Missing Links

 Our poor recent form has led to plenty of questioning of Kenny Dalglish’s activities in the transfer market, making special mention of the amount of money the club has paid out in fees. It’s true that what Kenny has spent is a huge sum of money, and it’s also true that through player sales and the reduction in the clubs wage bill almost every penny he has spent has been made back. But that’s not what this is about. I’ve thought back at our transfers for the best part of the last decade and while I haven’t had the chance to fully research my findings, I‘ve mainly relied on memory, there are a few things I’ve noticed.

 Nemanja Vidic, Antonio Valencia, Phil Jones, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Ashley Young. All players who have played a big part in Man Utd’s success either this season or over the last five or six years. And, if I’m not mistaken, all players who we were linked with in the press to some degree before they signed for Man Utd. I don’t know how much of it was just paper talk at the time or how genuine our interest was, but given the ability of the players I’m sure we were really interested in them.

 Gael Clichy, Gareth Barry, James Milner, Adam Johnson, Carlos Tevez, Edin Dzeko. Same story. All players who have contributed to Man City’s improved fortunes over the last two or three years and all players we have been reported to be interested in signing. Again, I have no idea how strong our interest was but I’d be prepared to bet they are players our managers would have wanted to sign for our club.

 And then there is the other one. According to Phil Thompson’s biography we had a deal agreed for Cristiano Ronaldo. It was a great surprise to him and Gerard Houllier when it was announced the winger was to join Man Utd as they thought it was agreed he was coming to us. And the story goes we had him lined up for something like £5 million!

 All of these players have been arguably more successful than any of our recent signings, though some of them not without controversy or trouble. The point I’m trying to make with all of this is that there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with our scouting system, good players who’s transfer fees were within our budget (though right at the top end in some cases) have been identified, which leads us to a conclusion many Liverpool fans don’t really want to accept – there are other clubs out there with far more pulling power than ourselves. Every supporter of every club believes their club is the best club in the world, I’m sure if you asked a die hard Wolves fan, even as his team stares relegation in the face, he would be convinced any player should join them purely because he so passionately believes in the club he has followed all his life. Liverpool fans have this loyalty and belief by the shedload, and the club also has the history and tradition of success to back up this belief, so the club’s current position in the pecking order isn’t easy for us to admit.

 We signed Stuart Downing in the summer from Aston Villa for a similar fee Man Utd paid for Ashley Young. I’m sure if you’d asked any Liverpool fan at the time who they would prefer they would have said Young, the same goes for the manager and coaching staff. The reality is we’re not as big a draw as Man Utd so we had to accept second pick. The best way to attract the top players is to be successful and be challenging for league titles, but the best way to win league titles is to bring in the top players. It’s a vicious circle and without an Abramovich style sugar daddy it’s a situation that in today’s climate is almost impossible to escape.

 The number and intensity of fixtures played by today’s top sides doesn’t help us. Clubs challenging at the top need substantial squads and have the financial muscle to assemble them and it’s hard to compete. We need to work extensively on our marketing and overseas revenue streams to allow us to be competitive in this area. In the not too distant past the best fifty players in the Premier League would have been shared out between the top ten clubs, with six or seven per club at the top of the table and three or four per club towards mid table. Now the top two or three clubs have fifteen each leaving so few left for the other teams it’s no surprise we can’t compete. The wealth of Man Utd, Man City and Chelsea mean we are having to rely on buying talented younger players like Carroll and Henderson who are not yet proven rather than being able to buy players closer to the finished article like Berbatov and Barry. How many other sides in England would use a player like Berbatov so sparingly? And when he moves on he will be sold abroad, it’s a case of ‘we don’t need him but we don’t want anyone else to have him’ and it makes it all the more difficult for clubs just below the top four to break into the group.

 Our better players over the last ten to fifteen years have been almost exclusively home grown, I’m thinking about Fowler, McManaman, Owen, Gerrard and Carragher. It’s easier to keep hold of players like this who have a real affinity for the club and the supporters. The only two of these who have left by their own choice both went to Real Madrid and it’s hard to criticise a footballer for wanting to go there. Investment in youth is key to moving forward as a club. We have a good academy set up and though it’s not possible to just ‘produce’ a player, the talent need to be there to begin with, hopefully this will pay dividends for us over the coming years. Against Newcastle on Sunday we had Flanagan, Carrager, Spearing and Gerrard in the team, that’s four out of eleven despite spending £113 million on players over the last fifteen months. Martin Kelly and Jack Robinson also have the potential to become first team regulars over the coming seasons. Home grown players have a few advantages, they tend to be given more time by the fans before judgement is passed, and they don’t cast a transfer fee. Three or four academy produced players in the first team saves enough money to be able to go out and buy a decent calibre of player, it’s just a matter of being able to guarantee that player the type of stage on which he wants to perform.