EPL Talk » anfield

Benitez Cannot Buckle Under Pressure

Paul Bestall — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:05:21 +0000

“It is difficult for us to qualify, but not impossible,We have to win our game and see what happens with Fiorentina and Lyon. Then we will approach the last game.” Benitez has certainly fought his corner today after the galling last minute equaliser Liverpool conceded in the Stade Gerland last night. Of course, the nay sayers and doom merchants are already drafting Rafa’s last rites as the promise of last season seems already consigned to the dustbin by mid November.

Even Liverpool’s most feverish critics must be surprised how quickly the wheels have fallen off this season. 5 league defeats, knocked out of the League Cup and facing demotion to the Europa League have seen Benitez under the most pressure he’s ever faced during his tenure at Anfield. With the financial situation at Liverpool as tight as it can be, the key achievement for Liverpool to aim for this season is to finish in the top 4 in the Premier League.

Of course, Lyon may win in Florence in 3 weeks time and Liverpool could win the last two games, making sure they beat Fiorentina by 3 clear goals to finish second, but it’s a straw that is swaying away from Benitez. With Torres still carrying a groin injury, Gerrard injured for who knows how long and Carragher having his ropiest period in a Liverpool shirt, the Reds 3 key players are all suffering in one form or another.

During the summer, all the predictions pointed to that it would be Arsenal who would be the one side in the big four that would be the most nervous about retaining their place at the Premiership’s top table. With Manchester City, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Everton all waiting to pounce, no-one considered that Liverpool would be the one with the most to lose.

Without the stadium revenue that Manchester United and Arsenal can pull and without the billionaire sugar daddies that Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham can call on, the financial rewards that the Champions League has to offer is crucial to Liverpool’s continued success. They NEED to be in Champions League to continue progressing, regardless of reputation, Manchester City have already shown money can attract players above their current station.

Yet Liverpool will not find it any easier and by December 13th they could be staring up at the top four and hoping that they can find a vein of form that has so far eluded them this season. They’ve failed to beat every decent side they’ve played this season, with the exception of Manchester United two weeks ago and that in itself is a worrying trend. With massive matches against Manchester City, Everton, Fiorentina and Arsenal in the next five weeks, something needs to sorted and quickly.

Of course, Benitez has a position of strength in the fact that he signed a 5 year contract in March this year and Liverpool’s finances would tend to support the argument that the club can’t afford to sack him. Liverpool fans tend to support their manager through thick or thin, only Graeme Souness lost the fans in the last 30 years and at the moment the attention for the fans frustration is the owners.

Chelsea sacked Scolari when the club were fourth, 7 points behind Manchester United. Liverpool are currently 6th, 9 points behind and whilst we may assume what Hicks and Gillett do, would it surprised anyone if they pressed the panic button? Unfortunately not. Trouble is, they may call on Jurgen Klinsmann, which shows just how little about club football they actually know.

Hicks and Gillett Force Benitez To Bargain Hunt

Paul Bestall — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:38:59 +0000

February 2007, the dawning of a great new era in Liverpool’s history as Tom Hicks and George Gillett bought the club from the Moore’s family. Promising massive investment and the funds for the construction for the new stadium that Liverpool needed, it seemed as if Liverpool were finally about to catch up with Manchester United financially under the stewardship of Kop Football Holdings.

Now, almost two and half years down the line, after their most successful Premiership season in 8 years, you would think that the owners would allow Benitez the money he needs to increase the strength of the side to allow them to push on and keep competing with United and Chelsea. Unfortunately, the accounts that were released last week and the missing out of Gareth Barry, last summers top target, will not be filling Liverpool fans with hope.

Added to that rumours continue that Real Madrid continue to circle above Xabi Alonso to add the defensive screen to their newly acquired attacking foils and Javier Mascherano’s wife is apparently pining for a return to a Spanish speaking nation with Barcelona more than happy to accommodate them in Catalonia. Liverpool issued a statement yesterday advising that neither player was for sale nor had they received any offers for the duo.

To some fans that means they’re both going to be sold, but with us unsure of the financial situation at Liverpool, it would be unfair to comment on pure speculation. By all accounts, they’re in the driving seat for Glen Johnson’s move from Portsmouth, but the price being bandied about is touching £18 million. Portsmouth have given Johnson their blessing that he can move if a side in the Champions League come in for him and United and Arsenal don’t need another right back. I doubt he’ll want to return to Chelsea for a second stint.

Of course if Liverpool do sign Johnson, which would by all accounts use the transfer budget unless it was bolstered by signings and releasing players that simply haven’t made the grade, such as Jermaine Pennant or Ryan Babel. Selling established first team players does not come in to Benitez’s thinking and for them to challenge United and Chelsea they have to keep hold of their best players and add more quality to the full back positions.

