30 Nov 2009

Facing the reality: LIVERPOOL'S summer transfer budget was (arguably) mismanaged

As we are constantly reminded, football is a results business. This old adage is undoubtedly correct; just ask any of the managers sacked each month by twitchy chairmen. Over the course of a season, however, a team’s performances have to reach a high enough level for the desired results to be achieved. If they fail to do so, too much is left to chance. Currently, the Liverpool team has the air of a punch-drunk boxer desperately praying he can unleash a lucky knockout blow.

With a defence operating more shakily than at any time under Rafa Benitez, it’s amazing how the tactic of defending a slender lead is unfailingly adopted. With precious little confidence and a porous backline it’s a game plan so obviously fraught with risk. But the fact that defence is perceived as a credible route to victory shines a light on the glaring weaknesses in attack which bedevil this Liverpool squad.

After last season’s off-field triumph for the manager in securing total control of the club’s transfer policy, a witch hunt to apportion blame is unnecessary. The buck stops with Benitez and, regrettably, any plans in place at the end of last season were shot through with flaws.

Surely the pre-season plan wasn’t to go with one of Ngog or Kuyt as the sharp end of the team in the event of injury to the talismanic Torres? Amazingly, this must have been the case, despite some injury or other being almost inevitable for every player over the course of a lengthy season.

The recent sight of Steven Gerrard playing as a traditional target man, gamely competing for long balls pumped in his direction, underlies how faulty this recruitment strategy was.

Ngog’s goals suggest he may have the crucial striker’s knack of being in the right place at the right time, but he is far too raw to be leading the line in anything over than the occasional game or Carling Cup tie.

Kuyt, an attacker whose skills as a number nine persuaded his manager to convert him into an effective, hard-working winger, can’t be relied upon either, particularly when enduring such a wretched run of form that he is a near liability.

Games are won by scoring goals. Liverpool were outscored by debut participants Debrecen in the Champions League.

A similar case can be made for the midfield with creativity a glaring problem. Here, Benitez can point to bad fortune with injury. That one of these injuries was to a player transferred into the club, however, only underlines the errors in recruitment and the apparent deficiency of the club’s scouting network.

There’s no escaping the reality that the transfer budget was mismanaged. Benitez’s failure to strengthen the weaker areas of his squad has resulted in the most underwhelming season imaginable after last year’s heroics hinted at such rich prospects this term. Johnson has already shown he will be a quality addition - there is every chance Aquilani will follow suit. However, both were expensive buys.

Throwing the majority of available funds at a couple of purchases was always destined to backfire. Greater depth was essential. The additions needed to bolster the squad did not have to be poor quality, either.

Football is packed with instances of a bargain signing proving profitable in the long term; a free transfer, the shrewd loan, the plundering of a club in financial turmoil, all options if money is tight. Benitez needed to unearth value for money. Instead he went shopping at Harrods.

The hope for Liverpool is that the squad avoids further debilitating injury - no more searching the planet for maverick cures to propel the lame from the treatment table. If the new additions also gel there is no doubting the possibility of a fabulous run of form.

After all, even after a horrific start Liverpool lie fifth in the table. With everyone fit there’s a convincing argument for more than half the first eleven making a Premiership select. That’s what makes the squad mismanagement most frustrating: what could have been?

Keeping a promising team together is increasingly difficult in the modern era with clubs like Real Madrid and Manchester City wielding gigantic budgets in their attempts to achieve success. Liverpool have several players who would make perfect gala signings for clubs of this ilk.

There is a further concern, too. Steven Gerrard - one of the nailed-on selections for any composite Premiership team - is in his prime and as a home-grown player didn’t cost Liverpool a penny, but after a decade of exemplary service is not getting any younger.

The production line of local lads of sufficient quality to burst into the first team has dried up. Even if it was possible to enter the open market to obtain anything like a replacement for the club captain, the stratospheric cost of doing so would be seemingly beyond the economic clout of Liverpool’s owners.

To squander more of this near priceless talent’s remaining career by repeating the mistakes made in the transfer market this summer would be an unforgivable waste.



Laurence Kilgannon
----

Join us on Facebook!


Become a fan on Facebook!



