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Time passes. It always has and it always will.
It has been three seasons since a Champions League match was played at Anfield and it will be four by this time next year.
Everton have tried to get there over the past couple of years, but it is Liverpool‘s absence from it that has really been felt. It is simply unacceptable that a club of Liverpool’s stature is not competing for the league as well as not participating in Europe. But flash back to 2008-09, where Liverpool got very close to winning their 19th League title and lost a hard battle in the Champions League to Chelsea. So where did it all go wrong for this glorious club ?
A number of reasons can be blamed for Liverpool’s demise from English Football’s elite. The Premier League has evolved, Manchester City with their big money have spent big, Manchester United kept challenging for the title under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson and Chelsea kept sacking their managers year after year trying to get their hands on the Champions League whereas Arsenal kept finishing in the top 4 each season even though they remained trophy-less throughout.
Liverpool lost one of their most important players in that title challenging squad to Real Madrid. He was replaced with an Italian named Alberto Aquilani, who spent most of his time on the injury table instead of the pitch. Many can say that he never truly got the chance to shine, which is partly true.
That disappointing season ended with Liverpool finishing 7th; they came close to winning the Europa League but were knocked out by eventual winners Atletico Madrid.
Fans started calling for Rafa Benitez’s head and they got what they asked for. If only they knew what it would eventually lead to. Liverpool appointed Roy Hodgson from Fulham who baffled us with his signings and tactics throughout the first half of the 2010-11 season. And just when the ownership saga ended in triumph for Liverpool, their hero Kenny Dalglish got the job at Anfield. It seemed like the good times were coming back to the Kop. Even the Spanish World Cup winning bloke, whose name they sang at Anfield, started striking form, until disaster struck.
Chelsea with all their crazy money came in and took away Liverpool’s beloved Fernando Torres (who had handed in a transfer request in the last hour of the January transfer window) for £50m. Liverpool spent that money on a lanky forward from Tyneside and a World Cup semi-finalist from Uruguay, who scored within 10 minutes after coming on for Liverpool against a physical Stoke City side.
The indications seemed good as Andy Carroll scored twice against Manchester City and Suarez ripped through Manchester United’s defence at Anfield. Things finally seemed to be heading in the right direction until the summer arrived.
Only God knows why Kenny Dalglish signed Stewart Downing, Charlie Adam, Doni, Jordan Henderson, and Jose Enrique for a total sum of £50m, as Liverpool fans entered another season of anguish and disappointment with the club finishing 8th, although a League Cup was added to the trophy cabinet. What was expected to be a thrilling Liverpool side turned into a bunch of lost heads on the pitch.
Kenny got the sack and the new owners took their boldest decision yet by hiring an inexperienced Northern Irishmen to take up the reins and build a Liverpool team that the fans would love to see. His ideas were attractive to say the least and he made the fans believe in his project. But typically, a season of disappointments followed as the new gaffer brought in new players for inflated prices.
When Liverpool lost 3-0 to West Bromwich Albion on the opening day, fans around the world realized that yet again it was going to be a season of disappointment, and that turned out to be true as Liverpool got knocked out of the League Cup, FA Cup and the Europa League due to poor displays. With Rodgers and his scouts, Liverpool signed Daniel Sturridge and Phillipe Coutinho for a sum of £20m. A sense of optimism was generated as the duo brought life back into this Liverpool team which showed impressive form towards the end of the 2012-13 season.
Now as Liverpool fans approach the summer of 2013, once again Liverpool are being hounded by other clubs for their key players. It is now up to Rodgers to show that change is in place and that they will not be held to ransom by other clubs. Once again there’s a sense of optimism at Merseyside but it remains to be seen whether it is another false dawn or the renaissance of Liverpool Football Club, 5-times European Champions – the Liverpool WE want to see.
