Sunday, December 27, 2009

John Aldridge: This Could Be The Most Important Week In Liverpool FC’s History

Christmas should be a time when you leave your worries behind and enjoy the festivities but, for Liverpool supporters, that is likely to prove impossible.

As I was privileged to play for the Reds and still enjoy a profile thanks to this column and my work for Radio City, rarely does a day pass by without me having a conversation with a fan about the state of our nation.

Never in my life, though, have I experienced a week like the one just gone.

Whether it has been at the shops, at the gym or in the pub, everyone I’ve spoken with has been in the doldrums; after witnessing at first hand the display at Portsmouth, it’s easy to see why.

When you compare our position today with where we were last Boxing Day, the only thing you could say about Liverpool is this is a club going backwards, one saddled with a massive debt and in real danger of slipping away from where it should be.

We are now faced with two massive games and, without being overly dramatic, the fixture at Villa Park on Tuesday evening is, in my eyes, one of the most important in our recent history.

Should we take six points off Wolves and Villa, the panic will start to subside but if we happen to lose to Martin O’Neill’s side, I would have to seriously doubt whether we would be able to retrieve an 11-point deficit – on fourth place!

But until our owners have sold up or we can move into a new ground, I cannot see a way forward for Liverpool and I’m starting to fear we are in decline; my biggest concern is that the situation has festered into the dressing room.

You could see that the body language of some of those who played at Fratton Park was not right; these lads are human. They know about the issues behind the scenes, they know we don’t have the money to compete for big signings.

Rafa Benitez, however, remains adamant that we will get back into the top four and has guaranteed he will achieve that objective; we, on the other hand, can only hope he is right – and pray his faith in certain players is not misplaced.

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