68 comments:

  1. There was no transfer budget, and therefore no mismanaging of the transfer budget! What Benitez had this summer, he got in himself by selling players!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mismanaged by the owners, Yes! pulling cash away From Rafa, when Alonso had just been sold for 30m, only to be told he (Rafa) can spend 1.5m on the Greek? when the owners policy for Rafa is to  "Sell to buy" players.

    Jamie, how do feel now that Newsnow.co.uk, have introduced a new filter were we can simply hide your publication forever! by simply clicking on your the link! Selecting hide!! bummer eh!

    last visit for me bye bye!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jamie,

    Firstly you never answered and actually deleted my message yesterday asking for for you to actually your article was wrong...and benitez got it right yesterday - this a derby you really think it was the right time to blood aquilini? and we won didnt we?

    secondly....regarding this article..

    we bought GJ who has been fantastic this year, and the original outlay of only 5m for aquilini kinda shows we had no money to spend..

    how can that be rafas fault?

    yes we had a poor start to the season but weve also had a ridiculous injury list, agger, GJ skirtel both injured didnt help our defence

    and you seem to entirely miss what kuyt does to the team...

    your ofc ..lets get rafa out mentality never stops even after we beat everton....

    ReplyDelete
  4. An article based on hearsay, rumour and conjecture.

    Nodoby aside from those within the Anfield hierarchy knows what money Benitez had to spend in the summer, nor do we (the public) know with any amount of certainty, if Benitez' finances were cut short.

    We could argue that Rafa had many other targets than Johnson, Aquilani and Krygiakos (we certainly know for a fact that he wanted Turner or Upson instead of the greek defender) but funds were not forthcoming. It was alleged he'd have £20m at his disposal in the summer as well as whatever funds he generated through sales which would have given him a windfall of around £55m to spend, unfortunately this was not the case.

    We could assume the re-packaging of our loan inclusive of a £50m+ (approx) immediate repayment curtailed Benitez' plans and potential targets in the summer, it is entirely feasible to suggest as much.

    We were in dire need of a RB given that Arbeloa wasn't going to sign a new contract and wanted to return to Spain so Johnson (an excellent purchase) was a number one priority, Alonso wanted to leave for Madrid and a replacement was required, ergo Aquilani could also be argued as essential in the longrun.

    The fact is we have FIVE players at Liverpool capable of playing as a striker; Torres, Ngog, Voronin, Babel & Kuyt. I think Ngog has done a sterling job when covering for Torres whom has been hampered by unexpected injuries.

    It's important to remember that we don't have the money to buy whomever we want, Johnson and Aquilani were essential purchases to replace outgoing players and Benitez turned a PROFIT this summer through transfer dealings. He didn't "mis-manage" the transfer budget, how do you mis-manage £0?

    ReplyDelete
  5. most goals scored out of any team last year and until a simply crazy number of injuries this season we were top scorers again. What are you talking about. as always an uninformed inconsidered article.

    ReplyDelete
  6. An article based on hearsay, rumour and conjecture.

    Nodoby aside from those within the Anfield hierarchy knows what money Benitez had to spend in the summer, nor do we (the public) know with any amount of certainty, if Benitez' finances were cut short.

    We could argue that Rafa had many other targets than Johnson, Aquilani and Krygiakos (we certainly know for a fact that he wanted Turner or Upson instead of the greek defender) but funds were not forthcoming. It was alleged he'd have £20m at his disposal in the summer as well as whatever funds he generated through sales which would have given him a windfall of around £55m to spend, unfortunately this was not the case.

    We could assume the re-packaging of our loan inclusive of a £50m+ (approx) immediate repayment curtailed Benitez' plans and potential targets in the summer, it is entirely feasible to suggest as much.

    We were in dire need of a RB given that Arbeloa wasn't going to sign a new contract and wanted to return to Spain so Johnson (an excellent purchase) was a number one priority, Alonso wanted to leave for Madrid and a replacement was required, ergo Aquilani could also be argued as essential in the longrun.

    The fact is we have FIVE players at Liverpool capable of playing as a striker; Torres, Ngog, Voronin, Babel & Kuyt. I think Ngog has done a sterling job when covering for Torres whom has been hampered by unexpected injuries.

