Bleacher Report - Articles by Chris Godwin

Has Rafa Benitez got his shopping priorities wrong?

Chris Godwin — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:51:37 -0400

Why the capture of Keane and possibly Barry will do little for Liverpool’s pursuit of the Premier League this season.

Although I am very excited about the arrival of Robbie Keane and possibly Gareth Barry still, and do believe that they will improve Liverpool’s attacking potency, creativity and overall grit in the league, the absence of a winger on Rafa Benitez’s shopping list has once again dampened my hopes of a 19^th Liverpool league crown.

The arrival of Robbie Keane is one of great anticipation, yet I am a little worried as to how he will fit into the team. Liverpool’s strength last season was eventually found in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Torres proving more than effective as a lone striker, being supported behind by Gerrard, Babel and Kuyt.

Placating both the indispensable Torres, and the newly purchased Keane will mean a two up top policy surely? I am positive neither will be happy playing elsewhere as a wing forward or coming from deep, and nor should they be.

Unless the unpredictable Benitez is planning on keeping the lone striker system, and changing Keane and Torres every week, two up front seems the only logical formation to go with.

Now, this obviously means a change behind the strikers. With two strikers seeming likely, something Benitez has rarely been content with, is it conceivable to see an almost old fashioned 4-4-2 re-appear in Liverpool’s armory?

I am not entirely sure as to what other system could be played, other than potentially an obscure use of Babel and Gerrard, but a 4-4-2 seems the safest bet.

So, assuming there is a four-man midfield, and that Gerrard will remain in the middle, it begs the question as to where both Barry, and the ever popular Mascherano will feature. Without two strikers it would simply be two holding midfielders, like Mascherano and Alonso played much of towards the end of last season.

But with a four-man midfield, unless Gerrard will be shunted back out wide, either Barry or Mascherano will have to make way, and they both cost £18m. I doubt either will be content at life on the bench.

But my main issue does not lie in what system Rafa will deploy, nor how he will cope with competition for places. The burning problem for Liverpool this season will be the absence of a world-class winger, either on the right or left side, depending on where Babel is preferred.

The arrival of Torres last season improved Liverpool’s offensive play beyond description, yet in big games, against the big opponents, where defenses nearly always come out on top, we still lacked that potency and ability to break teams down. When the top teams play each other, breaking each other down through the middle is almost a myth nowadays.

Liverpool’s spine is as good as any team in the league, yet when they struggle to score, they often cannot rely on the wide players to deliver the goods to the extent that Man Utd, Chelsea and even Arsenal can.

There were instances last season when Liverpool were playing either the big teams, or away from home and needing to nick a goal and had to rely on players like Pennant or Kuyt. Whilst Kuyt proved effective at times in his wide right position, he frustratingly lacks the pace, dynamism and flair to prize open any defense single handedly.

Man Utd have the best player in the world at that, Cristiano Ronaldo and so can almost get away with any attacking weakness on the left hand side (although having Nani and Giggs is never a weakness)

Yet with Chelsea and Arsenal, they could rely on players such as Joe Cole, Wright-Phillips and Hleb, Rosicky, Walcott. Pennant and Kuyt are just not in the same league and would not get in any of the other top three as wingers.

Kuyt’s ability to be a defender up top should never be ridiculed as at times this was a valuable asset to have. However, should Liverpool feature a 4-4-2 formation this season with Keane’s arrival looking like this will happen, then either Kuyt or Pennant seem destined to play on the right side.

Whilst I feel Liverpool will get closer this season to the top spot, when they are up against the top three, or in need of a goal to escape with a draw or sneak a victory, the lack of a top class winger will again prove the downfall.

All in all, the addition of Robbie Keane and possibly Gareth Barry to Liverpool this season will undoubtedly add individual ability to the team. Keane’s threat in front of goal as well as his vision would be sought after by any team, and Barry’s all round ability in the centre of the park will be needed at times.

Nevertheless, their introduction does not raise questions about their worthiness to the team and their ability, far from it. What is worrying is how Benitez will utilize them in a formation that is effective and that causes as little disruption as possible.

My main concerns lie in how accommodating Keane will impact upon Torres and the entire system that was so potent last season, but also how despite them adding weight to the quality in the dressing room, the lack of a winger will again prove the difference.

I believe that Benitez would have been wiser to invest his funds into a world-class winger, possibly Quaresma of Porto, or even Bentley and Arshavin, rather than another midfielder and striker. This way, he could have kept the 4-2-3-1 system, but sorted out the weak link on one of the flanks.

