At Anfield on Wednesday evening a team that cost somewhere in the region of £50 million more than their opponents looked - despite their vast richness of playing resources - very ordinary indeed.
They were beaten by a team minus what are said to be its few players of star quality. One led by a locally produced player who cost nothing and fists pumping ensured his team prevailed through little more than their spirit and no small measure of tenacity.
Their resolve mirrored the fervour of support shown outside the ground by fans greeting the team bus as it pulled towards the Shankly Gates. Then inside well before kick-off.
Tottenham have been the cause célèbre of those hoping that the Premier League's current order is broken up and despite leanings towards others such as Martin O'Neill perhaps their coverage after Wednesday evening continues to prove that. As a remaining focus remains largely on rights and wrongs of Jermain Defoe's disallowed goal.
It should without doubt have been the best chance Spurs have had to land a blow on one of the 'Big Four.'
As Redknapp himself confessed despite Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Glen Johnson, Daniel Agger and Yossi Benayoun being absent from a team which has been down on its luck there was no better opportunity.
However, as they have so often - most notably at Old Trafford last term when the referee was ironically Howard Webb - Spurs failed to produce.
The charges relating to the match at Anfield are not isolated ones. This is the same manager who in the first transfer window he had available as Tottenham boss brought a clutch of players his club had previously dispensed with back then allowed a number to leave just six months later.
One of those, Robbie Keane, was re-signed despite never appearing to be a natural fit with someone already had on the books Luka Modric. Not looking to bring Keane back would have saved money which would have proved useful right now at White Hart Lane where an extra body is needed in attack.
Keane and Modric are as he is now forced to confess by omission or playing one or the other out of position far too similar in styles.
Each are probably at their best when asked to link play - in other words operating between the lines of midfield and attack. They simply cannot be accommodated in the same XI and when they are the whole balance of a side is affected.
Turfing Keane out of the central position at least one member of the Redknapp family is on record as stating he should always occupy is the type of managerial decision Rafael Benitez received criticism for during Keane's time with Liverpool.
Though little is made of the issue now.
A simple reason for brick-bats being in short supply should be simply that the Irishman is not playing well. But that mere act may not have saved a previous manager a bashing.
Defoe and Peter Crouch were not particularly effective at Anfield but as the only front pairing that have anything like an understanding were obvious forward options against the Reds who fielded a team selected and primed to contain the little and large show.
If Keane had been given a start, and indeed as happened when he was introduced as a substitute, the restrictions he places on his own side would have made the job easier. His throwing on during the second half made no difference to Spurs at all.
The pace of attack Tottenham have shown when the Defoe/Crouch partnership has been used has helped them reach the place currently occupied but as proved by the match with Liverpool it is taken away by Keane who by his very role in the side slows things down.
A touch - although usually two or more - is taken before he looks to take a defender on or use the guile he has to beat them. Despite working to great effect with Dimitar Berbatov when paired with the Bulgarian it has failed to come off for him this season.
Keane's treatment by Liverpool is immaterial so any attempt to use it in mitigation fails.
There is it appears from Harry Redknapp an inability to get tactical issues and selections right in games where his teams needs to do more than just find a way through a defence by Aaron Lennon's pace.
Spurs have gone through players with the speed a teenage boy finishes a box of Kleenex.
Rotations when made due to the sheer number of professionals in the squad means that a team playing well is often changed merely to ensure certain individuals are given starts.
For example immediately after beating a decent Everton side late last year the starting XI is tinkered with and Spurs lost to Wolves.
Huge sums of money have been spent on youngsters such as Kyle Walker and John Bostock - all with huge promise - but who have simply been swallowed by the system at White Hart Lane. Some though not all of those in a similar situation to those names are currently out on loan to weaker clubs than the ones they joined from.
That could from another manager be considered as damaging to their fledging careers. Harry escapes censure.
Aside from this players have been publicly humiliated while journalists taking down the quotes laugh along though never question the man-management involved.
Others were purchased despite patchy injury records and have struggled to make regular appearances since.
Yet none of this seems to gain a mention in the newspapers while TV and radio broadcasters fawn over the job Redknapp has done since taking charge in North London.
There is of course never a shortage of pundits keen to remind anyone that he took over a side bottom of the table to the fringes of European football within little more than half a year and that now they stand on the cusp of that much coveted top four space.
No matter how much money has been spent Spurs through poor tactics and player selection are the side most likely to drop out of the battle to go fourth. There will most likely be no Champions League football down Bill Nicholson Way - not with this squad and possibly not with Redknapp in charge.
He is a good manager - little question about that - but has enjoyed the sort of luck the papers would certainly make a point of if it was experienced by one of their whipping boys.
His good press is down to a personable character and willingness to always provide quotes which sits well with the media. He may be genial but isn’t a genius.
Saturday 23 January 2010
Sunday 17 January 2010
Possible January targets - Victor Moses
Brought to London from Nigeria as an 11 year old Victor Moses joined Crystal Palace after being spotted playing in South London park leagues.
Though quiet and far more unassuming than most of his contemporaries there was no doubting his natural talent and a number of decent goalscoring records in the junior ranks - 50 in one season as an under 14 - was further evidence of his ability.
So too his starring role in the 2005 Schools Cup final when he scored all the goals in a 5-0 win over a team from Grimsby in shirts as scarlet as their faces were left on the final whistle.
The Grimsby Evening Telegraph’s headline said it all: "Holy Moses - Wonder Player Parts Red Sea".
A first team debut with Palace came at 16 in November 2007 and after a brief hiatus he has remained a fixture in the Palace side.
Half a dozen goals in the current campaign his second full season and a string of rave reviews in each of the many scouting reports filed on him means the Eagles hold the hottest property in domestic football.
Eyed up by a clutch of Premiership and European clubs including Real Madrid the world and a bright future in the game is literally at the teenager’s feet.
Moses plays through the middle or wide on either flank. However, despite turning out mostly on the left over the past few months he is hugely effective in a central role including that of second striker.
Ryan Babel is a similar type of player though perhaps not the best measure as while the Dutchman has everything a top striker needs plus immense versatility he is seemingly nearing the end of his stay at Anfield.
By contrast Moses possibly because of trauma suffered back in his homeland where his parents were killed as a result of religious violence seems to have the drive to reach the top of his profession.
He will seemingly bust a gut to get there which along with his natural ability makes him a valuable asset and a sharp relief to Babel.
Neil Warnock is not Liverpool’s or indeed Rafa Benitez’s biggest fan after the denouement to the 2006-07 campaign but would not stand in the player’s way if he opted to continue his career on Merseyside.
He couldn’t in any case. Acute financial problems make a sale inevitable and club officials admit it is possibly imminent as agreements with more than one club are set to be sealed. The rest will be up to the player.
Liverpool have in the past missed out on young talent by allowing others to plunder deals which were more or less done as the person then in charge of negotiations dithered, switched off his mobile or fax. Most galling of all because he was receiving specialist coaching at Melwood.
The Reds are said to be amongst the keenest clubs negotiating with Simon Jordan.
Many deals mooted have been loan options with a permanent switch in the summer. However, this option is unlikely to smooth any wrinkles in negotiations unless there is a huge down payment which would at least settle Palace’s outstanding tax liabilities.
It could be the best for the player who would at least remain a regular part of one team’s first team picture rather than got lost in development ahead of being gradually unleashed on top flight backlines. Though he will not remain at Selhurst Park unless Moses goes back until June to Croydon having been bought by another club.
Though strong, full of pace, skilled and able to find the net he confounds experienced and hardened defenders through good technique. Almost certainly ready for a sterner test as he has been schooled in a manner hosts of promising youngsters from the nation’s top clubs have troden.
A player who would fit into any squad and not a bad shout for Liverpool in the short term given that there is a need for a strong and direct presence. Whether it is fair to that the burden of shadowing and replacing Fernando Torres when the Spaniard is out should rest on his shoulders like it has done on davis Ngog is another question.
Though quiet and far more unassuming than most of his contemporaries there was no doubting his natural talent and a number of decent goalscoring records in the junior ranks - 50 in one season as an under 14 - was further evidence of his ability.
So too his starring role in the 2005 Schools Cup final when he scored all the goals in a 5-0 win over a team from Grimsby in shirts as scarlet as their faces were left on the final whistle.
The Grimsby Evening Telegraph’s headline said it all: "Holy Moses - Wonder Player Parts Red Sea".
A first team debut with Palace came at 16 in November 2007 and after a brief hiatus he has remained a fixture in the Palace side.
