Dear Mr Benitez,
As a fervent Liverpool fan that is suffering to see our beloved team in such difficulty, I take this occasion to write to you to share some considerations and ask some questions which I expect will go unanswered.
Your recent declarations that fresh player inserts are desperately needed in the January transfer window further confirm my fears that the end result of last summers transfer campaign was as bad as we all imagined. The strategy used by you and Cristian Purslow did not work. We all feel that what went wrong has nothing to do with the Club’s finances but more with how players and the same finances have been managed.
We fail to understand why you spent Stg 17 million on a right fullback to replace Arbeloa, when you replaced the ageing and injury prone Aurelio with a 20 year-old inexperienced Argentinian? If your reasoning is coherent, could you not have gone for Kelly or Darby for the right back position instead of splashing such a substantial sum on a fullback? If one of the reasons for this decision was the Stg 7 million still due to us by Pompei, than why did you not opt to get Niko Krancjar to Liverpool, he would not even cost that much and is player that adds quality to any side he plays in (have you seen him playing for Spurs lately?).
The Alonso saga was the pivotal story of last summer. Xabi wanted out, Real wanted him at all costs, and new Real coach Pellegrini was in a revolutionary state of mind, giving players like Sneijder, Huntelaar, Van der Vaart, Heinze and Negredo the axe! You and Mr Purslow insisted on cashing Stg 35 million instead of even considering the likely possibility of an exchange for a pairing like Sneijder and Negredo, or Van der Vaart and Huntelaar plus further Stg 5/10 cash for Xabi! These people spent over Euro 200 million last summer, so they were not exactly penny pinching. Would this have not brought in two quality players in vital roles to the squad plus a large chunk of the money you wanted to spend on bring in Glen Johnson? Would this not have also saved us paying another Stg 20 million for Aquilani? It does make sense doesn’t it, but it’s not Rafa’s way, right?
Mentioning the various Voronin, Dossena, Babel and Degen is not even necessary. Not even worth mentioning how much they cost and that they have rendered!
How about our game plan? Did you really expect the team to play with the same intensity and inventiveness after Xabi left? Were you really convinced….no I need to get this one right…..are you really convinced that our present game plan is yielding results? Why was not Steven Gerrard brought down to midfield to be the charismatic playmaker he really is? Why was not Kuyt moved forward as a second striker, which accidentally happens to be his natural role? Why do you insist on playing players out of position? Aurelio in midfield? Kuyt on the right? Benayoun on the left? These are midfield players, they don’t give the team width in depth! And then what about our infamous zonal marking defensive tactics that continue to leak in goals like a bottomless beer tankard? Can’t you really see that our game has become so predictable that even teams like lowly Reading take counter measures and make us look ridiculous? You let Sami Hyppia go and brought in Kyrgiakos!!! Sami was voted best defender in the Bundesliga for the first half of the season! Sami was Liverpool through and through!
Many of us cannot come to terms with so many decisions you have taken. Last season we Reds supporters were confident of our teams’ ability facing any opposition. This year we fear everyone, and Liverpool supporters are not used to live in such fear.
Mr Benitez, please make sure you get the January transfer window right, because if you don’t I have the impression that you will loose the affection and trust of the Red support, and I assure you, you will not want that to happen.
Yours faithfully,
Tonio Bone
Liverpool Fan for Life.