Champions No More

12 months ago, we were doing exactly what Benfica did - dumfounding europe with a seemingly ridiculous ability to kill off the juggernauts of Champions' League football; 12 months down the road, the 5-stars above the Liverbird seem insignificant in the wake of being dumped out of europe in such embarassing fashion. To put it simply, WE SUCKED. Yes, we had countless missed chances, hit the post twice and slammed the side-netting once. If, if, if... enough of them 'ifs'! We now know that we really have serious problems with ALL our strikers, but what was more worrying was the fact that the desire to win the game was non-existent. Gone was the gung-ho 'all or nothing' gusto of last season and what replaced it was a collectively psyche of expecting the tactical plan to win the game for the team. This was a night where a bit more heart than head was needed when it mattered. With a misfiring front line and a 3-goal deficit to make good, not many would have blamed the team if they chose to adopt a more cavalier approach moving forward. The irony was that we kept too good a shape, a shape that Benfica figured out quickly and were more than happy to defend against because it hardly changed and our predictability cushioned their game plan nicely, so very nicely. Sigh. Well, the post-mortem can go on and on, and I can go on and on where Liverpool is concerned but incriminations aside, it's time to really sober up to the reality that Liverpool FC is still a team in transit; work still in progress. The Istanbul fairy has officially left the building ladies and gentlemen! What lies ahead is undeniably hard, back-breaking work for Rafa & Co. to bag the ultimate prize that all associated with the club really, really, really want to see - Liverpool FC's 19th league title.