Rafa Benitez is under increasing pressure after his Liverpool side lost 2-1 to Lyon in the Champions League last night. Liverpool were quite clearly below par and mirrored some bad recent performances that have also seen them lose to Fiorentina in the same Champions League group.

Liverpool did go ahead through a Yossi Benayoun strike but goals from Maxime Gonalons and César Delgado were enough to make it a happy night for the French team as Liverpool are now staring right down the barrel of a gun. Liverpool’s problems were made worse by the fact that captain, Steven Gerrard, limped off with an injury.

Gerrard is the tool the many people have said was missing from the side and his premature arrival back into the team did not appear to work and he has only made his injury worse. Needless to say Benitez was not exactly happy.

He said: “Everything that can go wrong is going wrong at the moment. I think we have to win our last three games now. We were 1-0 up and had two or three chances which could have changed everything, but we just had too many problems. I’m really disappointed because we still had enough chances to win it, which could have made everything different.”

“With Glen and Stevie, we will have to check how they are. It was the same problem with Stevie. He felt something and I knew it was better to change him then, but starting with him wasn’t a risk because the doctor said he was OK. He trained for the last two days and was OK — sometimes it’s just bad luck.”

“My job is to prepare them for the next game, and that starts as soon as I finish tonight. Personally, my staff and the players will be the ones who lift me — everyone who wants to see Liverpool winning again, in fact.”

Liverpool fans seems to be losing their patience with the man that won them a fifth European Cup in the club’s history, but the point is that time is running out. Liverpool have also slipped right off the pace in the Premier League and if things do not start to improve quickly then it could be the end as far as Liverpool’s season is concerned.

Benitz needs wins and he needs them fast. In this day and age, losing is heavier than any thing else and if Liverpool keep up their bad form then people will start to want the Spaniards head.

Liverpool defender, Jamie Carragher, is throwing caution to the wind ahead of a week that could shape the rest of the club’s season. Liverpool lost 1-0 to Sunderland over the weekend thanks to a controversial goal from Darren Bent.

The bad news is that the club’s next two games will be against Lyon, the best side in France, and Manchester United, the best side in England. Rafa Benitez needs to quickly work out what his best side is and what competition Liverpool will be going for this season.

At the moment they are struggling both domestically and in Europe so the heads seem to have dropped ahead of this week’s crucial European tie with the French giants. Benitez has to be praised for his never say die attitude but as far as Carragher is concerned, it is all up hill from here.

He said: “There is a long way to go yet, but if we continue losing games, it will be the end. We have given ourselves a mountain to climb, but Chelsea lost as well. There is a seven-point difference with Manchester United but we can’t think about the title right now.”

“We have to forget about that and concentrate on the next league game, which will give us the chance to claw some points back. We have to restore our confidence and play much better.”

“We are not playing well, the supporters know that. I am sure there will be a lot of stick flying around before the Lyons game.”

It is good to see one of Liverpool’s most loyal and consistent players come out with comments that are so black and white, they define the feeling of nearly everyone at the club. When he speaks, Carragher does not mix with words and comments like this will be common around the club.

The fact is that without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres running the show at Liverpool, they struggle and struggle very badly. There is too much reliance on those two players and until Benitez is able to find a solution then they will probably keep losing games.

Liverpool fans know better than any others that when United sniff a point of weakness then they will start to circle it like hungry sharks. For Liverpool to have any hope of repeating their victories against United last season they will have to perform mid-week. If they do not then it could well be season over, little after it has just begun.

Rafa Benitez is trying to stay upbeat about Liverpool’s title chances, despite the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea yesterday. Goals from Nicholas Anelka and Florent Malouda were enough to put Chelsea right back into the driving seat after Manchester United’s draw with Sunderland.

Liverpool were also soundly beaten in a Champions League match against Fiorentina during the week, a match that Benitez said was one of the worst performances that he had ever seen from his side.

Liverpool will need to buck up their ideas very quickly or it will probably end up being just another dull and boring season that will not play to the ambitions and expectations of the average Reds fan.

Benitez said: “We must stay calm. We will see what happens in March and April. I think you will see all the top sides losing more points against the other teams. It’s good for the Premier League, good for the competition, and it just means we have to try to win more games.”

“I think the performance wasn’t bad. We were against a very good team. The end of the championship is a big distance away. Manchester United’s result [a 2-2 draw at home to Sunderland on Saturday] was a surprise, but we want to stay concentrated on our season, not on the season of other teams.”

Benitez seems to be quickly running out of patience with his side and could wield the axe of rotation all over again ahead of Liverpool’s next game. The problem for them is finding the consistency that will help them move forward and be able to challenge for the title all season long.

The point is that Liverpool do have it in them to compete but what they don’t seem able to do is compete regularly and make good of their best form. Once they find the consistency then they will be amazing.

The other factor is that the club look one or two players short. Fernando Torres does not have a world class partner in attack, too much pressure is put onto Steven Gerrard and the defence needs an extra world class player to hold the side together.

Once all of these things have been found then Liverpool will be fine. January can’t come quick enough at the moment but the message is already clear that the team will not be able to reach the top level of competition this season.

Liverpool manager, Rafa Benitez, is being forced to defend his controversial zone marking policy that he uses during Champions League games. A lot of people have said that Rafa will get punished if he continues to use the system in Europe and that it will be one of the reasons that Liverpool will not progress this season.

The system works by giving each player a specific area of the pitch to be in and control as opposed to marking another player directly. Although this system may work well in the Premier League it does not always hold firm in Europe and the system was exposed by a much weaker European side in Liverpool’s first Champions League match this season.

The Spaniard said: “The system has been very effective for us. If you look at the records, we don’t concede more goals than other teams from set-plays. This is the right way for us to go and you see a lot of goals conceded with teams man-marking.”

Former Liverpool striker, John Aldridge, said in a newspaper piece: “Liverpool’s European exit at the hands of Chelsea last season provided conclusive proof that the defensive system is unreliable against intelligent opponents and it will catch them out again.”

“Guus Hiddink clearly identified a weakness in the Liverpool back line at Anfield that night and once Chelsea scored three away goals, their passage to another European semi-final was all but assured.”

“It is still an issue this season and I feel the defenders have lost a little bit of confidence. Liverpool are looking uncertain every time their opponent gets a corner or a free-kick around the box and it is a major worry as they start another Champions League campaign.”

“The truth is defenders make mistakes and this is why we have conceded some disappointing goals. We’ve also had some problems with injuries in defensive positions and this has affected us also this season. With everyone fit, I’m convinced our defence will be strong once again.”

The point is that Liverpool will come up against better class European teams, the likes of which they have not played before. The standard is better than ever and with the money spent by a lot of sides the pressure will be right on them to brush aside teams like Liverpool, who will not be considered serious Champions League contenders until the later stages. It’s a system they will stick with but one they probably shouldn’t.