Owners Fail To Understand Liverpool’s Rich Heritage
Written by This Is Anfield on January 15th, 2008

Apologies, I personally cannot bring myself to comment on the owners at the moment in a manner which would be worthwhile, the situation and their actions have been absolutely disgusting. The sooner they are gone the better and hopefully the silver lining on the cloud amongst the turmoil will be that they sell out - and soon.
Fortunately James Lawton in the Independent provides an excellent article on the whole situation.
Benitez given a raw deal by owners who fail to understand Liverpool’s rich heritage: The overture to Klinsmann puts Liverpool in Newcastle territoryJames Lawton, The Independent
There was a time when you didn’t audition or even interview for the job of managing Liverpool. It came to you because you knew how the place worked and you had proved that you had absorbed all of its lessons. You knew about loyalty and the difference between building a team and chance and speculation. Shankly, Paisley, Fagan, Dalglish weren’t just a series of managers. They were an apostolic succession.
More than a decade of change separated Rafa Benitez from those days when he arrived at Anfield as a man of high achievement and passionate nature, but he seemed to understand what he was inheriting, give or take a few lost years.
He had some big lessons to learn about English football and even his warmest admirers would concede that he has still to master some of them, but a Champions League win, another appearance in the final, and the FA Cup won him entitlement to more than a little patience and respect.
At least that was until yesterday when the apostolic succession might have been a wet leaf trampled into some obscure pathway in Stanley Park.
Now it seems that in the eyes of Liverpool’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett, the manager of Liverpool Football Club has one overriding purpose. It is to say yes to the owners. Of course they don’t put it so bluntly. They talk about the need for communication – and what happens when it breaks down. Hicks spelt out the effects of such a denouement yesterday. He even had it on the Liverpool website.
What happens is that you line up an alternative manager – in this case Jürgen Klinsmann. Perhaps this was the most astonishing aspect of yesterday’s development – not the confirmation of the approach to the former coach of Germany, who is now taking up his first post in club football with Bayern Munich, but the pious, self-congratulatory public revelation of it.
This wasn’t a news item. This was a threat to the independence of a football man who, before winning the Champions League and the FA Cup for Liverpool, won two Spanish titles, under the shadows of the hugely financed Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the Uefa Cup for Valencia. “Klinsmann,” said Hicks, “was an impressive man.”
He is also a stick with which to beat Benitez if he gets up the nerve again to tell the owners who he believes should be signed if Liverpool are to move on to be legitimate challengers to Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal. It was Klinsmann when relations between the manager and the owners cooled last November. Who will it be next time? Perhaps Jose Mourinho if he is still in the market or, given the apparent lack of feel for the traditions of Anfield, perhaps even Big Sam giving the long ball another airing in another new and unreceptive pasture.
Happier times.
Reading the statement of Hicks yesterday, you couldn’t but go back to his joint outpouring with Gillett when the takeover deal was made less than a year ago. It was a mellifluous little entreaty, almost a love song to the Kop. Here is the key passage: “Liverpool is a fantastic club with a remarkable history and a passionate fan base. We fully acknowledge and appreciate the unique heritage and rich history of Liverpool and intend to respect this heritage in the future.”
But how do you respect something properly if you don’t really understand it? How do you “acknowledge and respect” a heritage if you don’t know how it happened? Liverpool have won the English title 14 times in the 80 years since Newcastle, who are supposed to be the joke entry in the senior list of contenders, last got their hands on it. That’s a title arriving at an average of every fifth or sixth year. In Europe Liverpool’s five titles leave them in third place, behind Real Madrid (nine) and Milan (seven), and this, no more than the accumulation of domestic glory, has nothing to do with managers willing to doff their caps whenever they meet a director.
The brutal fact is that the confirmation of the already poorly kept secret about the overture to Klinsmann put Liverpool nowhere more firmly than in Newcastle territory.
Newcastle have an owner who gets his inspiration from the banter that accompanies the drinking of Newcastle Brown and the wearing of souvenir shirts. Liverpool have a joint command who presumably believe that their candour over the Klinsmann move is going to enhance their reputation for strong, wise leadership. It is quite hard to know who is further away from the realities of making a successful football club.
Certainly, those who have fretted over Benitez’s recent erratic behaviour – and will never endorse what sometimes seems an egocentric preoccupation with rotation for its own sake – are now much more inclined to rally to his somewhat tattered banner. He left Valencia with tears in his eyes, which is not always the most convincing sign of a man in charge of his ambitions, but his intensity now adds to the belief that he is suffering in a way that he does not deserve.
It was also instructive to go back to the seeds of the crisis which emerged last November. Then, Benitez explained quite chillingly, saw the change of climate. He said: “We had a meeting on the day of the Arsenal game [when Liverpool were denied what would have been a huge victory by some late brilliance from Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fabregas] which was really positive. After this something changed. They told me to focus on coaching and training because Rick Parry will be looking after the signing of players.”
This wasn’t a shift of policy. This was a death sentence for a manager’s belief that he controlled, in the way of a Ferguson or a Wenger, the destiny of his team.
Here is the Hicks’ website version of the fissures which developed when the financing of the new stadium in Stanley Park came into conflict with Benitez’s anxiety to seal up the back of his midfield with the £17m permanent signing of Javier Mascherano: “In November, when it appeared we were in danger of not advancing in the Champions League, and were not playing well in our Premier League matches, and Rafa and we [Hicks and Gillett] were having communication issues over the January transfer window, George and I met with Jürgen Klinsmann.
“We wanted to learn as much as we could about English and European football. We attempted to negotiate an option, as an insurance policy, to have him become manager if Rafa left for Real Madrid or other clubs that were rumoured in the UK press, or in case our communication spiralled out of control for some reason. After George and I had our meeting with Rafa following the United game [lost 1-0 at Anfield] we put all our issues behind us and received Rafa’s commitment that he wanted to stay with Liverpool. We had not reached agreement on an option with Jürgen and we are both pleased for him that he has a great opportunity to return to Germany as coach of a great club. Rafa has the support of both of us and our communication has greatly improved.”
There is nothing like an ultimatum as an aid to communication. The one made public by the ownership of Liverpool is not quite spelt out in black and white but Rafa is surely not in desperate need of any help from the decoding department of the secret service. In the unlikely event that he is, an amateur offering might well be sufficient. It would say: “Forget about winning the Champions League and the FA Cup and that loyal fan base that we were extolling on the day we took over, there are plenty more hands to hire out there.”
Another reality is that in those days of glory, when Liverpool ticked along as if by remote control, the club had, as Hicks and Gillett so recently said, its own unique place in the football world. It wasn’t a cash cow. It was an expression of belief in a passionate commitment to doing all those things that had guaranteed such brilliant success for so long. Chief among them was a belief in the judgement and the integrity of the man in charge. You gave him respect. You certainly didn’t tell the world you had been hawking his job behind his back.
James Lawton, The Independent
This Is Anfield

