Right... it's 3 in the morning and my brain has been ticking over as I can't sleep and i've been thinking.... thinking about football. How do you get the best players Most people have concluded that the way to get the best players is to be playing in the champions league. Bendtner said: 'I want to play Champions League, let me put it that way. 'You should never get content,’ said Dempsey. ‘I want to play in the Champions League.’ There are quotes like this scattered all over the internet concerning Neil Danns, Jose Enrique, Ashley Young & Chris Samba I have thought about this and thought hard and have come up with the idea that these players and their agents are talking bull****. Players don't want to be playing in the champions league, they want money. If you were to ask any player whether he wanted to play in the champions league week in week out for £15k a week or not be in the CL for £90k a week I think we'd find a clear winner. This brings me nicely on to my next thought... The other day it was established that the prize money from cup competitions in football is ****. See here and as the money for cup competitions is ****, it got me thinking... what is the other way football teams make money... SPONSORSHIPS! Liverpool have a £25m a year deal with StanChart, regardless of where they finish or how they perform. that's the same as winning the CL every year until that contract runs out. Obviously if we perform better then there is a better chance of us superseding that contract with a better one and now I can already sense the first reply on this... once again, I call bull****. If I owned a company I'd want my brand associated with SUCCESS. Which of these images looks more successful?? please log in to view this image or please log in to view this image If I were a brand I'd want my company associated more with picture 1 then picture 2. It is incredibly difficult to reach a champions league final and winning one is now virtually impossible due to the dominance of Real Madrid & Barcelona so because of this you're never going to look successful in the champions league for more than 1 year in 5 (The last time I checked, there isn't a "You beat Inter Milan in the quarter finals of the champions league" trophy) If teams and fans were to move their focus away from the champions league and aim it more to domestic competitions you'd find that their teams would be more successful, would encourage a wider array of sponsors which would yield more money which in turn would bring in a better quality of footballer. Qualification to the champions league should be seen as an added bonus, not the be all and end all of football. The global viewing figures for the FA Cup final has recently managed to top 400 million viewers (source) thats more than the champions league final has ever managed to get. People need to wake up and focus away from the champions league. It's a rubbish competition that only starts going when the competition gets to the knock out stages, at which point you know that it's only a matter of time before you reach Barca and lose. I say screw that, lets look elsewhere to replace the **** prize money the champions league yields because the opportunity is there, someones just got to sell it to the sponsors
It's a great article, but it's a bit empty considering were not even in the CL. We can't honestly say "it's a **** competition", that sounds like sour grapes. I don't like the format of it at all, I wish it were completely knockout like the old European Cup, but that doesn't take away from the prestige. We weren't saying that when we won it, it hasn't really changed. Maybe the quality this year and the last few has dropped without us in it (I hope) but overall it's a massively important tournament. You're absolutely right about the playing in the CL bit though. I think that when players say they want to "play CL football" they mean "I want to be in the spotlight, on TV and well known in the world." That is why you can get players to join Man City (before CL), because they can get a reputation there. No one wants to be forgotten, CL is the most secure way of being remembered. Thats why we can still attract players like Luis.
I admire you're motives and focus on trophies over money, but your argument can be put to bed quite easily. In 2009 on a list of most watched sporting events, the Utd-Barca final had the highest viewership. It had an average audience of 109million. The FA Cup didn't make the list which examined the top 20, the lowest average being 11million. This report below even cites the presence of 2 English teams as a limiting factor in the global appeal of the previous year's final. Those FA Cup figures seem way out of line, and there's no way it tops the CL Final, Superbowl etc. http://initiative.com/sites/default/files/ViewerTrack_2010.pdf More viewers= more TV and sponsorship money= greater cash prizes for those involved= teams better equipped to get players in transfer market and win more money/trophies. The global nature of the Champions League is important, and although it's a shame it has taken some of the shine off of the domestic cups, it's still right that the competition that pits the best teams from the whole of Europe carries the most prestige. Unfortunately with the way money trickles down (in all walks of life), then greed will take over from pride, but there's no way it can be 'rectified'.
