A major determinant of success at the poker table is table image. If you can, in your betting practices and demeanour, convince the table that you are a force to be reckoned with, you will be more likely to dominate and, at the end of the day, walk away with everybody’s money.
If you show yourself to be easily dominated, unwilling to protect your blinds or are tentative in your raises, you will be identified as ‘the fish’ at the table and will be one of the first to bleed away all of your chips and find yourself on the rail.
The same is true of the off the field posturing and negotiation of professional sport. In the course of a season or, more often, a run of seasons, teams develop an ‘aura’ both on and off the field.
If the ‘aura’ persists for a decade or more, they become legends or dynasties and their name comes to help define the sport; such is the case with Real Madrid, the New York Yankees, the Montreal Canadiens, and the New England Patriots.
Liverpool have an established place in the pantheon of international sports icons but, in the age of modern sport, image is everything and the Mkhitaryan failure has dealt a serious blow to that image. Coming hard upon our failure to trump Spurs in the acquisition of Dempsey, this latest example of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory has far reaching implications for our image.
The importance of image in both football and poker cannot be overstated. For years now, players like Phil Ivey have won hands and tournaments that they had no right to win. In the past few seasons, Manchester United have won games and titles they had no right to win. The intangible in both cases is the aura of invincibility that causes opponents to over rate their opposition and almost invite defeat. The same is true of transfers where some clubs are perennial chip leaders and others are railbirds gathering up has-beens and never-quite-will-bes.
Although we are far from being considered the ‘fish’ in the transfer pool, the bait available for reeling in the blockbuster deals is rapidly dwindling. Yes we have the name and the international market to entice some name players, but to land the really outstanding trophy prey, you need something more and that something more is, in three words, the Champions League. More and more, not only a presence in Europe but participation at the pinnacle of European football is that tasty titbit that the top footballers crave and see as essential for their careers.
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Are we going through a period where we can only attract ‘troubled’ superstars like Suarez? Worse still, are we a club that can’t even hold on to ‘troubled’ superstars like Suarez? The only thing that is sustaining our position at the table is our storied history and the legitimacy of our current ownership but it is the ownership that holds the key.
As the glory of teams past becomes more and more a thing of ‘that was then; this is now’ the willingness of Fenway Sports Group to drop major cash into the pot is the only factor that may get us back to legitimacy in the international game of Hold ‘Em player negotiations.
Whereas the signings so far will improve the club, only the retention of Suarez or the signing of an acknowledged superstar will see HMS Liverpool continuing to sail with the international fleet. Although Toure, Mignolet, Iago Aspas and Luis Alberto are credible signings, their acquisition lacks the cachet of a Mkhitaryan, a Robert Lewandowski, or a Neymar. Liverpool FC are no longer a team basking in the glory of Istanbul – that can attract a Fernando Torres; we are a team that has stumbled through owners and managers to sit slightly above mid-table in a League we used to dominate.
In short, Fenway Sports Group need to splash some major cash in the transfer market in the near future. It is almost mandatory that they make a jaw dropping announcement of pursuing one of the top 20 transfer targets of 2013. Tiago Ilori, a current target, is an important ingredient in establishing momentum.
Being outmanoeuvred by Dortmund was an embarrassment and constituted a major blow to the credibility of one of the grand clubs of Europe. It cannot happen again. Whoever becomes our next target has to be signed, sealed and delivered, even if it means going all in.
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I have to respectfully disagree. We have been rebuiding our “poker face’ for the last year-and with great success. Sturridge, Coutinho and the 4 new guys prove that. One loss to the team that was just in the Champions League final does not take all that back. If anything it strengthens our position. Shows we are serious about bringing in top players but also shows we wouldn’t just double our offer to get them. No team would.
You talk rubbish. We r bcoming a joke club thanx to the dumb americans . We cant attract any top plyers , only average or upcoming ones.
Bang on column – well done Fritz. The Liverpool cachet has indisputably been seriously eroded by an ownership group that came spouting on about ECL qualification in their first year – and failed, but at least delivered a Cup and Europe.
They followed that by hiring an unproven manager who subsequently failed on both accounts: no Cups, and no Europe. And declared that season a success.
This off-season – more of the same. If Suarez is off – setting aside whether proper or not – that image erodes further, ESPECIALLY if he’s replaced with some one of little international notoriety.
And for those falling all over themselves citing the Sturridge acquisition – don’t forget he was another September failure. That we failed to bring him in then, postponing it until January for the same cost surely cost us Europe.
We are LIVERPOOL for chrissakes, not Swansea!!!
