I DON’T read enough books. I use the excuse that I don’t have enough time but, in reality, if I add up all the time I spend reading newspapers, magazines and Twitter, I could probably polish off War and Peace in a week. Often a trip, even a ‘working’ one, is a good chance to rectify that, with the trains, planes and automobiles involved.
We have an extensive selection of football books in the office so, because I’m as disorganised as I am boring, I grabbed some of those. One of which was El Macca, the story of Steve
McManaman’s four years with Real Madrid. Despite my aforementioned poor reading form, I’m still surprised I’ve never got round to it considering it came out in 2004. I probably still had a bit of a cob on with him for leaving so couldn’t face it. But time, as well as lots and lots of top Liverpool players leaving since, is a great healer. So I decided to get stuck in.
It’s great, if you haven’t read it yourself, or it’s been a while. It’s brilliantly written by Sarah Edworthy, who gets great access to Macca and his superstar teammates, who clearly adore him. It’s a fascinating insight into the mind and talent of McManaman, but also into Real Madrid as a club. There are many surprising things that come out of it, not least the amount the players drink (or did drink then) the night before big games. It was also a surprise to me how easily supporters got access to players, despite their profile.
This is Macca on training at Real Madrid: “Training at Ciudad Deportiva is usually open, which means fans are watching the very first steps of our working day. The mood of the last game’s result hangs over training. If you’ve been beaten badly, the fans let you know in no uncertain terms that you performed miserably. They’ll shout, ‘You load of rubbish’ or ‘you lazy things’ — nothing terrible…. more typically though, we’ve won and the fans are shouting encouragement. If it’s been a very hard game, few people will actually go out and train — so you might have hundreds of people turning up to watch three players jog slowly round the pitch three times and then go back inside. It’s surreal.”
And:
“Of course the fans are there…even when you’re bleary eyed and trying to stagger into the dressing room to get into your kit, they’re shouting at you, wanting your autograph, pointing a camera….I’d hate to see some of the photos in fans albums!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ3OO9k2QCc
Sounds a bit different to Melwood, doesn’t it? Where Range Rovers with blacked out windows drive past fans waiting outside in the vain hope one of them might stop and through into the heavily guarded training complex. I mentioned this to Neil, who is reading Jurgen Klopp: The Biography by Elmar Neveling (we really need some other hobbies). He said it was similar at Borussia Dortmund, with fans given access to training sessions there, too.
You may have noticed that Dortmund and Real have been reasonably successful, so coming into contact with the great unwashed doesn’t seem to have done them any harm. In fact, it may even have helped spur them on. It felt to me a shame that Liverpool don’t give access to their fans in a similar way, even on a less frequent basis. But then logging on to Twitter the last few days, you realise they do. Just not so much when they are in Liverpool.
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/757342483223150592
https://twitter.com/LFC/status/757368389463531522
https://twitter.com/SMignolet/status/757615244843765760
You’d have to be pretty dead inside not to enjoy pictures of young Liverpool fans beaming with excitement at meeting their heroes. But it’s also tinged with of sadness when you think of how many kids in Liverpool would love the same opportunity, but can’t get it. The club seem pretty strict with fans coming into any sort of contact with players, especially on match day. Fair enough, you might say, they have a job to do. But surely there is a balance to be struck here.
I mentioned this on Twitter last night and an American Red actually replied to me and said it crossed his mind when at the event how his children got more exposure to Liverpool players that day than their cousins ever had who live in the city. How is that right? I know Liverpool want to push themselves as a brand and get more fans worldwide, but what about the ones they already have? They shouldn’t be ignored.
Of course American Liverpool fans don’t get a great deal overall. Overpriced friendlies every two years, getting up at 4:30am to watch league games and, if they are lucky, a very occasional trip to Anfield for a low-key game they can get tickets for. Maybe those of us who live a stone’s throw from Anfield should realise, as we are often told, how fortunate we are.
Even in Liverpool, it’s very difficult for everyone who wants to to get access to The Reds to do so. Tickets are expensive and seats are limited. Positive moves have been made by the owners to help both of those matters, but demand still outstrips supply, especially for families. For too many football at the top level is still a thing that happens only on the TV.
