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What is Rafa Benitez playing at? Liverpool have had a&nbsp;nightmare January and from&nbsp;being out in front,&nbsp;now find themselves back amongst their rivals in third place, having dropped 6 points in the last 3 league games. Comparing their performances in the Premiership since their emphatic win at Newcastle on December 28th, they seem like a different team. Gone is the attacking zest and vigour we saw in the game at St James’ Park, replaced with a caution and fear of losing that is destroying their attempt to win a first league title in 18 seasons.&nbsp; Just what is the manager playing at? Now I know that tactically, Benitez is in essence, a cautious manager but the performance&nbsp;against Wigan Athletic&nbsp;looked like a team treading water. Sure, Gerrard and Benayoun had chance to put the game out of Wigan’s reach but they didn’t stick the chances away and left Wigan with a fighting chance. The challenge made by Lucas was suicidal, desperately chasing back to cover his defenders who had gone walkabout, fooled in to sticking a leg in when the ball was away and past him, with Koumas selling him a lovely feint and allowing Mido to score on his debut from the penalty spot. There’s no argument it was a cast iron penalty, but then to compound the issue, the manager takes Gerrard off and replaces him with Robbie&nbsp;Keane. Do you want to win the league or not Rafa?
<div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" align="right" width="416" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/uploads/newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/45423000/jpg/_45423386_mido_getty.jpg" height="300"></figure></div>You’ve just conceded a late equaliser, Manchester United have smashed W.B.A the night before 5-0, all your rivals are closing in and you take your best player off? Why on earth not keep him on to try and push on for the win, United would never take off Ronaldo in the same situation, neither would Chelsea with Lampard. After the game, Benitez said Gerrard was tired, but there was only 7 minutes left, was it to save him for Sundays clash against Chelsea? Lampard played the full game for Chelsea and Scolari had more of a case for saving his legs, with the game won againt Middlesbrough&nbsp;but he kept him on until the final whistle.
The post match press conference seems to compound Benitez’s problems,&nbsp;Liverpool are playing badly but it’s nothing to do with him. “It was a crazy half”, what was crazy about it? “I don’t wan’t to say”. “It has happened in the&nbsp;last three games and they have something in common that I don’t like.” &nbsp;What on earth is he going on about? Opponents tactics? Referee’s not giving them as many dodgy decisions as they’re used to? The idea of the game is to beat your opponents using skill and tactical nous, not bore them to death and diving around to win free kicks and penalties. I’m sorry Rafa, but it’s everything to&nbsp;do with you and the side and tactics you choose. Taking Torres off and&nbsp;replacing him with a left winger to play up front&nbsp;with Babel was a nonsense decision, to then take Gerrard off and replace him with Keane was another. Scared to over commit but chasing the game, Liverpool could have easily lost it had Rodallega’s free kick been a couple of inches lower. Dreadful against Stoke, poor against “small club” Everton and then another inept display yesterday&nbsp;has seen the advantage in the Premiership race move away from Liverpool and over to Manchester United, even Chelsea and Aston Villa could all push Liverpool down to 4th.
Liverpool have played 7 Premiership games&nbsp;from December 13th:
<ul>
<li>Won 2 and Drawn 5 (11 points)</li>
<li>Scored 13 goals and conceded 6 (8 of their goals scored came in the two wins against Bolton and Newcastle United)</li>
<li>2 Additional matches in the FA Cup so far, scoring 3 and conceding 1, with a replay to come at Goodison next week</li>
</ul>
Manchester United have also played 7 Premier League&nbsp;games in the same period 
<ul>
<li>Won 6 and drawn 1 (19pts)</li>
<li>Scored 12 goals and conceded 0</li>
<li>Played 6 additional matches in 3 other competitions in the same period, 2 League Cup Semi Finals, A Semi Final and Final in the World Club Cup and 2 matches in the FA Cup.</li>
</ul>
Now if that doesn’t tell you that the power has reverted back to Manchester United nothing else will. United also still have the game in hand&nbsp; and if Liverpool lose on Sunday against Chelsea,&nbsp;they can forget any title aspirations for another year and will&nbsp;have&nbsp;wasted their best chance in over a decade. But in Benitez’s mind it won’t be his fault, it’ll be Manchester United’s, the referee’s, small clubs, Halley’s&nbsp;Comet, Rick Parry’s and Liverpool’s owners&nbsp;and that’s why the title challenge is crumbling. Benitez refuses to believe it is anything to do with him. Negative tactics,&nbsp;unneccessary squad rotation and stupid substitions are the reason United and Chelsea&nbsp;have overtook Liverpool, Aston Villa are now a point behind them. Earlier this month I commented that Ferguson had no need to fire his players up in the aftermath of the Benitez’s comments to the press about the bias shown towards United, clearly forgetting the shocking decisions Liverpool get in their favour, especially at Anfield. On current form, Liverpool will do well to finish the season in 4th and the only person to blame will be Benitez.