Half a dozen goals in the current campaign his second full season and a string of rave reviews in each of the many scouting reports filed on him means the Eagles hold the hottest property in domestic football.
Eyed up by a clutch of Premiership and European clubs including Real Madrid the world and a bright future in the game is literally at the teenager’s feet.
Moses plays through the middle or wide on either flank. However, despite turning out mostly on the left over the past few months he is hugely effective in a central role including that of second striker.
Ryan Babel is a similar type of player though perhaps not the best measure as while the Dutchman has everything a top striker needs plus immense versatility he is seemingly nearing the end of his stay at Anfield.
By contrast Moses possibly because of trauma suffered back in his homeland where his parents were killed as a result of religious violence seems to have the drive to reach the top of his profession.
He will seemingly bust a gut to get there which along with his natural ability makes him a valuable asset and a sharp relief to Babel.
Neil Warnock is not Liverpool’s or indeed Rafa Benitez’s biggest fan after the denouement to the 2006-07 campaign but would not stand in the player’s way if he opted to continue his career on Merseyside.
He couldn’t in any case. Acute financial problems make a sale inevitable and club officials admit it is possibly imminent as agreements with more than one club are set to be sealed. The rest will be up to the player.
Liverpool have in the past missed out on young talent by allowing others to plunder deals which were more or less done as the person then in charge of negotiations dithered, switched off his mobile or fax. Most galling of all because he was receiving specialist coaching at Melwood.
The Reds are said to be amongst the keenest clubs negotiating with Simon Jordan.
Many deals mooted have been loan options with a permanent switch in the summer. However, this option is unlikely to smooth any wrinkles in negotiations unless there is a huge down payment which would at least settle Palace’s outstanding tax liabilities.
It could be the best for the player who would at least remain a regular part of one team’s first team picture rather than got lost in development ahead of being gradually unleashed on top flight backlines. Though he will not remain at Selhurst Park unless Moses goes back until June to Croydon having been bought by another club.
Though strong, full of pace, skilled and able to find the net he confounds experienced and hardened defenders through good technique. Almost certainly ready for a sterner test as he has been schooled in a manner hosts of promising youngsters from the nation’s top clubs have troden.
A player who would fit into any squad and not a bad shout for Liverpool in the short term given that there is a need for a strong and direct presence. Whether it is fair to that the burden of shadowing and replacing Fernando Torres when the Spaniard is out should rest on his shoulders like it has done on davis Ngog is another question.
Squaring vicious circles
Few would have expected to have been comparing the final months of Gerard Houllier’s reign with that of his successor when Rafa Benitez was appointed - now given last season’s achievement but possibly at any point of the Spaniard’s tenure.
The Reds were going backwards under Houllier while at the same time Benitez had taken Valencia - a side without much recent pedigree and who so often threatened to succeed but never quite managed it - to domestic and European glory.
The latter achieved despite the might of Barcelona albeit that the Catalan club were in a rebuilding phase after decline under Joan Gaspart’s presidency and Real Madrid were in their first ‘Galatico‘ era.
In the circumstances Benitez seemed tailored made for the Anfield job.
Manchester United were already cash laden courtesy of their soon to end 15 year status as a Plc while Chelsea had attracted the attentions of a 36 year old Russian oligarch. Estimated to be worth £5.5 billion he had pumped money into both club infrastructure but also over £200 million into the playing staff. Recouping less than 10% of that in sales.
Arsenal were also happy to spend big money on exceptional talents - far more than many tend to remember now Arsene Wenger has a reputation for being frugal with his transfer kitty. They also had a heavy investment in youth which was brought to North London from all corners of the globe at significant cost.
Though without a benevolent owner and run in the same “old fashioned way” Liverpool were also organised - a low number of high value shares in private hands - the Gunners had a new stadium not just on the drawing board or an architect’s computer screen but actively being put into bricks and mortar. Set to earn millions of pounds a year more than their Highbury home could.
Liverpool who had planning permission for a new home had little more than a bog standard design of a bowled stadium. Somewhat out of the box though one which needed funding and one the Anfield board needed to attract substantial investment to if they were to do so and appointed companies to assess likely suitors.
Arsenal would receive money from the sale of their old home but borrowed heavily against the revenue a 60,000 stadium would generate but the £470 million cost was not easily garnered with tools going down soon after very early work commenced. A consortium of banks provided just more than half the means.
The remainder came through sponsorship, exclusive contractual agreements and lending through the bond market - which would take 25 years to repay. Instalments would be due at prescribed times. In return for this backing lenders received equity in the project.
Essentially placing the club in debt for hundreds of millions of pounds for more than a generation.
Then Liverpool chairman David Moores was open to selling his holding in order to ensure investment of the type he nor the club through its turnover just couldn’t foot.
However, apart from what often seemed nothing more than publicity stunts, politicians who had an eye on a general election in a country besotted with English football particularly Liverpool FC and would source the purchase price through other people’s money little seemed to move.
A fully underwritten £73 million cash bid from another board member was on the table but deemed derisory.
There was for whatever reason hope of billionaires not just plain millionaires riding in. Bottom pits of funding. Outside of financial circles and the world of venture capitalism few had considered or even heard the term leveraged buy out.
Over the five and a half years Rafael Benitez at been at Liverpool’s helm the game and other clubs including those who already had the jump on Liverpool has moved forward.
Some at an rapid pace due to the interest of not just industrialists but sovereign wealth funds.
At that same stage Gerard Houllier was placing his pot plants into a box and heading to Lyon Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan had possibly never heard of Manchester City. Dish-dashes had yet to enter the consciousness of those at Eastlands as a match day accessory.
Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon wealth makes the emirate and its ruling family one of the richest in the Middle East. Somewhere in the region of £500 million of that affluence has been ploughed into playing staff and £304.9 million converted from shareholder loan to equity.
The purchase of a further £89.6 million means City’s on paper debt is far too minimal to cause Michel Platini any worries about debt levels.
Just as it was in 2004 Liverpool are spluttering and the fans seem split about the man in charge, though not perhaps 50/50, between those who support the manager. Though they possibly look at the players when analysing reasons for the malaise want to get behind each and every man in a red shirt even the ones who could at best be described as below par.
Typically those of that persuasion will lay blame away from the coaches and though they may point a finger towards the pitch there’s no desire to rock the boat or even cause further problems by doing anything other than backing the team to the hilt.
There has been a tide against Rafa for longer than the past few months and those who had already turned against him prior to this current season may criticise the players for under-achieving but place most ills squarely at coach’s door.
This category also tend to not only shout louder but also ring the phone-ins and other fans forums - not all solely Liverpool Football Club related. Events in the FA Cup give them that extra oxygen as producers and editors scrabble to put them on air.
Those who are still behind the manager suffer but do so silently ignoring the various interactions available to them. So for some, the laziest in the media included, the dissenters appear to be the majority. However, even though their ranks have swelled in recent weeks anecdotal evidence still suggests they are not.
While debate focuses on the ownership, funding and future direction of the club events on the pitch can often seem secondary but with the club’s financial situation sorted in the short term, albeit via the equivalent of an elastoplast that are refinanced loans with huge demands for capital payment when renewed, attention inevitably moves from Gillett and Hicks to a man who has tended to feature in many off field dramas as well as the on field disappointments - Rafael Benitez.
For all the abusive e-mails, assurances about the manager’s tenure and possibility of further investment reports cannot go beyond quotes from sources close to proposed deals but the prodigious generation of column inches about the club can continue as the team struggles to claim points or progress in other arenas.
There is no shortage of opinion from writers, pundits and those who have previously served the club which means the manager especially can be kept in the crosshairs while pot shots of mud are aimed in his direction.
One of those courtesy of Charlie Nicholas on Sky’s Soccer Saturday who suggested to his colleague Phil Thompson that the side he presided over alongside Gerard Houllier was better than the one now assembled.
It makes comparisons that will keep coming inevitable.
On the surface appraisals of the Houllier and Benitez periods are fair. Take the team’s set up.
Despite attempts to introduce it there is little true width in the side and for some strange reason little movement plus less creativity despite a team brimming with ability in that department.
There are similarities other than what is said to be a one dimensional style. Results and form are as poor as the final knockings under the Frenchman. Confidence is at rock bottom and players who are much better than they look can sometimes barely keep possession at stages of the game. When it is retained even comfortably often they struggle to do much with it.
Some signings who promised much have failed to blossom.