    It's important to remember that we don't have the money to buy whomever we want, Johnson and Aquilani were essential purchases to replace outgoing players and Benitez turned a PROFIT this summer through transfer dealings. He didn't "mis-manage" the transfer budget, how do you mis-manage £0?

    ReplyDelete
  7. So no mention of the £20M that was promised and then withdrawn? No mention of the actual cost of this years signings (which actually totalled around the £12M mark, not the £40M people claim)? No mention of the £8M again promised in the closing days of the transfer window that was, once again, withdrawn? You're not Kanwar in disguise, are you?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hurrah!  Why would I care if you can filter out this site on Newsnow?  Makes no difference to me at all. In fact, it's a positive because it will mean less idiots clogging up the site with crap :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is just a reminde to all: any comments that contain derogatory/snide remarks/ slag off any of the authors or the site, will be deleted, and author's IP will be permanently banned from this site.

    Stick to debating the issues and arguing your points.  if you cna't debate properly, you're not welcome here.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Just sounds like a conroversial post designed to create a response!(Erm and i've responded so...) Knowing what little funds Benitez had and what he got for his money, Johnson for 8mil (after the 9 still owed for Crouch) Aquilani for an initial 5. Shows that he's done really well. After the refinancing there just wasn't enough in the kitty for the support striker we all know is needed, because lets face it, we all know Benitez would have signed Alvaro Negredo if he could have.  

    ReplyDelete
  11. This lad is a total idiot, knows nothing about football... his article is so misguided... Unbelievable..

    ReplyDelete
  12. An article based on hearsay, rumour and conjecture.

    Nodoby aside from those within the Anfield hierarchy knows what money Benitez had to spend in the summer, nor do we (the public) know with any amount of certainty, if Benitez' finances were cut short.

    We could argue that Rafa had many other targets than Johnson, Aquilani and Krygiakos (we certainly know for a fact that he wanted Turner or Upson instead of the greek defender) but funds were not forthcoming. It was alleged he'd have £20m at his disposal in the summer as well as whatever funds he generated through sales which would have given him a windfall of around £55m to spend, unfortunately this was not the case.

    We could assume the re-packaging of our loan inclusive of a £50m+ (approx) immediate repayment curtailed Benitez' plans and potential targets in the summer, it is entirely feasible to suggest as much.

    We were in dire need of a RB given that Arbeloa wasn't going to sign a new contract and wanted to return to Spain so Johnson (an excellent purchase) was a number one priority, Alonso wanted to leave for Madrid and a replacement was required, ergo Aquilani could also be argued as essential in the longrun.

    The fact is we have FIVE players at Liverpool capable of playing as a striker; Torres, Ngog, Voronin, Babel & Kuyt. I think Ngog has done a sterling job when covering for Torres whom has been hampered by unexpected injuries.

    It's important to remember that we don't have the money to buy whomever we want, Johnson and Aquilani were essential purchases to replace outgoing players and Benitez turned a PROFIT this summer through transfer dealings. He didn't "mis-manage" the transfer budget, how do you mis-manage £0?

    ReplyDelete
  13. An article based on hearsay, rumour and conjecture.

    Nodoby aside from those within the Anfield hierarchy knows what money Benitez had to spend in the summer, nor do we (the public) know with any amount of certainty, if Benitez' finances were cut short.

    We could argue that Rafa had many other targets than Johnson, Aquilani and Krygiakos (we certainly know for a fact that he wanted Turner or Upson instead of the greek defender) but funds were not forthcoming. It was alleged he'd have £20m at his disposal in the summer as well as whatever funds he generated through sales which would have given him a windfall of around £55m to spend, unfortunately this was not the case.

    We could assume the re-packaging of our loan inclusive of a £50m+ (approx) immediate repayment curtailed Benitez' plans and potential targets in the summer, it is entirely feasible to suggest as much.

    We were in dire need of a RB given that Arbeloa wasn't going to sign a new contract and wanted to return to Spain so Johnson (an excellent purchase) was a number one priority, Alonso wanted to leave for Madrid and a replacement was required, ergo Aquilani could also be argued as essential in the longrun.

    The fact is we have FIVE players at Liverpool capable of playing as a striker; Torres, Ngog, Voronin, Babel & Kuyt. I think Ngog has done a sterling job when covering for Torres whom has been hampered by unexpected injuries.

