Given his fondness for ‘facts’ it’s safe to assume Rafael Benitez is aware of the depth of his problems at Anfield. Liverpool’s spirited display at Stoke cannot mask the depth of their woes, or Benitez’s culpability for them.  The ‘facts’ in the Spaniard’s case are damning, the evidence that he is not the man to  bring the glory days back to Anfield overwhelming. 

Fact: Liverpool were out of this season’s title race by October and weren’t even close to progressing beyond the group stage of the Champions League.

Fact: The Merseysider's defeat at home to Reading  last week was the third time they went out of the competition to lower division opposition in the FA Cup during Benitez’s reign. 

Fact: Liverpool have won only five of their last 22 games in all competitions.

Fact: They have conceded in the last three minutes of eight separate games this season and 13 of the 26 goals they have conceded in the Premier League have come from set-pieces, a crushing indictment of their fitness and defensive organisation.

Fact: In Benitez’s five and a half year reign at Anfield Liverpool have made only one genuine title challenge.

Fact: Liverpool still have only two  world class players in their squad and one of them, Steven Gerrard, was in situ prior to Benitez’s arrival.  

Fact: Despite his protestations about a lack of funds Benitez has spent a hardly paltry £229 million during his time at Anfield and most of his big-money signings (Ryan Babel, Robbie Keane, Alberto Aquilani) have been badly mismanaged by Benitez and consequently delivered little.

Benitez’s defenders would point to the Miracle of Istanbul but that triumph over AC Milan, as remarkable and memorable as it was cannot or at least should not be enough to make him unsackable. Neither that unlikely  Champions League win nor the FA Cup triumph 12 months later can mask the fact that Liverpool are no closer to winning the league than they were  when Benitez took charge in 2004.

The suspicion remains that the only reason Benitez is surviving is Liverpool’s financial problems mean they can’t afford to sack him.  However given Liverpool’s dire form and the implications of failing to finish in the top four, the real question is can they afford not to?