I have a £10 bet with a friend that Spurs would finish above liverpool. I am not going to win this am I? But the point is that only a schmuck couldn't see that Liverpool were the vulnerable team in the top 4. The squad is average bar the obvious exceptions and team struggle to be more than just decent. Rafa is not a bad manager and given the resources of chelsea or man utd he would be up there. But thats not going to happen and I think Liverpool should seriously consider if there is anyone better out there. I hear Bryan Robson is looking?!

John , LDN,

C Elder, what offensive claptrap! Yes Liverpool fans hae caused more than their fair share of trouble in the past, but now they are certainly no worse than other clubs, and considerably less vicious than, for example Roma's "Ultras".

And Milan did not walk all over Liverpool in case you actually missed the match. More that if Liverpool were a little lucky in 2005, Milan got their share of luck in a match in which they were predominantly the lesser side.

Anwar Shah, Bromsgrove,

Benitez has done nothing at Liverpool and spent a fortune while there. Please don't cite the one-off of winning the Champions League against Milan,as this was a pure effort of the players not the coach,combined with amazing scouser luck. When they played this final again recently,after many more years of the "benefit" of Rafa's coaching,Milan destroyed Liverpool completely,even without shevchenko .So the first win was a lucky one-off.
Liverpool under Rafa has done nothing of consequence,and never will.Even boring,pedantic,Everton are about to overtake them,And even more boring Aston Villa may well do it,and Sven's boys at City definitely will.
Liverpool will finish out of the top 4 and possiblty as low as 7th.
We who would rather see the trouble-making supporters of liverpool stay in the UK are praying that they keep Rafa as long as possible,that way we won't have to deal with them when they travel.

C.Elder, Paris, France

Roger Tilbury, I agree that the protesters are the pits - presumably they think they're helping the team or the long term.

What it comes down to though is that Benitez needs to be able to bring in £60m worth of talent next season to bring us up to scratch - if not Benitez, then someone, but a big spend in any case. I guess that's what the protesters are moaning for, that the "yanks" aren't supporting enough. I disagree that he's incompetent - two CL finals, one win and an FA cup is incompetence is it? OK, nothing this year (probably), but he's proven he can deliver as far as I am concerned.

We were all over Barnsley with great chances. Sometimes luck does play a part. And Benitez placed a bet by trying to save players for Inter Milan - it is a reflection of how poor the squad is (partly due to injuries and fitness, but also due to quality - e.g. injury/fitness: Agger, Alonso, Pennant; Quality: Kuyt, Crouch, Kewell).

Let's see in the summer. I doubt it'll change before then.

Matt Duffy, Neston, UK

Rafa must stay. He needs a new number 2 - bring back Souness - the pair of them would be fantastic together along with Hicks and Gillett. We love them. Come on you blueboys.

Simon, Teesside,

If Rafa does go that leaves us with one last chance of salvation; bring back Graeme Souness! He's magic! I can't think of a single manager who has won so many league titles with so many different clubs! Remember his tactical genius?His midas touch in the transfer market? That's what we need now. And what about his commitment and heart? He literally almost left his heart at Anfield (until the doctors managed to secure it back in his chest).

Andrew Nyazai, Godalming, UK

How can you say Ferguson didnt get that much to spend Roger? He spent £30m on Anderson and Nani, and £20m each on Tevez and Hargreaves!

Rafa can only dream of that kind of spending!

Paul , Newcastle,

However much money Rafa has spent it is a lot. Chelsea will always spend more and Utd buy a big player every year. This year it was Hargreaves. Interestingly Arsenal seem to do ok on a much lesser purse than LFC.
Is it all about the money. I think not. look at Everton.
Still the fans support him blindly as they are angry at the Americans. Rafa is not as good as you think. He bored his way to victory in the CL, with only 45 mins of noteworthy play.
Get a new man in, if you can.

James, London,

What whoever ends up owning our club needs to remember is that unless we have the ability to go and sign players en masse for upwards of £15m (which clearly we don't but Utd and Chelsea do) then you have to have a bit of patience and give a manager some time to build a squad and groom some youngsters.

What we don't need right now is the kind of knee jerk reaction that the over the top media coverage and ridiculous expectations encourages.

Anyone who believes that we should be achieving the same as Chelsea and Utd whilst spending a lot less over a sustained period of time is living on a different planet. Wenger is doing that because he has had the opportunity to build a club properly from the ground up and develop some youth talent . Simple fact is if we sack Rafa we are back to square one.

And whilst I'm here - anyone who says we need mourinho at anfield has 1) got no idea of what this club is all about, 2) has a very short memory and 3) is probably a blue.

Paul m, Liverpool,

Louis Blanc your talking rubbish,50 million,he spent £46m and gt back £26m he spent £20m and compared to man utd and chesea thats peanuts.mourinho is a chelsea reject who needs mega money to get anywhere and plays boring football,hes mr 1-0.

shane daniel, eastbourne, sussex

Love Rafa but he has to go, too many rotations mean that players do not understand each other. Mourinho in!

Chris Wood, camberley, Surrey

Fanatical football club supporters are, by definition, blinkered and stupid but those who stayed on at Anfield to mindlessly chant "Yanks Out" over and over again really are the pits. Your new owners gave your incompetent manager nearly £50 million to spend. Look where you are in the league. Many other owners would have sacked the manager by now. Wenger and Ferguson didn't get that money to spend. What else do you want the owners to do? If they sack Benitez (as they should) and bring in a new manager who wins the league and European Cup next year the 'Yanks' will be heroes to these same supporters.

Roger Tilbury, Worthing,

The new Liverpool Manager is Mourinho!

Louis Blanc, Liverpool, Merseyside