    It's important to remember that we don't have the money to buy whomever we want, Johnson and Aquilani were essential purchases to replace outgoing players and Benitez turned a PROFIT this summer through transfer dealings. He didn't "mis-manage" the transfer budget, how do you mis-manage £0?

    ReplyDelete
  14. An article based on hearsay, rumour and conjecture.

    Nodoby aside from those within the Anfield hierarchy knows what money Benitez had to spend in the summer, nor do we (the public) know with any amount of certainty, if Benitez' finances were cut short.

    We could argue that Rafa had many other targets than Johnson, Aquilani and Krygiakos (we certainly know for a fact that he wanted Turner or Upson instead of the greek defender) but funds were not forthcoming. It was alleged he'd have £20m at his disposal in the summer as well as whatever funds he generated through sales which would have given him a windfall of around £55m to spend, unfortunately this was not the case.

    We could assume the re-packaging of our loan inclusive of a £50m+ (approx) immediate repayment curtailed Benitez' plans and potential targets in the summer, it is entirely feasible to suggest as much.

    We were in dire need of a RB given that Arbeloa wasn't going to sign a new contract and wanted to return to Spain so Johnson (an excellent purchase) was a number one priority, Alonso wanted to leave for Madrid and a replacement was required, ergo Aquilani could also be argued as essential in the longrun.

    The fact is we have FIVE players at Liverpool capable of playing as a striker; Torres, Ngog, Voronin, Babel & Kuyt. I think Ngog has done a sterling job when covering for Torres whom has been hampered by unexpected injuries.

    It's important to remember that we don't have the money to buy whomever we want, Johnson and Aquilani were essential purchases to replace outgoing players and Benitez turned a PROFIT this summer through transfer dealings. He didn't "mis-manage" the transfer budget, how do you mis-manage £0?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Apologies for the duplication guys, the site keeps telling me it's been unable to post my comment when it clearly has!

    ReplyDelete
  16. And you obviously can't read. You're now banned.  As I said above: anyone who slags of the site's authors will be banned.  If you want slanging matches, go to TIA, RAWK or SixCrazyMinutes.

    ReplyDelete
  17. The website is starting to sound like a bunch of grandma going at it with handbags

    ReplyDelete
  18. its any excuse to have a go at rafa .lets not let the facts get in the way johnson is an exelent buy aquilani looks a good buy in the longer term you dont just buy for afew weeks. when alonso said he wanted to leave we had no chioce but to sell but obviousley rafa didnt get all the money.lets just tell all the facts not just the ones that fit your viewes

    ReplyDelete
  19. http://timesonline.typepad.com/fanzine_fanzone/2009/11/manchester-united-benitez-exit-would-be-music-to-our-ears.html?

    An article wrote by a utd fan, seems strange that they have more respect for Benitez than fans such as Jaimie Kenwar, makes a change.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Why cnt you leave liverpoolfc alone. First about the negetive lineup and then to cover it up some good stuff and now this? I dnt understand what you are tryin to say. The defensive players and Kuyt scored and won the game. If u understand football you wouldnt talk about such things. What we needed was a good result and cleen sheet and we got that. And the Manager knew how to get it. The team needs to be looked at as a whole, and the balance the selection provide.

    Yes Auilani didnt play. I even want to see him play, but what was important was the win. Aquilani has lots of time to play in the future, i m sure we would see him soon. Their is somethin called patience too.

    Funds mis managed? Was there any funds available even? We didnt had the kind of funds Sunderland and Totenham had even. But we beat Chelsea to sign the best RB in the country. and we singed a good player in Aquilani though he has to prove it yet. You can talk about the Greek, but he is a good or a perfect 4th choise CB. I would have liked to see another winger and a Striker join the team but we didnt had money for that.

    So stop talkin nonsense. RB had a good or infact a great transfer window witht the money available to him. Why we are where we are at the moment is all cos of injuries. You can see the high flying arsenal come down to Earth with just one injury. We had 8 first team regulars out at the sametime. We lost and drew so many games cos we defended badly. Again it was just becuase we didnt had any consistancy in the deffence. Nine different defenders had to be used in the first ten league games. With such rapid changing deffence no team in the world can have so many clean sheets.

