Carragher: Reds are desperate for silverware

DIFFICULT times call for revised ambitions, and far from aspiring to claim a first title in 20 years or delivering a sixth European Cup to the Anfield trophy room, Liverpool’s diminished status means Jamie Carragher is now hoping to place a tick against one of the less heady ambitions on his career ticklist.

A woeful league season and equally dismal Champions League campaign has left Liverpool hunting for scraps and Rafa Benitez’s side left the Madejski Stadium on Saturday knowing they were fortunate to still be able to count the FA Cup as one of their targets.

Against a side that has struggled all season to haul itself away from the Championship relegation places, Liverpool endured an uncomfortable afternoon that revealed familiar frailties in defence and the fragile nature of their battered confidence.

Even with Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard in tandem – a selection decision that surprised Reading caretaker-manager Brian McDermott and spoke volumes about the crisis enveloping the Anfield club – they barely kept pace with their committed opponents.

Had Gerrard not conjured an equaliser that owed as much to good fortune and a hair’s breadth offside decision as it did to the midfielder’s ingenuity, Benitez would almost certainly have awoken yesterday to intense speculation that his departure from Anfield was one step closer.

Of course, they wouldn’t have been the first Premier League heavyweight to have been felled at this stage, as Manchester United would subsequently find out.

Instead they escaped and should progress to the fourth round, although whether that satisfactorily ranks as a job well done is open to debate.

As ever, Carragher delivered a forthright assessment of Liverpool’s struggles, framed in the positive outlook of a player who remains convinced that silverware, any silverware, legitimately transforms a disappointing campaign into a successful season.

“We’ve got two trophies to go for and a top-four place,” said the defender. “That’s three things to go on. For me there is no priority. We’re desperate to win a trophy. That is the most important thing.

“We’ve had a lot of criticism this season. The same happened in 2005 and we won the Champions League, everyone forgets. I’m sure if we won the FA Cup or Europa League, people will look back and 09/10 and say they won a trophy. I’m determined to make sure we leave that mark.”

And on a personal level, that would at least satisfy Carragher to some extent. “I’ve been around for a long time but I’ve not played at Wembley for Liverpool, only England,” he added. “I know I haven’t got that long left so I’m desperate to get to Wembley this season because it’s massive for Liverpool and rightly so.

“My son is six or seven years old and I’d love to take him to Wembley to watch Liverpool. I went as a kid to Wembley to watch games. Cardiff was great but to go up Wembley Way in the coach with all the fans is something we want to do but obviously we have to improve on this performance.”

A consequence of a miserable autumn is that there is no margin for error for Benitez’s side and the manager conceded: “More or less every game for us has to be a must-win game.” In that case, they must improve their ability to handle set-pieces which once again proved their undoing and will justifiably give Reading hope in the replay.

READING: Federici (Hamer 69), Gunnarsson, Mills, Ingimarsson, Bertrand, McAnuff, Cisse (Howard 74), Karacan, Sigurdsson, Church, Rasiak (Long 77).

LIVERPOOL: Reina, Darby, Skrtel, Carragher, Insua, Kuyt, Lucas, Gerrard, Aurelio (Benayoun 79), Torres, Ngog (Aquilani 68).

Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire).