The saddest thing about Liverpool's lame defeat by Manchester United on Sunday was watching Rafa Benitez and gradually realising that the face on the Liverpool manager's seat actually belongs to Gerrard Houllier.

The current state of affairs at Anfield brings back dark memories of the days of the French manager who guided the Reds to the UEFA Cup, League Cup and FA Cups, but could not guide himself to the heart of the Kop, since the only real trophy the supporters were clamouring for, was the long-gone league title.

It has been 16 years since Liverpool last won the league. They have yet to win a Premiership title. And after Sunday's performance, they have got to get used to the new stark reality: at least 17 seasons will now separate their 18th and 19th championships.

The Kop will probably settle for that, but the problem is no-one can guarantee that next year will be any different from this one. And this one is really bad. Liverpool are 11th, 11 points behind Manchester United and Chelsea at the top, before the start of 11th month; it truly reflects the display of its 11 players on the pitch.

I don’t recall a game against Manchester United which was not only so one-sided, but in which the Red Devils needed so little to show such supremacy. Benitez hides behind his amazing Champions League 2005 and FA Cup 2006 medals. One has to admit this is a very good hiding place. But watching Liverpool's current black hole, the feeling is that even such prestigious achievements will not be enough to buy the Spanish manager much more time.

When Liverpool host Reading in the League Cup on Wednesday, it will be the 98th consecutive time that Benitez has tinkered with his starting line-up. He justifies his almost obsessive rotation by claiming that only "small" teams who play 45 matches per season can afford to give key players a long uninterrupted run. But the other side of the coin is that such a policy undermines stability and organisation. Players are not only left in the dark as to whether they will start a game, but are always uncertain as to whom they will to partner. This is not the way to form a functioning unit.

Benitez is known to put much emphasis on stamina, statistics and physiology. On the one hand, he introduced bedrooms at Liverpool's Melwood training ground and a "get together" policy, where players stay and sleep away from temptation, even before home matches. But on the other hand, the Spanish manager is doing everything he can to spoil togetherness on the pitch.

Blood tests – which are carried out frequently at Melwood to check players' response to training and needs – are fine, but all the scientific work in the world cannot replace the understanding two or more players form while playing alongside each other for a long period.

Many Liverpool followers believe the problem lies in the system. That if Benitez had opted for a 4-4-2 formation rather than the 4-5-1 at Old Trafford, things would have been different. Well, they wouldn't have. It is not the tactics that are wrong, it's the personnel -- not the use of the resources, but the resources themselves.

Benitez may suffer from a dip in some players' form, but the painful truth is that despite spending almost £30 million in the summer, he is no nearer having an attack with which he can go to war. Peter Crouch, Dirk Kuyt, Robbie Fowler and Craig Bellamy are not good enough to challenge Chelsea and Co -- and they definitely have no chance of doing so when the boss keeps rotating the partnerships up front.

The way Liverpool play at the moment, the odds are that the 'Rafalution' which started with the appointment of Benitez two years ago, will have to be completed without Rafa.