Whilst I have been critical of Benitez in the past, you have to feel sorry for him. He’s working for a pair of guys who haven’t held a promise they made back in February 2007 and he’s seen off two potential replacements and a Chief Executive to be able to sign a new contract that runs until 2014. He now just needs Gillett and Hicks to finally deliver the £200 million player investment they promised him when they took over. They know that Benitez has the support of 99.9% of Liverpool fans and they’d risk everything if they undercut the manager by selling first team regulars.

The big test for Benitez for the 2009-2010 season is to build on what last years excellent season offered Liverpool fans and push for a consistent title challenge throughout the year. For them to continue and progress, the manager has to receive the financial backing to progress. He knows that United now have a war chest of £100 million and it’s likely that Chelsea will have even more to spend and that’s without taking into consideration Manchester City or Arsenal’s forays in to the market over the summer.

Without that backing, Liverpool could go backwards and Benitez doesn’t deserve that!

Will Liverpool Play At Carlsberg Stadium?

Ethan Armstrong — Fri, 15 May 2009 18:00:31 +0000

When did it come to this?

As I watch Bolton’s Reebok Hunt slide tackle Liverpool’s Xabi Carlsberg at Carlsberg Lite Stadium in Liverpool on an overcast Saturday in April, I am filled with an unbearable nostalgia for the past.

As Fly Emirates Bennett holds the red card aloft in Hunt’s face who begins his long walk of shame, (brought to you by Reebok), I can’t help but long for the days before players, refs and stadia started adopting the names of massive corporate sponsors.

Liverpool supporters were griping in 2009 when Carlsberg first sealed the deal to change the name of Anfield, Liverpool FC’s historic venue, to Carlsberg Stadium, even changing the name of Anfield Road to Carslberg Road. But the precident had already been set in the Premier League with Bolton’s Reebok Stadium, Wigan’s JJB Stadium and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium replacing the traditional venues of Burnden Ground, Springfield Park and Highbury.

The strangest turn in the history of sport sponsorship was when players began taking the names of the sponsors. This began with Newcastle’s Obafemi Northern Rock in early 2010. Many players quickly followed suit. Samsung Lampard, Gareth Acorns, OKI Crouch, Nationwide Rooney and Shaun Wright-Thomas Cook all became household names of English Football.

Liverpool were hesitant to go along with this trend, since the stadium name change was still a point of bitter contention amongst supporters. But when intense pressure from Carlsberg combined with Liverpool’s inability to compete with the increased spending of the other clubs, the Merseyside giants relented.

Xabi Carlsberg, Steven Carlsberg, Pepe Carslberg and Carlsberg Lite Leiva were the first to legally change their names for increased corporate funding.

When the players filed out with ‘Carlsberg’ written across the backs of their shirts in place of Alonso, Gerrard, Reina and Lucas, supporters wondered if they were watching football or a Ramones cover band. But with the extra funding, Liverpool were soon able to secure the transfers of Bastien Carlsberg, Daniel Alves da Carlsberg and Arjen Carlsberg. These were all pivotal players in the campaign that saw Liverpool win their 19th Premier League Title in 2011, the year before the trophy became simply known as The Barclay.

As victory came, the groans of supporters subsided.

And while manager Rafael Adidas led Liverpool to win three more titles in a row, Manchester United, Liverpool’s traditional rivals, plummeted into financial trouble due to their increased involvement with the doomed investment firm, AIG. United had to sell off many top players like Nationwide Rooney and Cristiano International Group, Inc. just to stay afloat. The club narrowly avoided relegation to The Diet Coke Championship last season.

But United’s fortunes may be turning as they complete a renewed deal with an old sponsor. Now, Sir Alex Vodafone feels confident his side will be able to climb back to the top of the League next season after a fruitful transfer window.

Back at the brand new Carlsberg Lite Stadium in Liverpool, I watch Fernando Carlsberg hit a hat-trick against a ten-man Bolton side. The young kids around me, who probably couldn’t tell you El Niño’s birth name, start to sing:

His armband said he was a Red! (Carlsberg! Carlsberg!)

‘You’ll Never Walk Alone,’ it said! (Carlsberg! Carlsberg!)

The older supporter sitting between them and me shakes his head and rolls his eyes. He had corrected the lads in the first half when they began to sing: Around the Fields of Carlsberg Road… But now you can see he just doesn’t have the energy. Neither do I, as I long for the days of Anfield, Highbury and St James Park. The days when tradition and history won out over sponsorship and the corporate agenda.

Do any of us have the energy to fight the changing times? I decide not to think about it as I ponder what to drink when I visit the pub after the match.

Rick Parry Is To Leave Liverpool

Paul Bestall — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 11:53:33 +0000

What on earth is happening at Liverpool this week? There seems to some major leaking going on behind the scenes that seem to point to two camps eager to try and score points against each other. News has begun to circulate this morning that the chief executive, Rick Parry is to leave his position at Liverpool this afternoon after 12 years at Anfield. A statement is expected this morning to clarify matters. That sounds like he’s going to me.