Time will only tell as to whether this will prove fatal to Liverpool’s league chances once again. Who knows, maybe Benitez’s grand plan of using attacking full-backs will prove a master stroke, although I have my reservation about a bunch of youngsters and unknowns.

One thing is clear, none of us can read Benitez’s mind, and despite all the potential pitfalls and confusion the arrival of Keane and Barry but no winger will make, he is sure to have some concoction up his sleeve, ready to unleash on Fergie, Arsene and Big Phil...

Let’s hope so anyway.

RIck Parry and Liverpool FC's commercial failings

Chris Godwin — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:25:49 -0400

Tom Hick's damning assessment of Rick Parry is spot on, in my opinion.

Parry has long been a figure who I have seriously doubted to take Liverpool from sleeping commercial giants to a global hit.

He has been at this club for 10 years. In that time we have barely increased our commercial activity in terms of merchandising and presence overseas. Our impact in the Far East has risen, but that is only a natural consequence of the Premier League and its international popularity.

In the same time, Man Utd have gone on leaps and bounds and Chelsea, in particular, have shown exponential growth in comparison to us.

Chelsea are a prime example of how to capitalise on their successes. After winning back-to-back Premier League titles it was evident that they were becoming a massive hit in the UK, and across the world. Chelsea blue was everywhere, and their revenues would inevitably benefit.

But, Liverpool won arguably the most prestigious title of them all, the Champions League. The pinnacle of club football and observed by a quarter of the world's population. But back in the aftermath of our victory on May 25th, 2005, all I can remember were a few flags and gimmicks being sold on the clubs online shop, none of which I could purchase because of stock issues.

There was little evidence of us reaching out to the emerging football markets like Asia and the USA—parading our European Champions status that we know full well Chelsea or Man Utd will do, come the final whistle in 2 weeks.

For all our successes in the last 10 years, and we boast more than most (the 2001 treble, CL 2005, CL Final 2007) we are seemingly being left in the wake of our three biggest rivals, whose commercial management is clearly, and undeniably superior.

Before Hick and Gillett bought the club, Hollywoodfilm producer Mike Jefferies claimed that Liverpool FC's market capitalisation was a staggering one-fifth of Man Utd’s, in the speculation surrounding his takeover bid.

Now for the less business minded of you, put simply, that means Liverpool FC were worth one-fifth of Man Utd, which is like saying Steven Gerrard is worth one-fifth of Cristiano Ronaldo. Both are great players and Ronaldo probably does command a higher transfer fee, but not in a million years should it be five times greater.

That was in 2004. Four years on and the figures remain the same. Parry has not closed that gap, despite us winning the Champions League in that time, and being the only English club to do so—well, for the next 2 weeks anyway!

Any CEO of any organization would be sacked if they failed to capitalize on so many opportunities for growth like Parry has utterly failed to do.

Hicks was entirely correct calling for Parry's resignation. He certainly went about it the wrong way, but lets get it right; as a shrewd American he is clearly here to make some bucks, and it is obvious Parry is not the man to make this happen.

I am certainly sceptical of Hicks, but have recently been encouraged, or shall we say quietly confident, that if he did gain full control over our club, he would be given free rein to drive us forward to a position where we belong in the commercial stakes.

Although, DIC would clearly be the ideal candidates to do this.

Liverpool are one of the world's most supported teams. Yet if we don’t capitalize on the global markets soon, we may have missed the opportunity forever.

Furthermore, Parry’s action in the transfer market has been equally poor. His reign has been marked by inflated prices and especially undervalued players leaving.

£5.5m for Biscan doesn’t seem like a very good value, does it? And selling Robbie Fowler for £12m was a crime. O’Leary, himself, even claimed that he would have paid £18m for him.

Let's not forget the Michael Owen saga. How can a club let such a great player, and once European Player of the Year, not sign a contract extension before he reaches that feared last 12 months of his contract? Even then, £8m for him was still a humiliating offer, which Parry accepted.

Any credible management would have realised that they needed to sell such a player sooner rather than later. We could have sealed £25m for Owen a year earlier (although Houllier would have probably blown this on some French and Senegalese duds).

As Benitez inferred, after our Champions League Final defeat in Athens last year, we don’t, or more specifically Parry, does not act swift enough in the transfer market.

David Villa and Daniel Alves are just two names who have slipped through our fingers because of indecisive decision making. And that was when they were relatively unknown, and worth a fraction of their value now.

And how many times have we bought players after the season has begun? It seems an annual tradition that Benitez is still trailing after some of his sought after targets at the end of August.

Rant over…Parry out.

One more thing, and this is slightly important. I say slightly important, but it is probably the most defining moment of Parry’s Anfield reign—he chose the yanks.