The Dim in Beirut

Goodbye Street Fighter Poet

So, today, Luis Suarez has confirmed his desire to leave Liverpool this Summer.

It’s the news every Liverpool fan around the world was dreading. But it was also the news that most Liverpool fans not living with their heads in the sand were expecting.

There’s been a lot of vitriol thrown at Suarez for the last couple of days. People saying he owes Liverpool one more season; others saying that they feel greatly let down.

In all honesty, people need to give the guy a break.

I don't know what certain members of the Liverpool FC fanbase were expecting this Summer, I really don't.

You can't bask in Suarez's brilliance all season, proclaim him as one of the league and world's best players and then get pissed off that he wants to leave a club that have finished 6th, 8th and 7th in the league behind the likes of Newcastle and Everton since he arrived here.

World class players, which Suarez is, deserve a world class setting. He deserves to be playing somewhere where he can compete for major honors; every single honor available to him. Everyone giving him flack must have had your heads in the sand all year to be honest.

The news comes as no surprise to me. It's completely consistent with Suarez's character. The man is a winner. He is the sort of player willing to break his grandmother's ankles for 3 points. He is the one player that looks absolutely destroyed when we lose football games. For him to stay at a club that have lost something like in 1 in 3 or 4 for the last 3 years would be in complete contrast to his character.

Forget all the other talk of the media hounding him (which is a factor, no doubt, but not the main one). Forget whatever conceptions you have of loyalty. None of you were complaining about loyalty when he came to us DIRECTLY after biting some player in Holland and incurring a 7 game ban, with Ajax out of the Champions League places. None of you said he deserved to give Ajax one more year due to their support.

Suarez owes us nothing. He could have easily gone last season; Kenny left and there was the fallout of the Evra affair. He didn’t. He had other offers and decided to give us a chance. He did more than anybody else to make us successful this year; carried us through half a season. He never moaned about having a 17 and 18 year old next to him in attack. He never went crying to anyone that he had no backup for 3 months. He took on the responsibility on his shoulder and relished it.

I'll be gutted when he leaves; more than most. Suarez is, along with John Barnes, the best player I've ever seen in Red. Win, lose or draw I take so much pleasure just from watching him play football. He is the most enjoyable and entertaining player I've ever seen play for us. I thought I was deeply in love with Fernando Torres, but I realized that I never knew what true love for a player was until we got Suarez. With Torres, there was no bad times, nothing to challenge my affection for him. With Suarez, the bad times made me love him more.

Further than that, the way the press and the UK in general have treated him reinforces everything I ever thought about England, it's media and the hypocrisy of those in positions of power (be it the FA or any other institution). But again, I don’t believe that has anything to do with him leaving.

For me, we let him down. On and off the pitch. 

Off it, Suarez came at a time where we've been the weakest for the last 20 years: just at the start of FSG’s reign, where they knew more about weather conditions in Wisconsin than the sport of football.

Suarez should have been a lot more protected by the club during his time here. We should have banned the Daily Mirror from LFC the minute they splashed RACIST as their headline for example. We should have sued for libel the second that happened but took it up the ass like little bitches.

We should have taken the 8 game ban straight to CAS. Anybody who has read it knows there is 0 evidence bar Evra's word. The FA chose to believe Evra and not Suarez and we took it up the ass like little bitches.

We should have gone to war against the FA over the 10 game ban thing when Defoe got picked for England the week after he bit Masch. Gone to war. Instead what did we do? We took it up the ass like little bitches.

The only person that fought for Luis Suarez and Liverpool Football Club and went to war against the media and the FA got fired, in part, because of his "mishandling of the affair". 

I dont believe for one second that any of this has to do with Suarez leaving: he's way too good for a 7th placed team. But for Liverpool Football Club to rise again then it needs to stand up to itself, and stop letting itself be treated like an irrelevant little child. Winning trophies and protecting the club should become a priority as opposed to increasing brand value and making sure Henry Winter, Martin Samuel and Paul Hayward are writing nice things about you.

On it, we'll spend the rest of our lives thinking what could have been had we spent 76m pounds a bit more wisely than on Carroll, Downing, Henderson and Adam. God knows what could have been achieved had Suarez been surrounded by players like Coutinho, Sturridge et all... for more than 4 months.

As far as I’m concerned, he goes with my full blessing. I've been expecting his departure this Summer since the United 3-1 Kuyt Kuyt Kuyt game in 2010. I could see how talented he was and how impossible it would be to keep him here without Champions league football.

I'll remember him with great fondness. The cheekiness of Robbie Fowler, the tenacity and hard work of Dirk Kuyt, the back to goal brilliance of Kenny Dalglish, the flair of John Barnes, the dribbling skills of Steve Mcmanaman, the unpredictability of Titi Camara, the heart of Steven Gerrard, the creativity of Peter Beardsley, the nastiness of Steve Mcmahon, the goal threat of Michael Owen, the star power of Fernando Torres aligned with the desire to use every single blade of grass on the football pitch that is unique to him.