Good comment Ross & true article Fritz
And you are a fool who can’t even spell.
The players at the table were small fish! No one wanted aspas, kolo toure and co. that was the warm up if you like.
With Louis and his replacements you are talking serious play!
If you really believe we have had ” great success” than good for you, but I think the spin you have just put on one of our worst failings in recent years, that being transfers, is laughable.
Wont happen . Fsg will continue to be tight. We as a club continue to sink further into mediocrity
Fritz We were never in the running for Henrikh Mkhitaryan, it was all paper talk and to be honest like Luis I’m sick and tired of the press concocting stories because LFC no longer talks to them, and self proclaimed experts like yourself. We have be linked with over 60 players since the end of last season FSG have more experience in negotiations than you’ll ever have, even with your poker experience (mugs game).
Thats not true . Shakhtar confirmed there was interest and contact from Liverpool . We simply were not willing to pay the asking price
You should try to find out facts before posting lies please
How do you know for certain that Shaktar are telling the truth about the Liverpool bid?
If they lied . Liverpool would have put them in their place . Liverpool have not denied it. Of course it’s true , everyone knew liverpool were targeting mkhitaryan . . Everyone except you.
Why are you ALWAYS wrong ‘bill’ ??
Talking nonsense bill , as usual
And if you believe that “millionaire business men” are millionaires because they are generous, then you need to think again, FSG will do whatever is best for their bank account, simple as that, these men have little to no experience in football, you have the nerve to mock a fan by saying they have no negotiation skills?, well at least the fans have football knowledge, which is more important in my eyes. Business men have wrecked the sport, like they wreck everything, greedy money addicts.
You hit the nail on the head, couldnt agree with you more. I think lfc fans need to start comin back to reality. We need saurez more than saurez needs us, simple fact. We r up against 5 top teams for cl places. If we dnt break into the top 4, we just wont be able to attract the big names, which ultimately wont allow us to catch up to the big 3. Coutinho n sturridge were very good signings, but they dont yet create the hype of players like saurez n other top class player
lfc4life
“Being outmanoeuvred by Dortmund was an embarrassment and constituted a major blow to the credibility of one of the grand clubs of Europe.”
No offence, but that statement has spoilt what would have otherwise been a good article. Dortmand were runners up in the Bundesliga last season, as well as runners up in the Champions League. They also won the Bundesliga title the two previous seasons. They have one of the most respected and progressive young managers in world football, they play a very attractive brand of football and are building a team which can seriously challenge Bayern for titles. How is it an embarrassment to Liverpool to lose a player to a team in that position, considering we have no European football to offer, have not been in the top 5 for a number of years, and are on the verge of losing our best player?
I meant no disrespect to Dortmund. The point was that we were outmaneuvered, not that it was Dortmund. It was the fact that we were trumped in our attempt to capture a player that was the embarrassment, not the team that we lost out to. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression.
Fsg are not tight. They are sensible. Unlike the madness at man city and chelsea
Sensible ? They are billionaires . They could afford it if they wanted. They don’t want to spend money on Liverpool. They are here to make money and then bog off home
“Fsg are not tight. They are sensible. Unlike the madness at man city and chelsea”
Problem is – madness or not – we compete in the same league with them. Are we to then just throw our hands up, cry poverty and settle for 7th every year?!?? Bloody well not!
Henry’s financial base has clearly diminished – his bond business has gone under since the Liverpool purchase. His Red Sox are currently successful but with clearly decreased spending (right place, right time, as the Yankees do the same).
Just look at this year’s net spend! We’re offing salary with loans and transfers almost daily (surely Reina’s next – to be falsely blamed on his sudden immediate love of Barca – despite his comments to the contrary (for reference see Aquilani)), and trading buys for sells with lesser wages.
So agreed – FSG see Liverpool as a moneymaker and little else. And appear to have absolutely little use for our club’s storied and beloved history. Course to appreciate it, they might have to attend a match every now and then…
We have been taken for mugs in the past, but FSG have stuck to their guns and seem to be doing the right thing. If you notice the price of some players to the English teams go wild eg;£12 million quoted for David Villa to us and spurs, 4.4million to Athletico with a 2.1 mill down payment! If a player does not want to play for our team let them go or don’t consider them! We have not missed Dempsey or Sigursson as much as we thought.
We need a goal scorer, defender or two, defensive midfielder, attacking midfielder (Jackson Martinez, Wilfred Bony, Muriel/toby, llori/wanyama/ericksen,jujiniho), failing that can we all remember that last season we had one of the highest goal scoring chances created in Europe and our defence was still in the top five or six in the premireship! We are not far as most people think even though we do not have the top stars in the world in each position.