    ReplyDelete
  21. You tried banning me permanently. Didn't work, did it? Your threats are as empty as your articles. And your head. And your underpants.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Before was meant to say some utd fans have more respect for benitez than our own fans such as Jaimie Kenwar, read the article posted above

    ReplyDelete
  23. Michael Owen was going for a free. No way he was ever going to be worse than Voronin.

    ReplyDelete
  24. That's 'cause the site's shit, can you not tell from the quality of the articles?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Rossi, your constant sniping is getting beyond a joke. You're lucky I'm out at the moment. You've had enough chances. When I return, I'm banning you.
    Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

    ReplyDelete
  26. No-I haven't banned ur IP yet. When I do, it won't matter what username you try.
    Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

    ReplyDelete
  27. Agreed, forget how much initial payments or whatever, the fact is we recieved 30 mill for Alonso 3 for arbeloa, and in return we signed Johnson 18(of which 9-11mill was already owed by Portsmouth) and Aquilani for 20, 2 mill for the big greek so in fact benitez has just spent what he sold, how has he mismanaged his funds. Supposedly the 20 mill kitty went to current player contracts, to me i think he did a good job in the summer, baught what i think will prove to be a good successor to alonso in Aquilani and baught a right back who is far superior to arbeloa. People can throw around the amount of money benitez has had to spend but only the stupid ones forget that we do sell players aswell to suplement the kitty. Jaimie always says oh well that just means Benitez should have baught someone who was good enough to begin with , well it doesnt work like that, some players do well some cant hack being a small fish in a big pond, such as Keane and Bellamy and were then sold on to bring in someone who possibly can. Benitez is a beast at the end of the day, top quality managers dont grow on trees and we should be absolutly delighted that we have one. Even Wenger who nobody could disagree has been a top manager gets slammed for transfer policy!!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. seems to me that whatever rafa does is wrong in some peoples eyes. in the past he has been hammered for buying a number of bargain players for few million each rather than one quality player for circa 15-20 million. now he has bought two quality players for big fees (even without us initially laying out more than 13 million) the argument is that he should of bought more fringe players for less amounts.
    i thought the purchase of torres shown that quality rather than quantity is  the way ahead.
    as for gerrard getting no younger and worrying about his replacement, he's 29 for christ sake.

    ReplyDelete
  29. And once again, more lying bullshit. You DID ban me, and you DID ban my IP. Only it didn't work.

    You can't ban from IP, Kan'tard. Very few people have a static IP address, which means the majority, although on ADSL, STILL have a dynamic address. Which means it will be renewed and reassigned the next time I turn my router off for half an hour. Which means you CAN NOT ban someone by their IP. You obviously know as much about the interweb as you do about LFC. And 'journalism'. Basically, Jaimie, it's like this: in order to facilitate the traffic to your site (which is what you're doing, because you were banned and ridiculed from so many respected LFC forums, and thought "Right, I'll show 'em, I'll start my own site where I'll be, like, the ruler and the bestest, and I'll do it straight after I've done my homework") you have to write utter bollocks. If you write utter bollocks, you're going to get pulled up on it. If you can't take the heat, stay out of frying pan, and all that. Life sucks, son. Get a helmet.

    ReplyDelete
  30. I was just backing up an opinion and whats wrong with a utd journalist having respect for benitez and what he has done.

    It tells me that they are more wary of LFC under Benitez than they let on, so all i was pointing out is how much respect others afford the great man that is benitez and backed it up with that article, maybe you could learn to ease of him.

    Its supposed to be a website where we as fans can debate, yet those who go against you get banned!! Therefore no debating is allowed it appears. I dont go against your views because i want to have a snipe at you i go against them because you come out with outragious statements and suggestions, which i would say the best part of is utter shite

    ReplyDelete
  31. You've had enough chances, Rossi. You just wait 'till Jaimie gets home. There's gonna be heap big trouble. Don't you know how powerful Jaimie is? He can balance 3 Lego bricks in one hand. You're f*ckin' with the wrong forum, sunshine. The Wrath of Kanwar is coming, and thou shalt be smited.