God bless you Luis, you street fighting poet, and best of luck.

Top 10 Luis Suarez Liverpool Goals

Luis Suarez has scored 31 times for Liverpool since his arrival from Ajax in late January 2011. Here's his 10 best so far.

10) vs. Fulham, 2010/11

It takes a special display for a player to be named the man of the match in a game that sees another player score 3 goals. For it to happen twice in a couple of months (while Dirk Kuyt scored 3 against United in March, it was Luis who took home the bubbly) shows just how incredible Suarez’s performances were in his first half season at Anfield.

He tore Fulham to shreds here and all that was lacking was a goal. It came late on as a brilliant Jonjo Shelvey through ball found Liverpool’s number 7.

What sets Suarez apart from other strikers is his balance and close control- and he displayed both attributes fully in this goal. Other players would have taken an extra touch after rounding the keeper, or simply planted their foot on the ground to regain balance. Suarez did neither, and executed the finish all in the same movement.

9) vs. Sunderland 2010/11

Something about Suarez that leaves fans bewildered is his ability to make something out of absolutely nothing.

There’s nothing on when Suarez plays a one two with Dirk Kuyt. The Uruguayan is still on the touchline as he receives the ball. Running in a straight line, he skips past the Sunderland defender and enters the area when he’s closed down by another Sunderland player.

Parallel with the bye line, in an apparent cul de sac, Suarez rips a scorcher of a shot which flies past the shell shocked Mignolet. It’s an early warning to English Football that a man to make the impossible possible has arrived. It’s a confirmation to Liverpool fans, bewitched by the Uruguayan’s performance in the previous game against Man United, that they had something special on their hands.

8) vs. Wolves 2011/12

 Another facet of Suarez’s play is his unpredictability. Instead of passing the ball as you expect, he’ll create space for himself by twisting the defender inside and out.

It’s highly debatable whether he knows what he’s going to do half the time. This unpredictability makes playing with him very difficult for his strike partner but makes playing against him even harder for defenders.

The goal against Wolves is a case in point. Running into a through ball from Jose Enrique, Suarez quickly finds himself in the area. Andy Carroll frees himself by making a run but Suarez elects to move the ball to his right foot and then back to his left very quickly, confusing  2 defenders, before firing a shot with his weaker foot inside the near post from the tightest of angles.

 

 7) 2^nd vs. Norwich 2011/12

I’ve watched football for 26 years. During that time, I’ve seen some fantastic players. None, however, have had the constant ability to make the ball ricochet in their favor.

The amount of times Suarez gets the ball, hits the defender with it before taking the rebound in his stride is unbelievable. The first few times it happened you chalked it off to good luck. But as it still occurs every game close to 2 years after his Liverpool debut, it’s clear there’s something more to it.

Take this goal for example. It starts off with a ricochet which looks like bad defending if you don’t know it happens with Suarez every game. Luis then runs with the ball and reaches the edge of the area where fires in drilled shot from a very hard angle.

6) vs. Udinese 2012/13

Despite scoring a few for Ajax and hitting the bar with one on his full Anfield debut, Suarez hadn’t scored a free kick for Liverpool before his beauty against City in August.

This one was even better, a belting, curling shot into the top corner of the goal at Kop end for Liverpool’s first free kick goal (that went OVER a wall) since Fabio Aurelio’s special at Old Trafford in the 4-1 win in 2009.

5) vs. Hearts, 2012/13

While there are some fantastic dribblers in the English league, Luis Suarez is perhaps the only one who constantly takes players out of the game without touching the ball.

The Uruguayan is a master of letting the ball do the work for him. He often receives a pass, puts his body between the defender and the ball then feints to control it and lets it run past him; taking out his marker in the process.

This is what he does for this goal as he receives the ball in the center circle and eliminates his marker. He’s still a long way away from goal, but Suarez runs at the opposing center back and takes the ball to the left side of the area where he slots home from a tight angle.

He’s often come close to scoring brilliant individual goals like this (and almost scores an even better one a few of weeks later vs Stoke), but the Hearts one is the first time he’s pulled it off.

4) 2^nd vs. Norwich 2012/13

Not a single goal in the entire list encapsulates Luis Suarez more than this one. His ability to score impossible goals is as renowned as his habit of missing easy chances. His skill and insane work rate have made him the biggest nightmare for opposing defenders in the league. He is unquestionably the league’s most hated player, but also perhaps its most gifted.

This goal has everything.

It starts off with the striker missing a simple 1-1 with the keeper by about 5 yards to howls of laughter.  While the Norwich crowd boos him unmercifully, Suarez trots back. By the time the resultant goal kick is taken, he is running to close down the defender who doesn’t spot him.

Suarez nips in to dispossess the Norwich player, turns and nutmegs him in one movement and then guides an exquisite finish from the edge of the area with the outside of the boot in to the far bottom corner- when the easier option would have been to take a few more touches.

28 seconds. 4 touches. 1 glaring miss, 1 interception, 1 nutmeg,  shot.

