One of the happy by-products of this summer’s changes at Liverpool Football Club is that I find myself completely at ease as we near the end of the summer transfer window.
Commolli is gone, half-assed statistical notions of what constitutes ‘good’ are gone, and in their place we have clarity. I open my browser, click the shortcut to the football news, and see Lucas is ruled out for two to three months. Last year that would have triggered genuine anxiety; this year I find myself simply feeling bad for the man himself, and eager to see how he’ll fit when he returns.
Where things were once inscrutible, we now have clarity. Where things were worrisome, we now have calm.
It’s a weird place to be, isn’t it?
The thing is, regardless of whatever it was that led us to hiring Brendan Rodgers, we hired him, and when we did that, we installed clarity. We have a clear idea of what our system will be. We have a clear idea of the roles that interact within that system. We know the attributes needed in a player to fulfil each of those roles. And last but not least, we’ve now proven we’re buying and promoting players based solely on those attributes.
We have a structure, and with that structure, we have a chance of defining clearly what ‘value’ means to us in the transfer market.
Say we do nothing from this point on (I’m writing this at lunch time on Wednesday). The next window will be along in January. How do you think we’d fare?
Or say we manage to ship out a few faces. There’s talk that Spearing will leave, and there’s all manner of gossip on the fate of Adam, and Cole, and Carroll. Say we shipped a few out. How do you think we’d fare?
Or say, taking that eventuality a step further, we take whatever funds are generated or lying down the back of the sofa, and we bolster our attacking options. Would we be likely to hire the right people? For reasonable value? Would the fees raise eyebrows? Beyond the hysterical nutjobs I mean?
I find myself in a place where I honestly believe we’d fare pretty well in each of the circumstances described above. Ideally we’ll see the last option come to pass. But with the structure in place, we suddenly have a framework that allows us to really figure out what ‘value’ means for us.
That was the biggest signing we could ever have made this summer, and the one we’d all hoped for when Commolli got his jotters.
I’ve not quite mustered the will to switch off the Browser completely yet – it’s just too entertaining. But at least this year I’ll be viewing from my happy place.
Completely agree with the whole relaxed vibe.
Just to add to what you’ve already stated, I think Rodgers also has a clear idea of the personality traits needed in any potential future LFC players, not just their physical abilities and how they fit into his system on the pitch.
Phil
Shipping players out who are useful in early cup games and reducing depth does not alleviate my worries…
I understand the rationale and strategy behind the fact we have no 20+ goal/season forward., so I have not a clue how we will fare.
The league is but two games old and we have yet to win. One an away thrashing.
I am a Hysterical Nutjob. There just seems to be a lot of risk and speculation in youth over proven experience.
Maybe that’s down to 5 wins in 16?
Hold on a minute Mate!We just got stuffed by WBA.Carroll was going for a year loan with £12m to come back.We paid £35M!
Do you think somebody might have had a word in Rodgers shell-like and said no dice?
We had clarity with Dalglish.He was hung out to dry over the Suarez affair.But we were beginning to show signs of the team we wanted.
I want Rodgers to succeed for the sake of LFC.But we were half-way there last season and look what happened.
So,No! Let’s be just a little cautious and count our chickens when they’ve hatched!
@BrianB: at the outset, casting dispersions based on the opener at WBA – a game with an almost comical amount of luck and decisions going against us – is beyond short sighted. Play that game 100 times with the same set up, and that result would only happen once.
To your point, if the relegation form we were on the second half last season was truly “beginning to show signs of the team we wanted” I would’ve hated to see that plan come to full fruition.
Fact is, Roy is right – Rodgers’ system is one that gives us clear ideas about not only the kind of players who fit into the system, but it also gives the players in the system clear ideas of how they fit and what’s expected of them. Cogs in a machine if you will. It is much more than buying the best group of individuals you can and sending them out with little instruction beyond, “do your thing”.
That kind of set up requires always-on-form superstars who can make a moment of magic and win 1 v. 11. Our system doesn’t need superstars at every position, it needs players who understand their responsibilities and can contribute their piece of the whole.
That is the point of the piece – everyone can now see the types of players who will fit into the team without ever seeing them kick a ball in red. We all knew Joe Allen would be brilliant before he signed, and early returns certainly back that up. No more throwing 20m at the flavor of the month in hopes that he can recreate his form here. With roles so clearly defined, we know exactly what we want, and therefore can seek out value. No more guesses, no more trial and error.
In sum, we are 2 games into the league season, why not sit back and enjoy? It’s a work in progress; the assembly line is being assembled, and when it’s complete I’m confident we will be rolling out shiny new victories off the factory floor.
Great post there DY
It is an exciting beginning. But it started out sad. Dalglish should have been given at least another year. He pulled LFC together in one direction. he galvanised the club. He made LFC easy to love again. We were playing great, dominating opponents, but failed to score. You’d think that maybe the only missing piece of that jigsaw puzzle was to buy at least two proven goalscorers in the mould of Aguero in the next season. Higuian and Falcao comes to mind. It was not to be. In fact, Kenny made Rodgers’ transition into LFC easier because we were already backing the club in unison due to the King’s influence. I believe the opening day loss to WBA was karma. We sacked Steve Clarke for Goodness sake! I don’t wish for many days like this again. Now, we must give time and support to the new Gaffer. We are after all Liverpool Football Club.
Let’s not just highlight Commolli when Dalglish had a big part, if not THE biggest part in our transfer dealings last year. If we can clean up tat mess in the next 48 hours it could be the most successful summer in years.
I’m glad Rodgers has identified players who can play first and foremost, strong mentally and intelligent players. these are the players that can be relied upon over the course of a season and WILL win you games unlike last seasons crop who range from limited, fragile mentally and in-consistent.
Lets hope it all goes to plan.
DY I like your points and your sentiments.But you have to remember that our season was smashed to bits by the Suarez affair.
You say with a bit of luck here and there we would have beaten WestBrom?Wasn’t that the story for most of last season?
I trust the judgement of every day supporters;and I’m not saying you’re not one of us.But the fact is that most of us were quite pleased with the progress being made and felt that Dalglish deserved at least another season.
I wasn’t happy about the way he got more and more tetchy in his press conferences.But I understood how he felt about the team.I get tetchy and a bit aggressive when I’m confronted by ManU’s,Blues and City’s.
Anyway,I think that Rodgers is beginning to look like a man with an ego bigger than a house.And I think that FSG have made their bed and now have to lie in it.It’s far too early to make another change;not that I’m advocating that.
It’s just that after the last few years;well to coin a phrase “I’ve got my finger on the trigger,but I don’t know who to trust”
But thanks for reading the post and all the best DY.
I think he has an ego bigger than a house too, but isn’t that what we need? I think Rafa had one when in charge, surely Kenny did, this bodes well – it’s not a negative it’s required for a Liverpool manager. (actually poor Roy has too so maybe my point is meaningless).
I have nothing useful to add to this discussion
ferd