The other top teams have all had injuries to key players.
The difference was that they had the squad depth to deal with the
injuries, Liverpool don't. And the manager has to take part
of the blame for that. Players who can't step up and play
like title contenders should not be bought in the first place.
Some will point to a lack of funds that resulted in a thin
squad. Arsenal has a thinner budget to work with, and frankly
a thinner squad, and they have consistently been in the top 4, even
while building a new stadium. If you look at the situation
with Arsenal, you'll see that Liverpool does not have good reason
to miss out on a top 4 finish.
Sure, we'd been unlucky with injuries, owners and even beach
balls, but one cannot entirely pin the blame on bad luck for a
season this poor. The players and the manager have to take
some of that blame.