1 goal.

3) vs. Stoke, 1^st goal, League Cup 2011/12

If Jonjo Shelvey is the king…  The king of the Golf (just watch Being Liverpool- Oh Brendan…); then Luis Suarez is the king of the nutmeg.

There isn’t a defender that Suarez hasn’t nutmegged or at least attempted to. It’s not a exaggeration to say it happens every game and it’s a perfect example of how dangerous Suarez is in tight spaces- and how cheeky and impudent a player he is.

In this goal, again nothing is on as the number 7 picks the ball. He’s surrounded by defenders but Henderson’s run creates space for him. Suarez nutmegs Rory Delap’s apprentice and then curls a fantastic shot into the far right corner to give Liverpool an equalizer.

He’d then grab a late winner but it’s this goal that was on all the highlight reels.

2) vs. Newcastle, 2012/13

There are very few players currently playing professional football that could have scored this goal. Everything about it is sheer perfection.

It starts off with Luis Suarez, 70 yards away from the ball making a clever run between the Newcastle defenders. As the ball is pumped into him by Jose Enrique, Suarez could easily have been distracted by Krul or Coloccini but he keeps his eye on the ball throughout its trajectory.

He then controls it with the upper part of his chest and shoulder, killing it dead. He strains his entire body in order to let the ball drop without any interference from his chest. And while 99% of world footballers would have shot it first time, Suarez rounds the keeper and slots into an empty net.

3 exquisite touches combined with bravery, movement, industry and sheer flair.

Denis Bergkamp, Matt Le Tissier, Diego Maradona?

No, Luis Suarez.

 

1)3^rd Vs Norwich 2011/12            

This goal is a guilty pleasure of mine. There’s nothing else in football I love more than seeing someone chipping the keeper from distance.

For a player to score a chip requires several attributes. The vision to spot the keeper off his line, the cheekiness to decide to try to chip him, the acceptance that you’ll look like a fool if it doesn’t come off and the technique to actually pull it off. All this is done in a couple of seconds.

Few players actually have all these traits. The ones that do are some of the best players in football (Seedorf, Beckham, Alonso, erm, Figueroa…).

Suarez displayed all these traits to score this strike. It was made even better by the fact that it was his hatrick goal, coming 1 week before the cup final. Oh, and by this celebration.

Anatomy of a Catastrophy: Liverpool's Transfer History, 2008-12

This is a long read, it looks back to our transfer dealings from the Summer of 2008 to today. More than anything IMO, our complete ineptness in the market during those 4 years- along with cost cuttings at certain key moments- have led to us now becoming a mid table club.

Summer of 08:

This window would be crucial for several reasons. First off, it was the last time Rafa Benitez would have a negative net spend in the transfer market. After this Summer, he would no longer be able to buy players without selling some first. Secondly, it would be the first example of catastrophic transfer decisions under Benitez which would greatly impact on future team performances. Up until this Summer, Rafa had generally been fantastic in the transfer market, extracting good value low cost deals (Garcia, Reina, Agger, Skrtel, Arbeloa) as well as being spot on when spending big money (Torres, Mascherano). The Summer of 2008 saw Rafa’s judgment go awry- and the first time a Liverpool fanbase vehemently opposed a proposed Benitez transfer swoop. With the team go so close to the title after that Summer, it looks now more than ever that it was a real opportunity lossed- and the start of the decline.

 

With a spine as strong as any other club in Europe (Reina in goal, 2 of Skrtel, Agger, Carragher or Hyypia in defence, Alonso and Mascherano in midfield and Gerrard playing off golden boy, Fernando Torres), it was a widely held view that Liverpool needed to strengthen its wings.

Instead, this summer proved to be an absolute disaster and the precursor for all the mess that would come during the next 4 years.

For 3 months, Rafa Benitez chased Gareth Barry. A versatile player that had come off a very good season in the center of midfield at Aston Villa.  The chase for Barry (whose added value in Rafa’s eyes was that he “could play in 3 positions”) led to Xabi Alonso being touted all across Europe.

As the Barry chase stalled, Rafa set about reinforcing other positions in the team. John Arne Riise was sold, replaced by Andrea Dossena. David Ngog, a young kid from France, was snapped up as was Diego Cavalieri, yet another foreign backup goalkeeper.

But it was the signing of Robbie Keane that grabbed all the headlines. At 18m, he was Liverpool’s 2^nd biggest signing. A striker who’d excelled at Spurs next to Dimitar Berbatov, it was thought that he would partner Torres in attack- meaning that the famed Gerrard- Torres partnership would be split with the captain being moved further back.

Instead of focusing on improving the weak areas out wide, Liverpool had so far seemed largely focused on altering its world class spine.

Just before the start of the season, Liverpool welcomed Lazio for a pre season friendly. The game, uneventful as friendlies are, saw the Kop telling its manager exactly what they thought about the proposed Alonso sale- and where he could stick the idea of replacing him with Gareth Barry.

