“spec·u·late
1. To engage in a course of reasoning often based on inconclusive evidence.
2. To engage in the buying or selling of a commodity with an element of risk on the chance of profit.”
It’s a very relevant word to Liverpool FC, is that.
The first definition is what drives all the message boards and sports pages, and the second is what drives Hicks and Gillett.
Same word… very different meaning.
We all know how the net works… speculation turns to rumour, then to fact before you’ve even finished typing the sentence! So with all the misinformation and infighting I’ve been left wondering… What exactly is wrong with Liverpool FC?
The Holy Quinity.
Bill Shankly talked about the Holy trinity at a football club… the players, the manager and the supporters. The owners weren’t meant to be important and in some respects that’s as true today as it ever was.
But nowadays, in the age of businessmen and erratic billionaires, I think you’d have to accept that they now have a role at the table. And, especially in the case of the big clubs, the media also have a part to play.
So now there’s a Holy Quinity at a football institution. The players, the manager, the owners, the supporters and the media. Each affects the other. When each one is doing their job well the players play, the manager manages, the owners make the money to pay for everything and the media keep us, the supporters, posted.
A quinity with unity.
So if I’m ever going to make any sense of this mess then I guess I’ll have to look at each part and see how they’ve performed their jobs.
The Players.
Much has been made of the apparent deficiencies in our squad. Lack of depth, inexperience, underperformance, absence of cover, faltering confidence, Riera. And each one is true in a sense. Especially Riera.
However a couple of factors support my belief that, essentially, the squad is more than capable of mounting a serious title challenge. Firstly the fact that pretty much the same squad did exactly that the year before, and secondly, that as many as 13 claimable squad members are present at this years world cup (I’m claiming Jovanovic after the game against the Germans! 😉 ).
More than any other club in the world. And not small nations, either. England, Spain, Argentina, Holland.. we have significant players in some of the worlds biggest teams.
Now that doesn’t sound like a poor squad to me.. throw in a couple of players from teams that didn’t quite make the world cup and a number of promising young players – in fact I’d suggest it’s a damn fine squad.
Which only serves to makes their underperformance last season even more baffling. However, underperform they did. And, with multiple injuries that created a lack of depth, which exposed the inexperience, which led to faltering confidence, which created an absence of cover, which led to poor results and further underperformance, it was a season of ‘never befores’. But I’ve gone through that in another article… all that matters is that it happens ‘never again’.
That means that the players who were hurt by last season will want to stay and make up for their performances this year. Those that don’t should leave. Now. Mascherano, Torres, Benayoun, Gerrard… whoever. If the desire is not already within them to fight back.. then they simply do not have what we need and, in my opinion, we would be better off without them. No matter how good they are.. as last season proved.. it won’t be good enough.
So players will leave… and some have already left. They need to be replaced. Do I think we need multi-millions to replace then?
Well, actually no. It’ll take money, for sure, but in fact there are a wealth of options depending on who leaves. Mascherano, for example may go, but he will generate a lot of cash in return – more than enough to identify a cheaper and even more effective option. The same applies to all the players. I could go into the specifics of who I think should leave, and who we should buy.. but that would be pure speculation (and so I’ll leave that for another day!).
With some astute purchases to add to an already strong squad and the benefits of the Academy yet to come – all it takes is for a good manager to manage it all into a winning combination…
The Manager.
Rafa Benitez has gone. Done. On to the European Champions – who feel they need what talents he has. I think it’s a great match. Rafa is a superb tactician… which is displayed most obviously in European and international competition where two legged games are often a tight, tactical battle. The league, however, is not a tactical battle. It’s a war. A series of 38 battles where attitude and bravery are sometimes much more important than tactics.
I think Rafa would have himself learned valuable lessons from last year and had much to pay back for. Whether he would have or not is now just an idle flight of fantasy. Personally I think it’s much more in keeping with ‘the Liverpool Way’ to have given him the chance. However, some things just do not work out that way.
Farewell, Rafa Benitez. Good Luck in your new venture. For Istanbul alone you’ll never walk alone.
And now we need a new man. Someone who has the ability to instill bravery, confidence and an understanding of responsibility. Someone who has a deep knowledge of football.. but also a ‘feel’ for the game. Someone not afraid to try something new, or different. They will inherit a strong squad and the tradition and history of the club to call upon. That’s all the right man should need.
I’ve heard the role of ‘Liverpool manager’ be described by some as a “poisoned chalice”. Are these people mad?
If you care at all about Liverpool FC then you will want to manage the club. I do. Jesus.. I’d expect that most of you out there would jump at the chance! That holds true of professional managers too… past and present.
Enough said on that subject, I feel. I have no say in the proceedings.. so I’ll just have to wait and see. And rely on the owners to select the right man.
