Where to now?

OK: maybe the Merseyside derby victory didn't bring about the change in the team's fortunes. The Champions' League loss to Besiktas is shocking, leaving Liverpool rooted at the bottom of Group A. Nothing less than a clean sweep of victories in the three remaining matches would ensure qualification into the knockout stages. And tonight we face a rampant Arsenal team at Anfield; how would Rafa and his team respond?

Perhaps the roots of current troubles lie further back in time. When Rafa took over in 2005, the Liverpool team was fairly formidable: we had a tried and tested, solid defence; we had Gerrard in midfield pulling the strings; but it was the attacking aspect of the game that was lacking, from the forwards we had right down to the tactics employed. Ever wondered why Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal were successful where Liverpool failed miserably? It was the failure to use the pitch to the widest and create chances - by playing through the middle of the field, we make it easy for the opposition to stifle attacking opportunities. Of course we had Stevie G, but when he doesn't play well, there is no other player to take the lead. Well, we had high hopes for Rafa and he didn't disappoint us - taking us to the Champions' League success and then the FA Cup the next year. But the Holy Grail of English football still eluded Liverpool.

With the entrance of American sports magnates George Gillette and Tom Hicks, things were looking up for Liverpool. Maybe this year would be the year. Everyone waited with bated breath for Rafa to make his moves in the summer transfer market; and he really took a long time to do it. At one point, I was wondering whether there was anyone of interest left to snap up by the time he decided to make a move. I had really hoped that he would see the light in changing the way Liverpool move forwards and make a move for wingers and another playmaker. Well, he got Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun (neither enough to make you salivate) and of course, Fernando Torres. People were swooning over themselves at the purchases. I felt that we have a good enough strikeforce provided they were given enough ammunition - Crouch and Kuyt, notwithstanding Craig Bellamy, had proven themselves last season. It wasn't the players I had hoped for, and apart from Torres, I was not very optimistic of any Liverpool's title chances this season.

So I admit that the season started off positively - the mauling of Derby County was the highlight of the season. Unfortunately everything went downhill from there. Many blame it to the chopping and changing by Rafa; in a way that could have been a contributing factor. Rafa's reason for keeping the players fresh doesn't really hold water - why on earth would you want to disrupt a team who has started off well, scoring goals and playing brilliant football? You certainly don't see Wenger, Sir Alex, or Jose doing it - and their teams are winning games! Perhaps he has to relook the rotation policy. Top players need to play!

In his eagerness to strengthen the attacking aspect of the team, he has neglected the one area of the team that has served Liverpool so well over the last few seasons - the defence - and shockingly we do not have a defensive cover for either Agger or Carragher apart from Sami Hyppia. Poor Hyppia, having already scored two goals in his last two starts - at the wrong end of the pitch. And I really thought he would have gotten rid of Momo Sissoko at the end of last season - he looks really shaky. Babel, highly-touted as he was, hardly got any first starts. Bennayoun looks out of position as well at the left end of the field, and Gerrard must still be seething from his shock substitution last weekend. We have four strikers, but no combination has been wholly successful. It's about time to look at a Crouch-Torres combo. Perhaps the 4-4-2 formation is not the best for this current set of players; I feel that a 3-5-2 or 3-4-1-2 would be a more suitable alternative. As a whole the team has not been playing well - perhaps the rotation policy is causing more harm than good.

Or like some would like to believe, maybe Rafa hasn't found his best team yet. He is still looking for his best eleven. Hello, it's already ten games now, and I can tell you the team that should start! Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Agger, Arbeloa, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard, Babel, Torres and Crouch. He is under some pressure to perform - the departure of his long-time assistant could have been a contributing factor, or contributed to the team's decline. Whatever it is, he needs to pull the team together before all title hopes, be it domestic or in Europe, slip from his grasp even before the halfway mark.