A couple of days later, empowered by the fans’ voice, the owners refused to sanction a bigger bid for Barry and Benitez’s plan to link Barry up with Keane died.

On the last day of the window, Rafa snapped up Albert Riera- a left winger who would take Harry Kewell’s place in the squad.

 

January 09:

Liverpool’s title bid was faltering as they drew 3 league games in January before beating Chelsea on the before last day of the window.

The next day, Robbie Keane was sold back to Spurs for 12m. The Reds had lost 6m on Keane in 6 months.

Keane had not settled well at Anfield and had not done enough to warrant a 1^st team place. More to the point, Liverpool were not in a financial position to keep an expensive player like Keane on the bench and let his value depreciate. It was decided that it would be better to bring the money in rather than let Keane’s value decrease further.

For a while, Keane was regarded as Liverpool’s worst ever signing. More pertinently though,  the Reds bought no one to replace him.

Liverpool (still fighting on 3 fronts) were expected to see out their first title chasing season in 7 years with only Torres and Ngog as its main strikers.

On the same day Keane moved back to Spurs, Andrei Arshavin moved to Arsenal for a similar fee. The tiny Russian would later have a telling say in Liverpool’s title bid.

 

Summer 09:

The Reds had come as close to their 19^th league title as at any time since 1990, finishing 4 points away from top position.

This should have been a summer where they reinforced their squad to make the final push to their mythical number 19.

Instead, it became the end of the dream and the final nail in the Hicks and Gillett coffin.

The reds lost the inspirational Sami Hyypia for free that summer along with the dependable and versatile Alvaro Arbeloa for a pitiful 3m to Real Madrid.

Arbeloa was replaced early in the window by Glen Johnson. Under pressure from City and Chelsea, the Reds coughed up 17m for the Portsmouth full back- still a British record transfer fee for a full back.

But it was the departure of the team’s metronome, XabiAlonso, which would most hurt the Reds.

Alonso, off the back of a fantastic season, had decided to move back to Spain and join the Galacticos v2.0 project.  The Reds spent all summer trying to extract the best possible deal from Real Madrid, meaning they missed out on Rafa’s preferred Xabi replacement: Gareth Barry, who moved to Man City.

A few days before the season kicked off, Liverpool accepted a 30m bid for Alonso- and swiftly moved to acquire Alberto Aquilani to replace him.

The 18m Italian was seen to be a potential star in world football- but had suffered terrible injury problems during his last 3 seasons and had barely played at Roma. He arrived at Anfield injured and wouldn’t start a league game until winter. It would prove to be one of the 2 biggest transfer mistakes in the history of Liverpool Football Club.

Later that summer, Rafa snapped up a cut priced Soto Kyrgiakos to replace Sami Hyypia.

There would be no more money made available to him.

Rafa was given a 20m budget- but was later told that included wages for current players too. There would be no backup striker to replace Robbie Keane. Instead, the Reds recalled Andrei Voronin from loan. There would be no David Silva (who was rumored to have been lined up by Benitez).

There would be no squad reinforcement.

And, there would be no more title chases.

Winter 10

Andrea Dossena (who was supposed to replace John Arne Riise) was shipped back to Italy and Andrei Voronin sent to Russia.

Maxi Rodridguez was brought in a on a “free” transfer from Atletico Madrid.

Rafa had a posittive net spend for his last transfer window, despite the Reds looking like they were going to miss out on champions league qualification. There was no emergency funds released to help the Reds get the 4^th spot.

And there would be no more 4^th spot. Instead, Liverpool finished 7^th and Benitez was promptly fired.

Summer 10

With Rafa gone, Roy Hodgson was brought in. Along with Christian Purslow, the pair would combine to make some more disastrous moves into the transfer market.

In one of the most suicidal free transfers in football history, Purslow secured Joe Cole on a 100,000k a week contract. The irony was that Cole had signed on those terms for near bankrupt Liverpool after being released by billionaire run Chelsea, who had found his wage demands ludicrous.

The mercurial Yossi Benayoun, one of the few creative players in the Reds squad, went the other way for 5m. Hodgson moved quickly to buy one of his ex players, 30 year old Christian Poulsen (voted Juventus’ worst player of the century by the Old Lady fans).

In another free transfer that cost the Reds a fortune, Milan Jovanovic (brought in by Rafa Benitez) arrived- a forward player who was asked to replace left winger Albert Riera. Benitez was also responsible for the arrival of Jonjo Shelvey from Charlton.

But it was the exit of another member of the Reds vaunted spine that grabbed all the headlines. Javier Mascherano, after having wanted to leave the previous summer, joined Barcelona for 18m. A couple of days later, Raul Meireles arrived for 12m on low wages- but with a promise he’d get a pay rise should he have a good season.

The central midfield area could have been weakened further as Purslow tried his upmost to flog Lucas Leiva, but the Brazilian saw out the Summer. Hodgson had better luck with Aquilani, as Rafa’s replacement for Xabi Alonso was sent on loan to Juventus: one injury riddled season into his Liverpool career.

