By Chris Wright
Liverpool legend Alan Hansen has stuck the boot in to the club’s recently-departed manager Rafa Benitez, claiming that the Spaniard has left the squad in the worst state it’s been in for half a century.
The former Scotland defender also expressed his fears that prospective high-profile managers will be put off from taking over the reigns at Anfield by the chalice of sh*t they would be inheriting.
Speaking in his column for the Daily Telegraph, Hansen said;
“After six years under Benitez, it is definitely time for a change at Anfield, and credit must go to managing director Christian Purslow and chairman Martin Broughton for being strong with their decision, but whoever comes in faces a mammoth task, one which will start with a blank sheet of paper and a realisation that it will be a long haul ahead.
You could be looking at three to four years before Liverpool get back to where the club should be.”
And the MotD pundit is also under no illusion as to where the majority of the blame lies for Liverpool’s gradual fall from grace;
“Although Benitez will cite a variety of reasons – the owners, key players losing form, the financial problems – he is the man who has filled a squad that is littered with bad buys.
Benitez made too many mistakes with too many players. In recent seasons, he hasn’t got any right beyond Fernando Torres, Javier MascheranoGlen Johnson. They were all big-money buys and players of proven quality.
Benitez has had money to spend, but when he has bought players in the mid-range market of £3-5 million, they just have not been good enough and that is why Liverpool’s bench has been so poor in recent months.
He has spent too much money on average players and we are now seeing the fruits of that because Liverpool are a long way short of competing to finish in the top four, never mind fighting to win the big boys’ trophies.”
Hansen also added that he believes Liverpool will struggle to restore themselves to their former glory if they allow key duo Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard to leave the club this summer;
“The only light at the end of the tunnel for Liverpool at the moment is that they still have Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
If the club decides to cash in on those two, it might raise £90m for new players, but what kind of statement would that send out to the supporters and potential new signings?
Unfortunately, if Gerrard and Torres go, there will be no light and a dark tunnel for Liverpool.”
Ouch! It’s fairly harshly worded, but I’ve got to say I agree with him.
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