Arsenal and Chelsea are there for the taking. Chelsea still have to play against City, Spurs, Newcastle, Arsenal and us at home. Arsenal still have to play against Chelsea, Spurs, City, Newcastle and us at home. They are just as bad as us playing lesser teams. If we take care of them they are bound to lose a few points in the mentioned fixtures and if we finally get our run of results that we have been waiting for this season then we can do what everyone has been telling us we wont do and that is get top 4. ITS IN OUR HANDS! COME ON RED MEN!!! Have faith Bozz, we can have picture number 1 and number 2!
I agree with the trophies over money motive of the article, I would rather win the Carling Cup than finish 4th if given the choice. Of course I would prefer both. We need to get back in the Champions league and also compete for domestic trophies.
I think when players get to a certain age, they have every right to want to play in the top competitions and pitch their talents against the best around Europe. What irks me is the 19/20 year olds who are too impatient to develop and straight away demand high money moves to only the big clubs who can offer CL football. Completely the wrong mentality. So many promising footballers have become lost after moves to madrid and barca it's unreal and a massive waste. Money's a big factor for them sure, but I tihnk it's the modern culture of expecting everything right away. The same applies to fans also alot, expecting instant success on the field... With regards to the cups, I don't think they're what they're used to be. Not the same prestige and feeling of success they once had. How many times have we seen teams field youngsters in the games? That shows to a degree how seriously they're sometimes taken. If money was filtered from the PL to the cups, you'd see more appeal in winning them and I'd go a step further and have the FA cup winner rewarded with a CL spot (so top 3 in the league get the remaining) and the league cup rewarded with a Uefa spot. Really up the incentive to push hard in them. With higher stakes, teams will push harder for success and you'd see better domestic cup games overall. So what if by some fluke Stoke end up in the CL, isn't that part of football?
As mentioned before, more people will watch the Champions League than the Carling Cup. Ask the sponsors what they would rather have: a) Associated with the Carling Cup winners which is seen by about 10 million people (mostly in the UK) OR b) Associated with a club who playing amongst the best teams in Europe, watched by about 50 millions fans worldwide? Don't get me wrong, I would love for us to win the Carling Cup however not at the expense of a Champions League place. Although, there is no reason why we can't achieve both - imagine if we win the Carling Cup, the FA Cup and still get 4th spot? Would be an incredible achievement.
Good article Bozz - Interesting, not that I agree with it all, but certainly do with the majority. BTW - it wasn't 03:00 it was 04:16
Its sad but true that gettin top 4 is way more important than winning either of the cups, the top players all wanna play CL, whether we like it or not
I disagree - most do want the money. But they know that the place where the most money is, is the CL-playing clubs. CL makes great cover for being a merc. As evidence for the prosecution, I give you Gareth "I want to play in the CL" Barry, signing for the Petrol Heads... They weren't even in Europe when he signed for them...
Boz I think your ethos is right as a fan but wrong as an advertiser. Unfortunately, the advertisers/sponsors are the ones that decide where the money is so it will never be different.
Sponsors are interested in viewing figures over the reputation of the competition. Eg Sony don't give a monkeys about the format and quality of the CL as long as they can get their PS3 adverts infront of x million of the right demographic for their product. From a LFC standpoint - I want both. We are Liverpool and we have a glorious, unrivaled history for an English club in Europe. We need to fight tooth and nail to get back into the elite CL and take the fight to the Barca's of the world - we belong there.
No i think this is really simple... sorry but look at the city project. a bunch of mad arabs giving out 200k per week and more and did they get any really top players... nope. players want the 200k and now they are succeeeding they will get the best... lescott and the like are not top players. in my view top players are like kids, they want it all, this lis tin in no particular order but in my view are all factors 1. the manager 2. the glamour of the big club 3. the chance to play at the big table *ie boast to collegues you are in the cl and they are not ala vdv and sneidjer) 4. The massive wages 5. the bright lights and glamour of location If you look at real madrid and barcelona they have all of these in spades, the thing about city and utd as the top two clubs here is all they can offer is rainy manchester plus 50% tax so in the end it is not suprising players all want to go the the spanish clubs.... at least milan, inter and juve cannot offer right now the massive wages. this is really simple for LFC to get top players we have to offset our location in the both of england with the big money and CL football, the top table.