It’s the club’s dealings on the last day of the window that summed the insanity of the Hodgson-Purslow alliance. With Emilio Insua packed off to Turkey on loan, the Reds had already resigned the constantly injured Fabio Aurelio on a 2 year deal. But they still needed a first choice left back.

Enter Hodgson. He moved for another one of his ex-players, Paul Konchesky. Liverpool paid 5m for the 29 year old English journeymen- and sent 2 bright young talents Fulham’s way too- another transfer deal that reeked of utter supidity and lack of forward planning.

 Only Luke Young’s desire to stay in the midlands prevented Hodgson from signing another journeyman English full back while in attack, there was still no replacement for Robbie Keane- 18 months on.

January 11

The month started with Roy Hodgson‘s firing- and the arrival of Kenny Dalglish as caretaker manager.

Hodgson had led the Reds through 5 months of the worst football seen at Anfield in decades. His signings, especially Konchesky and Poulsen, became the symbol of the utter mediocrity that blighted his spell as Liverpool manager.

Dalglish came in and almost immediately, new Liverpool DOF Damien Comolli, under the watchful eye of new owners FSG, set about buying Luis Suarez from Ajax. After weeks of negotiations and years of scouting, Suarez was signed for 22m.

Finally, 2 years on, Liverpool had signed a replacement for Robbie Keane. Suarez would pair up with Fernando Torres in attack and Reds fans were buzzing.

But only for a few hours.

On the evening the Suarez deal was confirmed, Chelsea had a bid rejected for Torres. The next night, 3 days before the Winter window closed, Torres put in a transfer request. The board rejected it.

It quickly became clear, however, that we were going to sell him. A figure of 50m (rumored to be the buyout figure clause in Torres’ contract) was muted. The focus switched to what business we could do in the final couple of days of the transfer window in order to replace him.

FSG, very mindful of the fact that selling a fan’s favorite in their first transfer window after replacing the hated previous owners could create mutiny, gave carte blanche to Damien Comolli to sign a replacement.

On the morning of the 31^st of January 2012, Liverpool had a ludicrous 30m bid for Andy Carroll amazingly rejected by Newcastle. Carroll, a young English towering target man, was just about the antithesis of Torres in every single way possible. After scouting Suarez for years and planning to play him with Torres, the Reds completely ripped the plan apart by going for a completely different type of player in Andy Carroll.

With hours left of the window remaining, to the utter incredulity of millions of football fans around the world, Liverpool upped their bid for Carroll by 5m and signed their man- who was injured at the time. Torres then dully signed for Chelsea for 50m, the latest piece of the 2008 spine to depart.

The Carroll deal would prove to rival the Aquilani in the worst ever stakes. Concurently, it gave selling clubs full ammunition to make Liverpool overpay for their targets. It also signaled a desire from FSG and Damien Comolli to target young English prospects with premier league experience.

 

Summer 11



Carroll had very little impact during the end of his the 2010/11 season, as the Reds put together their best run of form since their title chase in 2009.

Instead, led by the magnificent Luis Suarez, Kenny Dalglish’s team set about playing a fast tempo, high octane attacking game with Maxi, Meireles and Dirk Kuyt all interchanging positions around the new number 7.

The challenge to Dalglish was how to incorporate Carroll into the side. But with funds promised by FSG, fans were as optimistic as ever before that Kenny would lead the team to glory.

What transpired during that summer, however, would lead to Dalglish and Comolli losing their jobs, fans losing hope and FSG changing their entire approach to running a football club.

The summer kicked off with Liverpool parting with 16m to sign Jordan Henderson from Sunderland- a young English player with potential- but who came off the back of an inconsistent season playing in a position where the Reds were well stocked in.

It was thought that Henderson would be Kenny’s new Ray Houghton, coming inside from the right. But the fee, again, was excessive and another sign to clubs that Liverpool were a soft touch in the transfer market.

Kenny then signed Charlie Adam from Blackpool for 6m, another central midfield player whose set pieces we believed would supply Andy Carroll.

After missing out on Ashley Young, Kenny signed Stewart Downing from Aston Villa. At 20m, Downing was another English player signed at an excessive price, but whose crosses from the left wing would hopefully be headed in by Carroll.

Downing would become the 3^rd player signed (for a total of 42m) with the seemingly specific intention of getting the best out of Carroll. Luis Suarez, meanwhile, saw a player he linked superbly well with, Raul Meireles, on the bench for the first 2 league games.

A few days before the season started, Kenny brought in Jose Enrique to replace Konchesky at left back and later signed Sebastien Coates for 7m as a fall back option after missing out on Phil Jones.

On the last day of the window, Reds rejoiced as the likes of Ngog, Cole (on loan), Poulsen and Degen all left the club. It seemed that the club were cutting off the entire deadwood and reshaping the squad with no mediocrity allowed in. Aquilani was also gone- but again only on loan, this time to Milan.

