LIVERPOOL MAY HAVE NOTHING TO BLAME
Liverpool will host champions Manchester United this weekend and what a game it promises to be.
I have been a soccer fan for a long time now but one of the games that really sparked my passion for football was on the 25th of May 2005.
Liverpool squared up to AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League final. Milan fired 3 past the Reds. Before anyone had sat down Milan where 1-0 up. The rest is history. Liverpool won in true English football fashion. One of the heroes of the night was Vladimír Šmicer. Who you ask? Well that is just my point – but I’ll get back to that shortly. Liverpool helped turn football from an interest into a passion for me. For that I will always be grateful! I have always, when asked, said that I am an England fan first. You can’t watch every game that is played so you have to choose one team to follow. Manchester United became that team for me. Hotspur under Ramos had a “buy English” policy that caused me to have a secret love affair with them. Liverpool still have the best English midfielder in Gerrard. I can watch any one of them and enjoy it.
I say all of this to let everyone know that although I love Man Utd I’m not biased in my opinion of other teams. Sure I enjoy a little banter. United have won the last three years after all… All that is to follow is not written in a United-fan-mocking way. Rather it is written as a football fan who has picked up some interesting facts.
Now back to Vladimír Šmicer. I have no idea who that is. I watched that game in 05. He scored Liverpools 2nd goal and their final penalty. Now however he is gone. Liverpool have had a massive amount of people come through their doors in recent times.
To jump straight to the point:
Liverpool lost against Sunderland because of their lack of squad depth. Liverpool without Gerrard and Torres are just another mid-table team. It’s true. Rafa has had a lot to say about the fact that United have more money available to them than he does but let’s look at some figures.
Since Rafa arrived in 2004 Liverpool have brought in 48 players. United have brought in 30. Liverpool had 18 players more – that’s a full team and bench!
Now, Liverpool signed Torres for a record £26.5 million. United signed Berbatov for the large sum of £30.7 million. Not all that much more really. The thing is however, United spent more on a single player but lets look at this:
Keane: £19, Bellamy: £6, Gonzalez: £4, Pennant: £6. Add that all up and you get a whopping £35 million! See where I’m going?
United may have spent large amounts of money on a single player but they buy the players that will do something for the squad. Out of the 48 Rafa has brought in, how many would be in the first 11 or even on the bench for other teams? You don’t see people ramming down the door to sign Ngog or Voronin.
Where I think Sir Alex has got it right (and therefore Rafa, wrong) is that he brought in the players his side needed to be strengthened. He needed a midfielder, so he bought Carrick. It cost him £18 million but since his arrival United have won three league titles and the UEFA Champions league and…
Rafa buys 10 young unknown players. Some of them work out. Some of them don’t. Sir Alex buys one or two expensive established players, and 4 unknown talents.
The thing is if you made a combined Liverpool/Man Utd 11 how many players from Liverpool would be in the side? Torres – definitely. Gerrard, I think because he is so good you dare not leave him out, not because United lack Midfield options. Carragher – maybe? That’s probably about all.
Liverpool are in desperate need of a good game this weekend. United need to close games out better. It will be very interesting to see how the match plays out. United are not in the best of form – Liverpool’s is even worse. Matches like this however always cause teams to play above themselves. I’m pretty sure that however close the game is to call, Liverpool without Torres and Gerrard have no chance at all! United could miss Rooney and that would be a blow but they have £60 million worth of PROVEN talent to fall back on. Rafa, for all the money he has spent, probably only has about £20 million. And it’s all his own fault.
The table above represents the clubs net spending per season since the arrival of Rafa Benitez at Liverpool.
Image from The Transfer League:
