On the eve of the FA Cup final against Chelsea, two Liverpool-supporting Guardian journalists discuss the respective merits of claiming trophies and reaching the European elite
Marcus Christenson: two trophies
Liverpool have a chance to win their second trophy of the campaign at Wembley on Saturday evening and if they do, it would constitute a good season. Football is about winning. Football is not about coming fourth and qualifying for the Champions League, no matter what financial reward it may bring a club.
Liverpool's league form this season has been awful, there is no question about that. Sitting 34 points behind Manchester United and City hurts. We're eighth in the league. And to think that I was offended at the start of the season when a friend, a Spurs fan, said rather dismissively: "Liverpool are not good enough to finish fourth."
The aim should always be to win the league. And if Liverpool do not win it, then it does not matter if they finish second, third or eighth. The moneymen may disagree but which of the following two seasons would you, as a Liverpool fan, choose to relive? The 2000-01 campaign when Liverpool won the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and the Uefa Cup – or the 2007-08 season when the team finished fourth, lost to Chelsea in the Carling Cup (having thrown on Nabil El Zhar in an attempt to rescue the match) and to Barnsley in the FA Cup? It is an easy choice.
The 2011-12 campaign will be remembered for the two cup runs and the enjoyment they have brought. Seeing Kenny Dalglish's proud smile at Wembley after the win against Cardiff City in the Carling Cup final was worth far more to me than a trip to Paris St-Germain in the Champions League group stage next season would have been.
Sachin Nakrani: Champions League
Cup successes are not to be sniffed at but in Liverpool's case it is hard to escape the feeling that following up their triumph in the Carling Cup with another in the FA Cup would be akin to putting the roof on a house with cracked and creaking foundations.
There has been a sense of drift about Liverpool ever since they last challenged for the title in 2009 and what the club needs urgently is to rediscover its identity. Supporters hoped that had been achieved when Kenny Dalglish returned as manager 14 months ago but as this season's woeful league campaign has proved, Anfield remains in a rut.
To have qualified for the Champions League would have seen Liverpool re-establish themselves among Europe's elite. That would have given the club a base, financially as well as footballing, from which they could have built towards what has been the burning desire of all Kopites for 22 years now – winning the championship. But next season, from their vantage point in the Europa League and having achieved their lowest league position in living memory, the club are not going to be able to sign the players or build on the momentum they require to challenge for the ultimate prize.
Winning the Carling Cup was superb and so too would be overcoming Chelsea on Saturday. But they are not what Liverpool need right now and I for one would swap both for a return to Europe's top table. It's where we should be, it's where we need to be. Read More
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