Spirits were boosted as old boy Craig Bellamy joined on a free transfer, a replacement for Ngog who could also play on the left in the departed Jovanovic’s place. But, 30 minutes before the window close, Meireles joined Chelsea for 11m.

The promised wage rise had never arrived as FSG were reluctant to give an older player a big contract. Kenny, meanwhile, had signed Henderson, a younger player who could play where Meireles did. It made financial sense.

But, in reality, Meireles’ exit was a big blow: he had linked superbly with Suarez during the end of season run and seemed to be able to bring the best out of the Uruguayan. Indeed, in less than 40 minutes of league play, Meireles created as many goals for Liverpool in the league last season than Henderson and Downing did all year- COMBINED.

 

January 12



For the first time in 4 years, there were no incomings at Anfield. Despite the Reds challenging for the top 4, it had become apparent that they desperately needed a finisher.

Whether FSG had refused to sanction funds due to the lack of return from the summer signings (only Enrique had improved the first 11 while Bellamy was a great impact player) or whether Kenny decided not to delve into the market is still a matter for debate. What we do know, for a fact, is that Croatian hitman Nikica Jelavic was heavily linked to Liverpool that window but ended up signing for Everton for 5m.

Liverpool subsequently won the league cup and reached the final of the FA cup that season, but displayed relegation form in the league. A couple of months before the season ended, Comolli was fired- a damning indictment on his transfer dealings. A couple of days after the season ended, Kenny was gone too after finishing 8^th, the Reds’ worst league position since 1994. The King was to be replaced by Brendan Rodgers.

Summer 12

It is, of course, too soon to make any judgments of this window but a couple of things are clear.

FSG’s transfer policy became heavily weighed into lowering the wage bill. The likes of Maxi, Kuyt (for a ridiculous 1m), Adam, Spearing (on loan), Aquilani (finally on a permanent deal- but with an expensive golden handshake) and Aurelio all left the club.

In came Fabio Borini a striker who had previously worked with Rodgers and Joe Allen, a 15m central midfielder from Swansea. The Reds also signed Oussama Assaidi, a winger, and secured the loan signing or Nuri Sahin.

But it was in the last couple of days where yet another ludicrously ridiculous set of decisions took place- demonstrating again how Liverpool are gloriously inept in the transfer market.

A day before the window close, Andy Carroll was sent on loan to West Ham. Carroll didn’t fit in Rodger’s system and as such was surplus to requirements. But no one came in with an offer to buy him and thus the men in charge, in order to again decrease the wage bill, let him go on loan.

This left Rodgers, like Benitez in 09, with only 2 senior strikers- but, unlike Rafa, with no Dirk Kuyt anymore to fill in as 3rd option.

With the owners refusing to stump up the money for Clint Dempsey, mindful of his age as well as resale value and unwilling to continue overspending for players, Liverpool started looking for other alternatives.

Erringly like the Konchesky deal in 2010, the Reds attempted to sacrifice a young player in order to acquire a 29 year old from Fulham. 16m Jordan Henderson was offered to the London club in exchange for a player in the last year of his contract who would, later on in the day, move for 6m.

Henderson refused to leave the club.FSG refused to release more funds. And Fulham refused to budge.

With negotiations at a standstill, Rodgers lost Dempsey to Spurs- leaving him with only 2 senior strikers and the choice of free agents like Michael Owen in case he wanted a 3^rd.

Liverpool now have 1 point from the opening 3 league games and the smallest squad in their recent history.

They have picked up 19 points from their last 22 league games, 0.86 a game. Over a 38 game season, that gets them around 33 points-

Not enough to stay in the premier league.

Something Rotten in the State of LFC

 

Today is  August the 1st. So we enter the last month on the transfer window. We're one day away from our first competitive game, 17 days away from our first league game of the season and 31 days away from the end of the Summer transfer window.

When Kenny was fired, I wrote a post saying I was excited about the future held. I stated that FSG were way too smart too make such an unpopular move without having a hell of a plan lined up to take Liverpool Football Club forwards.

That plan is evident now for me and is summed up in 3 words:

Lack of Ambition.

Thats what's killed me the most this Summer. Complete lack of ambition from top to bottom.

Lets start with the sacking of Kenny. Now, rightly or wrongly, it happened and even the staunchest Kenny fan would say they had a case.

What happened next is what worries me:

Fabio Capello, Louis Van Gaal and Rafael Benitez. 3 of the greatest managers in the history of world football and one of the greatest of this century are all available and reported to be interested in taking the job. What do FSG do? They go for a man with one year's experience in top flight football whose greatest achievement in his career was wining the Championship play off final.

Why? Because he plays nice football and is young? Or because he's not as expensive as the other 3?

Leaving alone the whole mess about changing the strategy of having a DOF/Technical director/manager threepartite comittee to fit the needs of Brendan Rodgers (he of championship play off final winning fame), by ignoring the 3 best names available (and interested) on the market, FSG displayed a shocking lack of ambition there and then.

