Liverpool fan Mal James gives his verdict on whether the club has gone forwards or backwards this season, and where they may be heading in the future.
On Radio recently, Alan Green remarked that Liverpool are “…..four to five players short of challenging for the Premiership.” Perhaps an exaggeration, but the reality is, at least three – a striker, a winger who can get past defenders and cross, and a creative central midfield player.
Let’s look at the club through the eyes of the owners. When they spend on players, it is an investment. So, what will they expect? One return is that players they buy will retain or increase value, a stated aim of the transfer policy since John Henry arrived. A second would be Champions League football, not just for the CL income, but for the Global marketing opportunities this provides for a club like Liverpool.
So, how’s it going? Liverpool bought Carroll for a reported £35m, Henderson for a reported £20m, Downing for £20m and Adam for £8m; a total outlay of something in the order of £83m.
If they were sold today? The club might get £20m for Carroll. Downing, who has been sub-standard by any measure, might bring in £12m. Henderson, perhaps the same. And Charlie Adam? If you buy a player for £8m from a relegation side, you get a very average player, and Adam is just that – very average. If a club now paid more than, £5m for him its fans would be complaining.
So, between them, the manager and Damien Comolli have ‘lost’ Liverpool FC somewhere in the order of £34m. Carroll and Henderson might turn into useful players, but will never be worth the money spent.
Downing never was worth that sort of money. Adam? No pace, no stamina, can’t cover back, poor passing, say no more. As an investment for future sales, this has been bad business.
So, how about the possible return improvement and the return of Champion’s League? Liverpool are currently in 7th place. Last season they finished sixth. They should end up above Newcastle by the end of the season. If they end up higher than Chelsea, then this is likely to be more the result of a kamikaze owner than any LFC improvement.
Liverpool finished 22 points behind the top club last season. They are currently 27 points behind Manchester City, and will very probably again be more than 22 behind both City and United by the end of the season.
The Champions League is a distant hope. Even more significant is that fact that a current points average per game of 1.5 is less than for the whole of last season and considerably worse than the period from January, after Dalglish took charge. On this basis, the purchase of Carroll, Henderson, Downing and Adam has made the team weaker.
I doubt if this has been missed by the club’s statistically minded owners. It was notable that, after the Carling Cup Final, Comolli was stating in the media that big name players were interested in coming to Liverpool. Within a couple of days, he was backtracking and there would be no major buying this summer. Very possibly, the owners have looked at the transfer track record of Comolli and Dalglish and said ‘no more until these buys come good’.
Without the Carling Cup win, I suspect the owners might have started to think about alternatives. That result might have bought Dalglish and Comolli some time, but it won’t bring the players the club needs.
What do you think the future holds for Liverpool?
image: © k1ngk0ng
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