Only Kenny Dalglish will do, are you listnening Cristian Purslow?????
good and different article. an interesting way of looking at things.
AND the first person who i’ve ever seen write “bated breath” correctly.
rely on the owners.are you f***ing mad you t**t.
I have a feeling anon@5:58 may not have realised the article is more than a page long…. 😀
dont agree,
1st, the managers jobs is a poisined chalise as working at LFC is a nightmare under the Yanks.
2nd, the purchased you attributed to the Yanks were in fact Rafa dealing and making money in the market and reinvesting as he only had £16m net spend. They have not put their own money in the club and even the cash that they were forced to pay RBS is accounted for as a debt on LFC. Cash from recent transactions was not made available to Rafa which indicated it was used elsewhere. Where?
3rd, the media have been writing utter nonsense about LFC, Rafa, Zonal Marking etc…. Some of our ex-players have made some comments that showed little intelligence and no research, example the £200m Rafa spent when his sales are not taken into account, or Hansen saying Rafa has left LFC with a worse squad then he inherited. These are not people to be complemented or thought of highly if they make such comments when the club needs support and not negative and false garbage.
I cant accept the Yanks or the behaviour of the media and ex-players as anything but culpable in undermining LFC and dragging us through the muck of gutter garbage.
Frank,
Thanks for the reply, let me try and answer your points.
1st… the poisoned chalice. Does this mean, Frank that you would turn down the chance to manage lfc? Would I? Would Sven Goran Eriksson? Would Kenny Dalglish?
No. As I was trying to point out… it may seem like a nightmare to the type of mercenary manager who is only interested in big budgets and short term contracts… but to be honest that’s not the type of manager we need.
Yes it’s going to be a hard job… but it’s worth bearing in mind that the relationship the new manager will have with the owners may be totally different to the one Rafa had.
2nd… You make a good point that Rafa used his available spend quite wisely and increased the value of the squad far more than the amount he received. That’s what made him a good manager. However where did the 16 million net spend per annum come from? It came from Hicks and Gillett… and it’s a significant investment. more than enough to build a strong squad. Liverpool are not like ManU or Chelsea or Real or Barca… we haven’t been and are not the type of club that buys high profile big name players… we make them.
Of course, being businessmen they expect a return on their investment, they want their money back… but at least the investment was there. As for where the money went… we’ll see.
3rd… you misunderstand me, I think. I’m not saying I agree with a lot of the guff that’s been written but that the attention shows how big the club is. And that everyone’s entitled to an opinion.
In the final analysis the point is that neither the yanks, the media or the ex-players are responsible for awful year we had last year. And that’s the real reason why the club is in the position it is. Results.
Gee Sinha,
Nice to have an intelligent debate about football for a change, please allow me to respond.
1st, I agree with you about mercenary managers and I would not turn such a job down, but many who are ill-suited would not turn it down.
The quality of manager we require would have to consider the impact on their reputations which results from dealing with these people. Much of Rafa’s bad press has origins of Yank or boardroom briefings. How can a class manager manger when such behaviour is by test of history very possible.
Although I agree that a new manager might have a better relationship with the owners, the type of manager who is likely to have such a relationship is also likely to be substandard and one seeking to make a name for themselves rather than the type who has a name to protect and therefore will not stand for the lies and asset stripping.
2nd, The 16m spend was easily covered by what Rafa earned in Europe and from the ELP. I do not believe that the Yanks have put a single penny in from their own pockets. Should you be able to prove me wrong, I’ll happily stand corrected.
I believe that Rafa has financed them for these three years and now they must understand that this source financing has gone to Milan. Will a new manager better Rafa’s record? This I would be confident could happen if the right type of manager is brought in and this does not look likely with the names touted about.
Had Rafa received all his earnings from the CL only, he would have had a pot between £20m and £30m per season. Now what a difference would that have made to him and our club over that last three years?
3rd, I have no complaints on this point although I disagree on the matter of what really affected us last season. I believe we over achieved the previous season and we have been over achieving throughout the Rafa’s reign.
When a club is so divided, the hacks and mischief mongers have a field day. Do you believe the media would have been so brazen had the club been united with good sensible ownership and board?
We had a magnificent run under Rafa and it could have been better had he been working with people of more integrity and better football business sense. The owners who are seeking a profit are seeking it for nothing and I believe this to be the real reason Rafa had to eventually fail.
Their business sense has to also be questioned when they continually undermined Rafa when they should have given him the room to spend the money he was earning for the club. We need to at least compete with Villa and Spurs and this we have not done since the arrival of the Yanks.
I actually like your view of things, it’s just that I don’t believe it to reflect the reality of what is happening to LFC.