By Karam Raj
“This aint baseball” “Don’t sign any more kids ffs!” “They’re in it for the financial profits” are just some of the many comments and remarks ive read which have been made about our Owners lately.
The majority of the fans are highly frustrated,and rightly so. We’re still struggling,although we’ve shown a glimpse of what is to come in the next few years with a string of good performances in Januar, but the impression of the owners is still undecided & their transfer policy doesn’t help their case either.
Apparently,no player above the age of 24 is to be recruited for our club.. simply because of the fact these crop of players will not have a respectable ‘Re-sale’ value in the future.
If you think about it,its not so bad,the policy,that is, you’ve got players who,even if their careers don’t work out for the next 2 or 3 years at the club,can still be sold at a pretty nifty price,and in these times where the financial accounts are being closely monitored by the ruling authorities,its not a bad ploy at all.
But, the only problem with this particular policy is its timing. It’s not a bad idea to be investing in young players, but you do that only when you’ve already got a settled first 11 in place.
As Luis Suarez recently said “Ive won games with Younger players,but i’ve won Championships with experienced ones”.
We need older players in the squad. We’re buying young players in every window,without even looking at the more older and experienced ones!
You think about the future when your present is secured, ours is not. We’re in 7th place,still 7 points off the 4th spot,and we’re Liverpool,we belong in the Champions League. You’re not gonna qualify for the CL with a bunch of kids. Why? Coz they need time to settle in, while we’re asking them to hit the ground running! Its not a very pleasing situation. It puts more and more pressure on the younger players to perform,and that’s not how you develop them! It’s taken Henderson 18 months to show his true potential & if we buy every player of his age,we’ll be waiting in the same range for them to show their true colours on the field,when we don’t have that time! There’s only so much time we have in terms of being able to buy good or world class players on the basis of the name and the reputation of this football club, coz honestly,we’re not exactly providing a realistic incentive of winning trophies for the players,are we?
Besides, buying younger players is always a gamble, they may or may not work out for the club. Having the opportunity to re-sell them is one thing, but what if the majority of the younger players which were bought don’t exactly pan out the way the club wanted them to. Not only do we lose more crucial time but we lose our position in the table too. Seriously, can we afford to let that happen?
This makes qualification for the CL even more vital.. We NEED the Champions league more than we want it. And that ain’t happening until someone in the board knocks some sense into our very own John Henry.
Present first, then the future. You don’t just skip the present and think about the future. It’s a simple enough process. BR’s got my full backing,but the owners.. meh. I’m still a bit tentative at the moment.