Beleaguered Cup

Liverpool's triumph was an important step - but still exposed the huge flaws in Kenny Dalglish's side.

Despite the recent barren years for Liverpool Football Club, watching the side win a cup last night felt as natural as seeing the District Line closed on a weekend. There's still that great beauty residing in those famous red shirts being just below the alofted trophy. Whether you support Liverpool or not, you can never deny the romanticism of that club, and what it represents.

Sycophantic rambling aside, yesterday's victory was much more of an upheaval than I'm sure Kenny Dalglish would have wanted. Though they dominated the majority of the game and created a huge amount of chances, momentary lapses in concentration and a lack of teeth up front put Liverpool in a situation where the League Cup could have so easily slipped out of their fingers.

The success does represent a certain amount of progress under Dalglish's reign, but the struggles are a sign that Liverpool have a very long road ahead of them before they can re-establish their position as title contenders. After all, you would not have expected the same toil and tribulations had Liverpool's place in last night's final been taken by Manchester United or Chelsea. The Reds still lack the conviction that makes a great side into one of the nation's elite, and we've seen this throughout the season with their incessant tendency to draw at home.

Though Liverpool have certainly made steps forward since the disastrous appointment of Roy Hodgson in 2010, the vast amounts of money they have spent since then may be giving them a future platform that isn't working to the greatest effects it could. Some of the younger talent, such as Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll, have not fulfilled the potential they have as quickly as one might have hoped. Last night neither of them performed particularly well (against a Championship side, no less), and consequently it was up to the older figureheads in the likes of Dirk Kuyt to inspire the resurgence.

In recent years, the likes of Dirk Kuyt have been weeded out of the squad one-by-one, and Liverpool will soon need to look to the younger talent to find match-winners and the cutting edge up front. Luis Suarez, though admittedly a great talent, doesn't have the finishing necessary to spearhead the attack. Meanwhile, Andy Carroll has become a bit of an enigma following his fairly poor season, with regularly ineffective performances peppering the Liverpool supporters' minds with questions about his future at the club. Neither of these figures would seem to be the next 'Michael Owen', 'Robbie Fowler' or even 'Fernando Torres' figure.

To further add to Liverpool's woes, the strength they have down the flanks is left severely wanting. Often Dalglish is left reverting to Bellamy and Kuyt in order to create chances from the wings, with Stewart Downing suffering a difficult first season in the Liverpool red. Much of this problem can be attributed to a simple lack of depth in this position, but Downing's lack of end product will again be a worrying sign that Liverpool may have put a lot of money into a future that isn't going to produce results.

Given Liverpool's seemingly good finances these are problems that can easily be sorted. However, with the opportunity to make such large steps in the summer having spent so heavily, it is somewhat disappointing that even a relatively simple Carling Cup run was made so difficult by a lack of conviction in the team. Kenny Dalglish will have to learn from his mistakes in the last transfer window and take the opportunity of European football next year to entice the talent necessary to lift Liverpool Football Club back into the title race. We all want to see it - It's only natural.