    ReplyDelete
  32. No - it's a site for people to debate the issues, not infuse everything they write with snide comments. It will take time but sooner or later, all the snipers will be weeded out and people will be able to discuss things without idiots clogging up threads with crap.
    You clearly don't like this site, rossi, so why visit. As I said, when I return, I'm going to ban you permanentlym
    Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

    ReplyDelete
  33. The biggest mismanagement was selling Alonso which was entirely Rafas fault for his silly antics the season before last in his chase for a average Gareth Barry to whom Man City fans are benefitting with constant draws.

    The other mismanagement was sending Nemeth on loan to Greece when we were already light of strikers. I thought this kid was the next best thing?

    ReplyDelete
  34. No offence Jaimie but you've said yourself you're not a fan of Rafa and you certainly haven't shown him much respect in previous articles you've written, I don't see why Rossi stating as much is deemed a banable offence?

    You're becoming a bit of a dictator to be honest, anyone who disagrees however passionately with your views has their comments and in this instance, membership deleted.

    It's all very well for you to berate and belittle Benitez as much as you like but the moment somebody gives an impassioned defence of the man they're "marked"!

    Hardly fair in all honesty.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Well thats good news Jamie, no more drivel from you.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Nonsense. I only ban people who repeatedly ignore the comment policy. People disagree with me all the time, how come their comments stay up? People can be as vehement and passionate as they want in thweir disagreement, but if they persist with sniping, their comments will be deleted. If being a 'dictator' is what It takes to create an environment where passionate debate can thrive without idiots derailing things, then so be it.
    And I show benitez a kack of respect? That is a lie. Critical analysis does not mean lack of respect. I don't belittle him personally or call him names, I raise valid points about varuous aspects if his management style. Problem is, the pro-benitez secrion of fans think any criticism of their idol is a personal attack.
    It isn't.
    Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange

    ReplyDelete
  37. This is actually quite amusing guest, made me chuckle. thanks.

    You're right as well, Jaimie has banned my "IP" not because of abuse as I'm not the sort, but because I've posted responses that complete destroy his article, hence his only retort is to delete my comment and ban me from posting anything else, the next day I'm able to post again with no problems as my IP resets to a difference sequence via the firewall at work. Happy days!

    ReplyDelete
  38. What does he do to/for the team exactly? He is dreadful, and scoring a goal every 12 games (whilst contributing nothing going forward in the last 12 games, lets remember he's meant to be attack-minded) doesn't suggest to me that he contributes anything towards the team other than cover for Johnson!

    ReplyDelete
  39. Geez, I never thought Liverpool fans could be this petty and immature. Since when did airing ones views or opinions in a civilised manner become a reason to be vilified, no matter how it may differ from popular opinion.

    Just because someone criticises the club or manager does not mean they are anti the club or manager.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Not good call - it's all well and good having a top class starting 11 - but it's a squad game, and the squad players aren't good enough! Kyrgiakos, Babel, Voronin, Kuyt (should be a squad player at best), Lucas, El Zhar and arguably Riera - none of them are good enough.

    If he didn't want Kyrgiakos, why buy him? Why not promote Ayala and use him more often? The young guys coming through can't cut it at the moment either (although I'm not slagging them off, they're young and will improve). N'gog can't be expected to lead a line in the Premiership at 20! Insua can't use his right foot, a real problem when all opposition defenders simply show him inside - something he need to sort out. Ayala should be 4th choice centre half, not 5th behind a no-mark. Give him some experience to improve him.

    The squad isn't good enough. Yes, he needed to replace Alonso and Arbeloa, which he did and we're pretty much the same as last season in terms of starting 11, but how did he improve the squad as a whole? He didn't, because Voronin and Kyrgiakos are not improvements on Keane and Hyypia.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Jesus get a life mate, it's a football discussion website this not Corrie!

    ReplyDelete
  42. less biased people like you is perfect !

    ReplyDelete
  43. No. It isn't. It's a bullshit site, the laughing stock of the interweb.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Feel free to stop visiting then.....personally i think it makes a refreshing change from the usual drivel churned out by the main-stream.

    YNWA

    ReplyDelete
  45. "And I show benitez a lack of respect? That is a lie. Critical analysis does not mean lack of respect."

