Liverpool's performance against Reading in the FA Cup on Saturday will have impressed few observers, with the 1-1 draw just the latest disappointment in a troubling season for Rafa Benitez and the Merseysiders.

That frustrating result is the cue for a fairly inflammatory piece, if you are a Liverpool fan at least, from Paul Wilson in the Observer. In 'The hunger that could drive Steven Gerrard away from Liverpool', Wilson speculates that having rejected Chelsea twice, Gerrard's head could be turned by an ambitious Manchester City side as he contemplates the possibility of never winning a league title at Anfield.

Perhaps reading too much into what is essentially another of football's possible big-money moves, Wilson compares Gerrard to a tragic Shakespearean figure. To City, or not to City, perhaps?

"Another year, another transfer window. Time to wonder, do I dare? Roberto Mancini was probably only joking when he suggested Liverpool might like to make Manchester City a belated Christmas present of Steven Gerrard, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres, though for one member of that talented trio his humour must have touched a nerve.

"Torres and Mascherano are both young enough and sufficiently coveted in Spain to make new careers elsewhere should Liverpool prove to be a stumbling block rather than a springboard to their trophy ambitions. Neither player has actually won anything at Anfield yet and both are too good to be sustained indefinitely by empty promises and collective underachievement.

"In abstract at least (his contractual position is settled) Gerrard has a dilemma of Shakespearean complexity. He longs to win a title, but would a title with another club do, or does it have to be with Liverpool? The latter might never happen, the former might not feel the same (and still might never happen). What is a loyal, one-club player to do when titles are two-horse races? Would it be letting the side down to seek a move from Merseyside, or are Liverpool letting Gerrard down by failing to mount a proper challenge?

"These are difficult questions when Liverpool performed so well in the league last season and in Torres have arguably the sharpest striker in the business. Liverpool are tantalisingly close to success - even in their present state - yet for all Gerrard knows that situation could pertain for the next five years or even longer.

"He is tied to Liverpool for the rest of his career, or at least until what he imagines will be close to the end of his career in 2013. His chance of a move to Chelsea may have gone and he has probably never spent more than five seconds of his life imagining he would play for Manchester City, yet, even so, Mancini may be on to something. Liverpool cannot carry on as they have been doing. Clubs who do not win trophies sell players. And nothing in football is unthinkable."