Liverpool's Dying Core

Jose Mourinho commented this week that Liverpool FC have been in progressive state of decline since 2004.
This is a silly thing to say, because in 2009 their final position in the Premiership table was second, only four points shy of title winners Manchester United. That was their highest finish since 2002 when they were runners up to Arsenal.
In 2004, the year Mourinho cites as their recent zenith, they finished 4th and trophy-less, and despite winning the Champions League the following season they fell to 5th in the league. Since then: 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 2nd….7th.
Hang on, apart from last year you could be forgiven for thinking they’ve made considerable progress here. Never in the nineties did they so consistently figure amongst the elite of the top four. Last season’s theatrical implosion went against the grain didn’t it?
Whilst it’s definitely fair to say that the overall quality and amount of stars in the squad has depleted under the tight pockets of Hicks and Gillett, Benitez was a good enough manager to make the most of his limited resources.
Comparisons to her peers show Liverpool’s squad to be desperately lacking in depth over recent years and it’s a wonder that the cracks didn’t start to show much sooner. The Kop owes a great debt to the Spaniard.
The real problem Liverpool faces today is that it has all of a sudden lost its core, and in a fast, physical league you need that or else you will struggle.
Lampard and Essien, Scholes and Fletcher, Fabregas and Song....a strong core means two world class players which the rest of the team can rotate around and depend upon. Neither player is a defender or an attacker but together they can perform both roles whilst always finding teammates with that all important pass.
In 2009 the superb Alonso left Liverpool for Madrid and was never replaced. Half the core was gone and the following season they became a mid-table team.
On Monday they faced Sheik Mansour’s mega-spenders Manchester City, themselves gifted a core so potent and capable it is quite terrifying. De Jong, Barry, Yaya Toure and Milner all feature.
Mascherano’s head had been turned by Barcelona…he didn’t play and Liverpool were left with Lucas and Gerrard in the engine room. The former is a hard worker but not skilled or imaginative enough to rely upon so heavily. The latter has become an attacking player in recent times, and was quickly found out by the opposition having been asked to switch duties.
With the current owners seemingly unwilling to sell the club and everyone else unwilling to bid, Liverpool’s cashflow problems don’t look set to improve, and new manager Roy Hodgson has his work cut out if he is to even match the consistency Benitez somehow achieved.
Meanwhile, key striker Torres has been seemingly operating at fifty percent capacity since mid way through last season. Joe Cole seems a decent signing and his attacking presence will allow Gerrard to become re-accustomed to a central role, but this transition will take time, and when the captain inevitably picks up an injury then the wheels will unfortunately and completely fall off for Liverpool.