Liverpool’s need for success

Wednesday, 20/01/2010

This season’s topsy-turvy Premier League campaign has been fascinating to watch.

The re-emergence of Arsenal as serious title contenders and the great strides made by Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham to put themselves into contention for a Champions League berth has prompted a shake-up at the top that is great for the game.

However, the worrying state of the finances of English football lead me to believe there is possibly a new era approaching and with it, a new order between the clubs.

With two giants of the English game, Manchester United and Liverpool, burdened by huge levels of debt, we could be about to witness a major power shift in the Premier League.

The likes of Chelsea and Man City, backed by billionaire investors, are able to write off millions of debt in a single stroke and continue to acquire the best players in an inflated transfer market.

The amount some clubs, but particularly City, (and Real Madrid) have invested has inflated the market beyond recognition from even three seasons ago, changing the landscape of the game. In order to compete at the top, you need to be able to fund mega-money signings.

This trend looks to have serious repercussions for both United and Liverpool, as emphasised by the sale of Cristiano Ronaldo.
 
Money talked – if you look at the numbers, United would’ve recorded a loss without the sale and therefore the decision was based not only on the players desire to leave but by the ‘money men’.

As a Liverpool fan, things are not any rosier. The club’s plight has been well documented and this is a result of poor leadership in all departments of the club.

The organisation and structure of the club needs to be looked at. The fans, the true owners of the club, are becoming increasingly alienated, as emphasised by the controversy surrounding Tom Hinks Junior’s email farce recently.

But it shouldn’t be all doom and gloom surrounding Anfield – though the greatest English club of all time are certainly failing to live up to their high-standards, the situation is far from disastrous. Look at the example of Newcastle and things are put into perspective.

The universal questioning of the squad’s depth and quality is spot-on, but will Rafa Benitez have the opportunity and, most importantly, the resources to rebuild the team into title challengers? I fear not, on both counts.

 

Neither can it be forgotten that he has been supported very well in acquiring players since he joined the club but many brought in have underperformed and the squad is suffering now as a result.

The level of debt that the club is having to service means that they can’t afford to overhaul the squad as they would probably like to or in my opinion need to. Given the financial situation, it makes it even less likely Benitez will be sacked. Removing Rafa is not the answer to all the problems.

From the board providing the funds to improve the squad, to the manager getting the best out of his players and the fans giving the team their full support, everyone needs to be pulling in the same direction.

Champions League qualification is of paramount importance, not only for the funding it provides but in terms of keeping the squad together and attracting the right new faces. Who knows where Fernando Torres’ thoughts will be if we miss out?

Torres will want to win trophies and, if the decline on Merseyside continues, Man City’s reported interest in the Spaniard could come to reality. Under normal circumstances, Liverpool wouldn’t sell the front-man for any price. But with high debt levels and a need to strengthen the squad – something Torres himself has highlighted – the reputed £100m on the table may well be impossible to turn down.

Benitez, may not be around to see him leave, even though, Rafa is a critical cog of the club and won’t be surprised at the criticism he has drawn – it comes with the territory when managing a club of such magnitude.

His past achievements have kept him in a job until now, but it is time to forget about the past and the heroics of 2005. All that matters is the future. Sometimes a manager loses the ability to keep the dressing room totally on-board with his ways and once it’s gone, it’s very difficult to get it back.

I’m sure Benitez will be given until the end of season at least to turn things around and I really hope he can. Liverpool are a massive club and deserve to be an integral part of the Premier League’s new ruling order.

 

*John Scales was talking to Lee Price

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