Why are the Reds still being left behind?

WITH news on Sunday morning that Luis Suarez was gracing the team with his presence, while Pep Reina was as good as on a plane to Italy to sign for Rafa Benitez’s Napoli, things were looking a little bit less than rosy for Liverpool fans.

Having already got a lot of business done early in the summer, we could’ve been forgiven for thinking we were embarking on a summer of promising transfers, where we built on the solid January transfer window and late, end-of-season surge.

But while the transfer of Pepe Reina out of the club was a disappointing enough prospect, the idea of him being loaned to a club who shouldn’t even be in our rear-view mirror is slightly preposterous.

The claims a few weeks ago that Mignolet was simply some top class competition for Reina didn’t kid many of us. We held out hope that this wasn’t a fallacy but we all, deep down, knew that he was likely to be on his way, one way or another.

The idea that he is being loaned to Napoli simply to clear a high-earner from ‘the books’ is very concerning though.

It’s been a long-established theory that, to compete at the highest level, you need at least two top-class performers in every position. It is also a widely held belief that without such competition Reina had let his standards slip in recent seasons so the introduction of the Belgian ‘keeper was seen to be a potentially positive move, if not only because it would force Reina to get back to his best

But with Reina now on his way, and Brad Jones having recently signed a new contract, it would appears that we’re back to square one, with one good goalkeeper and no real quality back-up.

The concern is that the club is simply trying to ‘balance the books’, in that, for every high-earner we sign, another one either has to be moved on or room has to be made for them some other way. Unfortunately, this isn’t how a top club should be operating.

It makes even less sense when you consider that we’ll save barely £3-£4 million from loaning Reina out when Downing is probably on the same wages and we could bring in double that amount just by selling him AND save a few million more in his wages too. And don’t even get me started on Jay Spearing still being here.

Whether this is a policy the owners have adopted at all of their sports ‘franchises’ or not is irrelevant, you can’t (one or two anomalies aside) find success in football without first spending some money. And while Liverpool are certainly spending money, this summer we seem to be trying just as hard to recoup money in other ways.

With Reina moving on and Suarez, Agger and Skrtel all being linked with moves to what we should still consider ‘rival’ clubs, the signs are looking less than positive and while the players we’ve signed so far have all acquitted themselves fairly well in the early stages of pre-season, losing any or all of the four previously mentioned would only see the club consolidate itself as a 6th or 7th place team.
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While the likes of Manchester City are signing up £20+ million players like it’s going out of fashion, Liverpool appear to be aiming at the ‘solid, if unspectacular’ £7-£10 million bracket, whilst simultaneously allowing our best players to be linked with moves away from the club. This has all the worrying hallmarks of a club that is slipping.

The most disappointing aspect of all of this is that, when the Reds touched down in Indonesia last week (and again in Australia on Sunday), they were literally mobbed by thousands of fans.

Again, at each ground they play in, in these far and distant lands, the fans feel so strongly toward the club that the place becomes like a home away from home, with tens of thousands of supporters often foregoing the opportunity to support their home club or nation for the chance to support the club from Merseyside that they hold so dear.

And yet, we are still not truly taking financial advantage of this. Liverpool Football Club is a massive sporting entity, supported by many, many millions around the globe and yet, in terms of marketing, merchandising and advertising there is still a sense of the ‘small-time’ about us in the way we approach this. It’s almost as if we just don’t know how to take advantage of our vast support-base.

It’s a problem we’ve had for years and while the other huge clubs such as Barcelona, Real Madrid, Arsenal and Manchester United have exploited this great natural resource, Liverpool have let themselves get left behind. Which is why our best players are now being poached from us by these clubs.

Since 2007 we’ve lost Alonso, Arbeloa, Mascherano, amongst others to these clubs and now face the prospect of losing Suarez, Agger and maybe others too. It just doesn’t have to – nor should it – be this way; we are easily the equal of all of these clubs, we just need to find a way to fast-track ourselves back into the big-time.

We will just have to accept the fact that Pepe has gone. However, Luis Suarez does not appear to be a lost cause, just yet.

I’ve lost a lot of respect for him but even if he is forced to stay, I have faith in him that he will not let his performance levels drop out of spite. Suarez just isn’t that type. He may be childish, petulant and not all that bright, but he loves football and he will always give football his all, which will benefit us if he does stay.

With the few small additions we’ve made this summer (including any more incoming) Suarez could still prove to be the key to Liverpool propelling themselves back into the big-time. And, sadly, by that I mean the Champions League. Whether you like it or not, that is where you need to be these days; it just opens up a whole new world of finances, better players and well, better opportunities and that’s where we need to be.

That needs to be the target this season, or we will certainly risk another Suarez saga again next summer. Either with Suarez himself, should he now stay, or with next seasons star performer. If not, then the club will again bleed some of it’s better players and we will fall further into solidifying ourselves in mid-table mediocrity and for a club of our size that just should not be acceptable.

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