MITO you can put proper bullet points in your posts now. I think City got 3 top players in Yaya, Silva and Aguero. But the price tags on the Lescotts, Milners and Barrys are no much different to our spending on Downing and Henderson. Henderson like Milner was a bit expensive but will be a great servant to the Club. We bought Downing for an inflated price to do something what we needed and what he had been doing for fun at Villa, unfortunately for us he hasn't replicated his form at Villa otherwise we wouldn't be talking about the £20m so much.
I like your take on it Bozz, but I don't agree, as such, as you are arguing a somewhat redundant idea, in my books. When we look back at the old history books, what was Man u doing while we were enjoying our greatest success in the 70's and 80's? They were ****! and even went down to the second division. However, did this ultimately diminish their brand any? No! Every year the papers would still be running stories at how they or certain players believed that this was their year to win the league again. Their historical success was enough to maintain their brand and the awareness of their brand, and so as they once again started getting success, they were ideally placed to steal the lead, and enlarge OT to the size it is, open all their shops worldwide and become the richest club in the land, leaving us far behind. And this is why, twenty odd years on, our brand is still as valuable. and will continue to stay valuable. I'm not saying winning the Carling cup does not help, but we will always be a giant, sleeping or otherwise. On the other hand, as soon as Roman walks away from chavski, they will vanish back whence they came, much like the likes of Blackburn or Leeds before them. Sure if such a club has a good season, people will hark back to the good old days of Jack Walker and Don Revie, but people don't spend any time saying this year Leeds will win the league again. So we don't need Champion's League football to get good players, we want Champion's League football because that is where we belong. I don't want players who think they deserve to walk into a Champion's League team, I want players who want to be in a team that earns Champion's League football. If a player comes out saying he wants Champion's League football , I say fook off you arrogant lazy twat and get your team up their. I don't want you if you just want to reap the rewards without earning it, I want you if you want to come here and earn it for yourself! Everyone and his dog is aware that we are more than enough capable of gaining Champion's League football, and even better that most, we are able to win the fecker, and that should be all the motivation you need to join Liverpool. If it takes that we are already their to convince some arrogant twat to sign, then I don't want him, and he would not deserve to come anyway. I mean, come on...Bendtner!?!? Did you see his stupid hat at the wore at the Sun-Arse game??? The guy is a tool and not good enough for us. And if his team did get Champion's League, how far would they get? last 16 and then out? Are barca going to worry about facing Arsenal in the final? But they would be bricking it more if they were facing Liverpool in the final, and even if they went in 3-0 up at half time, would not be thinking jobs done! So any player coming out and demanding Champion's League football, should be scrubbed off any shopping list we may have, as his mentality is all wrong. Bozz has it right, it is not the football, it is the money, as in reality, what is the difference? Most clubs play their 6 group stage matches and go out, is that worth demanding in advance of signing? The whole thing is futile, unless you actually get to the end and lift the thing up. And it is hard to imagine 80% of the clubs who enter the competition ever getting that far, but these such greedy players would happily sign for them, play his 6 matches against other European dross and simply take the money. No sorry, I don't want such players at my club.
Good article. I agree that players seem to follow the money - with some exceptions. One thing not mentioned is the attraction for players of playing against the biggest names in the game ie Messi, Ronaldo, Kaka etc etc. If you're ambitious in your career you want to play against those sort of players. Of course if you can get both money and CL football then that's what most would want. Suarez left Ajax who were in the CL to come to us - maybe that's another factor - to have played in as many top leagues as possible. I really can't imagine that players would settle for 200k a week, year in year out without some other ambition.
Agree with this and everything you said after. It will also be far more likely to bring up situations like the Torres, Masch and Meireles sales.
