Liverpool For Sale? Be Careful What You Wish For…
The breaking story
David Ornstein broke the story a few hours ago. “Liverpool FC have been put up for sale by Fenway Sports Group. Sale deck has been produced for interested parties. Goldman Sachs + Morgan Stanley assisting evaluation process. Unclear if deal gets done but FSG inviting offers.”
The FSG statement
His story was accompanied by an FSG statement that said both everything and nothing. My interpretation is that they are pretty keen on making it known they will …
Tony Evans: Stop Cryarsing! Football Has Changed
Here’s what you can expect as a Liverpool fan in the 2020s: life will be a roller-coaster.
Here’s what you can’t expect: to win the title more than once in a – and I use the phrase consciously – blue moon.
It’s no use cryarsing about every defeat and every missed transfer target. The words ‘the game has changed’ are thrown around too flippantly in football. But the truth is the game has changed. The sovereign-wealth fund clubs are skewing …
Tier 2 Shopping: The Smart Money
When you look at the transfers that Liverpool have made under Jurgen Klopp, the key factor over that body of work stands out a mile. The ability to consistently take players to the next level isn’t a skill too many coaches have been able to evidence. Certain managers can improve a player no doubt, but to make them elite or world class – that’s a special skillset. For all the incessant chatter over Liverpool’s need for reinforcements in midfield, the …
Succession
Effective succession planning is the key to sustained growth and success for organisations of all types - and football clubs are no different. For Liverpool, I feel a disjointed approach to succession planning has led to the club's recent on-field woes.
The model FSG had developed and put in place at Liverpool was inspired by the 'moneyball' concept - in addition to using data to find value-for-money incomings, using data to know when to move players on and replenish the …
Firmino Contract: Sense not Sentiment
There’s something that the kop wants you to know…Certain myths and tales can outgrow the reality as potentially the hardest personal decision of Jurgen Klopp’s reign approaches. Roberto Firmino will rightly leave Anfield as a legend whenever that time arrives. With January approaching, a player Klopp described as ‘an incredibly important player to me and to us’ will shortly be able to agree pre-contract terms with an overseas club, in a situation which has seen little to no movement in …
Can Jurgen Klopp Recover From This Slump
When Jurgen Klopp joined Liverpool, I think it was only he and Carlo Ancelotti that were in the running for the Anfield hot seat. In appointing the big German, we made the absolute right call, and his talents suited our needs perfectly. A fallen giant needed massive overhaul, and the playing staff needed a fearless leader to take them to the top.
In the 7 years that have passed we have enjoyed unbelievable success, and just as many near misses. …
Gradually, then suddenly...
“How did you go bankrupt?"
Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly.”
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises, 1926.
As with bankruptcy so with football. So with Liverpool.
This season feels “suddenly”. It feels all at once. It feels unexpected. This team just four months ago were very close to a quadruple. They then deservedly won the Community Shield in what seemed like an important proof-point that we were ready for the season.
Gradually
But this was also the team that didn’t win …
Can Jurgen Klopp Build Another Great Liverpool Team
When Jurgen Klopp arrived at Borussia Dortmund, the remit was to increase stability and ensure survival within the German Bundesliga. Vast funds were not apparent, therefore smart recruiting and elite coaching were the key facets that saw tremendous success follow. That time period of approximately 7 years, saw many of the team (those that weren’t poached by Europes wealthy clubs) peak and begin to regress, indicating the need for new blood. Klopp’s final season at Dortmund was an undeniably difficult …
The Salah Ultimatum
I want Mohamed Salah to sign a new contract with Liverpool, as he’s the world's best player, performing to the peak of his powers. He is perhaps the most remarkable signing in Liverpool's history, and the success that has been garnered (during his stay), is as much to do with him as anyone else.
This last week has seen Liverpool fans made aware of his contract stalemate, and the fact that a new one remains unsigned. The numbers are relatively …
Thank You For Your Service
Watching Luis Diaz this past month has driven home the logic in reshaping this Liverpool squad. With any elite group of players, there simply has to be a moment where peak becomes decline, and strong decisions have to made. In the case of this superb Liverpool group, there are now certain players that could inevitably end up leaving, and this piece will focus on their potential destinations and the likely replacements.
1 - James Milner
There’s a pretty even split …