WHAT an utterly good performance that was on Saturday, at what was fast becoming a bogey ground for Liverpool FC.
The team as a whole, from Reina through to Suarez, played their part to perfection and although the scoreline suggests a rather one sided affair, the game could have been very different if not for Pepe.
Yet with all that optimism pouring out from the DW, the genius of Suarez, the magic of Coutinho and the real Reina, the result from White Hart Lane dampened the slim top 4 chance we retained. Even Wenger, above us in the league, has stated such a finish for his charges is now very difficult.
Whilst we must carry on pushing to finish as high as possible and build momentum for next season there is that worry that a lack of Champions League football will really hurt us.
I want to try something new here, so what follows is a conversation between Oliver Optimist and Peter Pessimist:
Peter: No top 4 finish again will see yet another year without Champions League money, and with this recent announcement of £40m losses and a rise in our debt of £22m, are we not at the top of a slippery slope again?
Oliver: Of course, failure to finish in the top 4 is going to hurt. Fans want to see Liverpool back on the biggest stage and truly competing once more, but I don’t think the money issue is as worrying as yet. As a club we need to be financially secure without having to rely on the Champions League; that’s what happened last time. We have one of the most lucrative shirt and kit sponsor’s deals and will receive a huge coffers boost from the new TV deal.
The club needs to be able to operate securely so that Champions League money that hopefully comes in the future is seen as a bonus and can be used solely on transfers!
Peter: But without Champions League how can we compete for the big names? How can we attract the top talent to Anfield to challenge those above us?
Oliver: Michu, Lewis Holtby, Hatem Ben Arfa, Moussa Sissoko, Marouane Fellaini, Adam Johnson, Yohan Cabaye, Chiek Tiote…what do these names have in common? They are all players that would undoubtedly improve our squad and help us push on, yet signed for their club with no guarantee of immediate Champions League football. They were properly scouted and sold on the direction of their new employers. We have a whole new scouting setup that started at the back end of 2012 and this summer will be their first opportunity. Let’s not forget that Luis Suarez was signed with no guarantee of Champions League football in the short-term.
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Peter: I’m glad you mentioned Luis Suarez, how can we expect to retain his services following the season he’s had and the season we have had?
Oliver: There can be no guarantees in football, and should we get a HUGE bid, then who knows (see Cristiano Ronaldo!) But what the club must do behind closed doors with the agent and the player is to detail the direction the club is going in and how is it going to get there. Certainly this past January will be a good indicator with Coutinho and Sturridge coming in and the immediate impact they have shown.
Our last 6 league wins and the performance against Zenit at Anfield have truly shown what an incomplete squad is capable of. Highlighting the players to be brought in and the expected impact they will have is key.
Luis clearly loves the club and the city; he signed a new deal under Rodgers, without Champions League. The club needs to be able to match his ambitions, and I would wager they are the same ambitions of everyone connected to the club.
Peter: But top players want Champions League football.
Oliver: Of course they do, but I would imagine they want to be at a club clearly moving in the right direction more! Otherwise why have Arsenal sold Nasri, Fabregas, van Persie and Song? They offered Champions League football but no forward movement. Liverpool is a special club and I want the type of player here who buys into what the club is about – like Agger – not a mercenary.
Peter: Kenny got sacked for not finishing top 4, why should Rodgers stay? He hasn’t even won a trophy.
Oliver: The club is begging for stability. I believe the sacking of Kenny was the wrong decision, but it happened and we need to move on. Clearly, under new management things will take time, but have we not seen what Liverpool can do under Rodgers? And isn’t it good!? Surely sacking him and bringing in someone new resets the clock again? Is that what we want? Player turnover and finding our feet once more? We are at the start of the process with a very young squad and different outlook, it will take time and be a bumpy road.
Peter: Can we trust him in the transfer market though?
Oliver: Well Sturridge and Coutinho are outstanding buys who have made an immediate impact. Can we really judge Borini yet? Allen is clearly a top player that needs to settle and establish himself, not every signing hits the ground running, Rush and Lucas are testament to that. But all these newbies are young with their careers ahead of them. Can we doubt whether Rodgers can get the best out of them after we have seen the resurgence of Downing, Henderson and Jose Enrique these last few months?
I hope that worked and wasn’t too weird, I could have carried on! I think each of us have these two sides to our footballing make-up and of course we need to question things about the club.
Let me know what your questions and answers are below. I’m also on Twitter: @timdibs with a whole new avatar featuring a guy that would slot nicely into any Livepool FC side!
