I don't know whether Rafa Benitez has had the time to study Shakespeare but if so he may be pondering on the words of Brutus in Julius Caesar.
There is, indeed, a tide in the affairs of man - and for Benitez that tide appears to have turned against him.
After starting what Jamie Carragher declared would be a "massive week" with the already-infamous "beach ball" defeat at Sunderland, the pressure really is on the Spaniard tonight, especially with Fernando Torres definitely missing against Lyons.
Even a victory over the French side would be little more than a temporary balm if Anfield plays host to a Manchester United party on Sunday, while a fourth straight loss, meaning Liverpool head into the weekend showdown under real strain, could prove the beginning of the end for Rafa the Gaffer.
It does not take a genius to see that something is wrong at Liverpool, seemingly intent on turning into the Graeme Hick of the Premier League - flat track bullies who can dismiss the likes of Burnley, Stoke and Hull as if swatting away flies, but crumble against sides that have more about them.
Four defeats in nine games is not quite fatal yet - even if a fifth would make that seem even more the case - but what it does is send out signals to any opponents that there is a mental vulnerability that can be exposed.
Benitez himself, in a wide-ranging but deeply worrying pre-match analysis yesterday, touched upon all the problems that are besetting his side.
There is no denying that his complaints about the contribution of "senior players" - taken, by the players themselves, to mean Carragher and Steven Gerrard - after the home defeat by Aston Villa was a huge and needless own goal.
And where Benitez was arguably right to suggest his squad need to rediscover the esprit de corps that allowed them to find so many late winners last term, his gripes about the "nutritional" excesses of those players he deems as slaves to carbonated drinks were again self-defeating.
It is under pressure, under scrutiny, that the great managers do prove their greatness.
Benitez himself, albeit thanks to the superhuman and talismanic efforts of Gerrard, got out of a similar scrape in December 2004, the season which ieded with his finest Liverpool moment amid the bedlam of Istanbul.
But nearly five years on from that remarkable night against Olympiacos Liverpool look arguably as far away from regaining the title that was theirs by right for the best part of two decades until 1990.
Benitez cannot afford to fight any more unnecessary battles, not when the conflict seems more about himself and proving his own power than in getting his players to perform for him.
So far Anfield, rightly, seems to be behind the Spaniard, offering him a bulwark against any knee-jerk reactions from the increasingly despised - and, it appears, increasingly distanced - ownership duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
But what happens if the worst does come to pass this evening and on Sunday? Does Benitez want to ride it out, to show he does have what it takes, that his way is the right way?
There are no guarantees of that. Tonight does not, quite, represent make or break. But it could, indeed, presage what may follow.
And for those who would counter by pointing out that Benitez would have to be replaced, at least on a temporary basis, by somebody who understands the club and the fans and who possesses the personality to hold it all together, then perhaps the presence of a certain Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish MBE might become important.
There is, indeed, a tide in the affairs of man - and for Benitez that tide appears to have turned against him.
After starting what Jamie Carragher declared would be a "massive week" with the already-infamous "beach ball" defeat at Sunderland, the pressure really is on the Spaniard tonight, especially with Fernando Torres definitely missing against Lyons.
Even a victory over the French side would be little more than a temporary balm if Anfield plays host to a Manchester United party on Sunday, while a fourth straight loss, meaning Liverpool head into the weekend showdown under real strain, could prove the beginning of the end for Rafa the Gaffer.
It does not take a genius to see that something is wrong at Liverpool, seemingly intent on turning into the Graeme Hick of the Premier League - flat track bullies who can dismiss the likes of Burnley, Stoke and Hull as if swatting away flies, but crumble against sides that have more about them.
Four defeats in nine games is not quite fatal yet - even if a fifth would make that seem even more the case - but what it does is send out signals to any opponents that there is a mental vulnerability that can be exposed.
Benitez himself, in a wide-ranging but deeply worrying pre-match analysis yesterday, touched upon all the problems that are besetting his side.
There is no denying that his complaints about the contribution of "senior players" - taken, by the players themselves, to mean Carragher and Steven Gerrard - after the home defeat by Aston Villa was a huge and needless own goal.
And where Benitez was arguably right to suggest his squad need to rediscover the esprit de corps that allowed them to find so many late winners last term, his gripes about the "nutritional" excesses of those players he deems as slaves to carbonated drinks were again self-defeating.
It is under pressure, under scrutiny, that the great managers do prove their greatness.
Benitez himself, albeit thanks to the superhuman and talismanic efforts of Gerrard, got out of a similar scrape in December 2004, the season which ieded with his finest Liverpool moment amid the bedlam of Istanbul.
But nearly five years on from that remarkable night against Olympiacos Liverpool look arguably as far away from regaining the title that was theirs by right for the best part of two decades until 1990.
Benitez cannot afford to fight any more unnecessary battles, not when the conflict seems more about himself and proving his own power than in getting his players to perform for him.
So far Anfield, rightly, seems to be behind the Spaniard, offering him a bulwark against any knee-jerk reactions from the increasingly despised - and, it appears, increasingly distanced - ownership duo of Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
But what happens if the worst does come to pass this evening and on Sunday? Does Benitez want to ride it out, to show he does have what it takes, that his way is the right way?
There are no guarantees of that. Tonight does not, quite, represent make or break. But it could, indeed, presage what may follow.
And for those who would counter by pointing out that Benitez would have to be replaced, at least on a temporary basis, by somebody who understands the club and the fans and who possesses the personality to hold it all together, then perhaps the presence of a certain Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish MBE might become important.
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