Make a deal with Suarez to stay for another season and we should be okay
100 % agree.our main problem is owners atitude,we had one in ze past ze yankees, as if the harm was not enouth done, we sold our belove club to another american buglers. if they cant honour, their promises to buy top players, so why they are here ?,who sold lfc to them, who are resposible for ze sale of our club ?who chose ze owner and in wat criterias ? i can write a book of qustions. my point of view, ze main responsible of our decline lies in our own club
fsg are buying young talent for the future which is good but they must invest in the first team for us to get back into cl which is a must, this Liverpool for gods sake
I can’t wait to start my own contributions…..wow! If i called myself a football analyst u all would pounce on me. Interestingly, i call myself a soccer-mathematician. Lets do the soccer quadratic equation and arive at the wanted answer……Join me below pls…..
Idiot
jesus bunch of negative wools you guys sound. Liverpool are finally moveing forward as a club pulling in the same direction. We only lost 1 of are final 12 games at the end of last season that bouds well for this season. Were playing the best football in the prem young exciting players who are only going to get even better. (coutino sterling wisdom Allen henderson suso) a manager who is young fresh and has had 1 more year to implerment his philosophy. With our without saurez were going to be stronger this year YNWA
Couldn’t agree more, don’t get why everyone is so negative…
Would love to see Suarez @ LFC next season, but if he’s head has moved I wouldn’t be against selling…would love to see what we can get with the 40m+ the 20m initial budget (pretty much untouched with the ins and outs) BR will get…we could have some exciting talents emerging ala Coutinho…
Delusional Gary . Ee are moving backwards. Any fool can see thst .look at the last 12 fixtures , first they were meaningless and second they were damn easy
Probably due to the fact that we have just had our worse season for decades, we are letting just as many players leave as we are signing(with a paper thin squad already), Suarez may still leave, the signings we have made are young, under 21 squad players with no premiership experience. Another season of the excuse “we are re-building” looks on the cards. I see some fans are hand-picking the last few games of the season against very poor sides, as a measuring stick for the whole season and next season as well, in that time did we beat the only real decent team we played IE “Everton”? no we didn’t in fact they were a disallowed goal away from winning us. so I think I will be more up-beat once I actually see results, and not hand-picked stats and periods, or talk.
Fantastic article, I no many lfc fans will disagree with u yet they mention jackson martinez n co. do u think dortmind is better than liverpool? Not true the thing is with exception of the coach all those managing liverpool r mediocrs including fsg , they came in to restore liverpool bck to where it belong but with this they r rather heading us into a ditch. liverpool is gradually losing the touch n am pleading with ur supporters in England to start puting presure on fsg to wake up or better live us along. Because even arsenal hv begin to buy big so if we dont buy big we cannot qualify for cl
Why are “fans” having a go at our signings, calling them average etc before watching them play in a LFC shirt…truly amazes me!? We went early, quick and direct to get our signing done, that shows homework was done on for a long time already, I’ll wait in anticipation before laying down judgment…
Ironic how everyone goes on about Mkitaryan being this “world class” player when nobody had seen much more of him than our other signings…just because his club wanted 25m for him does not automatically make him a better player than the ones we signed…does LFC fans realise paying that amount for a player would’ve made him our 2nd most expensive signing ever (most expensive if you ignore our biggest mistake ever…knee jerk much).
I’d like to give our structures the benefit of the doubt and watch how this plays out…instead of paying silly fees our owners & management are putting structures in place to build sustainable success, not just throwing money at problems for quick fixes…
Rubbish .if man utd had made the signings we have , we would be laughing our heads off. You get what you pay for …excerpt in Joe Allens case
if there is one word that has been abused as far as liverpoolfc is concerned, its the word rebuilding. how long will we rebuild 10, 20 years. spurs are wiping the fllor with us these days when it cum to tranfers. they look ambitious and in the trend continues they will be genuine title challlengers in the next two seasons. we are buying young players whowill take 3 ,4 years to come good. by then the gap could have widened. helll even everton are slowly but surery coming up. every year they buy 1 or 2 class signings. yes coutinho n sturdge were good signings. but we can do better. saints beat us to gasto ramirez last summmer while we got alllen now they have got wanyama . this article has got it right. lfc wake up b4 we find ourselves stuck in mediocrity forever. and thats whats frustrating for us fans. because we feel we can do better than this. rather spend 60 mil on 3 goood players than the same amount with 10 mid table players. having said that BR wil not have an excuse if we dont attain 4th spot these season he will be so gone
Wat an outstanding piece of writting so true hw lfc has fallen over the yrs.if we cannot attack players like the armenian then so sad that we only live in past glories.as a die hard pool supporter it pains my heart to c my beloved club fall frm grace bt I hope dis new era brings beta thgs to cum n I av lots of confidence in BR
Brender rodgers should stop fooling himself,all wat we need is a quality player not quantity, why won’t suarez get angry for two season no cl,rodger and management should stop messing around.
