http://anfieldindex.com/12280/liverpool-small-club-mentality.html There is a myopic idealism amongst many Liverpool fans that once Daniel Sturridge makes his long awaited return everything will fall into place and the Reds will once again get Champions League football. The void left by the former Chelsea man has been used as an excuse for how the season has turned out. How the club is once again in transition, a transition that doesn’t seem to have an ending. Could it be too farfetched to think Liverpool Football Club could be in permanent transition? The League is in a poor state this season, and yes the man with no song would have eased the clubs lack of goals this season, but after a spending spree in the summer the clubs progress shouldn’t halt when one player gets injured. It highlights how Ill prepared they were for the current season, a season they’d longed for since the days of Champions League gone by. That short lived foray in Europes Elite competition highlighted how out of depth the club was as a whole. How lack of experience cost a team, and manager, in their infancy. If the return of Liverpool’s number 15 is to inspire a charge at the Champions League, then Liverpool need to replicate, or even better, the form of last season; 14 wins and 2 draws gets you a top 4 finish. Last season Sturridge was assisted by the mercurial Uruguayan, a player with a wealth of experience. This year it’s all down to the England international. Will the pressure alone be too much? Will his body be able cope with the demands? Or will Brendan Rodgers offer him some assistance and find a way to get the best out of both him and Balotelli? The latter question may well impact the future of Brendan Rodgers. You also have to consider the fact the rivals for top four, Arsenal and Utd, both have more players coming back to full fitness. Arsenal have Walcott and Ozil to name but two of the players returning whilst Utd have a whole backline coming back to fitness. Both teams have had more injuries this season, yet both teams are better placed than Liverpool currently are. As touched upon earlier, the club seems to be in a never ending period of transition. Why? Well, world class players don’t stick around at Anfield. When they do leave they’re rarely ever replaced and the club ‘make do’ with above average players. That’s the truth of it and could well be highlighted in the summer when Mr Liverpool himself, Steven Gerrard, leaves. The first player I remember leaving and not being replaced was Michael Owen, we’ve since seen the likes of Alonso, Mascherano, Suarez, Hyypia and even Reina leave without being replaced adequately enough. Cast your eyes towards Manchester United 2009/2010 season, they lost Ronaldo and Tevez, didn’t replace them in the same summer and lost their Premier League crown. That was one season, Liverpool haven’t replaced their stars, ever. The Gerrard debate needs to be put to bed, stop talk of replacing the Liverpool legend, it can’t be done. You need an attraction, a match winner and a personality. The club need a marquee signing that fills the void left by him. This player doesn’t have to be a midfielder, it would probably help more if they weren’t as to stop the Gerrard comparisons. The midfielders mentioned; Milner and Delph, would be decent squad players. The former, if the club get Champions League football, would be a good addition with the experience he brings, but by no means should either be the only midfield reinforcements the club bring in. Lucas Leiva has certainly been reminding Liverpool fans of his DM’ing abilities as of late, he’s also having a positive influence on the field too, so much so that some fans don’t want him to be sold. Let me remind you, Inter Milan are offering real money for a player the club should have sold years ago. A player who only seems to ‘excel’ when the club are doing poorly. Could Lucas’ resurgence be due to the formation being implemented currently? The 3421 formation offers Lucas extra protection which means he has to do less leg work. The classy Sakho behind him, Moreno and his pace covering whenever needed and the tenacious yet skilful Coutinho ahead of him. Due to the history of not replacing players, fans are pandering over Lucas. Selling the only recognised defensive midfielder in the squad leaves the fans questioning if the club will buy another, and if not, will we see a Gerrard-Henderson pivot once again. The effectiveness of Lucas is being blown out of proportion because there isn’t anybody else in that mould to compare him to. Another player whose influence on the team is wrongly viewed in the media as positive is Martin Skrtel, the master of the last ditch block, a skill he had to develop due to his poor positioning. News broke that the 30 year old is to be offered a new deal, and with that the vice captaincy, in the summer. How times have changed for the Slovakian, a man dubbed not good enough in the summer of 2013, Rodgers tried to sell him but had no offers. This just one summer after the club rejected a big money offer from Man City. This highlights the stagnation at Liverpool, how a man dubbed not good enough and the opposite of how Rodgers wanted his defenders to defend (high line proactive defence) is now going to be the vice captain. Alarmingly, this also draws attention to Rodgers being a poor judge of players, having tried to offload, come summer, the current captain and vice in the past. Both players seemingly not good enough for Liverpool are now leading the line just shows how inexperienced this current squad is. If this is true, and Skrtel is to be VC it once again shows how little Sakho is rated at Liverpool by the manager. A player who could be at the heart of the Liverpool defence for another 10 years, with experience of leading a side having been the youngest ever captain at PSG and being the current VC of France. An ideal VC for this currently young Liverpool squad. Having lost the leadership qualities of Pepe, Agger, Gerrard, Suarez over the past 18 months the club should be trying to get as much leadership experience into the squad. The culmination of all of the above points and it’s little wonder the club is in ‘another’ period of transition. The club already have an excuse for another season of transition next season with the Gerrard sized hole in the team. I for one am fed up, it’s time to start acting like a big club.