TOMKINS: IN PRAISE OF A WORLD-CLASS SPANIARD Paul Eaton 08 January 2008

It's an end of the pitch where the difference is made, and an area where Benítez got it spot-on when winning La Liga. Get it right in this position, and you can win trophies and titles.
Yes, step forward Pepe Reina: to my mind quite possibly the best goalkeeper Liverpool have ever had. (Oh, and that lad Torres isn't bad either, at the other end of the pitch.) I've heard Benítez say that praise can weaken you, and in many ways that is true; certainly when it comes to the first flush of success. But on the whole he doesn't buy weak characters who are prone to having their heads turned by a few kind words. And while Torres is winning the headlines, Reina, with a phenomenal 49 clean sheets in 87 Premiership matches, deserves all the plaudits that come his way. If a striker had 49 goals from 87 games (plus plenty more in the Champions League) you'd call him world-class. But of course, a keeper can obviously only keep a maximum of one clean sheet per game, not to mention that in some matches he will have no chance of stopping a goal. So to have a rate far better than one every two games is outstanding. (Then again, he could get a clean sheet without ever making a save but I imagine such instances are rare.) Reina will be the first to admit that the defence, midfield and even attack play their part, but they'd also point out how much they can relax with him behind them. For me, he mixes Grobbelaar's gymnastic agility with Clemence's concentration and composure. But he also –– and this is a crucial distinction over any of his forebears –– has a fair bit of Jan Molby's ability with the ball at his feet. His inch-perfect passing from the back, along with his super-quick thinking, is a big factor in turning defence into attack. It sets him apart from the rest. While he's no midget, the only thing he lacks to make him truly invincible is the really imposing frame of a taller keeper such as David James. (Or, indeed, the girth of Molby: with which he could quite literally fill the goal.) Last season Reina made a couple of bad mistakes, as do all keepers, but Petr Cech has made as many gaffs in his last two games as did Reina all season. Over his two and a half seasons, the Spanish keeper has made precious few serious errors, and is on course for his third successive pair of Golden Gloves for the most clean sheets. Let's also not forget the manager's role in organising the defence at set-pieces. Despite a couple of goals conceded from free-kicks recently, for the first time in the league this season (a situation not helped by the absence of Hyypia as well as Agger to injury, and Crouch to suspension, and also due to some poor clearances more than marking issues). The zonal marking system still has a remarkable record for the Reds. Chelsea have been leaking goals from bad man-marking, United conceded two in one game at West Ham, and Spurs have conceded five in their last two matches. It's very difficult to foretell who will be a success, and to what degree. I've been wrong about players before, as I'm sure everyone has. I felt Cissé and Morientes could succeed; I still don't think either were ‘failures', given that the former scored a decent amount of goals and played a part in the European and FA Cup successes, as well as the 82-point league haul, while Morientes played his part in the latter two of those three achievements. But Cissé never lived up to his price tag and potential, and Morientes never lived up to his reputation. But with Fernando Torres I felt the most certain I've ever been of any player succeeding. Having said that, I still thought it would take him longer than it has to settle. So that's been a bonus. Other big signings, like Collymore, Clough and Diouf started brightly only to ultimately fail, but no-one has started their Liverpool career this well for years, spread over half a season. And it's no fluke. I feared I might have gone too far over the summer in comparing him with Thierry Henry, and while they are different players (despite some similarities), Torres has the ability merit the comparison. Now he has to show the Frenchman's consistency, season after season. The Christmas period, and the Manchester City game in particular, has perhaps shown one of the toughest parts of adapting to life in England: lots of games in quick succession. Even Sam Allardyce, a stereotypically old-style English centre-half from the ‘70s and ‘80s as a player, but one who tries to adopt an enlightened modern approach as a manager, says that there is too much football played at this time of year, and that you wouldn't ask the same of racehorses. Being a striker is all about lots of movement, whereas being a defender is often about taking a few steps here and there; reading the game, rather than running. So strikers feel it