Pressure on at Anfield

Carra: Senior voice speaks out

Rafa Benitez could be looking at an exit from Anfield at the end of the season unless he leads Liverpool to Champions League glory.

The Sun reports that Rafa will be shown the door unless he can bag Europe’s biggest prize.

It’s been a nightmare season for the Spaniard with Liverpool 19 points off the pace in the Premiership and a humiliating FA Cup exit to Barnsley at the weekend.

Benitez has had a tricky relationship with Liverpool’s owners George Gillett jr and Tom Hicks ever since they publically fell out over transfer funds; the situation was aggravated further as the Americans courted Jurgen Klinsmann as a possible replacement for the Spaniard.

The future looks grim for Rafa, Liverpool fans who have backed him so far this season expressed their discontent on Saturday and there are rumblings from red-top insiders that Dubai Investment Capital (DIC) will bring in a new boss if they can buy out Hicks and Gillett.

The discontent at Anfield is deep-rooted and senior players like Jamie Carragher acknowledge the problem.

'I wouldn't call it just a bad spell - it's been longer,' said Carragher.

'We realise we are not playing well enough. It's not a matter of putting your finger on one reason. It's simply because we have not been good enough.'

Rafa’s only chance now is to deliver the Champions League trophy just as he did in 2005, but with Inter leading Serie A by 11 points it’s a tall order.

'We've got a massive game coming up against Inter, so we are going to have to get over this because the Champions League is massive for us now,’ said Carragher.

'It's the only thing we have left that we can win.'

Rafa had the benefit of the doubt as the initial spell of boardroom discontent was blamed for poor form, now there is little hiding place for the Spaniard, especially after the defeat to Barnsley, it’s now crunch time with the Reds facing Italy’s best side in sparkling form, he needs to pull out the stops.

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