ITV didn’t expect this. They began the season having the rather illustrious item “Liverpool in Europe”, following a team who were guaranteed to keep the ratings high. Christ, were they wrong. Condemned to Thursday night football shown on Channel 5, with no guarantee that things will change next year, Liverpool find themselves falling further short of all expectations than they have in over a decade, with the dark days of the ‘90s (failed cup runs, shunned from the top four) making a return. After what seemed like a return to the late ‘80s for the club last year, finishing second and finally seeming to have formed a solid, untouchable team, this was not on the cards at the start of the season.



The fan forums will tell you that it’s the end of the world, and fans of other clubs in the Premier League will be the first to tell them it is. But with 8 European trophies (a count which includes 3 UEFA Cups) and a severe doubt in my mind from the very start of the season that any English club would even appear in the Champions League final (if anyone will, it’ll be Arsenal), surely the Europa League is Liverpool’s best shot at some prestigious silverware in 2010?



Don’t get me wrong, the bookies are jaded to have already put Liverpool as favourite to take the first title in this newly formed competition (if you call changing the UEFA Cup’s name making a new competition). They will, of course, have their full team back after Christmas when the knock-out stages kick off (and some would say even a new manager), but they will have to contend with teams like Valencia, Roma, Villareal, and wouldn’t a fixture against Everton in Europe for the first time in the two clubs' history be an interesting one?

But with fans putting a top four finish ahead of any actual trophies this season (even the FA Cup, which is surely a shameful disrespect more akin to Sir Alex Ferguson), it does look like they could be set for more disappointment. A slipping challenge in the League, with Spurs having just sounded the first death knell with a 9-1 trouncing of Wigan (which to me well and truly declares Redknapp’s claim on fourth place), it looks like it hardly matters whether the fans think they should take the Europa League seriously or not. Either way, it looks like a competition that Liverpool may just have to get used to...