Poor old Rafa Benitez. Having escaped scrutiny in most of Wednesday's papers following Liverpool's Champions League exit, he's now getting the painful benefit of the analysis of some of England's best-known writers.

Henry Winter in the Daily Telegraph, for one, has been putting Rafa under the microscope and thinks the Liverpool boss has been enjoying too much 'me' time.

Back in Rafael Benítez’s native Spain they have a proverb that goes: “The man who does not mix with the crowds knows nothing’’. Good advice.

The best leaders have the courage of their convictions but they also listen to those around them, a quality that Liverpool’s stubborn manager needs to learn quickly.

If he had been at Budapest airport on Wednesday morning, mixing with the crowds of Liverpool faithful, Benítez would have been made aware of the myriad concerns held by some of the sport’s most knowledgeable and passionate supporters.

Benítez cannot hide from the fact that he has a growing amount of questions to answer.

One of the questions Winter thinks he should answer concerns the strange lack of playing time for Alberto Aquilani, who has still to play a significant part in a match for the club. And Tony Barrett in the Times suggests that the club's big-money summer signing could make or break Benitez.

Only a fool would argue that Aquilani’s prolonged absence is the only reason for Liverpool’s struggles. There are, of course, plenty more contributory factors to be taken into account before the acquisition of a player who knows more about the meaning of the word “limp” than Pele without his Viagra can be cited as the biggest cause of their ongoing problems.

But it is Aquilani whose absence has come to symbolise Liverpool’s travails simply because of the sheer scale of the gamble that Benitez took by bringing him to the club. The usually cautious Spaniard speculated like never before and as yet there is precious little sign of him accumulating.

What he has done by signing Aquilani, having to do without him for such a long time and seeing his team’s form desert them almost totally, is to stake his own future on a player whose initials appear totally befitting given the considerable number of breakdowns he has already suffered in his career.

Martin Samuel in the Daily Mail, meanwhile, doesn't think all that much to Fiorentina and pretty much sticks the boot in after Liverpool's unexpected failure.

The celebrations at the end told the story. Fiorentina could not believe they had made it out of Liverpool’s group.

And, in those moments, we saw the simple passage Liverpool had surrendered in Europe this season. For Fiorentina were terrified at the thought of going to Anfield next month. Hell, they were scared rigid by the sight of Lyon with their tails up.

Fiorentina are fragile, edgy, given to self doubt. Yet they did something Liverpool could not in the Champions League this year. They held on: and that is why they are in the last 16, and why they deserve to be there.