Understanding how much the club is intertwined in the lives of its supporters is to understand why so many failed to comprehend the damage the club’s stance did to its reputation both on and off the field during the Suarez/Evra affair.
The damage from a public relations standpoint is well documented and will take some time to get over. The club failed to take into account that in this country, football is a multi-cultural game played in a cultural melting pot and the feelings of many of our supporters and players should have been taken into account.
Turning up as a lifelong Liverpool supporter to games whether it has been at Anfield, where I have met supporters from as far a field as Malaysia, Thailand and America to QPR where I’ve met fans from India who now receive this blog, shows just how much support the club has around the world.
Continuing the point, the club in its wisdom decided that support for Suarez precluded not bringing in a striker to ease the situation, even on loan to take up the mantle in his absence through suspension. While this was partly due to the club’s transfer policy, there was a sense that Dalglish’s comments at the time were part of a public drive into supporting Suarez and as such make the striker feel secure.
With Dirk Kuyt playing intermittently and never the most prolific of scorers even from a central position, the decision also showed the folly of going into the season with only two strikers and one of those bought for his potential to deliver rather than what he’d actually achieved on the football pitch.
The manager’s intransigent nature endeared him to all but the very few supporters who refused to see the wider picture, but went to the very heart of those who felt it part of the club’s responsibility to recognise and help educate it’s own supporters that football has moved on from the 1970’s and 1980’s with the infamous John Barnes banana picture to the Everton slogan of “we are all white”.
That said the problems up until that point were not all down to ‘that incident’. We matched Man United at Anfield and were unlucky not to come out winners, but the overriding feeling of everyone around me in the Main Stand was that our finishing had not been up to par. Teams we’ve expected to put to the sword have come to Anfield and completely outplayed us. They say possession is nine tenths of the law and anyone who watched the home game against Swansea would have to agree. In footballing terms, Swansea were light years ahead us, we were chasing shadows and it was not much fun sitting in the stands watching Wigan, who like Swansea play a stylistic game formulated by Roberto Martinez, play us off the park. Hearing fans shout “get stuck in” out of share frustration shows the life at times at Anfield.
In Dalglish’s first incarnation as manager, Liverpool had a cutting edge based on creativity, pace, power and width, led by Barnes, Beardsley and Houghton which he continued in a more direct form at Blackburn. In his present carnation holding midfield players at home and selections endowed with little pace are the main components of his teams. At the home game against Stoke he countered their aerial threat by playing three centre-half’s and left the side bereft of pace and an aerial threat by leaving Bellamy and Carroll on the bench until late on, starting with Kuyt upfront in Suarez absence. Not for the first time going with one upfront or leaving Carroll on the bench and seemingly a more defensive modus operandi.
In the modern age no team expecting to challenge, whether in the Premiership or in the Champions League can afford to go in with two strikers even at the cost of almost 60 million between them. The room to manoeuvre is minimal as rotation becomes a virtual impossibility and leaves the team dangerously short of cover should the need arise through injury or as we felt in January, through suspension.
There is a systemic problem on the field which is plain for all to see, we cannot score goals, we have Luis Suarez as our top scorer in the Premiership with 8 goals from 27 games and how can any side compete with a scoring ratio of 1:16 per game; how can any team wanted to compete only win 5 home games in 16; how can any team wanted to compete go on their worst run since 1953-54 (losing 6 of their last 8 games); and if the Premiership had started on 1st January Liverpool would be 19th (see below), surely not acceptable in anyone’s book let alone a Liverpool manager.
15 Wigan 13pts
16 Stoke 13pts
17 QPR 11pts
18 Aston Villa 11pts
19 Liverpool 9pts
20 Wolves 5pts
Successful teams have qualities in abundance, one of which being match winners. Lionel Messi is rightly lauded for yet another record breaking season, but what is overlooked is significant contributions to the scoring charts by Xabi, Sanchez and Fabregas. Arsenal has started sharing goals around without relying as they have done for most of the season on the prolific contribution of Robin Van Persie.
The manager’s outpourings about critics lacking intelligence and not understanding what he is building and the team being unlucky are farcical when taking into account that Liverpool have drawn 11 home games and scored a barely believable 37 goals from 32 League games. It’s difficult to fathom the thinking behind the way the formation is structured and the style of play week in week out. One can understand Jordan Henderson playing on the right on occasions if his job is to help stifle a flying winger by supporting the right-back or tucking in to support the central midfield. It’s very difficult to be ultra critical when the position he often finds himself in, would normally see the winger attacking the full-back and it’s patently affected his confidence. Again, questionable management and coaching?
It’s irksome and disrespectful by some to continually make excuses for Liverpool’s transfer policy by pointing out the net spend in comparison to those of our rivals whether under Rafa or Kenny. Whether a player comes in on a free or costs 35 million he has a place in the squad and as a supporter I expect that player to produce to the required standard or have we fallen so far behind that we have no right to expect it?
