Every time I watch Liverpool lately, they infuriate me. In past seasons, when we have signed players, the expectations that surrounded them has usually been far fetched and we have been realistically out of the Premier League title running by Christmas.

This year, however, we are managing to self-destruct rather than just not being good enough and that is even more infuriating for the diehard supporters. I believe the cause of this comes down to a very simple fact; some of the key squad members are not good enough. Let's have a look at some of them . . .

Like many seasoned supporters, I can only hope and pray that Jose Reina doesn't get injured because we are frighteningly short in the goalkeeping department. From what I have seen of Charles Itandje, he isn't even a Dagenham and Redbridge standard keeper, let alone a No.2 at Anfield. And we obviously need cover at centre-back as Daniel Agger seems to have dodgy feet and Sami Hyypia might have been quality a short time ago but age has clearly caught up with his weary legs.

'Like many seasoned supporters, I can only hope and pray that Jose Reina doesn't get injured because we are frighteningly short in the goalkeeping department'


Then we come to a player who, in my opinion, has been unbelievably lucky not to be sold by the ruthless Rafa -  John Arne Riise. The more I see of the guy, the more I can predict almost exactly what he is going to do when he gets the ball, and if I can do that,  a Premier League footballer will have no problem. He can't cross, can't tackle, can't shoot (I'm sorry, but having a rocket shot that is on target one-in-20 times doesn't mean he can shoot), can't beat a player, has no right foot at all, can't mark and can barely pass a ball.

How he has made over 300 appearances for us only Rafa knows, but if we can get the touted £8m for him from Aston Villa, I will be most pleased. And judging by the look of the young Emiliano Insua kid in the reserves, we should be OK once he bulks up and gets used to the Premier League.

Then we get to Momo Sissoko; living proof that being a good footballer is 50% down to confidence. What has happened to the boy? How can he still be the same player who demolished anything that was in front of him this time last year? I don't know whether anyone else has noticed this, but he seems to have forgotten what he is good at, and that is charging around chasing the ball like a man posessed, crunching the guy with the ball, then passing it no further than five yards to a neighbouring midfielder with some ability (be it Steven Gerrard or Xabi Alonso).

This season, he has done nothing of the sort as he has convinced himself that he can actually play football; big mistake. His passing is pathetic, he decision making atrocious and his tackling even seems to be suspect. To think we were quoting £20m-plus for him over the summer beggars belief.

In the striking department we have a number of problems. Dirk Kuyt cannot be called a footballer just because he tries hard. If that's the case we should sell him, get a marathon runner in, and save a lot of time and money in the process. You cannot be starting games for one the top four clubs in England if you are a striker and continually do not score. Rafa needs to tell him to focus some of that energy into putting the ball into the net, like he is supposed to be doing as a forward.

Andriy Voronin is very average, and I always maintained that his start to the season was the sign of an over-achiever, and I stick by that. Again, lots of running and not much ability. Then we get to Peter Crouch. I will be honest and say that I am not his biggest fan, but I do actually like him as a footballer and think that he could be extremely effective at a club like Manchester City or Aston Villa, but not at Liverpool.

It's the way he makes the team play which I don't like; we seem to turn into long-ball fanatics and forget that we have players like Gerrard and Fernando Torres who actually have some ability.

All in all, we possess some contractually-bound players who we should be cashing in on in the January transfer window in order to get Liverpool to the next level in the Premier League and start beating teams at the top of the table like we continually threaten to do.