However, under Houllier the players drafted in got progressively worse and never looked like improving. There was so little coming through the reserve ranks who with the exception of finishing top in 2000 trundled along in the Premiership Reserves North.
If that wasn’t bleak enough the playing style was not so much careful as bubble wrapped in fear.
When an advantage was found it would be nursed and the shop closed. There was an over-dependence on long balls to exploit Michael Owen’s pace but not a lot else. The Reds simply could go no further under his guidance.
The team reflected the manager perfectly who suffered from something bordering on paranoia during the final months of his stewardship. Be that people linked with his job and all manner of opinion being submitted from an important constituent of the Liverpool family ex-players.
Links with other managers are being made and courted by journalists who realise that no one touted as a successor will rule themselves out.
Despite of the paltry funds which would be at their disposal and bickering above their heads being mentioned in the same breath as the Anfield hotseat does their career prospects no harm at all.
For Martin O’Neill now read Jurgen Klinsmann and if some reports are to be believed Martin O’Neill again. Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho are also mentioned but the current Russia and Inter Milan managers are - well - nothing more than wild Guus chases. The former earns over £6 million in his current role and a further well remunerated role with Chelsea as a technical directory. No bad return for a 63 year old.
Mourinho may have enjoyed seeing his favourite emergency striker Robert Huth grab a late equaliser against the Reds but will not, according to sources close to the Portuguese, join any club in a state of financial volatility. Nor will he join one which stable or not has no money to fund his inevitably expensive tastes.
Unlike Benitez Houllier allowed it all to creep under his skin.
Does everything but reaction to those critiques from old boys ring true today?
A striking contrast its that Gerard Houllier’s sides were roughly playing to their level. The current side is not as good as it could be and capable of so much better.
Regardless of who left during the summer it should certainly have pretensions of a title challenge after the last campaign. Even if efforts are to be in vain that chance of claiming the trophy has to be on well into the spring.
The worst factor of the current situation is that players who are far better than their current showings and world class performers are retreating within themselves because they seem too scared to make an error.
It could even be ventured that they have no faith in the manager - but that is purely speculative as are claims that either the whole or certain portions of the dressing room have to coin that oft quoted phrase been lost. Reading between the lines suggestions revolve around the non-Spanish or those for whom Spanish is not the first language.
Frankly many performances including the one at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday belie the claim.
Rafa has a very different relationship with his players than most managers. In essence he may never have had the dressing room - just the respect rather than admiration of many members of his squad for his achievements. Steven Gerrard has openly spoke about the situation and that distance is purposeful.
He is perhaps as every manager should be not a friend but a man in charge who may have to drop them or let them know that their time at Anfield has come to an end. He rarely singles any specific individual for praise preferring to talk about the team as a whole and pour over what could have gone better. Even when he should be basking in victory.
Some whose names need not be repeated now are living on borrowed time, past reputation or could simply do with a change of scene. This includes those who have been acquired by Benitez for sizeable fees but there are buys Rafa has made who may not form the core of club but do show potential and have every chance of a successful career in L4. As for the quality of signings. They have certainly improved as time has gone on but regardless of the source of funds being borrowings the money available has increased.
The Reading result has seen many of those who considered themselves somewhere in the middle of the debate jump to one side but it’s only the knee-jerk reaction to the result rather than the manager’s tactics and decisions.
A positive result against Stoke would not have sated their ire but no blame can be heaped on Rafa or the players not putting the Potters away.
The simple fact is that a strong team not one that could be considered in any way weakened below an unacceptable point took to the field. They were set up correctly for the task of defending the inevitable bombardment as well as holding and attacking. If they had not more time would have been spent within a narrow midfield corridor.
Of course with one exception - goals scored - statistics do not decide games. Unfortunately Gerard Houllier based his after match press conferences around them when under pressure. They were straws he would clutch at but all too often they were the irrelevant ones.
Rafa has always tended to take a different tack analysing the play and whether his team held control of matters. The Opta sheets are rarely grasped.
These things happen to every club which has ever taken to a football field be that in a knock-out tournament or league and at any level.
Liverpool are creating opportunities in most games played and evidence gathered from eyes alone demonstrates that Rafa’s sides while often careful produce a better brand of football now than most sides have since he took charge.
Almost every analysis proves that the majority of opponents are heavily beaten in key areas but it’s the inability to put the chances this creates away which is costing dear.
However, there is no escaping that at times some unconfident and lifeless football is being played and though a plan B is surely suggested like so many teams when the A game is frustrated Liverpool can play under a huge amount of fear and look to pick off chances where they can rather than rip at the jugular.
The manager’s style is essentially cautious but only in the respect that regardless of the phase of play he would prefer to have his team acting as one. If the opposition has the ball everyone in their own way will defend - from front to back. If the ball is forward the team should line up in support ready to win the second and third balls if the first is lost.
Last season when confidence was high this produced the type of performances witnessed against Derby County, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Real Madrid and others. This term the displays against Hull City, Manchester United again and Everton have been exceptions rather than something approaching the rule.
All too often in recent times this had only led to the creation pretty patterns of play and slick movement until the vital point when someone is expected to pull the trigger. When that killer touch or cutting edge is missing. In many games it has all looked so fruitless.
For a number of weeks when a goal has been scored the Reds have done everything but add to it - be that before or after the net is found. At one stage that would have been enough to achieve the minimum required for a win but the normally solid backline has had its wobbles and that unusual vulnerability has cost dear.
Liverpool have often had more than enough chances to win handsomely but a failure to exploit them has yielded many of the 28 points so far dropped.
With those in the bank the Reds would still not be muscling for pole position but in a league no other team seems keen to win would have a chance. They would certainly be as handily placed as any of the other challengers.
However, there are clearly problems at the club and within the dressing room.
As previously stated the exact cause remains a matter of conjecture - often depending where you stand on the manager’s future - but if players do not seem bothered and enjoy a joke immediately after a poor result, no longer believe in the manager or his methods well that will only usually end one way - a new man taking over.
That is part of the situation which did for Houllier
Claims that the current ownership situation and the fact that the fans have marshalled against the rule of Gillett and Hicks also has its comparison. The rows, emails and sidling up to Klinsmann were thought to have made Rafa fire proof. In the same way that Houllier’s heart surgery in late 2001 and then subsequent return five months later on the night a 2-0 win over Roma secured progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time. But that highly charged evening along with the treble cup win the previous season proved to be the pinnacle of his six year stay as despite going a dozen games without defeat from the start of the next season that was followed by a sequence of 11 more league matches during which a win could not be bought. The situation went down hill from there on in.
A worry is that if Rafa is dismissed then Liverpool fall back and set the same standards which saw Manchester United spiral away for years until a decade or so down the line somebody suggested they should show a little patience in the man charged with guiding the club. Just as they did at Everton who despite dipping after the high of Champions League qualification showed a little restraint in keeping David Moyes even when league form faltered and their European adventure ended in humiliation.
Whether he lifts the only piece of silverware now available or fails to qualify for the Champions League it’s not the end for Rafa but these days could certainly mark its beginnings if things don’t start to look up.
That was certainly the case for Houllier who didn’t have the boardroom unrest or fans drawing battle lines over the club’s soul to contend with only a focus that included on field matters.
Rafa quite rightly can point to his exploits in Europe which rivals every Liverpool manager but Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan who reached three and two European Cup finals respectively and in successive seasons. Two in three years and one win represents a better record than any current manager other than Carlo Ancelotti.
Considering no side has ever defended the trophy in the Champions League era it’s more than just the knock-out cup often portrayed and at the business end Europe’s elite are usually waiting. Each trying to land a knock-out blow on their fellow behemoths.
Reaching the final two years out of three is not the same as guiding your charges to a similar number of League Cups in as many terms.
Has Rafa taken the club as far as he can? Almost certainly not rather than probably not. Nor has he created the same type of side he had at Valencia. Though he has tried due to financial constraints and the time to hand in which matters need to be melded together the job is still in hand.
He deserves more time as well as an adequate amount of financial backing but seems likely to be left short on at least one if not both of these commodities.
At stages it has seemed things were progressing well but now the side is struggling for confidence as well as results. It makes a review of his position inevitable regardless of who owns the club and whether the fans become as vocal in opposition as they are and have been in his defence. That will only happen come May rather than on Monday or even Thursday morning.
However, hands are tied when an overwhelming debt generated by owners who sought to milk a cash cow they never believed would fail to produce the cream. At least until a global downturn stunted the borrowing and loan markets they had previously exploited to great effect.
