The final and perhaps, most obvious first-teamer that we just cannot lose – Fernando Torres. There are perhaps no more than 5 genuine, world-class strikers in the world these days and, when fully fit, he is in the top 2. They have become the ultimate commodity in football and if we want to compete in the next decade it couldn’t be simpler: the owners have to keep Fernando Torres on pain of death.
Once the important players are secured, we need to look at our long term, and that means dragging that hypothetical spade that the previous owners left in the ground for almost 3 years out and actually put it to some use. If Hicks and Gillett had followed through on promises made, we would be looking at probably starting next season at ‘New Anfield’. It is a worrying state of affairs that we are not, as during the next few years we can only fall behind further financially.
There has been one meeting thus far with Liverpool City Council, and the owners have requested time to consider both (expand Anfield or build a new ground) options. However, the Council will need to be informed fairly soon as to which way they will proceed. One option that isn’t being considered though is ground-share. John W. Henry made it perfectly clear before he took ownership that he was aware of the issues around sharing with our neighbours, and how fans weren’t happy about the idea that the council seem to put forward at every opportunity. It was made clear when the new owners met with the Council leaders that this was an avenue they would not be going down. Whichever option they do choose though, a decision needs to be made before Christmas.
The final issue, and equally important for the club’s near future, is our current management situation. The 2-1 on Sunday aside, the predicament we find ourselves in is just not acceptable. This club should not be praising 2-1 wins over Blackburn as our best performances of the season. Roy Hodgson is engineering a small club mentality to bring the club to his level of comfort; attempting to systematically dismantle the fans (justifiable) expectations, to nullify any negativity that would normally follow a bad result. We are not Fulham. We are not Blackburn, and we are certainly not Malmo. We are not even Inter Milan; we are Liverpool FC – a world-renowned institution, with a worldwide fan base numbering in the hundreds of millions. We deserve better. If we are to progress, rather than regress, we need a man who understands just how big this club is, and has the ability to cope with it.
It is going to be important couple of months leading up to the New Year, and these issues need to be resolved before the club can advance.
Follow us on twitter @live4Liverpool
Live4Liverpool is recruiting columnists. For further info contact the site editor at editor@live4liverpool.com
STELLA ARTOIS WORLD DRAUGHT MASTERS
agger has had a lot of injuries and would be higher in the pecking order if he could stay fit in relation to pepe going it is nonsense jamie may well be past his best but is still a rock at the back also jamie has been asked to much he has even had to play left back we should rotate the squad more but we do not have the strength in depth to allow jamie stevie and co to rest more
Yo Bill i do agree that carra is o rock but he is not getting any younger you know.We should give Agger the chance to get used to playing in carra’s position alongside Martin.This way even carra himself should not get worried so much when he retires for there’d someone to cover his position.Look at United for eg.Neville never plays unless they’ve got injuries same to Giggs despite his prolific form.Furgurson gives the young lads the chance to grow & improve themselves.This i believe is the problem that has caused Babel not to perform well.
I used to and i still believe he has much potential in him but how can he maximise his potential if he only gets 30 min in a month?
well said mate
jamie is not the rock he used to be and I think what the new owners are saying is that the club must rid itself self-styled icons of the club…Agger should be the one receiving such extensions and not carragher
Spot on steven
i disagree whatever happend to loyalty let jamie go and you will be the first to see we need him rember sami we still miss him now just two names for you to think about steven giggs scholes you need your backbone
Great article! We must not lose Reina, Agger or Torres. And, yes, Jamie is well past his best, Gerrard, too, has little future. I have no idea why Carra was given a two year contract; Arsenal would only give a one year contract to someone of his age, and that is sensible.
We could lose the manager…
Agree about Carragher. If only Sami had been offered a 2 year contract. He was the rock of our defence. Would have enjoyed seeing him alongside Kyriagos, what a pair they’d have made.
not sure about carra coments sami yes greek are you mad did you go against northamton
No didn’t go to match but watched it. Kyraigos apart, were the rest of the hodge podge team great? We didn’t have a single shot on target in normal time
john you horrible man talking about stevie and jammie like that lose the manager dont play are best two players and we will go down and lose are premiere league status
Icon? What good is an icon on the pitch? Cara…with my deapest respect…should slowly become a icon on the stands. On the pitch…well…just playback in your minds all the floopers(unnececary penalties, bad defensive judgments) in the past 2 years…and you have the answer. Agger is perfect player who played his heart out every game he play’s. Perfect goals from distance and threat to oposition in every corner or set piece. We need to see what we have in our squad than decide about the new signings. I dont see any good stuf from Hodgson signings now.
If Reina is the best goalie in the world then how come he is only third choice for Spain? If Agger is such a great centre-back then how come he is useless in the air defensively and has never made a tackle in his time at centre-back. How do fans expect him to score 90 yards from the opposing goal-to utilize his shooting and ability on the ball-he needs to be played in midfield-preferably on the left wing. It will take more than goals against West Brom and Blackburn to prove that Torres is not past it. He is a player that needs to stop playing meaningless friendlies with Spain-like the Confederation cup in summer 2009. He wants liverpool to show him their committment but he needs to show liverpool more committment. A new stadium will cost too much, redevelopment of Anfield would be cheaper and quicker.
young tallent
jones
skertel agger
kelly wilson insua
spearing jonjo pacheco
elestone ngog
new era of liverpool….. conform out from EPL
guyz lets just clamour for roy’s dismissal.henry said he will listen to us fans.lets m,ake enough noise like we did for the gillets and hicks of this world.let roy go. i am prepared to start it.lets satrt a roy must go campaign,or roy not welcome here campaign.what are the guyz at the spirit of shankly doing about this.lets make noise guyz
Agger: ability to pick a pass, good pace, good tackler, holds the ball well, good going forward!
So just out of curiosity, why cant he play as a DM?