Some people may look and what is going on at Liverpool at the moment and be confused about what their strategy is. On one side they appear to be developing their youth set-up – but at the same time they look keen to sign big money signings.
Liverpool is owned by Fenway Sports Group (FSG) that also owns the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball (MLB) and wants to bring some concepts from baseball to the English Premier League. The major part of that is the concept of moneyball – which is the subject of another of my articles. But with modification to make it more suited to a big club that can benefit from big budgets. Therefore, it’s a hybrid version of moneyball that involves developing young players – but also acquiring stars. As with all moneyball strategies there is a significant emphasis on statistics. This is something that the Red Sox do and it will now be something that Liverpool will look to do.
As far as FSG are concerned some of the important work was done some time ago by getting the Liverpool youth setup in place with the appointment of the former Barcelona duo Jose Segura and Rodolfo Borrell. In the previous Premier League season there was the emergence of Liverpool youngsters Martin Kelly and Jay Spearing.
However, Liverpool isn’t just prepared to develop youth players and wait for them to progress into first-team players – they also need players they can use now. The January signings of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll showed that. FSG are clearly very ambitious and are targeting the Premier League title as well as getting back into the Champions League. The classic moneyball approach may well work – but it could take time and Liverpool will feel they need to spend now to try and make their targets reality sooner rather than later. Liverpool will be also keeping an eye on the financial fair play rules to be introduced for the start of the 2012/13 season. Liverpool will know that once this rules come in their spending will be more restricted.
The signings that are likely to be made during this summer are about the long-term success for the football club – but also players that are ready for first-team action. The signing of 20 year old Jordan Henderson may suggest the sort of profile of signing that Liverpool are looking for and young English players certainly seem to be one of those areas. The signings of Jordan Henderson and Andy Carroll certainly fit that profile and other targets Phil Jones and Ashley Young would also have been terrific English signings. However, it now appears both players will sign for Manchester United.
But as ever I’m sure Liverpool have other irons in the fire and were not relying on the signings of Jones and Young bearing in mind they would have known that competition would be fierce. Premier League teams in the past have been guilty of signing players that they know very little about – but don’t expect Liverpool to do the same. The Liverpool owners will make sure that every new signing has been looked at from every angle. Scouts will watch the players in action to understand as much as they can – but then the statistical data will be analysed to ensure that what the scouts are saying is correct.
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good article
The idea that FSG want to bring on a combination of youngsters and quality experienced players is only a continuation of the old Liverpool way, and to want success sooner rather than later is simply because success brings financial rewards so that the club can continue to grow, when it comes down to it – first and formost it is a business and FSG know all about that side of things.
Ditto, good article. A good deal better than the speculative nonsense on most websites. We just have to trust that those processes work out, and that risk is minimised (as mentioned above).
value is the key word;
If a player is 22 -26 and has a great young time ahead in their playing days then that will be a factor in key selection.
If a older player who is on the wage bill and is not getting a look in and yet is not offering anything to the core squad then why should he be here and i agree.
Its about teh squad and the club having all the players pulling in the same direction while creating a work place that everyone is content with, he said that in lfc.tv in his first interview.
Hnery is smart, he know sports and he knows what is value and what is not, for example suarez was the best factor to show this off, was young, proven pedigree, young international, has dont a few things at national level, has played over seas, and has settled well outside his native home land, all these factors add up, along with if the deal went wrong, liverpool will and or would be able to gain some money back.
Suarez is a great deal in term sof value,
another great deal would be players like mata, aguero,sakho, cissokho, sanchez, navas, llorente, hulk, falcao, and others.
FSG are also aware that a player has asset value with them too, and while they will never buy a player because he has a nice looking wife, they will be very aware that an aguero for example is a win win deal that adds huge value to whole brand of the club, but that can also be sold with future value also???
there is a major downside with this baseball ‘moneyball’ philosophy when it comes to buying players – EVERYONE has had access to the statistics that FSG are analysing, prior to making their approaches this summer, and have priced their players accordingly… it may be revolutionary within football in the long run, but we are going to have to pay through the nose if we wish to continue this experimental way of doing business…
Anything to get the ball rolling.