That economic climate means those same owners who have remained unable to move the club or its plans forward virtually since the day they have arrived need to see the comparatively little commercial revenue, substantial broadcast rights money and cash from player sales service the interest they have placed squarely on the clubs shoulders.
It should be added that significant sums of money have been raised from players who, like the club in general, Rafael Benitez has more often than not made better than when they arrived.
Until these particularly thorny issues can be ironed out some rather vicious circles cannot be squared and Liverpool will be left continually hoping that someone can help them punch above their collective weight.
The Reds were going backwards under Houllier while at the same time Benitez had taken Valencia - a side without much recent pedigree and who so often threatened to succeed but never quite managed it - to domestic and European glory.
The latter achieved despite the might of Barcelona albeit that the Catalan club were in a rebuilding phase after decline under Joan Gaspart’s presidency and Real Madrid were in their first ‘Galatico‘ era.
In the circumstances Benitez seemed tailored made for the Anfield job.
Manchester United were already cash laden courtesy of their soon to end 15 year status as a Plc while Chelsea had attracted the attentions of a 36 year old Russian oligarch. Estimated to be worth £5.5 billion he had pumped money into both club infrastructure but also over £200 million into the playing staff. Recouping less than 10% of that in sales.
Arsenal were also happy to spend big money on exceptional talents - far more than many tend to remember now Arsene Wenger has a reputation for being frugal with his transfer kitty. They also had a heavy investment in youth which was brought to North London from all corners of the globe at significant cost.
Though without a benevolent owner and run in the same “old fashioned way” Liverpool were also organised - a low number of high value shares in private hands - the Gunners had a new stadium not just on the drawing board or an architect’s computer screen but actively being put into bricks and mortar. Set to earn millions of pounds a year more than their Highbury home could.
Liverpool who had planning permission for a new home had little more than a bog standard design of a bowled stadium. Somewhat out of the box though one which needed funding and one the Anfield board needed to attract substantial investment to if they were to do so and appointed companies to assess likely suitors.
Arsenal would receive money from the sale of their old home but borrowed heavily against the revenue a 60,000 stadium would generate but the £470 million cost was not easily garnered with tools going down soon after very early work commenced. A consortium of banks provided just more than half the means.
The remainder came through sponsorship, exclusive contractual agreements and lending through the bond market - which would take 25 years to repay. Instalments would be due at prescribed times. In return for this backing lenders received equity in the project.
Essentially placing the club in debt for hundreds of millions of pounds for more than a generation.
Then Liverpool chairman David Moores was open to selling his holding in order to ensure investment of the type he nor the club through its turnover just couldn’t foot.
However, apart from what often seemed nothing more than publicity stunts, politicians who had an eye on a general election in a country besotted with English football particularly Liverpool FC and would source the purchase price through other people’s money little seemed to move.
A fully underwritten £73 million cash bid from another board member was on the table but deemed derisory.
There was for whatever reason hope of billionaires not just plain millionaires riding in. Bottom pits of funding. Outside of financial circles and the world of venture capitalism few had considered or even heard the term leveraged buy out.
Over the five and a half years Rafael Benitez at been at Liverpool’s helm the game and other clubs including those who already had the jump on Liverpool has moved forward.
Some at an rapid pace due to the interest of not just industrialists but sovereign wealth funds.
At that same stage Gerard Houllier was placing his pot plants into a box and heading to Lyon Sheik Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan had possibly never heard of Manchester City. Dish-dashes had yet to enter the consciousness of those at Eastlands as a match day accessory.
Abu Dhabi’s hydrocarbon wealth makes the emirate and its ruling family one of the richest in the Middle East. Somewhere in the region of £500 million of that affluence has been ploughed into playing staff and £304.9 million converted from shareholder loan to equity.
The purchase of a further £89.6 million means City’s on paper debt is far too minimal to cause Michel Platini any worries about debt levels.
Just as it was in 2004 Liverpool are spluttering and the fans seem split about the man in charge, though not perhaps 50/50, between those who support the manager. Though they possibly look at the players when analysing reasons for the malaise want to get behind each and every man in a red shirt even the ones who could at best be described as below par.
Typically those of that persuasion will lay blame away from the coaches and though they may point a finger towards the pitch there’s no desire to rock the boat or even cause further problems by doing anything other than backing the team to the hilt.
There has been a tide against Rafa for longer than the past few months and those who had already turned against him prior to this current season may criticise the players for under-achieving but place most ills squarely at coach’s door.
This category also tend to not only shout louder but also ring the phone-ins and other fans forums - not all solely Liverpool Football Club related. Events in the FA Cup give them that extra oxygen as producers and editors scrabble to put them on air.
Those who are still behind the manager suffer but do so silently ignoring the various interactions available to them. So for some, the laziest in the media included, the dissenters appear to be the majority. However, even though their ranks have swelled in recent weeks anecdotal evidence still suggests they are not.
While debate focuses on the ownership, funding and future direction of the club events on the pitch can often seem secondary but with the club’s financial situation sorted in the short term, albeit via the equivalent of an elastoplast that are refinanced loans with huge demands for capital payment when renewed, attention inevitably moves from Gillett and Hicks to a man who has tended to feature in many off field dramas as well as the on field disappointments - Rafael Benitez.
For all the abusive e-mails, assurances about the manager’s tenure and possibility of further investment reports cannot go beyond quotes from sources close to proposed deals but the prodigious generation of column inches about the club can continue as the team struggles to claim points or progress in other arenas.
There is no shortage of opinion from writers, pundits and those who have previously served the club which means the manager especially can be kept in the crosshairs while pot shots of mud are aimed in his direction.
One of those courtesy of Charlie Nicholas on Sky’s Soccer Saturday who suggested to his colleague Phil Thompson that the side he presided over alongside Gerard Houllier was better than the one now assembled.
It makes comparisons that will keep coming inevitable.
On the surface appraisals of the Houllier and Benitez periods are fair. Take the team’s set up.
Despite attempts to introduce it there is little true width in the side and for some strange reason little movement plus less creativity despite a team brimming with ability in that department.
There are similarities other than what is said to be a one dimensional style. Results and form are as poor as the final knockings under the Frenchman. Confidence is at rock bottom and players who are much better than they look can sometimes barely keep possession at stages of the game. When it is retained even comfortably often they struggle to do much with it.
Some signings who promised much have failed to blossom.
However, under Houllier the players drafted in got progressively worse and never looked like improving. There was so little coming through the reserve ranks who with the exception of finishing top in 2000 trundled along in the Premiership Reserves North.
If that wasn’t bleak enough the playing style was not so much careful as bubble wrapped in fear.
When an advantage was found it would be nursed and the shop closed. There was an over-dependence on long balls to exploit Michael Owen’s pace but not a lot else. The Reds simply could go no further under his guidance.
The team reflected the manager perfectly who suffered from something bordering on paranoia during the final months of his stewardship. Be that people linked with his job and all manner of opinion being submitted from an important constituent of the Liverpool family ex-players.
Links with other managers are being made and courted by journalists who realise that no one touted as a successor will rule themselves out.
Despite of the paltry funds which would be at their disposal and bickering above their heads being mentioned in the same breath as the Anfield hotseat does their career prospects no harm at all.
For Martin O’Neill now read Jurgen Klinsmann and if some reports are to be believed Martin O’Neill again. Guus Hiddink and Jose Mourinho are also mentioned but the current Russia and Inter Milan managers are - well - nothing more than wild Guus chases. The former earns over £6 million in his current role and a further well remunerated role with Chelsea as a technical directory. No bad return for a 63 year old.
Mourinho may have enjoyed seeing his favourite emergency striker Robert Huth grab a late equaliser against the Reds but will not, according to sources close to the Portuguese, join any club in a state of financial volatility. Nor will he join one which stable or not has no money to fund his inevitably expensive tastes.
Unlike Benitez Houllier allowed it all to creep under his skin.
Does everything but reaction to those critiques from old boys ring true today?
A striking contrast its that Gerard Houllier’s sides were roughly playing to their level. The current side is not as good as it could be and capable of so much better.
Regardless of who left during the summer it should certainly have pretensions of a title challenge after the last campaign. Even if efforts are to be in vain that chance of claiming the trophy has to be on well into the spring.
The worst factor of the current situation is that players who are far better than their current showings and world class performers are retreating within themselves because they seem too scared to make an error.
