History Shows Us These Players Could Be Worth The Wait
A quick glance at society today will show that we are a generation that demands instant gratification into whatever our desire happens to be. Want some food? Go to McDonalds. Want some information? Go to Google. Want the news? BBC 24 hour channel. Our wants can be met within seconds, why bother being patient? Couple this with the phenomenon that is Twitter where opinions are expressed in 140 characters or less, and increasingly opinions are based on instant ‘bite-size chunks’. Everything is either black or white, there is no room for grey as that takes too long!
Imagine if you will, Kenny brings in a promising 19 year old, spending what is a record fee for a teenager who then initially only makes sporadic appearances in the first team and takes a year to score his first senior goal. What would happen to this lad? Would he be given time? Allowed to settle in and mature in a red shirt? Looking at the way some have talked about Lucas, Henderson and Carroll I would suggest not. Well it is a good job Bob Paisley thought differently as that 19 year old was Ian Rush and we all know what he did next!
Looking back at Liverpool players that have been brought in to the club there are stand outs who have hit the ground running – the likes of Torres, Suarez, Barnes, Alonso, Dalglish – and became instant hits which in an ideal world would be the case with every signing. Likewise with players coming through the ranks – Gerrard, Fowler, Owen and Mcmanaman – who wowed immediately, and again in a perfect world this would be a regular occurrence. As we are all well aware though this is not a perfect world and players react differently to situations, some needing time to adjust to a lifestyle change, some adjusting to life at a club with the stature of Liverpool and some with the transfer fee paid for them hanging like a millstone around their neck. But what is it that warrants a degree of patience from the fans? What factors have an effect? Age? Price tag? Nationality? Reputation?
Case study 1; like for like: Andy Carroll vs Peter Crouch. £35million vs £7million. 22 year old vs 24 year old. 42 goals in 91 games vs 54 goals in 172 games prior to signing for Liverpool. Despite an injury that delayed Carroll’s debut, he scored a brace early on against a team the stature of Manchester City and past a keeper the quality of Joe Hart. In comparison, Crouch didn’t score until the December of his first season against Wigan. Both were (and still are for Carroll) lambasted in the media yet only Crouch received unwavering support from the majority of Reds fans where there are cries for Carroll to be cashed in, that he is rubbish. What is the difference here? Would Carroll be allowed more time simply if he had cost less? Is it perhaps the (alleged) off-field antics of Carroll that makes him less amiable than the much loved Crouch? My personal opinion on Carroll is that he is good enough, and given support and a style of football to suit him, could evolve into a very important player for Liverpool. We have seen glimpses of this already, most recently THAT chance he created for himself against Newcastle before that sniper took him down. Ahem!
Case Study 2; have we learned our lesson?: Lucas Leiva vs Jordan Henderson. £5million v (estimated) £20million. 19 years old vs 20 years old. Under -20 international for Brazil vs full England international. For a number of years Lucas was the focal point for many Liverpool fans as being not worthy and the epitome of what was going wrong with the club, regularly being slated on forums and even booed by his own fans (which should never ever happen to a player in the famous red shirt). Yet Lucas has risen like a phoenix from the ashes to being one of our most important players and arguably his injury the reason why our early season form has dipped so dramatically. This is a young man uprooted from everything he has known and moved halfway round the world and took time to settle. Henderson has a number of similarities with Lucas in terms of the steady growing resentment within the fan base, but also with his on the pitch attributes. He has a high work rate, conducts himself on and off the pitch in a very professional manner and has shown flashes of what he can offer in the future. But again, is it the price tag that has given delusions of grandeur in what he can offer in the present? My personal opinion is that his form has suffered through being played out of position, but I have seen enough of the lad to believe that he will grow at this club and mature into a very good player.
What is it that I am trying to say? Well, history has shown that patience and support can allow a player to battle through that settling-in period and flourish. The younger a player is the more imperative it is to fully get behind them. The club will not sign genuinely bad players as there will be a belief by those within Anfield that players they have identified can come in and improve the squad, but for whatever reason players may not settle and a combination of factors can see top, top players fail to make it – Morientes is a stand out example – but whilst they wear the Red of Liverpool they will get my support. YNWA
If you want to get in touch or chat about this article or anything LFC im on twitter @timdibs
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April 7th, 2012
A better comparison for Carroll would be Tony Hateley.
Bought by Shankly for big money he scored 28 goals in a season and then Shankly sold him, because he stopped us playing like Liverpool. This wasn’t his fault and it’s not Carroll’s.
I supported Lucas when he was getting stick because he never hid. I refer to Henderson as the Merseyside hide-and-seek champion (runner-up Downing). We need players with a bit of ‘ticker’.