Dalglish has put silverware in the cabinet and we can’t snort at that, but to be 36 points behind the leaders in a season where League progression was the measuring criterion is a catastrophe. We were never a realistic contender as Premiership champions, but qualification for the Champions League with the outlay sanctioned by the owners and with Arsenal and Chelsea in transitional phases, 2011-12 felt the right-time for LFC to make the move back into the big time.
Nothing is guaranteed in life, but with the promising signs from last season under ‘King Kenny’, Fenway Sports Group had obviously factored in the incoming windfall of 20 million for Champions League qualification which would’ve then been moved on to bolster the transfer kitty. The scouting system under Comolli will have to seriously kick-in with Man City looking likely to finish second and Chelsea possibly finishing outside the top four.
It will take a serious amount of commitment and belief in the project from FSG to ply more cash in the coffers. Does that mean a mountain of cash for more players with the hope that the under performers raise their heads above the parapet next season or will the manager and Comolli be given a specified cash amount and be directed to sell to raise cash? Dalglish recently pointed to Liverpool success also being measured by their success in the commercial world, just how easy will it be to pull together big deals for player transfers or in the commercial world without Champions League football will certainly test the mettle of John W Henry particularly when taking in account that Liverpool lag someway behind Man United and Arsenal in terms of revenue, see the Red Sox Diaries.
Possible transfers of Joe Cole and Alberto Aquilani may add some much needed spend, although Cole’s contract may hinder any possible transfer and it would not be a surprise to see him re-join the ranks. Maxi, Aurelio and Kuyt are the wrong side of 30 and with the captain and Bellamy both thirty-plus at the very least one would expect the first two moved on.
At the time of writing we are some 16 points behind Spurs and Newcastle and 14 behind Chelsea which is humbling enough, but to be languishing 4 points behind Everton is inexcusable. It’s no longer a top four, but top seven and it’s going to be a struggle to get back into the four and even harder should Newcastle gain entry into the higher reaches, as it will mean two top clubs will be vying to get back into the top four next season and if those clubs are two of Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs the Liverpool project will have to be sold with some creative vigour.
Would I sack Kenny right now? The answer would be no. But, should this form continue in the Premiership and Liverpool fail to beat Everton in the FA Cup Semi-Final then his position cannot be beyond reproach come the end of the season with the possibility of the season disintegrating into the worst for many a year.
Being a Liverpool fan at the moment is not a good place to be. Alex Ferguson’s position in British football history is reaching mythical status, should Man United win the League as they look like doing, he has driven his side to the win, with the key decision to bring back Scholes looking like a master stroke. David Moyes with a fraction to spend has once again produced miracles and should they stay ahead, we can all look to a summer of laughter and ridicule which could be somewhat tempered should we win the FA Cup.
There is a summer of ridicule and laughter coming our way as we come to terms with the fact that we have spent a vast amount of money to get into the position that we currently find ourselves below our rivals in Merseyside.
ReplyDeleteEverton spent no money in the last summer transfer activity and used whichever means necessary to raise some funds to spend in January - this policy is now coming to bear fruit for them- whereas we spent heavy in the summer and didn't spend a thing in January and this way of thinking has failed miserably.
The crossroads we are currently facing is do we give Dalglish a further season to see if he can make the difference or bring in an experienced top level manager with the required tactical nous to make a significant difference whilst a game is currently paying.
Dalglish on current form will find himself very lucky to be given an extra year under the owners he has been trusted with a substantial outlay and his investments haven't consistently produced the goods so far.
The owners could also go for a younger alternative like Brendan Rogers from Swansea who can provide the long term strategy that they originally wanted to go with before Dalglish was entrusted with the task of uniting the club. My fear with someone like Rogers is that the club will look at the short term strategy and not look at what he could bring to the club in terms of footballing philosophy and style and not be given the time to impose his style of football into the club.
So whilst Dalglish is in charge we need to hope that they are prepared to give his project until December at least and see if the players he has invested so heavily can come good for him on a more consistent basis.
My fear is if we get rid of Dalglish within such a short period of time that we will continue Iike Chelsea with a high turnover of managers so we need to see this phase through at least till Dec and hope Dalglish can turn things around positively.
It seems my assertion that we are everyone's second favourite club is open to debate. Today, on Adrian Durham's Talkdport Show which Mickey Quinn co-hosted we heard that Kenny's and the club's stance has not just damaged us from a public relations standpoint, but it has turned people outside the club against us. We have a lot of rebuilding to do and as Livi has said, the public relations department within the club need to take a long hard look at itself and whoever is the Chief Press Officer or Head of Public Relations Officer is seriously lucky not to have joined Damein Comolli et al in receiving their P45's.
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