Tuesday, 9 March 2010

LIVERPOOL FC: We can't go on together...

Sports News - February 09, 2009

I'M no Elvis fan – in fact, I'm one of those people who doesn't 'get' him.

But as I mentally combed over the bones of Liverpool's shambolic performance at Wigan today, 'The King' came to mind:

We're caught in a trap
I can't walk out
Because I love you too much baby

Why can't you see
What you're doing to me
When you don't believe a word I say?

We can't go on together
With suspicious minds
And we can't build our dreams
On suspicious minds


Not only are the fans caught in a trap – Liverpool supporters' show of support at the DW Stadium barely got a mention as the media concentrated on the latest Anfield 'crisis' – perhaps Rafa Benitez is, too?

Yes, he is paid well to manage the club but he clearly feels something for it, otherwise why stick it out? Despite what many think of him on these shores, his stock is still high in Europe.

And with the far from ideal working conditions Benitez has had to endure – warring owners, threats of the sack, his job offered to another manager, book-balancing – how many bosses in the same situation would have walked away?

A fair few, I'd wager.

But Rafa has decided to ride the storm, despite offers from Manchester City (twice) and Juventus, and continues to rub shoulders with the most dysfunctional family in football.

Yet his hands are tied. He can't buy players, despite the squad crying out to be strengthened. He can't even rely on his managing director, Christian Purslow, to tie up a free transfer (Marouane Chamakh).

That must breed suspicious minds. Maybe Rafa is suspicious of what is going in the Anfield boardroom – and who can blame him given past events?

And maybe Purslow is suspicious of Rafa. Maybe he thinks he has too much power after his political battle with Rick Parry.

And maybe he doesn't like the unequivocal support he receives from large swathes of the Liverpool fanbase.

Then there's the players. Do they feel like they are caught in a trap? Are they as fed up of the political battles, the finance worries, the broken promises and the lack of the investment in the squad as the fans are?

Are they suspicious of the powers that be at Anfield? Or even more worrying, of each other?

Some players do appear bombproof at times, keeping their place in the side no matter what and hardly ever getting the hook – has that bred division?

Are the factions that are so obviously appearing among the management (Purslow is wining and dining his favourite journalists, Benitez is keeping his allies close, too) a theme amongst the playing staff as well?

There's plenty of whispers that Jamie Carragher isn't the most popular player in the dressing room, his constant berating of players causing some ill-feeling.

There's also growing evidence that Carragher and Steven Gerrard may no longer be the manager's biggest supporters.

And all this without a mention of the lesser-spotted Tom Hicks and George Gillett who continue (for once) to keep their mouths shut as the deadline on their debt ticks ever louder over Anfield.

It all adds up for a rotten recipe that is destroying the club we love from top to bottom and no-one seems to know where it's all going to end.

As ever at Liverpool these days, there's many questions and few answers.

One thing is for certain though – things are not right at the most precious address in L4 and right now the biggest losers are the fans – fans that increasingly, are turning on each other.

Watching players coast through a game that could have salvaged something from a season to forget has cranked everything up a notch.

It's gone from wondering and speculating about what might happen to knowing that there must be something in store.

We've reached the 'something's got to give' stage.

Whatever happens there will still be two constants – the fans and the club itself. Both will still be here after Benitez. After Hicks and Gillett. After Purslow, Gerrard and Carragher.

And come what may – mid-table mediocrity, relegation, administration – Liverpool will go on, somehow.

As Elvis said: 

Oh let our love survive
Or dry the tears from your eyes
Let's don't let a good thing die

Comments (29)

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More questions and questions and questions and questions and oh hang on... here come the answers......... Nope.... more questions and questions and questions - you get the idea! :-)
have sg, and carra got to big for there boots? as much as carra is a good defender his distrubution is poor. he passes backwards, sidewards, anywere but forward. he has lost the pace he had , and he is prone to making more mistakes. he needs to take care of his own game never mind anyone ,s else,s. as for sg yes he has carried us for years, but this year he has been poor,and even if he thinks the team is shite, he is still playing, and getting payed by lfc. or is it the world cup? with gerrard is he saving himself for england? the whole team including rafa, need to all look at themselves. the wigan game was the pitts, never mind elvis more like the platters the great prentenders....
Nice one Elvis..

I've never looked for trouble
But I've never ran
I don't take no orders
From no kind of man
I'm only made out
Of flesh, blood and bone
But if you're gonna start a rumble
Don't you try it on alone

The end game is going to play itself out very soon and whilst Rafa has made his mistakes, so have some of our senior players including our club captain.

