poor Liverpool and Everton nicking the FA Cup tie which took two legs and 10 men for David Moyes’ team to triumph (also notable for the stupid ITV advert error during Dan Gosling’s goal!).
Liverpool had another very strong squad, adding the likes of Robbie Keane and Albert Riera, although another off the field saga took place over Gareth Barry, which eventually led to Xabi Alonso’s departure, one of the major factors for the disappointment of the following season.
Nevertheless, in this campaign Liverpool achieved their Premier League record total of 86 points (which would have won the title a year later) and only lost twice in the league. However, if Liverpool could have just beaten Fulham and Hull at home that year instead of drawing, the Reds would have won the title. Or if maybe Fernando Torres was fit all season, some of those draws would have been turned into wins. Regrettably it is that ‘what if’ question once again.
However, it was still a very good season, especially the final third, and set the platform for a potentially title winning campaign for the subsequent season. Nevertheless, not one of the best seasons as it really needed a trophy, but some very memorable results. Verdict: B+.
2009/10 – Premier League (7th), Champions League (3rd in Group), FA Cup (3rd Round), League Cup (4th Round), Europa League (SF), Top Scorer (Fernando Torres – 22 goals):
The final year of Rafa’s reign started and ended in disappointment. Any potential build up of title winning expectation, especially compared to the summers of 2002 and 2006, were immediately dashed with the sale of Xabi Alonso and the talented, but fragile replacement who was actually an attacking midfielder rather than a defensive equivalent.
That’s when the cracks first appeared. Hicks and Gillett once again dented Liverpool in a very bad way, with virtually no funds to work with. Therefore, instead of the likes of Sylvain Distin, David Villa and David Silva, Liverpool bought Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Glen Johnson, Alberto Aquilani and Maxi Rodriquez. Talented players, but not the world class ones needed to make that final step and win the title.
Some may argue against Benitez here, saying that he didn’t spend the funds he had wisely enough, and I would agree, but if he had the proper funds at his disposal he could have gone for his first choice targets, which would have made Liverpool a very formidable side indeed. Another warning sign was that apart from Manchester United, all of our rivals had strengthened, particularly Tottenham and Man City, who were looking to seriously crash the top four stranglehold.
A defeat at Tottenham on the opening day demonstrated what was to come. Liverpool challenged for the top four that year instead of winning the title, and in the end didn’t even make the top six. The domestic cups were even worse than the season before, going out to Reading at Anfield in the FA Cup and losing to Arsenal in the League Cup.
Looking at the positives, Torres had another great season, which so far looks like his last in any shirt, with 22 goals. In addition, Liverpool reached 63 points, which is 3 points more than 2003/04, where they finished in the top four, and is higher than any of the seasons since.
Finally, after a depressing exit in the Champions League group stages, Liverpool reached the Europa League semi finals, but lost in extra time at Anfield to Atletico Madrid, a tournament that was there for the taking and could have saved Benitez. In the end though, no Champions League qualification meant he had to go, and Liverpool needed to work on finding a new manager to get them back into the top four, and also getting rid of the awful owners. It was a season of one step forward, many steps back. Verdict: C.
Rafael Benitez’s reign is now over, which brings an end to Part Three, but Part Four will finish off the journey, looking at the three managers that have succeeded the Spaniard in the three years since.
In the meantime, how much do you rate Rafa Benitez as a manager? Is he a legend that brought the European Cup home for good? Or someone who didn’t have a clue and only won two major trophies in six years? Comment below!
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