Liverpool is out of the Champions League. Thud. Dreams of the glory days returning to Anfield have gone as quickly as they came. The magical 2013-14 season brought back the nostalgia, the mystique of a football club seemingly searching endlessly for their identity in the modern game. Ardent support re-emerged as the team dazzled on the field. Attack-minded, attractive football pushed Liverpool FC to the brink of winning an elusive Premier League title and took them back on to Europes most prestigious stage; the Champions League. The future seemed bright. The present, exciting. Folk heroes were made. Books were written. Titles such as Poetry in Motion celebrating minimal success seem even more preposterous now as the current script more appropriately reads, Stuck in Reverse. Five months of football have seen Liverpool regress back into a team lost in a sea of mediocrity and devoid of any idea how to stay afloat. A 1-1 home draw with Basel relegated Liverpool to the Europa League; a competition more suited to match the teams ability. The Champions League draw putting Liverpool in a group with Ludogorets Razvad and Basel seemed as advantageous as could be. Home and away marquee fixtures against Real Madrid were the icing on the cake at the party. Manchester United were out of Europe and Liverpool back where they belonged. Life was good. To not get out of the group goes beyond failure. Its a statement that Liverpool is not ready to rejoin the ranks of European powers. The failure to launch lay on the shoulders of the manager as much as the players. When the team needed tactical wherewithal the most, Brendan Rodgers was MIA. The teams valiant effort while a man down, pushing forward and searching for a winner, will be overshadowed by coaching incompetence. It was an awful first half performance by Rodgers men. Accountability to a player is one thing; whether Rodgers set up his team to succeed was another. At home, with all to play for in a must-win game, Rodgers elected to play a 34-year old Steven Gerrard in an advanced, attacking midfield role. The average-at-best Lucas and Joe Allen occupied the defensive midfield positions, with Gerrard and Jordan Henderson pushed forward alongside Raheem Sterling. At a time where the game is predicated on speed and inventiveness like never before, Rodgers sent out a slow, predictable unit, looking steadfast to maintain rather than attack. It may have worked pushing Gerrard high against the likes of Leicester City. But this was the Champions League. Again, this was a must-win game for Liverpool. The team selection was shocking. The tactics were negative and unthreatening. The players available for selection leave much to be desired. Thats on Rodgers as well. The disaster that was the summer sale of Luis Suarez has been compounded by two factors: 1) long-standing injury to Daniel Sturridge, and 2) an awful dealings in the transfer window. The prior is troubling considering the loss of one player can have such a profound effect on a so-called elite Premier League team. The latter is predicated on a group of players either not good enough and/or players having yet to earn the trust of their new manager. Rodgers transfer window failures were plain to see Tuesday. Rickie Lambert went off after 45 minutes, leaving Liverpool down a goal without a striker on the pitch. Substitute Lazar Markovic was sent off, seeing straight red for mindlessly hitting out at Basels Behrang Safari. Alberto Moreno was ineffective in the second half. Dejan Lovren was bang-average. Emre Can and Adam Lallana were nailed to the bench. And Fabio Borini, who the team decided not to sell, didnt make the teamsheet. No other new players were anywhere to be seen. So much for replacing Suarez. The list of Rodgers expensive transfer misses is damning, with the likes of Iago Aspas, Tiago Ilori and Luis Alberto not to be forgotten considering the current state of recruits. Rodgers failures in the transfer window are the biggest problem plaguing a club unable to recover from egregious spending. He has a goalkeeper who looks amateur with the ball at his feet, no true answer at centre-back, and nothing that resembles a true attacking threat other than a 20-year old in Sterling who is asked to do too much heavy lifting too early in his professional career. Liverpool still relies upon the same player in Gerrard who was central to European success 10 seasons ago. Expecting him to replicate the heroics against Olympiakos a decade ago is as far-fetched as disconcerting. His 81st minute set-piece equalizer was a thing of beauty. But the one-dimensional nature of his current game as set-piece specialist doesnt constitute a managerial strategy, rather than acknowledgment of a lack of other options in his tactical arsenal. This is a massive problem. While Rodgers eye for talent is entirely problematic, the emerging issue of how Rodgers is using his team has become just as alarming and raises true question whether he should continue on as manager. Down 1-0 after 45 minutes, Rodgers saw fit to take off his lone striker in a game his team was chasing goals. It was a tactical mess. To be clear, Rodgers response to facing adversity was to play without a striker. Puzzling. The second half tactics resembled a bunch of players merely taking up space, basically playing wherever they wanted. That turned into every player playing wherever they could after the Markovic sending off. So much for intelligence. So much for a calculated approach. The desperate play by Liverpool for long stretches this season hardly resembles the intelligent team football on display last campaign. Few teams across Europe moved better off the ball. No matter the formation at the back, scoring opportunities were produced. Suarez was the true predator who instilled confidence throughout the XI. No matter what mistakes were made, Suarez would come to the rescue. Without their security blanket, Liverpool plays tentative and afraid. Rodgers has tried to compensate by playing a 4-2-3-1. He doesnt have the players to execute and the result is