It could even be ventured that they have no faith in the manager - but that is purely speculative as are claims that either the whole or certain portions of the dressing room have to coin that oft quoted phrase been lost. Reading between the lines suggestions revolve around the non-Spanish or those for whom Spanish is not the first language.
Frankly many performances including the one at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday belie the claim.
Rafa has a very different relationship with his players than most managers. In essence he may never have had the dressing room - just the respect rather than admiration of many members of his squad for his achievements. Steven Gerrard has openly spoke about the situation and that distance is purposeful.
He is perhaps as every manager should be not a friend but a man in charge who may have to drop them or let them know that their time at Anfield has come to an end. He rarely singles any specific individual for praise preferring to talk about the team as a whole and pour over what could have gone better. Even when he should be basking in victory.
Some whose names need not be repeated now are living on borrowed time, past reputation or could simply do with a change of scene. This includes those who have been acquired by Benitez for sizeable fees but there are buys Rafa has made who may not form the core of club but do show potential and have every chance of a successful career in L4. As for the quality of signings. They have certainly improved as time has gone on but regardless of the source of funds being borrowings the money available has increased.
The Reading result has seen many of those who considered themselves somewhere in the middle of the debate jump to one side but it’s only the knee-jerk reaction to the result rather than the manager’s tactics and decisions.
A positive result against Stoke would not have sated their ire but no blame can be heaped on Rafa or the players not putting the Potters away.
The simple fact is that a strong team not one that could be considered in any way weakened below an unacceptable point took to the field. They were set up correctly for the task of defending the inevitable bombardment as well as holding and attacking. If they had not more time would have been spent within a narrow midfield corridor.
Of course with one exception - goals scored - statistics do not decide games. Unfortunately Gerard Houllier based his after match press conferences around them when under pressure. They were straws he would clutch at but all too often they were the irrelevant ones.
Rafa has always tended to take a different tack analysing the play and whether his team held control of matters. The Opta sheets are rarely grasped.
These things happen to every club which has ever taken to a football field be that in a knock-out tournament or league and at any level.
Liverpool are creating opportunities in most games played and evidence gathered from eyes alone demonstrates that Rafa’s sides while often careful produce a better brand of football now than most sides have since he took charge.
Almost every analysis proves that the majority of opponents are heavily beaten in key areas but it’s the inability to put the chances this creates away which is costing dear.
However, there is no escaping that at times some unconfident and lifeless football is being played and though a plan B is surely suggested like so many teams when the A game is frustrated Liverpool can play under a huge amount of fear and look to pick off chances where they can rather than rip at the jugular.
The manager’s style is essentially cautious but only in the respect that regardless of the phase of play he would prefer to have his team acting as one. If the opposition has the ball everyone in their own way will defend - from front to back. If the ball is forward the team should line up in support ready to win the second and third balls if the first is lost.
Last season when confidence was high this produced the type of performances witnessed against Derby County, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Real Madrid and others. This term the displays against Hull City, Manchester United again and Everton have been exceptions rather than something approaching the rule.
All too often in recent times this had only led to the creation pretty patterns of play and slick movement until the vital point when someone is expected to pull the trigger. When that killer touch or cutting edge is missing. In many games it has all looked so fruitless.
For a number of weeks when a goal has been scored the Reds have done everything but add to it - be that before or after the net is found. At one stage that would have been enough to achieve the minimum required for a win but the normally solid backline has had its wobbles and that unusual vulnerability has cost dear.
Liverpool have often had more than enough chances to win handsomely but a failure to exploit them has yielded many of the 28 points so far dropped.
With those in the bank the Reds would still not be muscling for pole position but in a league no other team seems keen to win would have a chance. They would certainly be as handily placed as any of the other challengers.
However, there are clearly problems at the club and within the dressing room.
As previously stated the exact cause remains a matter of conjecture - often depending where you stand on the manager’s future - but if players do not seem bothered and enjoy a joke immediately after a poor result, no longer believe in the manager or his methods well that will only usually end one way - a new man taking over.
That is part of the situation which did for Houllier
Claims that the current ownership situation and the fact that the fans have marshalled against the rule of Gillett and Hicks also has its comparison. The rows, emails and sidling up to Klinsmann were thought to have made Rafa fire proof. In the same way that Houllier’s heart surgery in late 2001 and then subsequent return five months later on the night a 2-0 win over Roma secured progress to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time. But that highly charged evening along with the treble cup win the previous season proved to be the pinnacle of his six year stay as despite going a dozen games without defeat from the start of the next season that was followed by a sequence of 11 more league matches during which a win could not be bought. The situation went down hill from there on in.
A worry is that if Rafa is dismissed then Liverpool fall back and set the same standards which saw Manchester United spiral away for years until a decade or so down the line somebody suggested they should show a little patience in the man charged with guiding the club. Just as they did at Everton who despite dipping after the high of Champions League qualification showed a little restraint in keeping David Moyes even when league form faltered and their European adventure ended in humiliation.
Whether he lifts the only piece of silverware now available or fails to qualify for the Champions League it’s not the end for Rafa but these days could certainly mark its beginnings if things don’t start to look up.
That was certainly the case for Houllier who didn’t have the boardroom unrest or fans drawing battle lines over the club’s soul to contend with only a focus that included on field matters.
Rafa quite rightly can point to his exploits in Europe which rivals every Liverpool manager but Bob Paisley and Joe Fagan who reached three and two European Cup finals respectively and in successive seasons. Two in three years and one win represents a better record than any current manager other than Carlo Ancelotti.
Considering no side has ever defended the trophy in the Champions League era it’s more than just the knock-out cup often portrayed and at the business end Europe’s elite are usually waiting. Each trying to land a knock-out blow on their fellow behemoths.
Reaching the final two years out of three is not the same as guiding your charges to a similar number of League Cups in as many terms.
Has Rafa taken the club as far as he can? Almost certainly not rather than probably not. Nor has he created the same type of side he had at Valencia. Though he has tried due to financial constraints and the time to hand in which matters need to be melded together the job is still in hand.
He deserves more time as well as an adequate amount of financial backing but seems likely to be left short on at least one if not both of these commodities.
At stages it has seemed things were progressing well but now the side is struggling for confidence as well as results. It makes a review of his position inevitable regardless of who owns the club and whether the fans become as vocal in opposition as they are and have been in his defence. That will only happen come May rather than on Monday or even Thursday morning.
However, hands are tied when an overwhelming debt generated by owners who sought to milk a cash cow they never believed would fail to produce the cream. At least until a global downturn stunted the borrowing and loan markets they had previously exploited to great effect.
That economic climate means those same owners who have remained unable to move the club or its plans forward virtually since the day they have arrived need to see the comparatively little commercial revenue, substantial broadcast rights money and cash from player sales service the interest they have placed squarely on the clubs shoulders.
It should be added that significant sums of money have been raised from players who, like the club in general, Rafael Benitez has more often than not made better than when they arrived.
Until these particularly thorny issues can be ironed out some rather vicious circles cannot be squared and Liverpool will be left continually hoping that someone can help them punch above their collective weight.
Sunday 10 January 2010
Trading up has been the only way to move on
It was not without good reason that the Daily Mirror has lomng been referred to as the Daily Manc by Liverpool fans.
The tabloid and seeming most other titles plus broadcasters had what seemed an unhealthy pre-occupation with all Old Trafford.
The 1980s particularly was littered with stories which flattered to deceive about the Red Devils.
Any time spent at the pinnacle of Division One no matter how slim or wide the advantage enjoyed was joyously predicted as certain to break a title drought that had afflicted the club since the late 1960s.
The odd FA Cup win was greeted with the pomp and ceremony no number of League and European triumphs ever received from local and national TV.
It is perhaps the role of local stations to dwell on silverware brought to their region but in the North West - ‘Granadaland’ as it became known - there was live footage from open top buses chuntering along Salford avenues and alleyways affecting the scheduled programming on a Sunday afternoon.
There would be no such changes to the listings when Liverpool brought no small measure of bling to the streets.
People complained when coverage of Nelson Mandela's release from prison was shown instead of The Antiques Roadshow. Had the anti-aparthied campaigner been released on the same day as a United cup homecoming there is no doubt which would have been opted for.
Live TV coverage of matches which was far more sporadic than viewers are used to now would invariably centre around the more popular clubs. Therefore Liverpool and United amongst very few others would regularly feature.
However, man of the match awards were usually the theifdom of one side and when fit enough to play - no matter what his contribution - Bryan Robson would scoop the accolade.
