by account deleted by request » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:37 pm
By CHRIS BASCOMBE at Anfield
WE'VE seen the manager revolting at Anfield.
The fans have been marching more than a Salvation Army band.
But as Liverpool struggle to secure the minimum acceptable requirement of Champions League qualification, are the senior players next to join the protests?
The Reds may have received a much-needed boost in their top-four quest against lowly Sunderland but the warning signs remain.
In the case of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, boardroom politics are secondary to the fear the clock is ticking in their bid to complete their medal collection with the title that matters most.
Even in victory, there is an inescapable feeling they are losing faith in their manager's increasingly deluded belief he will deliver it.
And the 2,000 fans who stayed behind on the Kop echoed their heroes' sentiments.
Who would blame them? They were promised an end to being surrounded by dross when Gerard Houllier was shown the exit door.
Fast forward into the fourth year of Rafa Benitez's reign, and they are choking on the history which is repeating on them.
Carragher recently quit England and ignored the advances of Fabio Capello because he accepted he was behind world class centre-back rivals Rio Ferdinand and John Terry.
Although he played a key role in this win, one can scarcely imagine his despair last night to find himself being re-accommodated at full-back at Anfield to make way for...Martin Skrtel.
The £6.5million signing's debut against Havant and Waterlooville a week ago was a late entry for a BAFTA comedy award.
But he somehow forced Benitez to shift one of the two most reliable players he has into a position he now loathes.
The Spaniard will no doubt call it a masterstroke as Carragher's dazzling run and cross on 57 minutes helped Peter Crouch lift a dire game.
But as keeper Pepe Reina ran the length of the pitch to applaud the Scouse stalwart, Carragher's reaction said it all.
He shrugged it off with his head bowed, no doubt inwardly squirming at the prospect he had inadvertently helped justify Benitez's decision.
Alienating one of your only trusted lieutenants is the equivalent of negotiating the terms of your surrender.
Benitez is not just playing with fire — he is in danger of being charged with pathological arson.
That is why it is not a good idea to take a deep breath when walking around Anfield these days.
Regardless of how Sunderland were eventually shoved aside in a vastly improved second half, there is an ashen stench in the air of a club in decay.
Such are the fans' concerns that demos against the American owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett were ordered to be delayed until full-time against the Black Cats in order to ensure no distractions or excuses for the poor, pampered millionaires.
For 45 minutes, at least, such charity was pointless. On the surface, this was a good time to meet a Sunderland side fighting relegation.
But even this could be no guarantee of Liverpool's first league win of 2008.
The opening exchanges summed up Benitez's recent problems. Plentiful possession was matched by a chronic lack of creativity.
For 38 minutes, Craig Gordon might as well have taken a seat with his away fans.
That is how long it took for the Sunderland keeper to be called into action and that was an easy save after Jermaine Pennant's trickery fed Fernando Torres, who headed tamely.
At least Gerrard has been spared the indignity of being shoved from one position to another this season.
His dynamism from the middle will have earned a knowing nod of approval from visiting boss Roy Keane.
Elsewhere sideways and backward passing — often inaccurate — was the norm as Sunderland achieved the impossible given their away form.
They looked good.
With the Kop's agitation growing, Liverpool began the second half with Steve Finnan replacing Fabio Aurelio.
They had a right-back at left-back, a centre-half at right-back and a central midfielder on the left wing.
As for the strikers, they were dropping so deep they should have been wearing snorkels — showing little signs of a cure to their recent allergic reaction to shooting.
Benitez had called on Crouch to justify calls for his inclusion.
So little has Crouch been seen at Anfield in the league recently, he is in danger of being given the nickname Gillett.
He has followed a rogues' gallery of Liverpool strikers who looked good when they arrived but deteriorate the more — or in his case the less — they play.
However, his goal ratio is impressive and after heading the hosts ahead, he could have completed a six minute hat-trick.
A scissor-kick was kept out by Gordon's legs and a header needed to be cleared off the line by Phil Bardsley.
Liverpool knew they still had to kill off their opponents to avoid the late backlashes inflicted by Aston Villa and Wigan here recently.
But Keano's men had shown little attacking intent.
And when Torres was sent clear by Crouch's flicked header in the 69th minute, Benitez finally had some respite.
Gerrard wrapped it up with a penalty late on after Nyron Nosworthy felled Jermaine Pennant.
There were signs the confidence was returning as the white flags which were scattered across the pitch for much of the game were now replaced by the more dominant image of the red ones on The Kop.
Despite this much-needed win, unfortunately for Rafa the zeal for change is not just centred on the boardroom
Ill have to have a little nosey from my mate there
