Jamie Carragher and Liverpool Aim Low

Smiling through gritted teeth and forcing an unconvincingly contented smile, reminiscent of Tony Blair’s during the Iraq war; Jamie Carragher looks to be a man who’s had his heart and soul ripped out by Liverpool’s horrendous start to this season.

Before Tuesdays clash with Depression in the big boys European League he attempted to put a gloss on the turd of the season that he has found himself buried in.

In a vain attempt to add a shine to a dark and gloomy couple of months the defender fibs that winning the Europa League would “put a different gloss” on a so far disappointing season, despite the fact that it would actually be a great smear on their season and be the signifier of their lack of success in the big boys competitions.

Out of the Champions League and comfortably adrift in the seventh place in the league thanks to five defeats already this season, Mr Liverpool has been forced to clutch at straws.

In an attempt at defiance and a public display of spirit Carragher hopefully claims “the club doesn’t die because you go out of the Champions League.”

Unconvincingly he continues “There are other things, like the FA Cup. There’s a long way to go. We haven’t had a great start to the season but it can certainly be turned around between now and the middle of May.”

Of course he is correct. Liverpool haven’t yet been given the opportunity to play in the FA Cup this season, so they still stand a chance of winning some silverware.

However, it’s a trophy that wasn’t on their wish list at the start of August. After the relative success of finishing second last season, expectations had been raised at Anfield, beyond the blind expectations of success that they had the season before and so big things were once again expected.

A run in the FA Cup and a crack at glory in the Mickey Mouse European League isn’t the double that fans were hoping for though.

A Cup run and a few city breaks in Europe is the seasonal expectation of a team like Fulham, not of a team with Liverpool’s ambitions and budget.

Carragher can’t seem to help himself though and eventually the truth spills out, as he admits the importance of the Champions League.

“We have grown up with this team and the manager over the last five years, so the Champions League is a part of the club.”

Forced to feed off the scraps of what competitions are left to them, Liverpool are a defeated team just four months into the season.

Five times European Cup winners, Liverpool will be forced to suffer the embarrassment of competing in the Championship of European football, which could be seen as symbolic of their disappointing season.

Domestically they have the FA Cup, which is a prestigious trophy, but has always been seen by the bigger clubs as an appetising side to the main meal of league or European success.

The Cup therefore is a tasty foie gras, but it’s nothing without a main meal to follow.

If their cup run is not successful, Liverpool will just have to munch on some of the free bread available to them, like so many clubs do every year and wait for the anticlimax of next season.

If only for other clubs entertainment, long live blind expectation on Merseyside.

Tags: Jamie Carragher, Liverpool