Liverpool lacked the killer instinct

So, one more year of pain on Merseyside for Liverpool and its followers, a season in which they saw hated rivals Manchester United draw level with their historical tally of 18 league titles, and a season in which they came so close to becoming the only the fifth side to win the Premier League but lost out due to an inability to apply the coup de grace when it mattered.

That his side ended the season with only two defeats and a positive goal difference of 50 will matter nothing to Benitez in that they failed in their ultimate goal by four points. Nor will the home and away victories over Man Utd (including a 4-1 demolition at Old Trafford), or the 4-0 trouncing of Real Madrid at Anfield that had Europe enthusing about the effervescent play Benitez's side served up.

What matters to the Spaniard will be the home draws against inferior sides such as West Ham, Stoke, Fulham and Hull which in themselves would have turned reversed Liverpool's deficit with Manchester United at the head of the league had the Scousers won them. Or the three points lost when the ultimately relegated Middlesbrough turned over Liverpool at the Riverside 2-0.

For although the team regained consistency on the pitch in the latter stages of the season and were involved in arguably two of the finest all-English ties in recent years - 4-4 against Chelsea in the Champions League, then the same result home versus Arsenal in the Premier League - they were chasing the league from the moment that Man Utd overhauled them in January at the top of the table.

Benitez will point to injuries affecting his key players, Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, as reasons why Liverpool stuttered when it mattered, and he will be within his rights to suggest that the pair playing in tandem for more games would have surmounted the four-point gap. But he himself added to the pressure on his team by engaging in a pointless feud with Alex ferguson that sullied his club's fair-minded reputation.

With other trophies coming second in his pursuit of the league, a season without silverware won't perturb fans too much. But should the close season not bring the player who will be the final part of the Spaniard's jigsaw to Anfield, then the faithful will begin to question whether Benitez is the man to break the near two-decade title drought.