Everyone should get behind our team
Once upon a time I supported the greatest team in football Liverpool fc bill shankly made Liverpool great and the managers that followed carried on the tradition always having the fans behind them this is true then the premiership was formed and our total game changed because its not about football anymore it’s about money money money so players don’t where the shirt with pride it’s all about how much money is going into there BANK true
Since the premiership started we have been survivors on our reputation and our name and achievements we have seen managers come and go but in Brendan rogers we have a hungry manager who wants to bring back the glory days so at some point you must have a starting point
So last season was that point so we are improving and progressing so if your not a believer get off the train and don’t pass anfield again we are lfc forever ynwa
You talk bollox every time your on here . Rodgers is hungry ? So what ? That doesnt make him any good
We are not progressing or improving , only deluded people think that . Wise up if you love Liverpool you should be demanding s new manager
Sorry but I am not fooled by rhetoric, until Rodgers delivers, I will stick by what I have witnessed, which to me is non existent progress, and talk of what we are going to do, but little else.
something i found on another site, if you dont understand that suarez is not vital to our set up after this you have no right to call anyone inept.
A) You have a striker in your team with approximately an average 12% conversion rate, that fluctuates between 0-50%. He is very talented individually and all the play goes through him. In around 200 shots he gets you 25 goals. However the other forwards see less of the ball, and get less chances themselves due to chances constantly going begging, and attacks breaking down (due to greed of said individual). He scores 25-30 goals in 38 games. The entire team is built around him. However he misses a 5th of the season knocking this tally down by 5 goals. With him in the side, he will score 25 goals a season, but the other 3 first choice players in attack (Right wing, left wing and second striker/attacking mid) only get about 5 each. This gives you a total of about 40 goals. You must then rely on the rest to come from squad players, or other positions. We create 20 shots in a good game, but half fall to the man with the 12% conversion rate, and we see 20 shots reduced to 2-3 goals, rather than 4-5. Some games this ‘star’ will hit a 50% conversion rate and score a hattrick. Other games he will fluff 6-7 chances and have 0%. It all evens out to give him a below average conversion rate overall. However due to the team being designed around him, and to fit his strengths, when he is on a bad day or banned, we either scrape a draw, or lose. But all everyone remembers is the week before when he actually turned up, and his audacity paid off, making him appear world class. However to be regarded as world class, one must be consistent.
B) This player is repalced with a less flamboyant, but more effective striker with a better conversion rate at about 20% average, and much better team play. He brings others into the game, but only scores 20 himself. The other 3 attackers all score around 10 each though giving us roughly 50 goals across a season + squad players and other positions contributing. This is a 10 goals improvement over the other combination which could turn say 10 draws into wins, adding up to 20 points to the tally. This could be the difference between mid table, and champions league football. In games where you create 20 chances you start to see 4, 5 or even 6 nil wins, and less 0-0 draws occur. However their are less spectacular goals, as they have been replaced by well worked tap ins and simple finishes. Aka effective football.
I’m sorry for the patronising, and rather creative examples. But that is how it works. Suarez would have outscored Van Persie last season. They are both 25-30 goal strikers. However Van persie will do it 50-75 less shots, and link others into the game, so you see a spread of goals (Van Persie 25, Hernanadez ~10 Rooney ~15 etc). United have no players in their team who can pull off the spectacular except arguably Rooney once on a blue moon (no pun intended) but they play effective football, and score the simple goals. This wins they the title. Ronaldo, Messi, Van Persie etc are top forwards becasue they not only score, but they assist too, and take their chances better. Below that you have the likes of Falcao, Ibrahimovic etc who convert well but don’t link up. then below that you have the likes of Suarez and Tevez (although much older so worth less) who are greedy and have poor conversion but cover that up with their goal tallys (that flatter their true ability, due to their hatred of passing to others). Suarez is not even in the world class bracket as a forward. When he plays behind the forward in a wider role, then he can work his magic without it having too much of a costly effect, but he will always have that greedy and wasteful streak.
