Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has claimed that his job at Anfield would be easier if he didn’t have the raised expectations that came with winning the Champions League in his first season.

The Miracle of Istanbul is so regularly talked about by Liverpool fans that you would be forgiven for thinking they had never won a cup before. The truth is that they remain England’s most successful club (only just, mind...) and the wait was so long it is likely that a whole generation of Kopites had never seen a trophy being lifted by a Liverpool player.

But this is the problem. Due to their rich history, more cups are expected to follow, in particular the league title, the one thing Benitez has failed to mount a sustained challenge for, something he attributes to that victory over Milan in 2005.

“In some ways made things more difficult because the expectations became so high,” Benítez said, as reported in The Times.

“Then we won the European Super Cup and FA Cup the following season and so suddenly everyone was saying, 'OK, the next step will be the Premier League title.' But then, when you don't win it, people say, 'Oh, you can't go to that next step,' when, maybe, we were operating at the next level up, but because the other teams around us were progressing as well, it didn't seem that way.”

Well, this is a dangerous game. Admitting that Liverpool should be stepping up, but using others as the reason they have failed to achieve this extra success. Hmm, this is certainly different from the rose tinted glasses that seem to be passed around Anfield before the start of every season.

Benitez makes a good point, but the truth is that Liverpool are the Premier League’s nearly men.

I wouldn’t say the victory was the thing that caused the problems, it was the immediate aftermath. The Gerrard saga cropped up once more and the club announced Bolo Zenden as their first summer signing. On a free. From Boro.

Surely if the club were going to progress they needed to set their sights higher?

They are to the Premier League what England are to international football. One or two outrageously talented players, but as a team they always fall short. Finishing fourth is both the minimum expectation, but also regarded as a successful season.

The 2005 Champions League final was possibly the greatest match I have ever seen and I would love Liverpool to win the Premier League, but I don’t think using other teams’ continued progression as an excuse, especially when you bear in mind just how much Benitez has spent assembling this squad.

This year his strike force will comprise of the two most expensive players in Liverpool history. The Premier League must be seen as a realistic priority. They have to believe they can win it, they can’t just hope for the best and then say that United or Chelsea have developed onto the next level.

No more excuses for Benitez and Liverpool. Can this year be THE year? Will that time EVER come?