It's almost imposssible to pinpoint exactly where the problems lie - there appear to be so many, but whilst support of some of our players and support of our manager is causing a split in the fanbase there is one particular element to our club that needs to be removed - on that everyone should agree.

How can we expect the footballing side of this club to be succesful when the business side is failing so much and in such an embarrassing shambolic state..? We lost ground on Utd during the early days and now our lack of stability is going to see other clubs overtake us.

I don't want a billionnaire with botomless pockets, just a debt free self sustainable club. The manager needs to be able to manage and the players need to get on with playing.

The Custodians of my beloved club need to get out and the supporters need to once again get vocal about it and stat to take more action.
degensPAPERMACHElegs's avatar

degensPAPERMACHElegs · 783 weeks ago

EXCUSES EXCUSES EXCUSES thats all i hear off some reds but the lads walking away from the ground at wigan were ALL saying the same thing its time to get rid ,problem with that is of course is who would take the job with those two cowboys at the club club ???????????
I agree with the sentiment of the post but I was appalled by the performance at Wigan. I felt Gerrard and Carra - as leaders if you will - were almost guilty of committing treason. They were notably as awful as I have ever seen either play.

I'm truly hoping a lot of it was due to many players away at internationals and Wigan having more time to prepare. Who knows, but it does seem something went on before the game - and most of all, Gerrard looked like he was not up for it. Of course it could have been different if Torres had buried one or two of his efforts, but there was none of that incision we showed against Stoke, Hull or United early on in the season.

I wouldn't blame Rafa at all if he was Madrid bound in the summer - I admire him for sticking it out for this long.
1 reply · active 783 weeks ago
i blame sammi lee i dont think he is the right coach for us. no disrespect he was a great player but his coaching abilities i question. look at the clubs he has been at and situations and performances the other teams have been in when he has coached. i dont rate him and i get wound up watching him.
Looks like my words of wisdom are coming true. 3 years ago i predicted this will be a terrible year for us.

Reason? Well gerrard and carrie will be in their 30s by then and obviously not as effective as before. Also rafa style of footie always been poor. Add to the factt we have had terrible management up top in parry and the yanks, it was always going to be a disaster.

Liverpool will go 1 of 2 ways.

Hicks and his wierd business partner gillet will either be forced to sell the club come summer ( banks want money) Rumour has it they wanted 100 million and not 60 last year to pay down the debt. I think this time they will collect.

Or the club will sell a number of stars and make them a 1st division side. Hicks and Gillete would be stupid to take this option as the club would be worthless at this stage. Sold for less than a price of a stamp :-)
1 reply · active 783 weeks ago
For a team of good footballers i cannot believe how poor a passing team we are, someone somewhere has got to be blamed for the way we cant string 2 passes together or even muster any shots at goal, that to me has to be tactics. All the payers look pissed off and confused. They need to be unleashed but I dont think that will happen as we are now in March and this football has been happening since August.This is not the LFC football I grew up watching and hopefully somehow, some way it will change sooner rather than later, problem is I am not sure how....
Mikemaniac's avatar

Mikemaniac · 783 weeks ago

I would welcome that alleged £30 million bid for Gerrard in the summer. He had managed to overcome his lack of leadership as a captain by turning in some fantastic performances. But as the years tick by and the performances aren't there anymore like the whole of this season for instance, his lack of leadership and lack of credentials as a captain are glaringly obvious to see. Benitez style of management works if the team has confidence and a great captain to lead the troops, Benitez will fail again and again if the leader continues to be as inept as Gerrard.
You have been a great servant Stevey G, but your time at Anfield is up!
I'm pretty sick of hearing excuses for Benitez re money.

He has spent plenty. It dosen't matter too much if he's made quite a bit of it back. At the end of the day he has spent £10 million quid more than enough times to have a decent passing team by this stage.

Rather than focusing on the money Utd, Chelsea and City have we should wonder why we get outplayed by teams spending very little like Wigan and Blackburn.

Why can't we play football as well as Spurs and City despite the fact they have been a joke for years without any stable manager?

Villa have spent a lot less than us and they look to be going forwards.
Plus we may have lost Alonso but no one mentions the fact that almost every
season for the last number of years Arsenal have lost at least one key player from their team.

I'll sum up by saying that a great manager takes average/good players, gets more out of them and makes them look world class. A poor manager takes good players and makes them look ordinary.

No-one is telling me that the likes of Babel, Benayoun, Pachero, Lucas, Riera, Aquilani etc don't have the ability. Need to get more out of them. Why has Banayoun only come to the fore over the last year or so?

