I’M worried, Reds. I am worried about us. I’m not sure we are up to the mark — we have become distracted, fixated on the bollocks that is modern football and all that goes with it: the finance, the bottom line. We’re cry-arsing our way through pre-season.
I’m not talking about the players here, by the way. I am talking about us — the fans, the lads who are meant to cheer on our heroes in red and drag them through the difficult times.
For years we have railed against our club overspending on players, derided those in charge of transfers for wasting money on shite, whether that be previous managers, the transfer committee or big Damo Comolli. For overspending on players from Southampton for example, or blerting the equivalent of the GDP of what remains of the European Union on a big cart horse from Newcastle, or for trying to extract value from a market that can’t be cheated.
When we tried to throw the transfer market a bit of a Mickey Finn and sign no-marks who were boss on Champ Manager we moaned like fuck. When the no-marks turned out to be no-marks we moaned like fuck a bit more. When we tried to sign goals last year and bought the then manager’s number-one target and marquee signing (Christian Benteke) and the transfer committee’s number one signing (Roberto Firmino) we moaned like fuck about duplication, wasting resource, trying to keep two sides of a coin happy.
Then Jürgen Klopp took over. For a bit, we didn’t moan so much.
Gone were the excuses of transfer committees and unwanted players or self-serving, face saving, individuals and in their place was this superstar of football management who seemed to cut through all of the bollocks surrounding modern football and replaced it with honesty, humour and a work ethic that would be instilled throughout the club.
A manager who has historically been shown to develop younger players and teams, who values team work over individuality and who will tell anyone who will listen that the players who play for him need to buy into the team ethic, to work, learn, train and improve or be prepared to be shipped out, regardless of their stature or place in the squad.
Evidence of this ruthlessness can be seen recently with the treatment of Sakho and, arguably, with the sale of Jordon Ibe.
On the face of it, there would appear to be very little for Liverpool fans to cry about at the moment. The weaknesses so evident within the squad last year are getting addressed with a minimum of fuss.
The lack of pace, runners and goals from midfield has been sorted with the purchases of Wijnaldum and Mane — lads who were reportedly wanted by Champions League teams and who we persuaded to sign for us by letting Klopp give them a bell.
A keeper has been bought to challenge Big Si The Mig and although the evidence available during pre-season has been minimal, it looked to me that the lads in front were able to play 10 yards further forward just because of Karius’ presence on the edge of, or outside, his box.
A new centre half has been bought and an old shit one has been sold (win win they call that) and we will almost certainly buy some sort of left back within the coming weeks or convince James Milner to be better than Alonso again from there for a bit.
And yet people are still moaning like fuck.
Why aren’t we buying any “marquee signings” was last week’s hot cry-arsing topic. As cry-arsing topics go it is a good one as there is no definitive answer to what a “marquee signing” is, never mind why we aren’t signing one, meaning the cry-arsing can go on for ever. Which is nice.
The natural, organic extension of this bit of cry-arsing was to move into net spend and decry FSG’s investment in the club over the last few years which obviously and organically led on to the thought process that Klopp and his team building philosophy is just on message with FSG policy.
We need to have words, Reds. As Carra once delightfully said to Garth Crooks after being asked an overly inflated nonsensical question about boats or some shit:
“What are you going on about, mate?”
Seriously. Why are we now moaning about transfer policy when we have got a manager whose previous track record is what it is? One who is making all of the decisions on incoming players and has expressed such a desire to buy character and a set of attributes over anything else. Is it just because we haven’t spent a fortune on a name? Which “marquee player” do we want, Reds? Which centre forward could we realistically buy who would improve our squad ? A 29-year-old Higuain for £75.3million? A £75m Lukaku? While that would be hilarious for the level-10 fume game, it would guarantee it wouldn’t be that funny when he couldn’t be arsed to move and Big Divock could.
Although I can understand the frustration at the way FSG run the club, surely we should be praising them for appointing a manager whose characteristics and abilities are finally in tune with what they want to achieve rather than slagging them for it.
The suggestion that Klopp is now a mouthpiece for FSG and their policy of running the club does him a bit of a disservice. Why are we so keen to assume that Klopp’s reference of players not wanting to sign for us because we didn’t qualify for the Champions League is an FSG excuse for underinvestment rather than being based on an actual event where a player, like Mario Gotze for example, didn’t want to sign for us because we literally didn’t qualify for the Champions League?
Why are we so bothered about us having a negative net spend this year? We are selling players who we have previously bought for good money. Surely someone somewhere should be applauded for that. We aren’t selling first-team players who we will miss here — this isn’t Suarez or Sterling. It is the likes of Jordon Ibe, who scored one goal for Liverpool or Joe Allen who, while having a good Euros for Wales, only really played well for Liverpool in fits and starts and spent a significant proportion of his Liverpool career injured. He only really played well under Klopp when coming on in a game when the other side was tiring.
These to me are good pieces of business. Should we keep them just so we can say our net spend was sound? This is pie-in-the-sky nonsense and it needs jibbing.
I genuinely think that the Reds might win the league this year. Seriously, I do. No-one will be able to keep up with us or match our aggression, work rate or organisation. The lack of European football is a real advantage in this as is the time the manager spent with the players last year.
The pre-season looks alright, too. Have a go at reading TAW superstar Melissa Reddy’s brilliant piece on one of the training sessions and have a think if anyone is going to beat us when the real football starts. If you come up with any names, write them inside one of Brenno Rodgers’ three envelopes and stick them right up your own arse.
Win the fitness, win everything, Reds.
I can’t wait for us to lift the tile at home against Southampton (May 6 — book the week commencing May 8 off now). It will be boss, won’t it? We will also get the added bonus of seeing what the cry-arsing has moved on to by then, which will be sound.