stale, unimaginative play. Rodgers has lost the plot. Blame the players. But make no mistake; the manager is a hopeless mess at this point. One must lead with confidence, not desperation. There is no simple answer for Rodgers. His tactical vision is blurred and he has little to stand on. He has isolated newcomers to the club. And the old guard is not up to the task. Liverpool sits ninth place in the table, six points back of fourth place West Ham. Its a mountain to climb for a team still pre-occupied by European competition. Games against rivals Manchester United and Arsenal lay ahead, with an FA Cup tie with upstart AFC Bournemouth in between. There is no time to rest or recuperate for this wounded side. And there is nothing to suggest Liverpool can come away with all-important points against either Premier League foe. The return to the Champions League seems short-lived, which makes it even more perplexing Rodgers basically conceded defeat against Real Madrid at the Bernebeu, resting his preferred XI. Matches as such dont come around often. It may be quite some time before games of such prestige return. Rodgers masterplan backfired. It looks bad on the gaffer. In the meantime, Rodgers remains on the hot seat. Its hard to picture how this ends well. From League Managers Association manager of the year to fighting for his managerial life, it goes to show how fickle and demanding the football world is at the top level. Manchester United had to go through the similar painful decision-making process last season. The plug was pulled on David Moyes short-lived reign for the long-term benefit of the club. Liverpool must decide whether Rodgers is worth keeping and whether they trust him to set things right. It appears Manchester United made the right move. Will Liverpool do the same? Track record speaks to Manchester United getting it right more often than their famous adversary. Thirteen titles in the 22 years of the Premier League era to Liverpools goose egg provides more than enough evidence. The time to make another difficult decision has come. Sir Alex Ferguson knocked Liverpool off their perch. Will Louis Van Gaal knock Rodgers out of his job? Liverpools trip to Old Trafford Sunday was always going to have heightened importance. 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No players were there, but they surely heard his themes: He saw his teams mental fatigue during the year, but doesnt accept it; he isnt willing to let Miami fall from the ranks of the NBA elite, and the organization will do what it can to keep LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade together. "We have a tremendous opportunity here for long-term success," Riley said. "Dont think were not going to get beat again, so just get a grip, everybody. Thats my message. Its my message to the players, also." It was one of his many messages. Riley, who gets a reported $75,000 when hired to deliver motivational speeches, worked in anecdotes on everything from sipping Johnnie Walker Blue to playing James Ingram records to how even at 69 years old he still finds himself dreaming big. He was speaking with reporters, but clearly talking to players through the cameras. "Youve got to stay together, if youve got the guts," Riley said. "You dont find the first door and run out of it if you have an opportunity. This is four years now into this era, this team. Four finals -- its only been done three other times before -- and two championships. From day one to the end, it was like a Broadway show. It sort of ran out of steam. And we need to retool. We dont need to rebuild." How to retool is the question, but the answer isnt up to Riley yet. James, Bosh and Wade all need to decide if theyre going to opt out of their contracts, a choice that was probably going to be complicated even if the Heat hadnt lost the NBA Finals to San Antonio, ending Miamis two-year reign as leaague champions.dddddddddddd. From those decisions, Heat free-agents-to-be -- Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen and others -- may start charting their futures. Players from other teams will listen as well. Then Riley and the Heat spring into action on July 1, just as they did four years ago when they netted James, Bosh and Wade. Other than Norris Cole, no Heat player currently is locked into a fully guaranteed deal for next season. But Riley doesnt feel the Heat need to recruit current players again. "Were prepared," Riley said. "Weve got the main-themed book all written up and its dependent on whatever the scenario were presented with on July 1. Weve got a lot of room for flexibility. Theres a tremendous amount of flexibility depending on what happens. So were ready." He offered plenty of perspective on Thursday, about how he still feels like he choked away what should have been a title for the Lakers team he coached in 1984, but how they roared back with three titles in the next four seasons. He even referenced how San Antonio got much better this season after seeing a title in 2013 get taken away by Miami in dramatic fashion. "What happened last year with San Antonio? Did they run? They faced it," Riley said. "They faced it and they came back, and we saw the result. Well find out what were made of here. Its not about options. Its not about free agency. Its not about anything. Its about what we have built over four years here." Among Rileys more impassioned defences was the one of Wade, who was widely criticized for both missing 28 games in the regular season -- mainly part of a maintenance program laid out by the team -- and for struggling in Games 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals. "For the last 10 years, this has been a Dwyane Wade-driven thing," Riley said. "Now does he have to reinvent himself a little bit? Absolutely." Riley can only hope that reinvention is in Miami, and that James and Bosh are there as well. "Im an Irish guy who believes in big dreams," Riley said. "Im optimistic. Until thats proven different, I just have a level of optimism that there isnt a better place for players to be than Miami." ' ' '