Why the future of Rafael Benitez should be considered, but not just yet

It was only at the end of March when another Danny Murphy goal set up Roy Hodgson's men for a win over United and Liverpool fans could finally smell a Premier League title. A Howard Webb decision and a Federico Macheda strike later and that wasn't to be, but progress, big progress, had been made.

So what happened next?

Of course, as we hear every single day, Xabi Alonso - Liverpool's player of the season - departed and hasn't been replaced. Alberto Aquilani was expected to be in the first team by October but complications, setbacks and the unwillingness to be risked has seen the season reach Christmas without him given a real chance of making any sort of telling contribution.

Lucas Leiva was penciled in as standby until Aquilani was ready and as I've said before, a Liverpool team that loses Alonso and puts Lucas in that place is like when Nicolas Anelka wasn't kept on and Gerard Houllier opted for El Hadji Diouf instead - we all know what happened there.

Managers of course are human and do make mistakes. Sir Alex Ferguson once deemed it appropriate to replace Peter Schmiechel with Massimo Taibi. He soon realised the error of his ways and United were on their way to another title.

Replacing a goalkeeper is a lot easier than changing a system and Rafael Benitez clearly favours the four five one. However, although the improvement of Lucas must be to the credit of the young Brazillian, surely Steven Gerrard is the choice for the deeper role.

There is no doubting that Gerrard behind Torres is one of the most feared partnerships in world football, but it just hasn't worked so far, especially as their appearances together are few and far between. Obviously for any front pairing, quality service is required and it is difficult to understand where Benitez expects that to come from.

The freedom Gerrard had last term was key to Liverpool's success. He could focus on attacking knowing that he would be receiving balls of the highest calibre. Passing certainly isn't Lucas and Mascherano's strength and the whole attacking unit suffers as a result of this.

Critics of Benitez say he is too stubborn. Every good manager will be stubborn and stick to what he believes but with Rafa is it stubbornness or stupidity? If you remember the greatest achievement of Benitez in 2005, he deemed it fit to face A.C Milan (and Kaka) without a specialist defensive midfielder, at least until his team were three down. Now, he faces the likes of Portsmouth, Everton and Fulham with two of them.

In 2006, he wouldn't move Steven Gerrard off the right side of midfield which caused a huge (and unnecessary, both him and the team were excellent) media uproar. Now, when Dirk Kuyt's form and confidence is suffering, it doesn't seem the captain is even considered for that role.

Managers must not take any notice of what fans, journalists and pundits say and I feel Benitez really does. Not in the sense of listening to them, but by seemingly going out of his way to try to prove them wrong. Whether this is the case or not, Liverpool have big problems. They either have a manager who tries to prove critics wrong at the expense of the team, or they have a manager that believes Lucas Leiva and Dirk Kuyt are justified in being guaranteed a place in one of Europe's top sides.

Now I'm not a member of the anti - Kuyt and Lucas brigades, in fact I feel both could be valuable squad players, but they should be starting a fraction of what they do. I hate to refer to Ferguson again but for the last few years he has used players like Park Ji Sung and Darren Fletcher in only certain types of games. When he feels hard work and pressure on the ball are needed, they start. When he feels natural ability and composure are needed, they tend not to. I feel Rafa could do something similar with Kuyt and Lucas.

This season has been nothing short of dreadful so far so people are obviously going to be asking questions about the manager. Should he stay or should he go?

Benitez has a track record of having a good second half of the season, so a judgment will most likely be made on him in May. Who knows what might happen between now then? Gerrard and Torres could stay fit; Aquilani could prove to be a hit (if given a chance) and Liverpool may finish in the top four with a trophy. Unlikely as it seems, would that be considered as a success? At this point, certainly. Would it show the club moving in the right direction in the bigger picture? Definitely not.

Then the decisions should be made.