If we finish 6th next season I will be thrilled

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My fate is sealed now, I will probably be accused of blasphemy for the title of this article but I really believe that we Reds need to face reality. I am usually an optimistic person but I simply can not pull myself through and look beyond this storm that has hit our club.

We went into the 2009/10 with high hopes, having finished the previous season as runners-up we believed that this was going to be the season we were going win the nineteenth title. Unfortunately nineteenth did not happen and instead we finished seventh place in the league barely qualifying for the Europa League.

So what changed from the previous season? We had the same manager and backroom staff, we had the same tactics, same zonal markings and pretty much the same players with the exception of Xabi Alonso and Sami Hyypia. So were Xabi and Sami that good that we simply collapsed after they left? They are great players however their departure could not have had such an impact. Yes we had our share of bad luck and injuries to compound to the misery however I believe that the root cause had nothing to do with what happened on the field but rather what has happened off the field.

When you stop watering a tree that same tree might flower and bear some fruit for a while however the roots might eventually dry out, the trunk and branches follow, the leaves start to fall as the tree dies. Hicks and Gillett did just that to Liverpool F.C., they did not invest the much needed cash to improve our squad and we are now suffering after two full years of their neglect. We have seen some of our top players not performing to the level they did in the previous seasons, and while some point the finger at Rafa, (and Rafa is not totally innocent) I see the bigger picture. When I look at the players they remind me of some of my fellow coworkers when our company was on the verge of bankruptcy (ironically I worked for a company that imploded after a leveraged buyout), they feel helpless, angry and are demotivated.

We have no choice but hope that the sale will happen soon and that we can hold on to what we have. Whoever the manager is next season will have a big task on hand, trying to keep Liverpool from slipping further is the first priority while hoping that the club will be sold to someone who treats the club like a living organism rather than a commodity.

We Reds are a positive bunch, we hold our heads high and sing Y.N.W.A. when the chips and down and the bets are against us. This does work on the field but unfortunately off the field it is a different story. We are now faced with the biggest financial crisis to ever hit this club of ours. We are at the mercy of the banks, a chairman (who is a Chelski fan) and two owners who want to squeeze every drop of blood that we have left.

So this summer I do not expect much investment in terms of new players while Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham will probably break their banks on signings while we will be down at the bargain rack picking up the best we can. This will make it hard for us to return to the top four, let alone challenge for the title.

What we Reds need to do is lower our own expectations, we have a great trophy cabinet but those were all from a time when trophies were earned with sweat and tears, the trophies in modern football are not earned the same way.

Y.N.W.A.

-Antoine

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14 Comments

  1. I agree mate. Top six would be a fantastic achievement. If we end up with Rafa staying and Torres and Gerrard leaving, I think a top half finish maybe a step to far.

  2. If rafa is still in charge and the yanks still running the show we will be lucky to finish top 6. It’s an awful state of affairs but it’s reality. The team is out of ideas.

  3. I Love the way u end this article…we have a great trophy cabinet but those were all from a time when trophies were earned with sweat and tears, the trophies in modern football are not earned the same way. Thats so true ;)

  4. “..those were all from a time when trophies were earned with sweat and tears..”

    And of course, not forgetting the Littlewoods pools money. LFC had more cash then than their rivals did, now the shoe is on the other foot.

  5. Hope for the worst and if the best happens you won’t get disappointed, just happy.

    If we manage to get some good players I don’t think that finishing on top 4 (or even fighting for the championship) will be hard but we need money for that, don’t we?

  6. i guys i agree with most of what has been said but i think that torres and gerrard leaving could be a bit of a blessing in disguise because we could possibly raise 100 million from sales and boy do we need the money
    stevie g has been a great ambasador for lfc and he deserves a title and as we were saying above he is unlikely to get that at lfc anytime soon
    as for el nino he has spent most of the season on sick bed so
    we should cash in
    long live lfc

  7. Think you are over-reacting Antoine.

    We are not title-challengers anymore, but there is no reason why we should not still be a Top-Four club.

  8. Thrilled? I get the points you made and agree with them but being thrilled is out of the question for me anyway.

    Even if we finished 3rd I wouldn’t be thrilled, I’d recognise the achievement of course.

  9. Head up mate. Never lower your expectations but raise your acceptance. We can still challenge for the title next season. We just need a few breaks on the injury front and need to gather our troops.
    I think many of the lack lustre performances throughout the season where caused by a lack of self-belief in some players and some players having personal agendas like their world cup selection and fitness for that tournament. I still believe we are capable of winning the title as I always do.
    I agree that it is easy to feel completely negative about our current position as that is all we hear from the Liverpool hating media on a daily basis but remember that it costs nothing to be positive and we dont know what is around the corner.
    I think the key to the whole thing is the sale of the club. The sooner the better and we can hopefully move on and learn from the mistakes that the americans have made in our name. I am not expecting a buyer in the next couple of months though as I just dont think people will pay top dollar if they can get us on the cheap when the banks take the club off them. We need to have thick skin and not listen to the haters too much.
    We’ll get through this lot just be patient mate.

  10. We have some great players still, well with Reina, Agger Johnson, Mashcereno, Maxi, Gerrard, Torres, Aquilani, Skirtle, and a few decent summer buys, I would say that we are much better than sixth place. Do not forget that this year, was a very unusual year, not just for Liverpool losing so many games but, also for Man U, Chelsea and Arsenal, losing many games as well.
    If you look at previous statistics, no team has won the Premiership, losing as many matches, so lets get everything in perspective.

    We did finish second last year with the same players, let us not forget that.

    YNWA

  11. Admittedly there are many things going on behind the scenes of LFC, but Alonso was the keystone to the arch that cannot now support itself. The difference in just one season is so clear to all that it’s importance cannot be understated. The players heads were down because they were having to play in system that they had not got used to or train for in his absence, nothing to do with whats happening at board level at all.

  12. i think we will do better than 6th even with the same squad and with Rafa as manager next year.

    We had a deadly combination of high expectations, injury problems and just general bad luck. For Liverpool to repeat their results this year, we need to have Agger, Skrtel, Johnson, Gerrard, Torres, Insua, Aquilani and Aurelio all missing more than 10 games again. We need to hit the woodwork 20 times again. We need Lee Mason to referee more than 2 of our matches. Somehow I don’t see all these happening, unless it is some kind of karmic payback for having hicks and gilett as our owners.

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