Despite many false dawns and predictions of 'Gold Trafford' future being scotched well before the business end of a campaign the trend continued.
As Liverpool were more often that not the team to profit when the trophies were handed out. There was a long and heart last laugh.
In modern times Reds may be observing from a glasshouse in terms of championship success so the laughs are hollow as the media love or possibly fear continues.
In contrast been little succour for Rafael Benitez from many journalists. There are of course those who know the manager and respect his methods writing across various titles. Some are Liverpool fans - though not exclusively. In any case they are a small if select group.
There is no small measure of irony in that one paper - that aforementioned Mirror in its weekend and Sunday editions - has carried pieces dealing with Liverpool and Manchester United which raised similar issues but treated them very differently. Albeit it one was wholly opinion based and the other tagged as exclusive news.
Only a few days ago Martin Lipton used Birmingham City’s rejected £8 million bid for Ryan Babel plus the then imminent departures of Andriy Voronin and Andrea Dossena as a convenient reason to write an article slating transfer policy since Rafael Benitez took charge.
Lipton included players acquired if not sold before the Spaniard joined the club which he placed in his musings and calculations. His piece also lacked further matters of qualification such as profits which have been brought in - including those on Voronin and Degen if the latter is allowed to leave as the duo were signed on frees.
The rapid departure of some players was also raised.
It was suggested this was covered by the odd success actively used by the manager as a fig leaf to cover embarrassment.
However, the received wisdom that everyone could recognise the talent the likes of Fernando Torres possesses is untrue.
Alex Ferguson was one of many who took a long hard look at the player but decided not to follow up his interest. Doubts about his finishing and ability to adapt to English surroundings were amongst the issues raised.
Sunday’s paper suggests the United manager is attempting to get shut of Dimitar Berbatov as well as Anderson, Nani and Zoran Tosic.
Another likely departure is that of Nemanja Vidic described as unsettled but who as many know is able to take his pick of clubs in the summer and will most likely head to La Liga - though not necessarily to the club Sir Alex Ferguson stated he would not sell a virus to - when he inevitably does leave.
Yet there is no mention of the sums shelled out for these players. Nor the fact that absolutely none apart from Vidic will attract anything like a profit. In fact a loss of more than half their initial cost is the most likely outcome.
Nor is it raised that others signed for large amounts have not exactly provided lengthy or distinguished service nor reaped a decent yield when they have departed.
There has also been little analysis unlike in this piece - http://tinyurl.com/yfzjdr9 - which sets the record straight and provides the figures Lipton may have opted neither to research let alone include.
Of course it is written from a partial point of view but it is an opinion piece not reporting of actuality and unlike Lipton who has set out to write a piece and make the facts stretch to fit. There is in Paul Tomkins’s case an ability to detach from any liking for both the club and its manager. The research not to mention the figures bear his point out.
Doing no more than merely running an eye over some balance sheets demonstrates Liverpool's major signings plus almost everyone in the eight figure range are ones that have been a success on the playing side.
Plenty of success has been enjoyed below that mark but it is in this decidedly choppy lower end of the market and this area alone that the ratio only begins to slip.
Of those with large hopes placed against their name only Fernando Morientes who virtually everyone thought was perfectly designed for the English game and Ryan Babel who has an attitude that neither matches his talent nor does it any favours have ultimately disappointed.
However, so does the record of every manager. Sir Alex included.
Using the players Ferguson is rumoured to be ready to part with plus a selection of those he has already waved through the door makes for interesting reading.
Nani cost just shy of £17 million - a fee Rafa Benitez and by virtue Liverpool has only exceeded four times while Alex Ferguson has breached that ceiling on more than double that number of occasions.
One of those being in the recruitment of Anderson who apart from the odd cameo compares just as unfavourably as Ryan Babel.
So too Owen Hargreaves and Berbatov. But for Manchester City finding they suddenly had more money than Croesus the latter would have set a domestic record at the initial £30.75 million (excluding the value of Frasier Campbell’s loan) laid out as confirmed by Tottenham‘s published financial accounts.
Tosic is well below that point. £7 million is the down payment possibly rising to as high as £16 million depending on various clauses of the deal. Now he purportedly sees his career written off after just a year and five full appearances.
Hargreaves who was also not far shy of the £20 million mark brought some badly needed solidity to the United midfield has played less than 40 times in almost three seasons - though Alberto Aquilani who as good as becomes a new player in 2010 is slammed as a poor signing due to his injury record.
Factor in to this David Bellion, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Tim Howard, Kleberson, Alan Smith and Diego Forlan. The Uruguayan may be something of a cult figure amongst the United number for making 'the Scousers cry' but he only damaged the Reds once and is generally regarded as someone who lost their way at Old Trafford.
Those names and again the list is far from exhaustive outnumber the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand but demonstrate the financial clout which has been at Sir Alex‘s disposal for almost a decade - Dwight York and Jaap Stam were bought in 1998 allowing the Old Trafford transfer record to jump by over 50% and exceed £10 million for the first time.
That mark was almost trebled just three summers on with the arrival of Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy for £28.1 million and £19 million respectively.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and some other equally astute purchases seem like the exception rather than the rule when compared to some names. It is also notable that very few players are emerging from the junior ranks compared to the 1990s.
Ferdinand bought for £30 million in 2002 cost almost £7 million more than all those who turned out in Liverpool’s defence throughout the whole of last season.
Glen Johnson’s national rather than actual value alters that situation but perhaps also demonstrates a key financial strategy Rafael Benitez has needed to employ over the last four and a half years. Namely trading up.
A desire to move Jamie Carragher in to the centre rather than see someone regarded as a utility man serve across the rear necessitated the signature of a specialist right back.
Josemi was the first player the manager used in a first class game and indeed his first signing possibly a signal of the importance he placed in the role. After failing to settle he was replaced just 18 months on by Jan Kromkamp in a direct swap.
Neither made the greatest impact but the budget just wasn’t there. Though it did snap Steve Finnan into the form and consistency most fans had been begging for him to show.
Much needed competition for the Irish international came in the shape of Alvaro Arbeloa who started as a £2.64 million rival for the role but one capable of turning in exceptional perormances on the left until he graduated to become the first choice. Allowing the opportunity for Finnan to make a deadline day exit in August 2008.
A lack of real width and consistency from those supposed to provide it made the full-back positions but especially that particular flank vital.
One of the hallmarks Rafa has historically puts on his sides has been attacking and defending as one unit down the flanks. Though there was a will to overlap and play a full part in forward moves as part of a fluid wing which would snap back and forth as required neither Arbeloa or Finnan seemed overly comfortable bombing on. A requirement given that the wingers or at least notional wide players Liverpool did have were essentially players more comfortable inside.
At the same time there was no money available to recruit a top class winger meaning Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena - who Rafa this week admitted he signed as offensive full-backs as they were cheaper alternatives - were brought in to add greater weight.
Injury, tactical demands and acclimatisation issues have mitigated against these gambles working but only at the cost of salaries.
There was fortune in that the finest attacking full-back in the country and one far better at defending than the received wisdom would have many believe belonged to a cash strapped club. Not only that one who were not only keen to rid a high earner from their books but also owed the Reds from Peter Crouch’s profitable transfer.
With a mutual desire on behalf of the club and player to link up the ideal right back was acquired.
It has been the same in other departments including attack.
A need to make ends meet until enough money could be generated to find the right player led to a genealogy of Milan Baros, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes, Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler’s second coming, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt allowed the cycle to reach Torres.
The tabloid and seeming most other titles plus broadcasters had what seemed an unhealthy pre-occupation with all Old Trafford.
The 1980s particularly was littered with stories which flattered to deceive about the Red Devils.
Any time spent at the pinnacle of Division One no matter how slim or wide the advantage enjoyed was joyously predicted as certain to break a title drought that had afflicted the club since the late 1960s.
The odd FA Cup win was greeted with the pomp and ceremony no number of League and European triumphs ever received from local and national TV.
It is perhaps the role of local stations to dwell on silverware brought to their region but in the North West - ‘Granadaland’ as it became known - there was live footage from open top buses chuntering along Salford avenues and alleyways affecting the scheduled programming on a Sunday afternoon.
There would be no such changes to the listings when Liverpool brought no small measure of bling to the streets.
People complained when coverage of Nelson Mandela's release from prison was shown instead of The Antiques Roadshow. Had the anti-aparthied campaigner been released on the same day as a United cup homecoming there is no doubt which would have been opted for.