Some dope somewhere will be moaning about how Henderson’s trophy lift isn’t as good as Souness’s or that Klopp should have worn a suit, or that they should have built a trophy presentation thing in the new Main Stand. What a time to be alive.
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Love the article and couldn’t agree more, up the beautiful Reds! YNWA!
Rather we signed players Klopp needs than go out lash dou on some egotistical gobshite who’ll sell a few fuckin shirts in the Far East…
Spot on!
What an excellent read. Well written too.
I would much rather see the team develop than spend hundreds of millions on big names. Excellent article
Possibly the reason for the moaning about the transfer policy is because under FSG we have won fuck all and become bona fide mid table.
Other than that there’s nothing to moan about.
cry-arcing in a reply to an article that is written with the likes of you firmly in mind – there’s irony there if you look hard enough
There’s meant to be. Arcing. I mean irony.
Spot on. Even on this forum we get our share of cry arising moaners (including the odd contributor). Look, if you can’t get behind this manager then just fuck off and follow City of Liverpool FC or someone.
I don’t think we’re gonna win the league this season but I’ll be there getting behind the team and shouting down the naysayers who sit near me in the Kop. Honestly think some of them enjoy losing as it validates their tortured, jaundiced “told you so” fucking version of supporting the team.
Thank you for putting it all together in one well written article.
Thank you!
I couldn’t have been arsed to have typed that many words so thank you for composing most of the words I would have liked to typed.
My only disagreement is the bit about winning the title. I don’t think we’ll
Lose those annoying games to teams below us but I think we’ll struggle to beat the big three (you know who I mean) though, obviously, I hope you are right.
We can win the League Title . We have that ambition and that possibility. You look ahead to what Cry Arsers could attempt a niche cryarse about on May 6th. The Henderson Trophy Lift is a good one because it is daft but definitely has niche cryarsiness for the social media glowflaces/pub bore . I find it a shame that some cry arse comments touch on creativeness but in their search to be ‘meme-of-the-moment’ their negative sackgroans are ultimately to be side-stepped like dog eggs on a Saturday pavement.
Hear hear!! Well timed article to all the moaners and those who don’t know “pleep” all!!
JOHNO…NAILS IT AGAIN!!!!!
Same people moaning are still banging on about Brendan Rodgers…
This is one of the best articles I have read in a very long time, up the majestic Reds! YNWA!
Stop whinging johno!
so an article that is pointing out the phenomenon of fans who moan about every damn thing has successfully managed to draw out comments bemoaning the moaners – mostly using the exact moaning that was moaned about in the piece.
Sound.
You moaning about it there?
Inception level cry-arsing.
Boss tha
This is why I don’t need to write about football any more. Big Jurgen, common sense, and Ben. :)
Miss your stuff, Roy. Nice to see your still about.
you’re…
Everything will be all right in the end. Kloppo has got this covered; just enjoy the process. Enjoy football.
We do have the ambition and the possibility along with 19 other clubs but alas as past seasons prove, we don’t have the squad.
Why deal with realistic expectations and take each game as it comes when you can powder your nose in rose tinted glasses and slag off those in the real world as “cry arse”?
That said, I don’t mind, as long as people don’t start calling for sackings when thier beliefs don’t materialise at the end of the season….lofty expectations often end with a hard come down.
You wonder if the only hope the desperate have is in the footie, and reality is just too bleak a concept. If that sounds harsh , I apologise. But then fuck ya, if you are going to use labels like “cry arse”
He said he could work with the players we had and now he is shipping off a bunch of them.
We said he was the type of manager that could develop young talent and now Ibe is gone and possibly Flanagan are going. Sinclair is gone. Teixeira is gone.
Fingers crossed though – hopefully this round we have a decent crop of players coming in. 2014/15 did not even hit a 50% success rate.
C’mon Klopp!
I don’t see/hear fans moaning about the lack of marquee signings.
The fans I engage with face to face or thru a keyboard on sites like this realise we arnt really in a position to attract marquee signings. Not that Liverpool really bought marquee signings anyway, we made them.
Is this another thing I’m “missing out on” in the twitterverse?
klopp is doing great job his signings are very tacticul and im behind him 100%
Up to a point,Lord Copper as long as don’t go cry arsing when we don’t win the league
Somebody mentioned that we won’t be able to beat the top teams. Well we thrashed city 7-1, drew with arsenal twice. drew with Tottenham twice. One of the only two teams to beat Leicester. Other being arsenal. Klopp did this with BR’s squad. As klopp said, make no mistake we are gonna be challenging.
That old adage about empty vessels making the most noise was written with Twitter in mind.
Excellent piece and spot on. I remember years ago when i was just a teenager watching a really good Liverpool team walk the league at a stroll. Ray Clemance received the ball bounced it a couple of times and kicked it up field. ‘that was fucking quick for a change Clemance’ yelled a voice from behind. At Clemance at that team.
No point asking why these twats whinge all the time
They are whinging twats, it’s what they do.
Great article and this is probably the quote of the year by far ‘if you come up with any names, write them inside one of Brenno Rodgers’ three envelopes and stick them right up your own arse.’ wholeheartedly agree.
Spot on.
I’ll add that every player has improved under Klopp. He chooses high quality clay and molds it to fit his vision of beautiful football.
We have seen only the earliest hints of what the sculptur envisions. I’m certain it will be a masterpiece.
Absolutely boss stuff that mate. Bang fucking on. Up the Reds.
Hahaha, Brilliant… cant believe the number of moaners and whiners that defecate the internet this days… some would have you believe we have been relegated or something!!! Assclowns of the highest order… these are people who will moan while receiving a BJ from Rihanna stating she isnt doing it right… :P