After the Benitez leaving debacle on Wednesday, today the focus has shifted to Parry’s position in the Liverpool hierarchy. It’s an open secret that Parry and Benitez don’t get on at all, but once again, Liverpool’s dirty washing is being aired in public. After the news about Robbie Keane leaving Liverpool was revealed by the BBC pundit Mark Lawrenson in an interview with Irish Radio over Christmas, it’s been a constant stream of negativity leaking out of Liverpool.

Lawrenson made the cardinal sin of bragging about going for a drink with Steven Gerrard and that Gerrard had told him that Keane would be sold in the transfer window. Most of the British media picked this up and had a go at Lawrenson, though oddly the BBC ignored the story, and Lawrenson probably has been advised to keep things to himself in future by his Liverpool contacts. The decision to sell Keane was seen by many as a sign of strength for Benitez, he’d wanted Gareth Barry and David Villa. Instead Parry went after neither target and signed Keane, against Benitez’s wishes. Once Keane had been sold back to Tottenham, the battle lines were drawn. The relationship has steadily gone down hill and Benitez may have made the point that if they’d signed who he wanted in the summer, they’d still be top. That alone makes Parry’s position weaker.

Now 4 weeks later, it begins to seem as if Benitez has won out but it also makes you wonder, just who was behind the stories about Rafa leaving on Wednesday. Surely it wasn’t a deliberate act by someone either at Liverpool or working on information supplied to them by a Liverpool employee was to try and destabilise the team ahead of the crucial Champions League game at the Bernabeu? Defeat for Liverpool would have made things very difficulty for Rafa to salvage anything from a season that promised so much but has run out of steam. It would have made the owners consider if it was worth offering him a new contract, or looking at other options.

Overall though, whoever has in charge of Liverpools public relations this week has had their work cut out dealing with all the misinformation flying around. Is Parry really going to be let go this afternoon or has the Benitez camp begun some mischief making of their own? Ferguson will be loving this, Hiddink will probably think Liverpool have the implosion abilities of Ajax in his native Holland, O’Neill and Wenger will see cracks they could possible exploit. The Blue half of Liverpool will be revelling in the continuing soap opera developing across Stanley Park.

Parry isn’t exactly Mr Popular with Liverpool fans, or the owners though he has always counted on George Gillette’s support. By all accounts though, that support has begun to evaporate leaving Parry isolated and alone at Anfield. The fans in general, have nothing but loathing for him, blaming him missing out on Villa and Barry in the Summer and seem to have no respect for him at all. If anything positive was to come out of this season for the Reds, Parry announcing he was leaving would probably placate a lot of them.

Hull City To Go Down?

Michael Timbury — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:59:33 +0000

Can anyone remember the last time Hull City won a Premier League game? December 6th at home to Middlesbrough was the last time. Since then, they have been very much in freefall. When Hull first arrived in the Premiership, they were tipped to go straight back down but decided to tear up the script and go to well established top flight sides like Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle United and win. How dare they!

Since then however, Hull have had a bit of a reality check. Despite two very credible draws at Anfield and Stamford Bridge, a couple of resounding batterings from Manchester City and Sunderland, accompanied with some less humiliating defeats and the odd draw have seen Hull fall into thirteenth. By all means this is a respectable position but the worrying thing for Phil Brown’s side is that they are looking over their shoulder now, rather than towards the dizzy heights of Europe that their early season form suggested.

The run of form that they are in at the moment suggests only one thing; a relegation scrap. This is the last thing that they would have wanted or expected at the time of their last league win but have struggled to maintain the kind of form that shocked the world before Christmas. Credit to Brown, he acknowledged their slump and tried to shake things up by bringing in some new faces, most notably Manucho on loan from Manchester United (to replace the outgoing Marlon King) and record signing Jimmy Bullard from Fulham. The latter however seems to have backfired for the time being as Bullard required further surgery to his troublesome knee and is out for the remainder of the season having only made one substitute appearance for the Tigers.

A problem that is still rectifiable this season though is their home form. The KC Stadium has hardly been a fortress having picked up just three wins in the league there all season. Perhaps this is because it is a welcoming venue for travelling teams with nice facilities and doesn’t boast the most hostile of atmospheres. If a team is to avoid the drop, it is often their home form that will decide it. Stoke City are a good example of a side who are making the most of their home territory and in turn made themselves very difficult to beat there. Hull’s next three home games all come against sides who are in the relegation mix and the phrase ‘six pointer’ starts to take on some real meaning. Sunday’s match against a rejuvenated Blackburn Rovers is a crucial match and a win for Hull could spark a run that results in a comfortable finish to the season and doesn’t require the need for a positive result against Manchester United on the final day. Newcastle United and Portsmouth are the following home games for Hull while upcoming trips to Fulham, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Sunderland suggest that Hull should pick up enough points to survive.

Most neutrals would like to see Hull stay up, purely because of the way they shook things up in the opening weeks of the season and think it would be a waste to then throw it all away. Hull have achieved a lot in a short space of time and sending them back to the drawing board now would be harsh. However, you only stay up if you’re good enough and time will tell.