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I’m both these people but my optimism far outweighs my pessimism . I’m thinking about how good Rafa was. How we finished 2 nd. How we had a great squad how big a job lpool is ! But we never once thrashed Wigan at the dw . We couldn’t cope with arsenal and Manu were clearly a better team. I don’t believe its the case this year Liverpool are on the up a bit like spurs 2 years ago .
If anyone is interested at all, my latest piece is up at http://live4liverpool.com/2013/03/view-from-the-kop/red-pessimist-v-lfc-optimist-which-are-you
Thanks for reading though!
I think it’s a decent article. There’s a few LFC supporters at my work who I can identity w ur characters of Peter & Oliver. And we constantly argue about the state of LFC after each game. I would consider myself as an Oliver. I believe BR is doing a great job @ the club. Even without CL I think we are moving in the right direction
Thanks Axis. I think all people have ‘oliver’ and ‘peter’ in their make-up, its just who do we let win!
Personally Im with you, I am much more optimistic than pessimistic, I think BR is doing well and given time we could really see Liverpool Football Club taking strides forwards.
A very weird article Tim but I understand your point your trying to get across. I did feel sorry for Kenny he did very well and I thought he deserved another season.
I would give Rodgers another chance providing where we finish this season but I am a little disappointed with him, he’s had less injuries, tactically made wrong decisions and said far too much to the media when not needed but having said that we are playing some of the best football I’ve seen in years and some massive score line differences it’s been wonderful to watch and that’s another reason why I would give him another chance.
Any way with ten games to go a lot can happen and we must beat spurs this weekend.
Come on you Reds. YNWA
Cheers Matt, I wanted to try something new and represent that dualing part of my personality, the doubt and counter arguments I have.
Yeah Kenny needed longer, unfortunately the players he brought in didnt settle immediately but you could see that steps were being made towards the end, certainly with Carroll.
You say you are disappointed with BR, and while I think you have a valid point in terms of some of the things he has said and some of his tactics, I think overall he has done ok in a very tough situation. We lost a lot of experience in the summer, had an incomplete transfer market and have been blooding youngsters, this was always going to be an up and down year, but surely we have seen what can be delivered? Some big voiceds andexperience in the summer and players capable of sharing the burden on our top stars and I think we can be challenging again
I consider myself neither a pessimist nor an optimist but a realist. But as a fan who wants the best I try to be hopeful, as our anthem encourages us to be.
And your a total disgrace to say something like that to your fellow fans
Shut up you dumb yank . He is correct
I’m no yank you idiot.
what kind of insult is that? mmmm xenophobia
You are very kind Dave.
To come to the conclusions that you have it suggests that you have read some of my other stuff, which obviously does not meet your taste yet you carry on reading my stuff which leads me to 2 conclusions:
1. It is some strange fixation you have that you feel the need to punish yourself by continually reading apparent inferior material; or
2. This is some kind of weird ‘Misery’ scenario and you actually really like my writing but cant bring yourself to say it.
Either way thank you for your lovely comments
No. He just thinks your an moron , like most people do
most people? daaaaaam I didnt realise you had done such an extensive survey! I cant say that I am surprised with the result as I have my foibles.
An idea for you though GAZ (are you shouting your name or is it an acronym?) if you have access to most people then you have the perfect opportunity to run some LFC related polls for the site! 😉
Optimism is stupid .
Pessimism is stupid.
Why anybody would choose to iimagine their own little version , instead of choosing reality amazes me.
This whole article is nonsense .
stupid or not they exist no?
what is your reality of this situation then?
good points to reflect both the optimism going forward with the system of play which in half a season is already seeing results. The new system of play needs to the right players. And the scouting guys are getting them with 2 major impact buys of Sturridge and Coutinho. The pessimism is right in the sense that LFC need to get into Champions League to attract the best players. And the longer it takes to get into Champions league the worse it impacts the team and the financials. I think getting into Europa is the minimum for Rodgers.
Stupid pointless article
I’m definitely a mixture of the two, as I think a lot of people are! I’m still have concerns with BR, sometimes feels like 2 steps forward 1 step back but at least that’s heading in the right direction, all be it very slowly. Despite my concerns I don’t think the answer is to get rid. Realistically who are we gonna replace him with and I’m sick of all this ‘transition period’ we need some stability. There’s more dangers of players leaving or not joining if we start again with a new man in charge
Optimist or pessimist: which are you? http://live4liverpool.com/2013/03/view-from-the-kop/red-pessimist-v-lfc-optimist-which-are-you #LFC