Maybe Liverpool isn’t set up like other clubs to host regular open sessions. Maybe a culture of more openness with fans is difficult to introduce when it hasn’t been there for so long. But it does feel like easy wins are there if the club want to kick the ball into the empty net. Would occasional sessions at Anfield, even with a small charge, be that hard to arrange? Even just in quieter times?
Liverpool can’t guarantee success. They can’t guarantee titles. They can’t even assure top players. But they can make fans feel included, valued and closer to their heroes. All fans. Not just the chosen few.
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Nothing is free at LFC, everything is a revenue stream or has the potential to be one, and needs to be protected. Hence the guards,high walls and blacked out windows.
If you have £30m a year for a sponsorship, you can meet the players at Melwood.
If you are 15 and from Norris Green, waiting outside Melwood….fuck off.
One of my first memories of LFC was being taken to Melwood by my dad in the 60s. We were allowed to walk around watching the players training. I don’t actually remember any restrictions at all. Shanks was there and my dad was in awe of the great man although I was more interested in watching my first hero, Sir Roger.
One thing that did shock me was when my dad told me we couldn’t go back in the afternoon as the players finished training about midday. “What do they do then dad?” ” They go back to their houses in Maghull or Formby and do their gardens lad.” Ye,right!
Hate that little weasel McManaman. Only turned up when he felt like it. Mocked Roy Evans emotional leaving speech according to Brian Reade – I have no reason to doubt it. Difficult to argue with the sentiments of the piece
I can’t stand the heat smug twat either, allegedly a bitter
El Macca is one the greatest football books i have ever read as it captures life of the city of Madrid and the football club, my wife spent 4 years in Madrid and so we have lots of friends there and it will be a surprise to many what a hero the ‘postman’ was and i think still is, not one of the all time greats but on a par with how Liverpool fans think of Alonso. Two european cups, one stunning goal in the final and two La liga’s titles is not so shabby in 4 years.
i’m the American Red that John speaks about in the article. Saturday and Sunday were amazing for my son (and I). We saw training on Saturday night. Then my two kids were trained by LFC Foundadtion coaches on Sunday then straight off to real LFC training that afternoon. We got a picture (neither of us are in to autograhps) with I believe every first team player but Danield and Clyne.
Leaving Stanford my 9 year boy turned to me and said that was the most amazing day ever. At the point I know he was hooked on LFC.
My dad is from Liverpool, My cousins kids don’t believe have ever watched LFC trai. Can’t see what is so hard about setting it up twice a year. As John says it’s a no brainer. Even do it at anfield, lock the grownups out, just let the kids in for some pictures…Supporters for life.
If you have to ask this question you don’t know the difference between British and American teenagers.
I’m 44 and I’d love to see a proper training session, not that stuff you see on the news were they half heartedly jog around the pitch having a chat.
The club is insane not to do this kind of thing with (reasonable) regularity at Melwood and Anfield. Although as a Canadian LFC fan I’d trade geography (i.e., the ability to see matches regularly) any day for a long-shot hope at access top players every 2 years IF they stop in your city at all.
When the Reds toured Melbourne in 2013, I was lucky enough to attend a kids’ training session put on by the Liverpool Foundation coaches for about 30 kids from my club (I was club secretary at the time). They also put on an open training session at the MCG a few nights before they played Melbourne Victory at the same venue. Tickets to the training session were free, if I recall correctly. Between the actual match, the open training session, the kids’ session, the TAW party, and the ‘Evening with Rush and Fowler’, I needed a holiday by the end of it all! What a week it was!
They do it in pre season because you’re unlikely to be verbally abused. I don’t know about you but fans after a couple of defeats don’t exactly act like people you’d want to spend time with…especially when you are more often than not, giving your best effort to not be embarrassed on the pitch week after week.
There are passages in Pep Confidential too about supporters watching Bayern training sessions. I think open sessions were restricted to the day after a match, when nothing too tactical was being worked on.
Seems like such a no brainer to do something at LFC/Melwood….