more. While Torres coped well on the whole, scoring three goals in four festive games, he wasn't as devastating as he can be. Of all Torres' many qualities, my favourite aspect of his game is the way he takes the ball onto his left side, despite being right-footed. Sometimes he'll do it to get away a left-foot shot, other times he'll still use his right foot. When he does use his left, he can score goals, as he has against Derby, Reading and Fulham. One-footedness, and a proclivity to do anything possible to use the favoured foot, is a weakness in football. Some can get away with it: Patrik Berger was perhaps the best I've seen when it comes to a Liverpool player somehow working space to shoot on his favoured side, but if he'd used his right foot as well, he'd have been even better. Torres' very first Liverpool goal, against Chelsea, summed up his unpredictability: the position of the ball clearly favoured a left-foot shot. But the problem was that doing so would take the ball closer to Cech, and any curl would possibly take it wide of the post; a right-foot shot could have the ball curl past the keeper and in towards the far post. Which is what he did. To perfection. At the time I feared the finish (unlike the way he beat the defender) was less a clever decision and more a case of the Spaniard wanting it on his favoured foot. But the more I see of him, the more assured I am that it was sublime thinking, and that he'll always use the foot that the situation requires. For me, this is one of the most important things in a striker. It makes him impossible to suss out. While Torres' form may dip from time to time, he's as far from a one-dimensional forward as you can get. How many times has he faced a defender and turned him square-on, only to breeze past him to the left? As well as the Chelsea goal, there was the run for the opening goal against Portsmouth, and the superb individual strike at Pride Park. The defenders know that they must stop him running onto his right foot, as he can do what he did in Marseilles: drift past players in the blink of an eye and finish with supreme accuracy. But that leaves them open to a left-side burst. The willingness to use his left foot not only bamboozles defenders, but it also doesn't allow keepers to set themselves. His goal against Fulham came from an early left-foot shot. Against Derby at Anfield he also pulled a shot back across the keeper with his left foot. Sixteen goals at the halfway point for a player who doesn't take penalties (unlike the others in the top-scorers' chart) is a great return, particularly as he's also missed quite a few games through injury. I had a lot of correspondence about Torres over the summer, with fans expressing their doubts. But for me there was never any question he was the real deal. The comparisons with Morientes were as lame as you could get: both talented Spanish strikers called Fernando, but one infinitely more suited to English football. Sometimes you have to pay a lot of money for top quality. But even at £20m, Fernando Torres looks a bargain. Other times you can find a gem for a far cheaper fee, as was the case with Pepe Reina, at just £6m. With these two young Spaniards, the Reds' should have years of success at both ends of the pitch.

A Woman Should Have

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
enough money within her control to move out and rent a place of her own, even if she never wants to or needs to...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
something perfect to wear if the employer, or date of her dreams wants to see her in an hour...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a youth she's content to leave behind....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a past juicy enough that she's looking forward to retelling it in her old age....

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ..
a set of screwdrivers, a cordless drill, and a black lace bra... hmmmm

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
one friend who always makes her laugh... and one who lets her cry...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ....
a good piece of furniture not previously owned by anyone else in her family...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
eight matching plates, wine glasses with stems, and a recipe for a meal, that will make her guests feel honored...

A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE ...
a feeling of control over her destiny...

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how to fall in love without losing herself..

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how to quit a job, break up with a lover, and confront a friend without; ruining the friendship...

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Sedikit Pesanan

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