Finishing seventh in the Premier League last year was viewed by many as an anomaly, a blip that signalled the end of Rafa Benitez’s reign. The truth is, despite the presence of Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, that is as good as this Liverpool team is.

Much of the blame for Liverpool’s decline will be laid at the door of Hicks and Gillett, the club’s American owners. Boardroom unrest, mounting debt, internal squabbling…it all affects the players on the pitch, it is said.

Well, sorry, I don’t buy that. Not getting paid, like happened at Portsmouth, will affect a player. Power struggles between Americans at board meetings simply won’t. So no, I do not accept that boardroom turmoil affects what happens on the pitch. It will affect the ability of the manager to add to and strengthen his squad but that’s it.

In Liverpool’s case, I really don’t think that has happened yet anyway. Certainly Benitez had enough money to spend to attract the likes of Torres, Mascherano and Aquilani. Hodgson, on the other hand, IS likely to find his hands tied in the transfer market, loosely at least. Fortunately for Liverpool, he’s well used to that.

No, Liverpool’s fall from the (near) top can be laid squarely at the door of Rafa Benitez and a squad that is well below the quality required to challenge for or in Europe. Benitez is gone now so there is very little point talking about what he did at the club, except to say his signings, like many managers at Anfield before him, simply aren’t good enough.

Gerrard, Torres and Mascherano aside, there is not one player at Liverpool that last season’s top three of Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal would want in their squads. Carragher is usually mentioned at this point – but I don’t believe Carragher would be half the player he is at any other club. He loves Liverpool, that’s why he performs as he does for them.

Mascherano, it seems, will soon be gone, further weakening the team. Torres is short of fitness and maybe desire. Gerrard is suffering from the lack of quality around him.

Let’s be honest, the overall performance in last night’s game was as bad, if not worse, as any from last season. Hodgson’s decision to play 4-4-2 did not help and he will have to review how he gets the best out of this team and Gerrard and Torres in particular. Hodgson, basically, needs time.

Not only to assess what he has, which is very little, but also to find the formula for success with it. Given time, I’m confident he will do it. I’m NOT confident he will get the time. And that will be down to the boardroom and what happens there. New owners might signal a new manager, while the continued involvement of Hicks and Gillett will only undermine Hodgson in terms of available money.

These are dark days for Liverpool and their supporters and a reassessment of expectation is required. Forget the top four and Champions League football. It’s not possible with this team. My probably unwelcome advice to the supporters is to accept that for now, Europa League football is the best they can expect while the manager rebuilds the club, the team and the football played from the bottom up.

Liverpool fans will have heard that before though. Benitez had a five year plan and it didn’t work. Hodgson needs a similar amount of time. Patience, I imagine, is in short supply in the Kop. Nevertheless, it’s what is required, because finishing higher than seventh year looks to be beyond them at the moment.

It’s the players that have to step up now. I don’t believe they can or want to, Carragher, Gerrard and Torres aside. Am I being too critical? Let me know in the comments!

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Premier League Defining Weekend

Will Liverpool capitulate to Chelsea to prevent Manchester United winning an unprecedented four titles in a row and, perhaps more pertinently for the Anfield club, a record 19th title?

Or will they continue their unlikely quest for the final Champions League spot?

Will Steve Bruce do his old mentor a favour and tell his Sunderland players to ‘back off’ a bit and allow Manchester United to pick up three very necessary points?

The answers, we all hope and believe are “No”, “Yes” and “Of course not.”

It feel ever so wrong to suggest that a team would go out and try to lose, yet at this stage every year the same questions are asked, just with different protagonists. That says something about the cynicism of the media and the supporters perhaps, but Sporting Fare is sure that these questions never raise themselves in the actual players’ minds. Well, maybe not sure…fairly sure and certainly hopeful.

Personal pride should ensure that this sort of thing never happens, but you never know, do you? By the end of the weekend, despite the fact there is another one left to go, we will probably know the destination of this year’s title. The smart and logical money goes on Chelsea, of course. But Manchester United have been here so many times before and this season has been so unpredictable in terms of results that you just never know.

Relegation has already been sorted. We wave a fond farewell to the paupers Portsmouth, the battling Burnley and the hapless Hull. Usually we get final day drama at the wrong end of the table, but not this year.

So we focus on the top. And perhaps even more interesting than the battle for top spot is the one for fourth place – which in itself is a bit of a shame, to be honest. There is somethng wrong in football when fourth place is such an important target. Nevertheless, here we are, it is and we deal with it.

Liverpool, as we said, are in with a very faint shout. Spurs are in the driving seat and it’s theirs to lose. Manchester City can steal it and Villa also hold out hope.

City play Villa this weekend and Spurs next Wednesday. Two wins and they will join their bitter rivals Manchester United in the Champions League. You never know. In all likelihood it will come down to the Wednesday night game. Whoever wins that will likely claim the coveted spot.

Truth is, you can’t predict a damn thing – and we tried! – so it’s going to be one hell of a finish.

What are your predictions for the title and the final Champions League spot? Let us know in the comments.

Sporting Fare - Serving up the world of sport...with a twist!