The Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, has in recent weeks, faced the brunt of quite intense criticism from various sections in the media. His crime in their view? Needle sly speaking out in the eye of the public about the supposed actions of a certain Mr. Ferguson, failing to retain the momentum which saw his Liverpool side finish the year at the top of the table, not to mention the farce that was the Robbie Keane transfer saga. Is Benitez to blame for his sides recent failings in the league, and is he, as some sections of the media suggest, not good enough to bring the Premier League trophy back to Anfield?I take you back to June the 16th, 2004 the very day in which Rafael Benitez took over the reigns at Anfield, in an attempt to rejuvinate a club which gradually seemed to be degre sing towards mid-table mediocrity, and to breathe fresh life into a squad containing too many prima-donnas and players which despite Patrick Beverley Jersey po se sing considerable talent, simply were not performing. The squad was littered with average, incompetent players while performances towards the end of the Houllier reigime were simply despicable. Uncreativity and a stale demeanor at the time engulfed Liverpools performces and something desperately needed to be done to rectify these i sues.Benitez was fortunate to inherit a nucleus of strong players, around which he could attempt to build a squad. Steven Gerrard, Didi Hamman, Steve Finnan, Jamie Carragher and Sami Hyypia provided this, though still, compared to the other top four clubs, the side still lacked relatively competent strength in-depth, and a huge overhall was required to clean out the cobwebs at Anfield, and gear the club in the direction of Europes elite.Benitez, in every respect has done what was required Rodney McGruder Jersey of him. Raise Liverpool Football Club back onto the pantheon of Europes elite sides check, embed the side with a strong nucleus of players able to compete at the very highest level of football check, ensure succe s is achieved in terms of the trophy cabinet check what more could one ask for? Not only has he done this; for the first time in nearly ten years, the club has mounted a serious title challenge, as well as lifting Europes most prestigious cup. All this, after starting out with a deteriorating, unstable squad which contary to many of their fans beliefs at the time, simply did not po se s the quality to sustain a top four finish over a number of seasons, let alone challenge for the title.A statistic that is consistantly thrown at Liverpool fans who claim the club has come on leaps and bounds under the Benitez reigime is 5 years, 120 million net expenditure, still no league title. This statistic is seriously misleading in his first season, to build on an extremely weak squad, due to the financial restraints of the club, 15 million was spent, in net-spending. This bought in four players; Xabi Alonso, Josemi, Fernando Morientes and Luis Garcia, for a total expenditure figure of 26 million the price of one, or maybe two players at Manchester United or Chelsea respectively, not to mention the departure of Michael Owen to Real Madrid. Despite the feeble depth of his side, Benitez took Liverpool to their fith European Cup something which neither of the previous three managers had been able to achieve, with arguably much, much stronger sides at their disposal.The seasons following saw the arrival of Tom Hicks and George Gillett allowing Benitez the luxury of more funds to spend, namely on the likes of Pepe Reina, Fernando Torres, Javier Paul George Jersey Mascherano, Daniel Agger, Fabio Aurelio, Alvaro Arbeloa and Martin Skrtel were bought to the club, in order to provide a solid base for the squad to be built further upon. The funds however, due to the economic crises which in recent times has gripped the world, soon began to dry up, and Benitez, in the build to this season was forced to sell players in order to bring in the players he could using also the limited investment offered by the Wesley Johnson Jersey club. While Manchester United spent 30 million on Dimitar Berbatov without ever recouping a substantial amount of that fee, Liverpool sold the likes of John Arne Riise, Sami Hyypia and Peter Crouch in order to purchase Robbie Keane. Investment was used to bring in Albert Riera and Andrea Do sena the former of which may not have even been bought to the club had the fund been available to sign Barry.Liverpools current squad is the strongest it has been under Rafa and arguable in a number of years, boasting one of the strongest spines in Europe, including Pepe Reina, Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. Having finally mounted a league challenge, using a squad fairly depleted in talent compared to his closest rivals an achievement in itself may I add sacking Benitez now is most definitely the worst po sible decision the American owners could make.Five years of rebuilding the side, to a team which can now challenge for the title. Rafael Benitez needs to be provided with the time and the funds to continue the work he started, in transforming Liverpool and to build a squad with the depth of his rivals. His signings over the course of his time at Anfield havent been consistantly on the money so to speak, though the ones which have worked have aided his work in taking Liverpool to where they are now, which is a challenger for the league title. Recent draws have taken their toll, and it is not clear that Liverpool still do not po se s the squad to win the league. One thing however is for sure; the Liverpool faithful should be extremely grateful for how far their squad has come under the Benitez reigime. He Jerome Robinson Jersey s rejuvinated the club in his time as manager, has taken them a step closer to the Holy Grail that is the league title, and is gradually building a squad stronger than that of any Liverpool side in recent times.