It was time and time again clear over the course of last season that the time has come for Rafa Benitez to leave the club. His bewildering substitutions in crucial games and scuffle with his own players didn't help the team much.

Besides the owners, Benitez should also share some blame for the current pitiable state of the team.

There's a myth that Liverpool's downturn was marked by the arrival of the Yanks. Although it's partially true, Benitez also has a big role in Liverpool's fall into the chasm from being an economically sustainable club a few years ago.

It's true that the owners betrayed and darkened their own credence with madcap escapades. However, they aren't fully responsible for the lack of depth and quality in the team. It's the "overrated" Benitez who's culpable for this "offence."

With every passing day, Benitez's association with his players are straining and they're moving farther away from him. The Spaniard's strained relationship with his players aren't going to heel anytime soon. He's that bad.

His unattractive style isn't impressing anyone, let alone the players. A glance through his away record last season will indicate the mediocrity of Benitez's coaching program.

If a team has players like Torres, Gerrard, and Mascherano, it's easier to attack than defend. But that wasn't the case.

Benitez's tactics and formations were/are unsuitable with a pinch of negativity to it. Maybe with a similar footballing brain he could do well to replace Big Sam at Blackburn.

Benitez's infamous spat with Riera is still afresh which highlights again and again that his man-management skill is pretty poor.

Ryan Babel and Yossi Benayoun both had a difficult time adjusting to the atmosphere that Benitez created to mask his own inability from the Liverpool supporters.

Babel was/is an excellent talent, but needs a good mentor to fine tune his raw skills before fitting into a top team as a regular member.

But what has Benitez done with him?

Benayoun, too, is a quality player, but Benitez's pathetic formations pushed him on to the bench and labelled him as unfit to play full 90-minutes.

Quite a few players who weren't as good as Benayoun started playing more often than him. Benitez occasionally used him as a substitute to do justice to the frail humanity of the Spaniard.

At times, even the likes of Voronin started ahead of Benayoun, who's technically a gifted player with an intelligent approach to football.

When you mention Voronin, you're gabbling about someone, who's incapable of dispatching the ball back into the net even on a one-on-one situation.

How many top managers will do this? Only an addle-head like Benitez could fit into the shoes of a ludicrous manager, who's desperate to incur abuses upon himself with an unfathomable style of managing a top football team.

Benitez was so keen on squandering cash in the transfer market that he failed to extend/offer a new contract to Sami Hyypia, one of the greatest players ever to wear a Liverpool jersey.

A solid Hyypia would have done a better job than an out—of—form Carragher at the heart of Liverpool's defence, which was leaking goals at crucial junctures of some vital games throughout last season, especially in the Champions League games.

Including fans and players of Liverpool, many wanted Benitez to offer a new contract to Hyypia, but the oligarch—Benitez—acted against the wish of the majority.

The evil spell cast on the fans didn't allow them to voice their wrath against Benitez instead, it poured down as praises from heaven for the lucky Champions League triumph he has managed at Istanbul after being 3-0 down at half-time before a magical blitzkrieg by Gerrard inspired Liverpool to overhaul AC Milan in penalty shoot-out.

A panoramic view of Benitez's transfer activities over the past few years indicates only one thing, he's uneconomical with a terrible understanding of players and their valuation.

His profligacy has costed Liverpool more than what could be be put in words. His recent signings, including Glen Johnson, hasn't been what Liverpool wanted.

He acted as per his wishes without fulfilling the needs of the team.

Benitez's infamous back—door business to lure Gareth Barry away from Aston Villa too turned out to be a disaster.

As it's widely believed that Xabi Alonso's departure had something to do with Benitez's pursuit of Barry.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush; in the end, Benitez lost Alonso, and also failed narrowly in the "expedition" to bring Barry to Anfield.

His recent big money signings—Robbie Keane and Alberto Aquilani—were catastrophic tragedy to say the least.

If you consider the money spend on bringing such mediocre players to Anflied, you would know the severeness.

The losses inflicted by these signings on Liverpool was beyond what they could bear.

It's a surprise that Benitez is still managing a top team like Liverpool after bludgeoning the club to further miseries, as if the betrayals of the owners weren't enough.

He has been a total failure in the transfer market and from now on the owners would think twice before handing him big transfer kitty, as there are more chances of bringing in further flops to worsen the current pitiful plight.

Even the likes of Gerrard, Torres, and Mascherano aren't happy with the unfriendly, eccentric, and bewildering nature of Benitez. A recap of last April's game against Birmingham City will elucidate more.

There wouldn't be any surprise if some of the players cite the managerial issues as the sole reason behind their departure.

Already, Gerrard looks set to move to Real Madrid for playing under an astute manager Jose Mourinho, who respects his players and club and knows how to spend quids "wisely."

It remains to be seen how long this clown—show will continue at Anfield with Benitez as the protagonist.