Liverpool are currently twelfth in the Premiership but inexplicably soaring high in the Champions League. It is perhaps English football’s greatest conundrum currently (after falling attendances) for it makes little sense how Liverpool can sizzle in Europe but fizzle at home.

Many have tried in vain to explain the dichotomy and I am fairly sure I will meet a similar fate. How a club can get past Real Betis but then come unstuck against the likes of Birmingham and Fulham is beyond perhaps Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez himself.

It cannot be a case of priorities. Liverpool dramatically won the Champions League in May so, subconsciously at least, they must be primarily focused on domestic affairs.

One can argue that Benitez is a wily continental coach, who perhaps tries to do too much at home. In Europe, the likes of Luis Garcia and Xabi Alonso thrive on a slick passing game, where the emphasis on technique is perhaps greater than on speed. However, at home it seems Benitez would benefit from a simpler approach, one that makes ample use of Steven Gerrard’s speed and strength rather than Garcia’s touch.

Not to say that flair players cannot hack it in the Premiership. Paolo Di Canio, Thierry Henry and Gianfranco Zola are just recent examples of how technique can thrive in the league. But in Liverpool’s case it seems their unit has not been fine tuned for the Premiership.

The reverse is true for Arsenal. While Arsene Wenger’s ‘Wengerball’ has often been irresistible at home, in Europe it has broken down. Yet this season Arsenal have turned that trend slightly askew, booking their place in the second round comfortably. In general, however, Manchester United (though not currently) and Chelsea (currently) seem to have the right balance of how to successfully wage a two-front war.

It seems, then, that Benitez needs less pretty ways to break down the new, defensive looking Premiership (the 4-5-1 formation is on the rise). Indeed he must be perplexed as to how vast the difference is between a Champions League encounter against Chelsea and a domestic one. Liverpool drew the former but got crushed 4-1 in the latter.

The indifferent forms of strikers Peter Crouch, Djibril Cisse and Fernando Morientes have done nothing for Liverpool’s cause either. Consider this- Cisse’s paltry two-goal tally in the Premiership is more than what Morientes and Crouch have notched up but less than leading scorer Alonso’s three-goal haul! All the more shocking when you consider Alonso is a midfielder.

Speaking of Liverpool, it seems the club’s former super-striker Michael Owen cannot stop scoring wherever he goes. Currently there are only a handful of strikers who will consistently guarantee you goals. Owen is one of them.

His goal last week against West Brom was a typical poacher’s strike. Newcastle fans may not challenge for the title this season but they can take comfort in the fact that Owen will be banging them in for some time to come.

Hasan Saiyid
TotalSoccer.ca writer/editor