    No it isn't a lie, you've previously accused Benitez of being a sabotuer and stabbing players in the back to name just two instances where you've shown him a complete lack of respect, how is it "critical analysis"?

    It's your opinion used to attack Benitez in a personal manner, ergo I'm not lying.

    Care to apologise?

    ReplyDelete
  46. After the way Owen ran down his conrtact and then swanned of to Madrid knowing we could have sold him for 25 mil earlier, was down right greed!! i'm not bothered that he left, just that we got nothing for him, and we are supposed to welcome him back with open arms and 90 grand a week? yer can F*ck offffff!!! 

    ReplyDelete
  47. Who asked you to chip in, with your "I'm a real fan, me, I sign off with YNWA, 'cause I'm a real fan, me" bollocks?

    ReplyDelete
  48. I agree with the guest, signing off YNWA all the time is just nonsense, we don't need you to re-affirm your allegiances with each post bud.

    And he raises a valid point, Kanwar is widely discredited by many LFC forums and published authors as well as people from within the Club!

    Kanwar uses that to suggest they just can't hack him "keeping it real" but that's nonsense, it's like Everton calling themselves the "People's Club", he's bitter.

    They've rejected his views, he's been widely discredited and therefore started up his own site where his comments and whimsicle musings have to be heard. It's quite pathetic really.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Hello,my name is Leo.I'm an Italian Romafan.I didnt have a team to support in England,but I can tell you I became a Liverpoolfan from the moment they bought Aquilani.I just wanted to tell you guys that I started watching all liverpool games  and read all possiblde LFC sites since that day.I'm also very impatient to see him play but I admire the caution taken by LFC.The reason Aquilani has been injured that much is just because Roma let himstart too soon over and over again(like they do now with Totti and will do with De Rossi!).I really hope to see him start against Fiorentina.Who knows this team better than him?So,be patient guys!I'm sure he will be one of your favourites very soon and will delight you with his outstanding technique and his powerfull long distance shots.One nice story about him:two years ago,a six years old dutch fan behind the goal tried to stop one of his shot going wide and broke his wrist!!Imagine the power of that shot! :) .Greetings from Belgium,where I live and see ya around!

    ReplyDelete
  50. ...and don't forget, anyone who has an opinion that's different from jaimie's is 'brainwashed'!!!

    ReplyDelete
  51. liverpool for the double

    ReplyDelete
  52. Hello Leo, nice to get the views of a Roma fan on the Aquilani saga.

    SO basically what you're saying is Roma repeatedly rushed him back into action which led to him breaking down again?

    Your opinion would certainly echo the thoughts of Benitez it would appear, and would further discredit the views of the Editor.

    ReplyDelete
  53. Like i said before, i just posted that article from the utd fan because he really respects rafa and justifies his reasons, and considering hes a utd fan and actually wouldnt mind rafa getting the sack because he knows that under benitez we are getting closer, so to sack him now would just set the club back.

    I just thought it was nice to see someone show some respect and support of rafa from outside the club!!!

    Im not sniping or making derogatory comments, its just that article was in stark contrast to the things you write about benitez. Nothing wrong with that is there??

    ReplyDelete
  54. Hi.I'm not here to discredit anyone.I understand the editors point of view completely.If Roma bought someone for 20 millions and should be in trouble,I wouldn't understand neither why he doesn't play with his best team.I just wanted to give some more information.I don't know Benitez as good as you do,guys.I know Aquilani much better!But the editor has surely a point on one aspect:i did not understand  why he put him in the team for thirty seconds.I don't think he will improve his match rythm with 30 seconds.But I'll wait and I really hope to see him against Fiorentina.Otherwise Iwill be at JK's side all the way :) !

    ReplyDelete
  55. Liverpool dont even own Torres, The bank do,

    you borrowed the money to buy him

    ReplyDelete
  56. Like most clubs do when purchasing an asset which requires a lot of upfront capital. The vast majority of clubs do not have money just waiting to be spent!

    Shock horror! Our club has debts, find me a club which doesn't (in fact find me an individual who doesn't while you're at it)? The worrying thing is when our debts are at a level which cannot be serviced by our income, which at present is just about manageable - obviously it could be better but the current financial market is kind of restricting what can be done.

    CL qualification this year is the key.

