Brentwood
11-01-2014, 06:48 PM
If you can be bothered to read it...
After reading some interesting observations believe it or not in the post match day thread it got me thinking about one of the potential pitfalls we have as a club and for me that's our expectancy as a fan base mainly due to our incredible history with what Liverpool as a club is now.
I hear often when normally in circular arguments about signings and expectations people say "but we are liverpool" "we exist to win trophies". As a fan every set of supports start out as enteral optimists hoping for a league title challenge, winning a cup etc it's why we are all so passionate about the sport the romance of it all however I feel one of the problems we have as a club is where the fans see our place in the current world standings compared to where we are/where the owners see our standings.
For me our current owners have done a lot right since being here, the decision to stay at Anfield for example being a big positive. They have also made it clear from day one they will invest what we make back into the club which considering what the previous owners were like is a godsend in comparison.
Now analysing what the owners want differs for me from what we as fans seem to expect. They seem to have a business plan in place of buying young players on moderate wages with potential in the hope they will develop while here then sell them on at a profit.
In my opinion that's the overall strategy. It's not imperative to win the league or even challenge if we can get top 4 every year with a young team and sell our best asset for a huge profit reinvesting it back into the playing squad year on year I personally feel they will see this as a success. Kennys sacking showed to me winning trophies was not the main focus. It's about maximising revenues and reinvesting profits, very much an Arsenal model from a few years back.
Now where I see an issue with this strategy is it requires a very high success rate with our transfer dealings. For this to work we need to have an outstanding operational and scouting team that's on exactly the same wavelength as the manager plus with the importance of finishing top 4 this season due to increased champions league revenue it's a very risky strategy, however saying that if we don't make top 4 this season I can see us pushing for a game abroad in the league of lucrative friendlies throughout the season.
Unfortuently there is a natural food chain and we are not at the top. Barcelona, Real Madrid lead the way followed by Manchester Utd, Man City, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich and that's not even including the likes of Arsenal, Dortmund, Althetico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus etc all have been playing regulary in Europe for years while we have been in the wilderness.
We are not in s position to complete for the very best players, unfortuently we sell our very best players and have done for years.
We are where we are as a club and we need to accept it. What we used to do best better than any club in the world for me was back our managers and allow them time. It's shouldn't even be a point that needs to be made but back the manager. Why because we are Liverpool and it's what we do!
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Excellent post.
In our prime, we excelled at scouting and developing talent. Clemence, Keegan, Rush, etc - all bought from lower leagues and turned into world class players. When was the last time we did that?
Our current scouting and transfer strategy looks a complete mess. We have known for months - if not years - that Suarez was leaving. So what did we do? Panic-buy Balotelli, a player rejected by all the other clubs he was offered to, at the last minute. Appalling.
Our player development looks a mess. How many players from the youth set up are in the team? Only Sterling, by the looks of it. Compare with Southampton.
A serious shake-up looks to be needed at the club, if the owners are to succeed with their "Arsenal model".
After reading some interesting observations believe it or not in the post match day thread it got me thinking about one of the potential pitfalls we have as a club and for me that's our expectancy as a fan base mainly due to our incredible history with what Liverpool as a club is now.
I hear often when normally in circular arguments about signings and expectations people say "but we are liverpool" "we exist to win trophies". As a fan every set of supports start out as enteral optimists hoping for a league title challenge, winning a cup etc it's why we are all so passionate about the sport the romance of it all however I feel one of the problems we have as a club is where the fans see our place in the current world standings compared to where we are/where the owners see our standings.
For me our current owners have done a lot right since being here, the decision to stay at Anfield for example being a big positive. They have also made it clear from day one they will invest what we make back into the club which considering what the previous owners were like is a godsend in comparison.
Now analysing what the owners want differs for me from what we as fans seem to expect. They seem to have a business plan in place of buying young players on moderate wages with potential in the hope they will develop while here then sell them on at a profit.
In my opinion that's the overall strategy. It's not imperative to win the league or even challenge if we can get top 4 every year with a young team and sell our best asset for a huge profit reinvesting it back into the playing squad year on year I personally feel they will see this as a success. Kennys sacking showed to me winning trophies was not the main focus. It's about maximising revenues and reinvesting profits, very much an Arsenal model from a few years back.
Now where I see an issue with this strategy is it requires a very high success rate with our transfer dealings. For this to work we need to have an outstanding operational and scouting team that's on exactly the same wavelength as the manager plus with the importance of finishing top 4 this season due to increased champions league revenue it's a very risky strategy, however saying that if we don't make top 4 this season I can see us pushing for a game abroad in the league of lucrative friendlies throughout the season.
Unfortuently there is a natural food chain and we are not at the top. Barcelona, Real Madrid lead the way followed by Manchester Utd, Man City, Chelsea, PSG, Bayern Munich and that's not even including the likes of Arsenal, Dortmund, Althetico Madrid, Inter Milan, Juventus etc all have been playing regulary in Europe for years while we have been in the wilderness.
We are not in s position to complete for the very best players, unfortuently we sell our very best players and have done for years.
We are where we are as a club and we need to accept it. What we used to do best better than any club in the world for me was back our managers and allow them time. It's shouldn't even be a point that needs to be made but back the manager. Why because we are Liverpool and it's what we do!
--
Excellent post.
In our prime, we excelled at scouting and developing talent. Clemence, Keegan, Rush, etc - all bought from lower leagues and turned into world class players. When was the last time we did that?
Our current scouting and transfer strategy looks a complete mess. We have known for months - if not years - that Suarez was leaving. So what did we do? Panic-buy Balotelli, a player rejected by all the other clubs he was offered to, at the last minute. Appalling.
Our player development looks a mess. How many players from the youth set up are in the team? Only Sterling, by the looks of it. Compare with Southampton.
A serious shake-up looks to be needed at the club, if the owners are to succeed with their "Arsenal model".