And if they are useless thats a waste of a lot of money.
Benitez cannot motivate his team...FACT
the manager needs to sort out the dressing room....FACT
we will finish in 6th this season and get knowked out of the europa...FACT
the performance on the pitch has little to do with the owners other than give beneitez a smoke screen...FACT
Benitez needs to take the players and staff on a hugh piss up to bring them altogether.

Everyone is to blame for what has happened to Liverpool, all the way back to the greedy so-and-so's who originally sold the club to the American Jackasses.

As fans we need to stick together as I believe it only us (whether it is from the stands, the call-in's or the online blogs etc) shouting and singing from the top of our voices who can pull us out of this and bring pride back to the badge of the jersey.

This love will survive,
We will not shed a tear
And we will not ever let this club die - EVER

Let's never walk alone!!!!!!
john scullion's avatar

john scullion · 783 weeks ago

im a spurs fan who has always had a soft spot for liverpool. my uncle bought me "liverpool team of the decade" on 92 when i was 10 an ive always respected them. i dont think it was dave whelans place the other night to ridacule another club on how they are run but i think what he said was true. benitez is the big problem i think. he really angers me in his interviews he is so sarcastic, he always has something or someone to blame after a bad result he cant stand up and take it when it is his own fault he cant motivate his team. his attitude is so bad and i think its rubbing off on the players as they are sulking with ref a lot more now when in the past they would just knuckle down and get on with game. its come to the point were watching his interviews makes me sick and the sooner they get rid of him the better. good luck
annamarie mcvicker's avatar

annamarie mcvicker · 783 weeks ago

i dont blame one person the way liverpool are playing i blame them all im a big liverpool fan and have never been sickened as much as watching their performance against wigan . they all look like they couldnt give a shit about their team they need to give something back to all their loyal fans who have supported them they need to play like a team who want to play for the shirt not spoiled men who think they are bigger than the club . im actually dreading our next match gerrard has no flare about him captain woeful .
Moyesismartyfeldman's avatar

Moyesismartyfeldman · 783 weeks ago

The man died on the bog - you can't argue with that.
john scullion's avatar

john scullion · 783 weeks ago

watch benitez interview after draw with stoke on sky sports. count how many times he says "27000 people" the lad has definitely lost the plot
1 reply · active less than 1 minute ago
Liverpool got to buck up and stop boasting after wiining 1 match, be humble and stop talking about winning Europa League. Let the feet do the talking and don't think that Europa cup can be won without commitment, hard work and positive attitude. Lastly stop playing defensively, stop passing sideway and backward. Start moving forward with the ball and attack for the sake of all LFC fans and supporters !!! We have been loyal for years and decades. For our sake please !!!
guestyguest's avatar

guestyguest · 783 weeks ago

Usually I agree with all of your words, but bar the 'something got to give' and ‘life go on’ part, I'll make a different stance from you.

First. There is no such thing as an ideal environment for a manager.
"warring owners, threats of the sack, his job offered to another manager, book-balancing" --> dude, Juventus's, AC Milan's, AS Roma's, or Valencia's manager face those kind of decisions every single year. Capello was sacked, after saving Madrid from 3 years of barren spell, because he didn’t play beautiful football. Half of Italian club this season have changed their manager, because their league is result oriented. Not to mention their club presidents can’t shut the fuck up. Every single day you can see any president criticizing their own manager, in public. You think the media in England is bad? Ask Pellegrini how he feels about one Spanish media launching “sacked Pellegrini” campaign.

“the most dysfunctional family in football” -->Berlusconi, John Elkann/Agnelli, Rosella Sensi, Florentino Perez may have a say in that. Corrupt to the very core.

About the suspicion: that’s a maybe with a big M. What happen with making no assumption? And to breed this assumption with Chamakh is not strong enough I think. What if Chamakh ask for a big signing on fee, or a big salary, Maybe (hey, I can make an assumption too) bigger than Riera/Maxi/Lucas. Should Purslow allowed that? Wouldn’t it cause any further problem with other players? Not to mention Chamakh want to play for Arsenal.

“There's plenty of whispers that Jamie Carragher isn't the most popular player in the dressing room” --> so what? Tommy Smith and Emlyn Hughes didn’t have the perfect relationship. It happens before, and it will happen again in the future. Every club faces that kind of problem. Madrid even has a King of Dressing Room in the mould of Raul Gonzales.

What I’m trying to say is, stop feeling sorry for our problem. I mean, every single time that we have a bad result, the “poor Rafa” argument is out in the air. And I think, bar Sir Taggart and Arsene, the situation in any premier league ‘big club’ is not that much of a different. Let’s not forget, Hughes was fired with 2 losses in his hand. Grant fired after a champions league final. And Scolari after what? Six months?