It does’nt help when players like Maxi and Dirk are brought in, play well and get dropped again for big money Commolli/Dalglish buys who can’t cut it.
April 7th, 2012
Tim lets look at the comparisons that you made yourself ;
Carroll Vs Crouch = 35 mill vs 7 mill
Henderson vs Lucas = 20 mill vs 5 mill.
You answered your own question. Yes the players cost.
Crouch and Lucas was bought by Rafa at a time when money was tight and the does not have the privilige of blowing 100 mill in 1.5 season. He has to work with potential and looking back, Lucas was a steal at 5 mill. KD on the other hand was backed fully by FSG and promptly blew big money on not one but 4 POTENTIAL FLOPS in Carroll, Downing, Adams and Henderson. If you compared with our rivals, Mata cost about 24 mill and look at him at Chelsea. Another thing is as you said so, Lucas has to adapt to a different culture let alone a different club. The last i checked Henderson has a British passport. I was a Lucas critic in the beginning but he won me over with his determination and his quick improvement on the pitch, plus he was bought as an ATTACKING player in the beginning, not as DM. Could you honestly see Henderson or Carroll emulating Lucas?
Its a common misconception that we non KD fans (just LFC fans not KD fans. At the same time DO NOT confuse KD fans with actual LFC fans like us)expect instant results. We are not. We do not expect KD to win the league this season. Personally if KD come close to even challenging top 4, i would declare this season a success.
KD has resources and backing in a single season that no other manager in recent memory enjoys and he promptly blows 113 mill on potentials? Are you kidding me. Assuming that JH is some Sheikh in disguise and stumps out another 100 mill, won’t we run foul of UEFA financial fair play rules.
This article sole purpose is written to shore up support for KD as he and his flops had been a major disaster for LFC. It’s time to move on and the first step is to sack KD.
April 7th, 2012
So in your own words the time a player is allowd to settle at a club is based on cost? Crouch allowed more time as he cost less than Carroll etc etc? Does that mean the likes of Degen and Voronin should still be at the club? they cost nothing!
Im not suprised by the rest of the response you have provided that you did not back Lucas initially! How long did it take Lucas to establish himself? 2 years? maybe a bit more? Henderson hasnt even had a full season yet and you have written him off! A player played out of position! And nationality has nothing to do with a player settling in a new area! This is a 21 year old brought away from home, away from his family, his surroundings, to a new place (regardless of distance) that is unusual, his own personal support networks half the country away! Moved to a massive club with a large transfer fee and the spotlight firmly on him! I think it is rather that you and others write him off so easily.
You talk about potential flops? isnt every signing a potential flop? Personally I thought Adam was coming good in a partnership with Lucas and his form, like that of the team took a srious dip in Lucas’s abscence. Carroll has shown glimpses of what he can bring and once he and the rest of the team can adapt to playing to each other we will see the best of him should he stay. Downing has been disappointing as he is an established star and out of all the signings should have hit the ground running as t were. but Iwont write him off when he hasnt had a full season!
You mention Mata! Why would Mata have chosen us over Chelsea? Chelsea at the time could offer more wages, could offer champions league football could offer established players they ahd spent a lot of money on with the capability of spending more! Reality is that without the lure of champions league football we sell the club based on a project! A project that is being built around youth!
Do you really think we are that bad? based on a run of 7 games? that first half of the season we played some beautiful football and only deserved to lose to Spurs! Had we had someone in goalscoring form like RVP then we would be right up there! Unfortunately we werent able to put the ball in the back of the net and that cost us. An inability to score impacts on morale and impacts therefore on form. Point in case, arsenal have on the whole been poor most of the season, but RVP has banged them in and they have risen in confidence and turned their season around. In fact his late winner against us shattered us in terms of confidence and what to play for in the league. As a club we have nothing to play for in the league and that has reflected in the performances and the confidence draind from the team after the opposition score is a direct result of our lackof scoring ability at present. personally I thin we are only a couple of players away from really challenging.
The sole purpose of this article was to create debate which I think it has! To call Kenny a disaster for LFC is a disgraceful comment! he has done too much for the club for commetns like that to be made! He is the start of a rebuilding process that will take time after H&G almost took us into administration and god knows where. Am I happy with our form? no. But do I think we are moving forward? yes
April 7th, 2012
give kd one more season and we are playing in the champship d next season. Time to stop dis campaing for daglish and surport lfc not kd, if he truely love lfc as he has said he should just resign asap. YNWA.
April 8th, 2012
this season alone aint enough 2 judge carrol and henderson. Downing and adam, hell i cant stand those 2. Big flops. Then talking of sacking KD, it hasnt come to that yet, he is doing a great work only that someone needs to advice him on how to feature players.