Move on to our transfer targets and what do we see? More lack of ambition. With 2 and half weeks to go till the 1st game of the season, we've let 2 senior players go and bought one in. We have a weaker squad today then we did at the end of last season. We are at a standstill in transfers because it's patently obvious we're fucking potless.

And who are targetting? Mid table players like Clint fucking Dempsey who no other club aiming for top 4 are chasing. How the fuck did the club convince so many fans that likes of Dempsey is the best we can get? How the fuck has it come to this?

We self pity so much and set the targets so low when 18 months ago we were 3 points of the bottom of the premier league and went and bought one of the hottest players in Europe in Luis Suarez. There are players like Santi Cazorla at an unstable club who would be absolutely fucking perfect for us and we are doing next to fuck all to try to entice him to come to us.

Where's the "project"? Where's the fucking ambition?

Liverpool Football Club have done a wonderful job of convincing its supporters that it's impossible to entice top class players without Champions League football. That's absolute bullshit. Players will go to non CL clubs, just as long as they are paid top drawer wages. Cazorla is a perfect exemple, as he joined Malaga last Summer who were not in the Champions League.

The reality is, it's not the European Cup we are not offering: it's the medium to top bracket wages that Liverpool Football Club are not offering.

Gerard Houllier spoke a lot of crap but he did say one thing that always stuck in my mind "Aim for the moon and you may hit the stars". It's about having lofty targets, about going for the best, about always trying to improve.

This Summer is so similar to the one in 2010 its scary. Players coming in late to pre season after an international tournament. Early Europa League games against unpronounceable teams. Terribly difficult first few fixtures in the league.

New manager comes in from a mid table club off the back of a good season to replace a club legend. Speaks a shitload in press conferences, mostly about himself and his "methods". We aim terribly low in the transfer market, signing players who have played for that manager before and target mid range players. All that's left now is for Agger to pull a Mascherano and fuck us off in a couple of weeks.

People say some of some of us Reds fans are drama queens. Well...

We've finished 7th,6th and 8th in our last 3 seasons.

We've had 4 managers since 2010.

We've missed out on CL qualification for 3 seasons.

We've, since 2009, sold our best or very good players every season (Alonso, Yossi, Mascherano, Torres, Meireles etc...) a couple of times to our direct rivals.

We've been through 2 sets of owners and close to administration.

We've spend a shitload of money on horribly average players and made the most idiotic transfer deals in the history of global sport.

But yeah, we're drama queens.

It's bollocks. On field we are, presently, at the worst state it's been we've 1994. We had, then, come off the back of 3 league seasons where we finished 6th 6th and 8th.

The difference between then and now is how fucking rotten this club has become. When Roy Evans came in then, he had strong and experienced men like Ronnie Moran around him to give him strength. Who the fuck does Rodgers have now? There's no support group around him for what is one of the toughest management jobs in all of sport. Evans didnt have such a competitive league to compete with. We could still outspend a huge majority of clubs.

One last thing about Rodgers and I know this wont be popular but I have to share it once and pray Im fucking wrong: Every part of me says that this guy is a phoney. He's a fake. He's a snake eye salesman. He cant shut the fuck up about himself and his methods. That story about his 180 pages book the other day, the constant talk about his way of playing, about his experiences etc...

Im a salesman. Every time I look at Rodgers and hear him speak, I cant help but think what a brilliant bullshitter he is. Hope to fuck Im wrong and my instincts are way off the mark on this one, but there you go. That's my feeling at the moment.

But phoney or not, the guy needs help. Theres noone around him. Kenny had Sir Bob and Peter Robinson first time round. Who does Rodgers have? Ian Ayre? A set of owners who know less than a 6 year old about the sport? 

There's no structure around the place, there's no plan and there's no ambition. We seem to be limping into the new season crossing our fingers none of our best players will leave rather than bringing in some other people who can become part of our elite group of players.

Anyone that's not, at the very least, mildly worried about where we're headed is deluded.

End the Fiasco

You want a sensible discussion about Andy Carroll? I’ll try my best.

First off, you cannot view or discuss Andy Carroll without talking about Luis Suarez.

When we bought Luis Suarez, we had spent years scouting him. We decided to bid for him and play him with Fernando Torres- a typical number 9, who was fast, played on the shoulder of the last defender and was capable of drifting to the wing to create space for attacking midfielders to run into. And he was a deadly finisher to boot.

That was Plan A. Suarez and Torres.

But then Torres decides to leave. And what do the people in charge decide to do with plan A? They flush it down the toilet. Instead of going and buying a player similar in style if not class to Torres to partner Suarez, as was the plan, the powers that be decided to buy the Torres’ antithesis.

Instead of partnering Suarez with a mobile striker, they decided to partner him with a player with little movement. Instead of having a good finisher, with good football intelligence who thrived on first time balls on the deck, they went and bought a player who preferred a more direct approach.

Plan A well and truly ripped apart.

