Rafa Benitez thinks that Liverpool are not respected enough for their recent achievements.
Well, he’s right – Liverpool are only 5 points away from 3rd spot, are in the quarterfinals of the League Cup, are in the 2nd round of the Champions League with two games to spare and should, sooner or later, improve on their awful away form as well.
But it’s not the fact that they won the Champions League in the first year that’s raised expectations from Liverpool – it’s not a case of ‘raised expectations’ at all.
Liverpool are being slated (rightly or wrongly) because of their away form in the Premiership this season. Yes, they’ve played their top 3 rivals by November away, so that’s tough. They’ve also come up against an Everton side on-fire and were shocked by Bolton.
But what about Boro and Sheff Utd?
There are probably good reasons for those results as well, but it’s not a game of finding excuses. Liverpool are a good team that aren’t playing well, and that’s the monkey on Rafa’s back.
And it’s not going to go away because of what you’ve acheived in the past. The only way Liverpool can expect to get some respect is if they start playing like the team they aspire to be.
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