    ReplyDelete
  57. I'd like tocorrect myself.That child was thirteen years old.Enjoy this videolink about the fact.I warn you,it doesn't show at the very beginnig of the video.You have to wait thirty seconds:http://video.gazzetta.it/?vxSiteId=f89d11d6-1424-420d-8ebb-23904200f68a&vxChannel=Tutti%20i%20video&vxClipId=2570_a6283508-1e7f-11dc-ae1f-0003ba99c667&vxBitrate=300

    ReplyDelete
  58. The truth is we all, as fans, will never know exactly how much the club has to employ new signings, contract extensions, etc.  Last time I checked, Liverpool FC was not a publicly traded company, therefore, we cannot see their financial records.  I think everyone is agreement that Johnson was a great signing, but we can't hang our hat on just one signing per year, when we need overall depth, defensive strengthening, and more dynamic, creative minds up top to assist with Torres.  I believe where we HAVE mismanaged is not doing any of those item.  Depth: we signed an unproven defender in Kyriagkos, and an attack minded defender in Johnson (who has proven quite worth as almost a winger).  We signed an apparent replacement for Xabi, but has seen not even a sniff of significant time on the pitch, and we are almost to break, not exactly depth.  Defensive strengthening: We signed Johnson.  Does that strengthen our defense or our attack?  He CAN defend, but so can Torres and Gerrard, so that really doesn't strengthen our defending, not like Richard Dunne would have, for example.  Carra is getting old, and Agger and Aurelio are constantly injurious.  We need to get another head banger back there to close the gaps.  Lastly, Torres back up.  Let's face it, the guy can only do so much for us.  Gerrard has lacked in performance lately, and Torres has been hurt.  We should have focused some finances to scouting for a suitable fill-in for FT.  Furthermore, it doesn't just give us depth for our (seemingly only) attacking threat, but we can now be less one dimensional in our approach to squaring off against other sides.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Great article. Spot on.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Using this logic the same is true of Fergie, Wenger then.

    He sold players that wanted to leave. That's part of management.

    ReplyDelete
  61. Sorry promised by who? Are you an LFC accountant? Please show me evidence of these "promises" i'd love to see it.

    Oh wait...

    ReplyDelete
  62. Well judging from his recent comments he's a lot happier in Athens than he was here. I wonder why?

    ReplyDelete
  63. Or perhaps to quote Luciano Spalletti, the former Roma manager, "Aquilani is a good player but he's made of Swarovski crystal"..

    Doesn't suggest he's the strongest physical specimen..

    ReplyDelete
  64. You referred to articles on this site as 'utter shite', which is why you were banned. I'll unban you once again as you generally make good points.  If you can't stop your obvious disiike for the site boiling over again then I'll ban you permanently. Cheers. JK

    ReplyDelete
  65. Absolutely spot on mate.

    ReplyDelete
  66. "The production line of local lads of sufficient quality to burst into the first team has dried up."
    1st off i disagree with your stance about the mismanagement of funds, Rafa has done all he could and to highlight the lack of support from the owners one just has to look @ the saga around trying to sign Turner for close to 10m and then being told we only have 2m ...Have you watched our youth teams ...We have been one of the best performing youth and reserve sides for the last 4 yrs ..Amoo,Dalle Valle , Pacheco , Kelly , Bruna , we have some fantastic talent coming thru in the next year or 2.Rafa has changed that ...he has signed the majority of our current crop of youngsters.Give the Man some credit for what he has done.

    ReplyDelete
  67. In theory from last season the only progress we have made is by signing a right-back? The other two siginings were replacement for players that either were driven out of the club and sigining on the Kyriakos to replace big Sami.
    now in terms of Dirk kuyt, glen johnson has more assist and more goals, as well as playing less games than Rafa's favourite right winger. I can run up and down all day if you told me to play for Liverpool. Sorry guys but hardwork isnt the only thing that cuts it in the Premier league.
    Apart fromm hardwork what else does he have:
    Slow Runner
    Cant Dribble
    Bad first touch


    But thats ok because he can run all day?????WTF

    How does this guy still play for liverpool................Please someone tell me why you think im wrong about DIRK KUYT cause i want to have a good laugh.




    MOSES  @

    ReplyDelete