What brokenhearted me the most is not the many problems/questions that we have to face, but it’s the no one is rising as a hero from the mud. We have a team of captains, but got no leader. Its soul destroying that we are this easily broken by problems. And how I dream the day when someone will sing this Queen’s song instead:

“Storm the master marathon I'll fly through
By flash and thunder fire I'll survive
Then I'll defy the laws of nature
And come out alive
Then I'll get you”

Okay, I’m gonna stop bitching now. Sorry for ranting in your blog. Be strong, man. We can’t avoid politics. Let all the suspicion go. X.
guestyguest's avatar

guestyguest · 783 weeks ago

But you know what, I do have enormous empathy for Rafa. Due to the nature of how the club runs in England, it seems he has the responsibility for anything. From breeding the youngster, choosing the right talent, helping the academy to develop, choosing the right formation week in week out, and motivating the players. And the lack of leadership from top to bottom makes him the easiest target if anything went wrong. I mean look at fiorentina, with a strong owner, albeit poor, like Dalla Valle, transfer guru Corvino and a great manager like Prandelli, the club manage to survive after entering administration in 2002. Sometime I think that Maybe, Maybe, the full control that Rafa sought is too much for him. But who else going to take the responsibility?
Why do you have no link to empireofthekop.com? :O
YNWA
Dave Molyneux's avatar

Dave Molyneux · 783 weeks ago

You came out with a quote before Skipper:

"Many questions and few answers"

That is without doubt what every fan is asking with arms outstretched these days

Lot of emotion also flying around as well when it comes to getting rid of them two tits upstairs. Seems the mancs are getting all the press when it comes to protesting about their Vermin when the return of Christ (Beckham) put that scarf on last night. We need to double our efforts

As regards your Elvis quote, i think we should look to aband closer to home in the shape of Joy Division and the title of their most famous song - "love will tear us apart" - for whats going on at our club at the moment
annamarie mcvicker's avatar

annamarie mcvicker · 783 weeks ago

another terrible performance insua / kuyt / lucas have to go and if rafa keeps playing them he will have to go to specsavers to see what we are seeing or does he want sacked by bringing our team down .
I'm sorry mate(author of article), and I'm not sure whether you agree, but it is the fan's fault and no one elses that the owners remain at Anfield. Granted it was the stupidity of Parry to allow them tot take over initially, but while they still remain, it is the fans and no one else who have to consolidate and force.

I'm not referring to a Leninist style revolution, in which we execute them, yet we as fans simply are not doing enough to oust them at this current moment in time. Look at how the mancs have rallied against the Glazers; if we are to be realistic about seeing the backs of the yanks, we seriously need to pursue the development of a thorough, holistic strategy in which every single one of us rams the yanks out of the door. Yes, this includes the deliberate ignorance of official merchandise, mass fund-raising for a takeoever bid in pursuit of a Barcelona-style, democratic model, and even boycotting matches. Such ruthless, relentless action is the only way in which the yanks are going to go, and until this is taken seriously, we are ALL to blame for our current peril.
1 reply · active 782 weeks ago
Donald Tramp's avatar

Donald Tramp · 780 weeks ago

What was Stevie singing in 2004? Heartbreak Hotel? No Yank owners then and he was gong to leave. Why, when the owners and Rafa weren't even in a UK postcode, never mind a Liverpool one? How many £20m players did we have in '04? What was the average transfer spend? How close were we to a stadium? How many more years could we have gone on in that state?

Why does Rafa put up with it? Could it be because he learned at Valencia that you can win a title without over-spending and spending a vast amount has little guarantee, a fact lit in neon across the Champions League by Chelsea and Real this season?

How many managers has Roman been through to get a CL title? And now much money has he spent? And yet the answers from many to our problems are? A new manager and a sugar daddy! Why am I so doubtful?

But there was always DIC. Shyeah, right:
http://trueslant.com/nealungerleider/2009/11/30/d...

Dubai has no oil. It's the tourism and finance arm of the Emriates, hence the debt-financed vanity projects of Sheikh Mohammed (the guy the Mancs thought would save them), which sank Dubai into the quicksand of defaulting. And DIC are owned by the Sheikh. We could've been in a Pompey situation with players sold to pay off a desert ski slope. And which fan would stand up to take the blame for giving us to them, lock, stock and trophy cabinet?

"Just like Iceland, Dubai is a cautionary tale of what happens when an economy grows too fast and too lopsidedly. What outsize financial services was to Iceland, reckless property development was to Dubai." - The Guardian

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