Live TV coverage of matches which was far more sporadic than viewers are used to now would invariably centre around the more popular clubs. Therefore Liverpool and United amongst very few others would regularly feature.
However, man of the match awards were usually the theifdom of one side and when fit enough to play - no matter what his contribution - Bryan Robson would scoop the accolade.
Despite many false dawns and predictions of 'Gold Trafford' future being scotched well before the business end of a campaign the trend continued.
As Liverpool were more often that not the team to profit when the trophies were handed out. There was a long and heart last laugh.
In modern times Reds may be observing from a glasshouse in terms of championship success so the laughs are hollow as the media love or possibly fear continues.
In contrast been little succour for Rafael Benitez from many journalists. There are of course those who know the manager and respect his methods writing across various titles. Some are Liverpool fans - though not exclusively. In any case they are a small if select group.
There is no small measure of irony in that one paper - that aforementioned Mirror in its weekend and Sunday editions - has carried pieces dealing with Liverpool and Manchester United which raised similar issues but treated them very differently. Albeit it one was wholly opinion based and the other tagged as exclusive news.
Only a few days ago Martin Lipton used Birmingham City’s rejected £8 million bid for Ryan Babel plus the then imminent departures of Andriy Voronin and Andrea Dossena as a convenient reason to write an article slating transfer policy since Rafael Benitez took charge.
Lipton included players acquired if not sold before the Spaniard joined the club which he placed in his musings and calculations. His piece also lacked further matters of qualification such as profits which have been brought in - including those on Voronin and Degen if the latter is allowed to leave as the duo were signed on frees.
The rapid departure of some players was also raised.
It was suggested this was covered by the odd success actively used by the manager as a fig leaf to cover embarrassment.
However, the received wisdom that everyone could recognise the talent the likes of Fernando Torres possesses is untrue.
Alex Ferguson was one of many who took a long hard look at the player but decided not to follow up his interest. Doubts about his finishing and ability to adapt to English surroundings were amongst the issues raised.
Sunday’s paper suggests the United manager is attempting to get shut of Dimitar Berbatov as well as Anderson, Nani and Zoran Tosic.
Another likely departure is that of Nemanja Vidic described as unsettled but who as many know is able to take his pick of clubs in the summer and will most likely head to La Liga - though not necessarily to the club Sir Alex Ferguson stated he would not sell a virus to - when he inevitably does leave.
Yet there is no mention of the sums shelled out for these players. Nor the fact that absolutely none apart from Vidic will attract anything like a profit. In fact a loss of more than half their initial cost is the most likely outcome.
Nor is it raised that others signed for large amounts have not exactly provided lengthy or distinguished service nor reaped a decent yield when they have departed.
There has also been little analysis unlike in this piece - http://tinyurl.com/yfzjdr9 - which sets the record straight and provides the figures Lipton may have opted neither to research let alone include.
Of course it is written from a partial point of view but it is an opinion piece not reporting of actuality and unlike Lipton who has set out to write a piece and make the facts stretch to fit. There is in Paul Tomkins’s case an ability to detach from any liking for both the club and its manager. The research not to mention the figures bear his point out.
Doing no more than merely running an eye over some balance sheets demonstrates Liverpool's major signings plus almost everyone in the eight figure range are ones that have been a success on the playing side.
Plenty of success has been enjoyed below that mark but it is in this decidedly choppy lower end of the market and this area alone that the ratio only begins to slip.
Of those with large hopes placed against their name only Fernando Morientes who virtually everyone thought was perfectly designed for the English game and Ryan Babel who has an attitude that neither matches his talent nor does it any favours have ultimately disappointed.
However, so does the record of every manager. Sir Alex included.
Using the players Ferguson is rumoured to be ready to part with plus a selection of those he has already waved through the door makes for interesting reading.
Nani cost just shy of £17 million - a fee Rafa Benitez and by virtue Liverpool has only exceeded four times while Alex Ferguson has breached that ceiling on more than double that number of occasions.
One of those being in the recruitment of Anderson who apart from the odd cameo compares just as unfavourably as Ryan Babel.
So too Owen Hargreaves and Berbatov. But for Manchester City finding they suddenly had more money than Croesus the latter would have set a domestic record at the initial £30.75 million (excluding the value of Frasier Campbell’s loan) laid out as confirmed by Tottenham‘s published financial accounts.
Tosic is well below that point. £7 million is the down payment possibly rising to as high as £16 million depending on various clauses of the deal. Now he purportedly sees his career written off after just a year and five full appearances.
Hargreaves who was also not far shy of the £20 million mark brought some badly needed solidity to the United midfield has played less than 40 times in almost three seasons - though Alberto Aquilani who as good as becomes a new player in 2010 is slammed as a poor signing due to his injury record.
Factor in to this David Bellion, Eric Djemba-Djemba, Tim Howard, Kleberson, Alan Smith and Diego Forlan. The Uruguayan may be something of a cult figure amongst the United number for making 'the Scousers cry' but he only damaged the Reds once and is generally regarded as someone who lost their way at Old Trafford.
Those names and again the list is far from exhaustive outnumber the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldo and Rio Ferdinand but demonstrate the financial clout which has been at Sir Alex‘s disposal for almost a decade - Dwight York and Jaap Stam were bought in 1998 allowing the Old Trafford transfer record to jump by over 50% and exceed £10 million for the first time.
That mark was almost trebled just three summers on with the arrival of Juan Sebastian Veron and Ruud van Nistelrooy for £28.1 million and £19 million respectively.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and some other equally astute purchases seem like the exception rather than the rule when compared to some names. It is also notable that very few players are emerging from the junior ranks compared to the 1990s.
Ferdinand bought for £30 million in 2002 cost almost £7 million more than all those who turned out in Liverpool’s defence throughout the whole of last season.
Glen Johnson’s national rather than actual value alters that situation but perhaps also demonstrates a key financial strategy Rafael Benitez has needed to employ over the last four and a half years. Namely trading up.
A desire to move Jamie Carragher in to the centre rather than see someone regarded as a utility man serve across the rear necessitated the signature of a specialist right back.
Josemi was the first player the manager used in a first class game and indeed his first signing possibly a signal of the importance he placed in the role. After failing to settle he was replaced just 18 months on by Jan Kromkamp in a direct swap.
Neither made the greatest impact but the budget just wasn’t there. Though it did snap Steve Finnan into the form and consistency most fans had been begging for him to show.
Much needed competition for the Irish international came in the shape of Alvaro Arbeloa who started as a £2.64 million rival for the role but one capable of turning in exceptional perormances on the left until he graduated to become the first choice. Allowing the opportunity for Finnan to make a deadline day exit in August 2008.
A lack of real width and consistency from those supposed to provide it made the full-back positions but especially that particular flank vital.
One of the hallmarks Rafa has historically puts on his sides has been attacking and defending as one unit down the flanks. Though there was a will to overlap and play a full part in forward moves as part of a fluid wing which would snap back and forth as required neither Arbeloa or Finnan seemed overly comfortable bombing on. A requirement given that the wingers or at least notional wide players Liverpool did have were essentially players more comfortable inside.
At the same time there was no money available to recruit a top class winger meaning Philipp Degen and Andrea Dossena - who Rafa this week admitted he signed as offensive full-backs as they were cheaper alternatives - were brought in to add greater weight.
Injury, tactical demands and acclimatisation issues have mitigated against these gambles working but only at the cost of salaries.
There was fortune in that the finest attacking full-back in the country and one far better at defending than the received wisdom would have many believe belonged to a cash strapped club. Not only that one who were not only keen to rid a high earner from their books but also owed the Reds from Peter Crouch’s profitable transfer.
With a mutual desire on behalf of the club and player to link up the ideal right back was acquired.
It has been the same in other departments including attack.
A need to make ends meet until enough money could be generated to find the right player led to a genealogy of Milan Baros, Florent Sinama-Pongolle, Djibril Cisse, Fernando Morientes, Peter Crouch, Robbie Fowler’s second coming, Craig Bellamy and Dirk Kuyt allowed the cycle to reach Torres.
Thursday 7 January 2010
Possible January targets - Emile Heskey
When Emile Heskey left Liverpool in the summer of 2004 it was a move to both his and the club’s benefit. A player who had it all had simply lost his way at Anfield.
A record signing in March 2000 he had pace, power and stamina. Not to mention immense strength which gave him an ability to hold the ball. Allied to this was an intelligence to draw defenders out which meant he was able to dovetail perfectly with the then two deadliest strikers in domestic football - Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler.
