BIG FOUR? IT'S MORE LIKE THE BIG FLAW
Liverpool 2 Manchester City 2
HUGHES AND BENITEZ: Top four pretenders
By Chris Bascombe, 21/11/2009
THE Big Four? A new Big Five? An unsubstantial lunchtime at Anfield suggested we're back to the Big Three at English football's top table.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal will perceive Manchester City and Liverpool as little more than an itch they will have to scratch a couple of times this season.
Don't be confused by the late goal flourish. This was one of the least entertaining thrillers you could see.
At least Rafa Benitez's men can be excused for looking a shadow of the side which pushed United all the way last May.
The mitigating circumstances are piling up for Benitez given the absentee list and injury curse which again reared its head.
If anything, Liverpool deserve credit for hanging on for dear life in their pursuit of fourth.
The sights are being lowered at Anfield, so all consolations will be seized by the under-siege manager.
City, however, leave you feeling baffled as to what their true aspirations are for this season.
In normal circumstances, a point at Liverpool would be worthy of celebration but City's supposed lofty targets left them cursing what might have been.
Mark Hughes' post-match lament referred to the frustration of throwing away a late lead but there was an unavoidable sense that he had missed the point.
In blunt terms, if City couldn't beat this Liverpool side, ravaged by injury and drained by a confidence bypass, their claims to be a club preparing to create a seismic power shift are as hollow as a Thierry Henry apology.
City arrived at Anfield pretenders to Liverpool's top-four status but surely given the money they have spent they should be potential title contenders.
The notion it's too soon for them is a neat trick which ignores their vast outlay.
We're entitled to ask the same questions about their credentials that Benitez's side have had to endure for the last three months.
Sparky's dreams are ambiguous. Are City genuinely hoping to compete with Chelsea and United for the Premier League crown?
Or is sneaking into the top four the peak of their ambition?
If so, they deserve a patronising pat on the back for a draw at Anfield.
Somehow, you just expect more for £200million.
Unlike the recent Chelsea revolution, Hughes obviously has the support to build in stages.
But it's hard to recall Jose Mourinho begging for time when he moved to Stamford Bridge.
What's evident is if City are to reach the heights their owners expect, it's going to take far longer than their benefactors imagined.
They set themselves up for a point here, flooding midfield and only releasing the shackles when they were staring at defeat.
Not so amazingly, they discovered during a frantic last 20 minutes how vulnerable Liverpool were.
Had they been so positive from the outset, they would have won.
Instead, Hughes declared himself satisfied both tactically and in terms of the general performance - despite a general dearth in quality.
He protested vigorously when it was suggested he should have gone for the throat sooner.
The sight of Craig Bellamy wasted on the periphery underlined the neutrals' complaints.
When Carloz Tevez was thrust into the fray, the game opened up sufficiently to suggest City could have overpowered their hosts.
Instead, they only looked dangerous once they had fallen behind to Martin Skrtel's 50th-minute nudge from Steven Gerrard's free-kick. Vulnerabilities in both defences were subsequently exposed.
Liverpool's Achilles heel remains their defending from set-pieces - not unlike City - but they have now conceded even more than Portsmouth from the dead ball.
Emmanuel Adebayor benefited this time, heading in unmarked after bizarre defending from Skrtel.
CHAT: Carragher and Given at the end
It's a lingering concern which has justified the argument Sami Hyypia is being missed as much as Xabi Alonso.
Stephen Ireland neatly tucked home City's second on 76 minutes, only for Yossi Benayoun to take advantage of more static defending 60 seconds later.
Both managers were relieved. But in the circumstances, Benitez had more cause to be content.
It's a measure of how expectations are being carefully stage-managed by the two clubs that the race for fourth was on both their minds. Check those calendars. Yes, it's only November but no one is mentioning titles anymore.
The deluded on The Kop may still harbour Premier League aspirations but the realists will know keeping City in check is rapidly becoming their main ambition.
Benitez's side look a rag-tag impersonation of their former selves, although sympathy has to be offered as it's blatantly obvious why they couldn't excel in this game.
Benitez's injury woes continued when Glen Johnson's calf problem resurfaced before kick-off.
He then lost Daniel Agger early on following a collision of heads with Joleon Lescott. The Dane needed five stitches. Ryan Babel later departed with what appeared a serious condition of failing to wear gloves on a cold day.
Even his replacement, Yossi Benayoun, had to be subbed before the end, tiring following his instant return from a hamstring strain.
Throw in the absence of Fernando Torres and Gerrard nursing his way back for much of the afternoon, and Liverpool's problems mounted.
Contrast with the relative calm of City who were missing only Robinho from their recruitment drive.
If you were looking for symbols, the sight of Liverpool pulling themselves back from the brink through their sheer will was more endearing than any City declaration of a pivotal point.
Given the Merseysiders have now won just once in 10 games, the ability to claim some kind of moral victory is as good as any.
The dry, pointed digs by each manager about the opposition were as entertaining as events on the pitch.
"I don't care about Liverpool's problems, it doesn't interest me," said Hughes when asked if he had met the hosts on a good day.
"After today, I still believe we'll finish fourth," responded Rafa.
The tentative signs are there.
Bad blood is flowing in what is sure to develop as the race for fourth.
City's capture of Gareth Barry at Benitez's expense and their increasingly open courting of Torres represent opening gambits in what may become a bitter rivalry.
The fact that Liverpool may find themselves more preoccupied with City than United isn't necessarily worthy of celebration at Anfield.
With their vast wealth, City would like to portray themselves as Robert Redford in Indecent Proposal.
They think they are able to take their pick from the most glamorous on offer by simply naming a price.
But instead of Kaka and Torres, they have lured Barry and Lescott. Hardly Demi Moore.
If they're not careful, City will end up looking like one of those ugly fat blokes who has won the lottery.
They will sign anyone who flutters their eyelids tantalisingly enough but the class still isn't there.
Yes, this was a good point but the fact remains that the most eye-catching statement from Eastlands to date remains City's bank balance.
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