Liverpools Title Challenge Is Slipping Away

Liverpools Title Challenge Is Slipping Away - World Soccer Talk

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You never commit too soon.
Mike Pollitt did just that towards the end of the first half of Wigan’s home tie with Liverpool and paid the price. While Mido equalize late in the match, this was a game where Wigan seriously had a chance at getting all three points.
Yes it’s harsh to blame one person with regards to points lost, but on a night where Liverpool were far from their best this was a golden opportunity to get all three points. The game wasn’t all that entertaining, Wigan had huge stretches where they were on the ball. However, they didn’t do a thing with it.
Let’s be honest about Liverpool as well, they weren’t all that convincing as well. The goal in the forty-first minute came completely out of the blue. Pollitt’s decision to commit so soon left Yossi Benayoun an empty net to shoot at. Benayoun to his credit though, had the tightest of angles&nbsp; after nearly running the ball out for a goal kick and did well to turn the ball in at the far post.
Liverpool though ended up shooting themselves in the foot and gave up their lead thanks to a ridiculous penalty that should see Lucas benched for the next match. Just giving Jason Koumas a right old kick in the penalty area has to go down as one of the candidates of dumb move of the season. Mido’s equalizer was deserved but it makes me wonder what would have happened had Pollitt not jumped the gun on Benayoun’s opener? Would Wigan have won it? They nearly did on their own merit at the end when Hugo Rodallega hit the wood work. I am just convinced that Wigan would have won it had Pollitt been wiser and stayed on his line.
Other Thoughts From Today’s Action 
* Salamon Kalou’s two goals today were a welcomed sight as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough. However when you have 24 shots on goal, you should be scoring more than 2 goals. With all the time Boro spent in their own half, they should feel fortunate they only lost 2-0 and not by more.
* Fair play to Manchester City for beating Newcastle United at home. However the story to this one are the injuries to Michael Owen and Joey Barton. This is the last thing Joe Kinnear needs as they are only 2 points above the danger zone.
* Everton were robbed by Robin Van Persie’s injury time equalizer. However Arsenal have bigger problems on their hands as three of the top four got three points and there is a gap starting to widen between the Champions League spots. What ace does Wenger have up his sleeve to get his side back in the top four? I’m curious to find out what it is.
* How soon is it before we are talking about Hull City as relegation fodder? They look a side that right now are out of ideas. Phil Brown has a bigger job on his hands keeping this side safe than I think he will want to admit.
* Lucky for Sam Allardyce that Benni McCarthy made up for missing from the spot with grabbing a late equalizer. However, there’s still plenty of work to be done by both sides if they want to get out of the relegation mire.
* Numbers just for my own benefit. 1-4 are separated by just 3 points. The number of teams within three points of relegation, that number is 8.

Mike Pollitt Costs Wigan Three Points Against Liverpool

Mike Pollitt Costs Wigan Three Points Against Liverpool - World Soccer Talk

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Liverpools Title Challenge Is Slipping Away

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Mike Pollitt Costs Wigan Three Points Against Liverpool