Liverpool fans thinking that ‘it couldn’t get any worse’ would be advised not to repeatedly tempt fate. The situation right now is still salvageable – after all United went out of the Champions League bottom of their group several years ago, but their league performances and Ferguson’s history kept a lid of things and gave the gaffer the time he needed to change things around.
It could be a lot worse – Aston Villa could actually have a second half of the season as good as the first. Tottenham could come to Anfield and beat Liverpool, and generally keep picking up points away from home. Torres could get injured. Aquilani…actually, even I won’t tempt fate with that.
So it could be worse – but luckily for Liverpool they’ve got a good manager at the reins and incompetent owners who gave him such a huge contract that they now need to give him transfer funds instead of sacking him.
That hasn’t stopped people from having a pop at Rafa. Former Liverpool players have been calling for his head and with a busy Christmas schedule that will most certainly see the Reds drop points, there could be more critics calling for Rafa’s head by New Year’s Eve.
The Next Liverpool Manager
But will Rafa ever be replaced? And by whom? The bookies still seem to be backing Jose Mourinho and his record in delivering league titles is fantastic, but he’s not leaving Inter before the end of the season at least. Hiddink is committed to staying on at Russia although that’s probably a smokescreen whil he waits for a bigger club job (Madrid? Milan?) and the likes of o’Neill and Klinsmann aren’t coming to Merseyside anytime soon.
Mourinho at 5/2 and Hiddink at 9/1 are the best bets for the next Liverpool manager.
Bet on the next permanent Liverpool manager – and claim your free £20 bet.
Will Aquilani Start Against Portsmouth?
New players invariably need a couple of months of game time to setting in but with Aquilani requiring a good 5 months before he’s even fit to start, this season is not enough for him to make a telling impact. Of course things could change if he starts performing really well but he’ll need to start for Liverpool in order for that to happen, and these days Rafa’s not keen on changing his starting lineup and Lucas usually gets the nod ahead of Aquilani.
Not encouraging for the already-troubled midfielder.
Will Rafa start Aquilani against Portsmouth? He might as well considering that Aquilani is (in his own words) a more attacking player and Liverpool will need to score a few today to settle their nerves. It’s not as if they’ll keep a clean sheet this lot…
Aquilani is 11/8 to start and 8/15 to be on the bench – make your predictions with Paddy Power and claim your free £20 bet.
Add Sportslens to your Google News Feed!