So its up to you guys. option A or B? CL or no CL? we will genuinely be stronger without Suarez. He is a luxury player who simply appeases the fans with the occasional screamer. In games that don’t go his way he is a liabilty, giving away dangerous set pieces and picking up cautions or major bans (racism, middle finger, biting etc). I genuinely don’t care if he goes to Arsenal or Chelsea, because he will make them weaker. He’ll score a lot so it looks like its not his fault to the vegetables, but to people who actually understand and play/have played football, we will see why all of a sudden Mata, Hazard and Oscar are only scoring 5 goals a season. If we can mug them for £60m, go for it. Suarez in todays market would be ‘worth’ £40m easily, as he is a fan favourite (only of the team he plays for), who sells shirts. I’d sell for that to any team in the world. If he was then replaced by say Eriksen, Honda, or Dzduszak who would each add 10 gaols and assits a season, I’d be chuffed to bits. I say those three, as I would like someone who could repalce Suarez free kicks, as that is the one thing I could see us missing.
To summarise this beast of a post, in a fairly similar end ponit to yesterdays post, Suarez is not really that great, and would have to adapt his game to be worth keeping. I say sell and create a front line of say Sturridge, Coutinho, Eriksen(etc), and Aspas. There is easily 50-60 goals a year there. Suarez takes more away fro the team than he gives back, but he does it with so much passion and flair, it blinds the fans and papers over the cracks. 23 goals in 187 shots last year in the league. that’s about 1 goal every 9 shots to put that into perspective. Not good enough, and certainly not world class. He will only be good playing alongside a bigger fish (Ronaldo, Falcao etc). That way, people aren’t drawn into playing everything through him.
Yawn . WHAT AN IDIOT.
THIS LOSER THINKS WE ARE BETTER WITHOUT SUAREZ .
Get a brain you dope
thats right ben time for bed, drink your coco get your pj’s on.
night night
Yes night night . Make sure the nurses lock you in .
WHAT A F@&%ING LUNATIC !!!
Everybody should read this , and laugh at this clown !
ITS HILARIOUS. THE MIND OF A IGNORANT LUNATIC
Total nonsense , every word of it !
Thank god fools like whoever wrote this aren’t running football clubs . What a load of drivel . Football is played on a pitch not a keyboard . This FIFA generation of fan really are stupid
that has got to be one of the stupidest comments ever on this site . totally incorrect garbage . did a man u fan write this ?
nice comment though it should ve been an article. the truth is that is your own hypothetical opinion and i would try to counter it with both facts nd hypothesis alike. not because i want to counter it or cos am blinded by suarez but cos its worth countering nd there are tins to be straigthened therein.1. average conversion rate: its obvious he is not a top 9 but its support. wen a support scores more than its top striker notwithstanding his work rate then he is not average. e.g mata, sauarez, bale. 2. most of the chances created were simply single handedly done by him except for the poor finishing (which makes u undastand he is neither ronaldo nor messi but definetly up there) only mata got more assists than him among the highest goal scorers in the epl last season. we dont ve a problem with replacing him. the problem is with replacing him with more borini nd allens.3. ur summary has the truth of ur love 4 him esp using falcao nd ronaldo to show us what is missing in the team. coutinho nd sturridge are gr8…
they ve suaredz to take the attention off them nd u wld agree with me that suaredz needs same…..i can go on nd on but unfortunately both time nd my means of reaching u wld not permit me. i would like to believe that you wld reassess ur view on this b4 slagging him off (dats what it looks like) he deserves every credit. YNWA
Really ??? What a dumb comment . Maybe some clown will write imaginary nonsense on why we are better off without Gerrard too ?
Hey ! Maybe Barcelona should get rid of Messi ? He doesnt pass much either .
Really lad , it’s a dumb comment made up with a lot of silly presumptions
“Suarez is not that great ” that’s preposterous. This comment is a joke and should be treated as such.
Ha ha ha ha
Little boy no sheep proves again he really is clueless about football.
Probably the most idiotic opinion I have ever seen.
That’s not just unintelligent no sheep …that is staggeringly unintelligent .
The fact that you really believe that we are better without “Suarez” just shows me you have no clue, read the first piece of your comment, had a laugh at the naivety, then didn’t bother with the rest seeing as its only words, and the actions I have witnessed show me that “Suarez” is and has been pivotal in what little success we have had.
Idiot no sheep
Lets just keep quiret and see what will happen this season i belive as a player and as a fan also every body wants to win and is so painful for us and the players that the glory has gone from lfc for some years ago but let see what br can do! I know he needs top four.
It’s a good article , but I don’t see why anyone should think Fenways will ever get it right . They are more concerned with being frugal than getting their man