Liverpool, like other clubs, is often linked with respect to its performances with the ability of different managers.
It has finished in the second place not once but three times in the Premier League. The recent era was under Brendan Rodgers while 2008 and 2009 were under manager Rafael Benitez. The years 2001 and 2002 were spent under Gerard Houllier.
What was common in all the eras was the limited ability of the managers to build on the finish in the second place and helping the team to conquer the numero uno position in the consecutive championship league. If you look at the season of Houllier, he had taken a decision not to move Nicolas Anelka to Merseyside. That had been a nightmare season for Houllier.
He hasn't only signed on Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou but also allowed Nicky Barmby and Jari Litmanen to leave the team. This transfer window did not prove well for Liverpool.
If you look at Anelka’s performance record, he was part of the team of quality center forward players for Houllier. At that time the Reds were trying to win trophies to take home.
There was a quarter final coming up of the Champions League, where the Reds were to play against Bayer Leverkusen. Due to Houllier’s decision, the Reds, who were at a score of 2-1 ahead in the aggregate, however, ended up throwing away a chance of having a showdown with Manchester United in the semifinals.
Though this might be old news, Anelka has since then been a part of Indian Super League. Here also he is struggling with poor form of his team. He is marque player cum manager of Mumbai City FC and he is currently admitting that his team is not in the right form to contest. As a result, India might miss out having this ex Chelsea striker as part of ISL this year.