He could also find the net and made an outstanding contribution to the treble cup win in 2000-01 then the next campaign when the Reds finished Premiership runners-up. A tantalising seven points adrift of champions Arsenal.
A couple of seasons later his confidence - such an important factor to most players’ games but crucial to Emile - had plummeted. So had his value. His initial fee of £11 million had more or less halved over four seasons as had his stock within the game.
January 2010 and 12 months after he was last linked to an Anfield return not only is Emile Heskey back in the England squad he is rumoured to be a prime target for two of the Premier League’s established top four clubs.
Chelsea are linked though probably a long shot. Even with Didier Drogba heading to Angola for the African Cup of Nations and likely to stay with his Ivory Coast side to the very end of tournament Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to have to live up to his promise of running around his training ground naked.
At least not on Heskey's behalf.
Drogba's flip-flops are far too big for the current Villa man to fill. The Ivorian does not only provide a presence upront and similar to Heskey bring the best out of others he is a genuine goal threat. When his head is on - one of the best in the world.
With Nicolas Anelka an automatic selection at Stamford Bridge there are other options. Though the suitability of Daniel Sturridge despite his two goals in the FA Cup is debatable.
Liverpool is a more realistic destination should Villa decide to recoup some of their investment. Though even this prospect seems remote.
Of the possible suitors for a Champions League place Villa are the outsiders. Lacking the financial clout of Manchester City and Tottenham plus the depth of these squads plus that Liverpool have while they back-pedal there is a tactical imperative for Martin O'Neill to keep hold of a man whose attributes help a team which relies on pace in counter attacks and doesn't hold the ball for long.
Heskey, who his fellow pros admire and recognise the contribution he makes, allows the pressure to be relieved better than anyone else on the Villa Park books.
Different to John Carew holds the ball and makes sure it sticks usually bringing in the right player when the time is right to release. Gabriel Agbonlahor will rifle upfield but is too unpredicatable to be the out ball.
However, like Wayne Rooney at international level Agbonlahor thrives on the type of service Emile provides.
Fabio Capello stuck with Heskey despite regular domestic starts being at a premium and broke his rule about minutes on the pitch being a crucial selection criterion simply because he increases Rooney's potency, allows him to have the license that has hurt opponents and paved a trouble free World Cup qualification.
Emile thrived under O’Neill during his time at Leicester. His prowess as a target man even revitalised the career of Tony Cottee and the Foxes without a final since 1969 won the League Cup twice in a few seasons.
Now the Irishman is making Heskey one of the first names on his teamsheet.
Emile never worked under Rafa who it is said would have retained his services if amongst the pool of players inherited from Gerard Houllier. That may be true but how long that association would have lasted is another matter.
At that stage the 26 year old needed an arm around his shoulder and reassurance about his contribution to the club plus the security of his first team place. Rafa would not have been that comforting figure and rotation would have been unbearable.
By leaving Anfield he could have had a future in L4. Now just weeks away from blowing 32 birthday candles out and with not just experience but having displayed he can ride the blows life throws at him Emile Heskey has probably shown he has the mental toughness to play for a club like Liverpool no matter if the side seems to be lurching between a challenge for honours or failing to meet its own standards.
But the tactical imperative facing O'Neill is not one his opposite number at Anfield necessarily faces.
Though Rafa has employed a 4-4-2 system this term most recently against Reading its results have not always been convincing meaning the five man midfield or a formation which is often summarised as a 4-2-3-1
No matter what the personnel employed in certain parts be that Alberto Aquilani, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt or possibly Maxi Rodriguez it allows Steven Gerratd to maraude through the middle with wide options left and right.
One man leads the line. When fit that has to be Torres who will find the net with the same grace and regularity that has hallmarked his time at Anfield.
If he should miss games due to the abdominal injury he has been carrying or the type of problems which can often recur in an explosive player namely hamstring and other strains there needs to be a more firepower in reserve.
Only one purchase or even a loan is likely in this department. Given the financial constraints there may well be none especially as there may be additional resources needed elsewhere.
Heskey remains one of the most shot shy forwards in the game holding up play and knocking balls on is simply not a priority.
A record signing in March 2000 he had pace, power and stamina. Not to mention immense strength which gave him an ability to hold the ball. Allied to this was an intelligence to draw defenders out which meant he was able to dovetail perfectly with the then two deadliest strikers in domestic football - Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler.
He could also find the net and made an outstanding contribution to the treble cup win in 2000-01 then the next campaign when the Reds finished Premiership runners-up. A tantalising seven points adrift of champions Arsenal.
A couple of seasons later his confidence - such an important factor to most players’ games but crucial to Emile - had plummeted. So had his value. His initial fee of £11 million had more or less halved over four seasons as had his stock within the game.
January 2010 and 12 months after he was last linked to an Anfield return not only is Emile Heskey back in the England squad he is rumoured to be a prime target for two of the Premier League’s established top four clubs.
Chelsea are linked though probably a long shot. Even with Didier Drogba heading to Angola for the African Cup of Nations and likely to stay with his Ivory Coast side to the very end of tournament Carlo Ancelotti is unlikely to have to live up to his promise of running around his training ground naked.
At least not on Heskey's behalf.
Drogba's flip-flops are far too big for the current Villa man to fill. The Ivorian does not only provide a presence upront and similar to Heskey bring the best out of others he is a genuine goal threat. When his head is on - one of the best in the world.
With Nicolas Anelka an automatic selection at Stamford Bridge there are other options. Though the suitability of Daniel Sturridge despite his two goals in the FA Cup is debatable.
Liverpool is a more realistic destination should Villa decide to recoup some of their investment. Though even this prospect seems remote.
Of the possible suitors for a Champions League place Villa are the outsiders. Lacking the financial clout of Manchester City and Tottenham plus the depth of these squads plus that Liverpool have while they back-pedal there is a tactical imperative for Martin O'Neill to keep hold of a man whose attributes help a team which relies on pace in counter attacks and doesn't hold the ball for long.
Heskey, who his fellow pros admire and recognise the contribution he makes, allows the pressure to be relieved better than anyone else on the Villa Park books.
Different to John Carew holds the ball and makes sure it sticks usually bringing in the right player when the time is right to release. Gabriel Agbonlahor will rifle upfield but is too unpredicatable to be the out ball.
However, like Wayne Rooney at international level Agbonlahor thrives on the type of service Emile provides.
Fabio Capello stuck with Heskey despite regular domestic starts being at a premium and broke his rule about minutes on the pitch being a crucial selection criterion simply because he increases Rooney's potency, allows him to have the license that has hurt opponents and paved a trouble free World Cup qualification.
Emile thrived under O’Neill during his time at Leicester. His prowess as a target man even revitalised the career of Tony Cottee and the Foxes without a final since 1969 won the League Cup twice in a few seasons.
Now the Irishman is making Heskey one of the first names on his teamsheet.
Emile never worked under Rafa who it is said would have retained his services if amongst the pool of players inherited from Gerard Houllier. That may be true but how long that association would have lasted is another matter.
At that stage the 26 year old needed an arm around his shoulder and reassurance about his contribution to the club plus the security of his first team place. Rafa would not have been that comforting figure and rotation would have been unbearable.
By leaving Anfield he could have had a future in L4. Now just weeks away from blowing 32 birthday candles out and with not just experience but having displayed he can ride the blows life throws at him Emile Heskey has probably shown he has the mental toughness to play for a club like Liverpool no matter if the side seems to be lurching between a challenge for honours or failing to meet its own standards.
But the tactical imperative facing O'Neill is not one his opposite number at Anfield necessarily faces.
Though Rafa has employed a 4-4-2 system this term most recently against Reading its results have not always been convincing meaning the five man midfield or a formation which is often summarised as a 4-2-3-1
No matter what the personnel employed in certain parts be that Alberto Aquilani, Lucas Leiva, Dirk Kuyt or possibly Maxi Rodriguez it allows Steven Gerratd to maraude through the middle with wide options left and right.
One man leads the line. When fit that has to be Torres who will find the net with the same grace and regularity that has hallmarked his time at Anfield.
If he should miss games due to the abdominal injury he has been carrying or the type of problems which can often recur in an explosive player namely hamstring and other strains there needs to be a more firepower in reserve.
Only one purchase or even a loan is likely in this department. Given the financial constraints there may well be none especially as there may be additional resources needed elsewhere.
Heskey remains one of the most shot shy forwards in the game holding up play and knocking balls on is simply not a priority.
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