I never understood the logic in this. Anyone who’s watched Suarez for us or Uruguay can see what it takes to get the best out of him: play him with players with great movement, good footballing brains who are adept at quick one touch pass and move football. But despite our years of scouting we decided to partner him with a player who had none of those attributes.

Carroll was injured for much of last season and Suarez thrived, scoring 4 goals (0% with Carroll on the pitch) and combining magnificently with Maxi, Kuyt and Meireles. All players with good footballing brains and movement, who understood Luis’ game.

The few times Carroll was on the pitch it seemed their partnership was not working. West Brom, Sunderland, Arsenal saw 4 points and very little combination between the 2 players. The City 3-0 game gave us hope, as Carroll bagged 2 and created a chance for Suarez who hit the post. But then he got injured again.

With Carroll out we played Birmingham, Newcastle and Fulham, and won by 13 to 2. The movement and fluidity of the front 4 was a sight to behold at times. All interchanging postions, playing one touch football, combining well. All things that bring the best out of Suarez.

Carroll gets back in the side vs Spurs, and we lose 2-0 with very little combination between the 2 strikers yet again.

It was obvious to me then that we were going to have a serious problem incorporating Carroll. How do you fit such a player, who’s at his best when offered direct football, in a team that plays the sort of football Luis Suarez thrives on? How the hell do you combine the two?

It’s impossible in my opinion and this season proved my fear.

In the Summer, we decided to spend a small fortune on players designed to get the best out of Carroll. In the process, we got rid of one player who combined greatly with Suarez last year, Raul Meireles. This strategy is, in my opinion, is the direct reason why we’re 8^th in the league.

We had hit on a winning formula with Carroll out but because of his price tag, the powers that be felt forced to buy players to get the best out of him. Instead of targeting a rich man’s Maxi, they went for a rich man’s Mark Walters . Instead of a better Meireles, they went for a worse Meireles. Instead of a building on the blueprint of success we’d stumbled unto, they ripped it up.

All to justify why they bought Andy Carroll.

And how has Carroll repaid them? By putting in absolute average, lazy performances for 90% of the season. He’s been, generally, absolutely woeful for most of the season. His touch has been awful, his goal threat nonexistent, his work rate questionable and his compatibility with Suarez invisible.

He’s got 3 goals against premier league sides all season and one assist. I don’t care if he cost 35m or 5m, it’s nowhere near good enough.

More than that, his partnership with Suarez has looked, again, to be restricting the side. I know the arguments and stats out there: the ones that say that the mere sight of the Big Yin’s pony tail makes Suarez’s shots hit the post and go in instead of hit the post and go out. But the real stat that matters is that in all competitions, Raul Meireles has created as many goals for Suarez as Andy Carroll has. And Raul’s played 15mn with Luis all year.

And vice versa too. Suarez has created two goals for Carroll in all competitions. Quite simply: they don’t get. Suarez wants to pass and move, Carroll wants crosses and headers. They couldn’t be more different if they tried. Defoe or Owen would thrive on Carroll’s knockdowns but Suarez is a lot more than that.

I’m sick to death of the excuses people make for his poor form and attitude. I really am. First it was he’s injured. Then it became he’s not fully fit. Then it was we didn’t have the players to get the best out of him. Then it was Kenny not playing him enough. Then it was because Luis was so good it made him look bad.  Then it was because he wasn’t fully fit. Then it was because Gerrard was out. Then it was confidence and he just needs a goal. Then it was moving to another city. Then, it was his age. Then, It was the fans fault. Then it was Kenny’s fault again.

Fuck that. He’s been close to woeful for most of the campaign. Yesterday was the last straw for me. He had 80m to make an impact against Newcastle, tripped over himself when clear on goal, completely messed up a 1-2 with Suarez, moved terribly for Shelvey and was then subbed off.

 How did Carroll thank Dalglish for playing him yesterday? By running down the tunnel when subbed and shouting expletives at him. Instead of kissing the feet of the man who’s taken so much stick defending him, he embarrasses him.

And, the killer is, people still find excuses for him. Apparently it was bad managing by Dalglish. Give me a fucking break. Carroll is the first person I’ve ever seen in my 26 years supporting us who’s run down the tunnel when subbed swearing at the Liverpool manager. And people still want to absolve him of any blame. Utter joke.

Dalglish has stood by him, defended him, born the brunt of so much criticism for buying him, spent fortunes on other players to service him and changed a winning formula to accommodate him. And despite a season of utter awfulness, he gives him the chance to score against his hometown club. And this idiot disrespects him like that. Who the hell does he think he is?

I want him gone. First and foremost because I think he’s the complete opposite of the player who can get the best out of our number 7. And secondly because I don’t think he has anywhere near enough respect or affection for this club.

Rip up fucking Plan B and go back to Plan A. Partner Suarez with a typical number 9, who is fast, plays on the shoulder of the last defender and is capable of drifting to the wing to create space for Lusi to run into. And who’s was a deadly finisher to boot.

And condemn the Carroll fiasco to the annals of history.