Is The Axe Hanging Over Benítez?

I find it very hard to believe I am even asking that question. The Liverpool manager has taken the Merseyside club to 2 European Cup Finals in two years, winning one, an FA Cup…. Most clubs would die for that record but unfortunately for Benítez, Liverpool aren’t just any old club. No Liverpool fan will need to be reminded that the club hasn’t won the League title since 1990. Amazingly they are still, just, the most succesful club in England with 18 titles. However, nearly 18 years of drought is far too long for a club like Liverpool not to win the Trophy they covet most. How much longer can Liverpool go without winning it? Benítez may be about to find out.

The pressure is mounting for Benítez

Winning the European Cup for the fifth time and nearly a sixth is great but what Liverrpool fans will really want to see is “19″, “20″ etc next to League Titles in their Roll of Honour. Especially when a certain club just a few miles down the M62 is breathing down their neck! That just adds a little more spice to the pressure starting to pile onto Benítez’s shoulders.

The new Liverpool owners, American billionaires Hicks and Gillet, may not truly understand English football and it’s history, but they are winners. They like to win, like to succeed. They are not the type of men to take a back seat and accept such things as failure. Well, they probably wouldn’t be billionaires if they did! They want that success and believe they have the right club to achieve it. People like Hicks and Gillet don’t spend that type of money without knowing what they have invested in. However, should that 19th Title not come this season, they will begin to wonder, as I believe they already have, whether or not Benítez is really the man to deliver it. A Liverpool title this season is starting to look distinctly unlikely, yet again. And watching Liverpool on Saturday evening I began to ask myself, “Has Benítez lost the plot?”

Those that know me will tell you that I have always maintained a belief that a certain Jose Mourinho always secretly wanted to manage Liverpool and not Chelsea. Don’t ask me why I think that, I just always have. It was something about him. You could tell he was slightly jealous of Benítez and he even admitted he loved Liverpool’s history, their aura if you like, their fans. The Liverpool package. There aren’t many clubs that have it.

So it really wouldn’t surprise me if the Special One was sensationally targeting Liverpool for his big comeback. Sat back in Portugal he must be licking his lips at Liverpool’s progress at the moment, because let’s face it, you can’t really call it progress can you? Benitez is experiencing problems at Anfield. Things aren’t progressing as they were supposed to.

And what do you know? Reports are starting to appear in the Press linking Jose with an incredible comeback to the Premiership. Where? Yes, at the helm of Liverpool. Well, ok I know you can hardly believe what you read in the Press, especially the English tabloids but, the stories have started to appear. Gets you thinking doesn’t it?

So, can you believe the former Chelsea boss adding the Reds to his shortlist of possible clubs to manage next? He’d be a fool not to, wouldn’t he? Mourinho thrives on attention, the limelight. He’s the ultimate showman. What could be better, from his point of view, to return to the Premiership in a blaze of glory to manage the team that knocked him out of two European Cup Finals (as well as a few other things) and take over from the manager that was becoming his “Nemesis”?

Yes, I know that when Jose was shown the door at Stamford Bridge back in September he insisted his next post would not be in England. He had to say that, surely? And that was also before Benitez’s sometimes unfathamable rotation policy cost Liverpool valuable ground in the title race, left their Champions League hopes on the brink of catastrophe and fans beginning to question his ablity. It may only be the beginning of November but the sands of time are starting to run out for Benítez. English football can be a cruel business, especially if you are a manager. Ask Mourinho! Apart from winning the European Cup he couldn’t really have done much more, could he? Yet what is he doing at the moment? Sunning himself back home in Portugal!

Mourinho leaving Stamford Bridge and Chelsea

So Mourinho, who under his severance terms with Chelsea cannot work in England again until next June, will surely believe succeeding Benitez could be his dream return ticket because, apart from what I have said above, Liverpool now have the financial power to compete with Europe’s elite. Plus the Kop must be so completely fed up with the club’s title drought they would probably welcome Roy Keane with open arms if he were to deliver the Title, never mind the Special One and finally, it would make Roman Abramovich even more jealous of Liverpool and Jose could really rub his nose in it! Can you imagine the Press Conference performance Jose would deliver? It would be worth it all just to watch that!

The English Press are quoting a source close to Mourinho as saying: “There’s no question Liverpool is a club Jose would like to manage.”

Also, only last week Mourinho emphasised his determination to hold out for one of Europe’s top jobs by rejecting Valencia, widley regarded as Spain’s third largest club. Oh, come on guys, smell the coffee!! Why turn down a club like Valencia if you weren’t holding out for something else, something even bigger. No disrespect intended Valencia!

Now I may have this wrong. Jose may be waiting for Real Madrid or Barcelona. Don’t forget Jose worked under Bobby Robson at Barcelona and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he returned there one day and it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if he managed Real in the future too. But who else wants to manage Real Madrid? Who else has openly admitted he will return one day to manage his home town club, his first love? Hmm, none only than one Sr. Benítez!

So unless Real Madrid and Barcelona come calling for Mourihno next summer, which I think is unlikely, his options will be limited to either of the Milan clubs or Liverpool. And again, I don’t see Milan or Inter getting rid of Ancelotti and Mancini.

You can just imagine that all this news of “Mourinho waiting in the wings” will certainly unsettle and rattle Benítez. It was quite clear that when the two met that they didn’t really get on, they was a gruding respect at best. So apart from the dislike of the ex-Porto and Chelsea coach, Benítez is now battling a full-blown crisis on the red half of Merseyside.

Liverpool’s failure to beat Besiktas at home on Tuesday will end Liverpool’s Champions League interest. Almost an unthinkable senario for the recent two time finalist. Such an outcome will surely further undermine the Spaniard’s standing at the club. The Champions League and Europe have been, by far, the Spaniard’s forte. Being knocked out in the group stages after only four games would be a ….. hmm, I’m not sure I can think of a suitable word to fully convey how bad that would be. Liverpool at this rate may not even qualify for the Uefa Cup. Ouch!

Let’s not forget that Benítez spent £50million last summer, so should Liverpool depart Europe so early after that type of investment, the only thing that could possibly save Benítez would be to deliver the League Title to the Kop. And even the most ardent Kopite must surely admit that, at the moment, that is looking like a very distant possibility.

The Anfield door is looking nicely ajar for Sr. Mourinho at the moment. Crash out of Europe and Anfield may start to roll out the red carpet!

The Soccer Blogger