The most ridiculous thing I've read on Lucas so far. To suggest that our improved performance and results are not down to Lucas being included in the team but it's all down to him only playing well when we play badly or to suggest that it's the other players that make him look good. ****ing jog on!
To try and make the player who has been the catalyst for our change in fortunes a scapegoat is daft to me, his inclusion has meant a change in results and performances, rate him or not that is a fact.
But he's taken Mr Gerrard's position in the team! I've not read the article in the OP (CBA), nor have I read the creators previous work, but it would be interesting to know his his theories with Lucas match up to his theories about Gerrard in the same position
The author is really good - I've posted some of his articles today. He's not saying that Gerrard was better in that role. It's just that Lucas needs to be upgraded. Are we performing well as a team because Lucas is putting in amazing performances? Or is it because having any DM in the team improves the balance? As we saw with Gerrard - we had no DM. So anyone would look like an improvement when they replaced Stevie. Now is that improvement exaggerated because we're simply comparing to the level of dross that was previously in that role? I wouldn't sell Lucas until we have a replacement lined up.
IMO its because we have a actual DM in the side but then that is really harsh and disrespectful to Lucas who is doing a excellent job in that role. Gerrard was playing the same role before but we looked poorer so credit has to go to Lucas since he is obviously doing a good job. I don't think you'll find many arguing that we need to recruit another DM though
Don't get me wrong - since Lucas has come into the team, we've looked much better and have a better balance. But is that because Lucas has been performing very well, or is it just the impact of having a proper DM in the team? ...
Credit where due IMO based on his performances we shouldn't sell him, he loves the club and is doing a good job.
Slight change; until we have a replacement SETTLED. Lucas is barely top 10 on our list of things to fix. No need to upset things unnecessarily.
I've just answered that in the post you quoted Gerrard was playing in the holding role and we looked ****. Lucas as been put there instead and we look much better. You have to give Lucas credit for performing the role well.
Funny the article's about small club mentality and you all bypass that to talk about Lucas I actually don't think the author addresses the question he asks! Do we have a small club mentality? Not mentioned in the article, but for me if that's defined by not taking the plunge and arguing the toss on price tag / wages when we need a big name player then ... yes. Signing 9 mediocres instead of 2 or 3 big names ... that's small club mentality.
Yeah I picked up on something that pissed me off and ranted. I agree overall and have said this on a few occasions, we need to stop this squad building nonsense have more faith in the players we produce and buy big names, quality players. We are at a good point now imo and 1 or 2 players would transform us (again something I have banged on about) needless to say though we'll end up buying a **** load of mediocre players again this Summer. Forget buying Lallana and Markovic we should have played Ibe and Suso and kept the money, nothing against either player I just didn't think we needed them.
To answer the thread title, No. Take a look at our spending, our facilities, our fanbase etc. If there is a small club mentality at LFC it comes from the manager. But Ian Ayers deserves a mention for his dithering in the transfer market.
I agree. Squad building makes sense but not the way we're going about it. I thought the extra players we added were to help with the extra workload this season but we appeared to roll over in the CL and haven't used them sensibly at all. Rafa frustrated the heck out of me with his constant team changes but he had tactical astuteness on his side, BR doesn't seem to know who his best team is - even now we're more than halfway through the season
I think we shouldn't confuse 'big club' and 'big club mentality' - like you I agree with the first bit but BR and IA appear to be running it [sometimes] with small club mentality.
Are we a big? Yes. Do we have small club mentality? No. We have dropped a few levels and fans have to accept our period in the doldrums (no CL) left us playing catch up.I consider us a tier two club in terms of prestige right about now. There are things people choose to totally ignore We were seconds away from going burst We paid stupid ridiculous wages to players like Milan Jovanovic, Joe Cole to the point when we could not qualify for the CL, bankruptcy came calling We have chosen to take a prudent method of getting back to the top and this will take time. The impatient will complain while those willing to give time will see the slow progress It is funny we get criticized for not signing big players yet Arsenal signed (Sanchez & Ozil) while United went all out and bought Di Maria and loaned Falcao. These clubs are doing so well that Liverpool have absolutely no chance of catching up with them Such articles always end up looking a bit daft since nothing has been won or lost yet.
I'm not one of the impatient ones you talk about but just one example - 'replacing' Suarez with Balotelli, who doesn't even fit our style of play wasn't exactly big club mentality. I think we should have and probably could have done more to get Sanchez and if he was the only player we brought in, it would have seen a significantly different LFC.
But if you don't catch them, then their strategy will have been proven to have been the better decision, given both finished below you last season. If you sign the best players, you generally win. It aint really complicated. If you buy better than you've already got then you will improve. Your problem this season was that you lost a player that you couldn't replace and brought in players who were largely no better than what you already had.
Like I said nothing has been won or lost. The true barometer is what happens at the end of the season.
