ROB GUTMANN, Jay McKenna, Gareth Roberts and Adam Smith get ‘way existential’ on this week’s ‘Unwrapped’ and consider the structure of European competitions and how basically dumb they are.
Giggles abound.
UNWRAPPED: BREAKING THE WHEEL
by The Anfield Wrap | Jun 3, 2015 | Podcast, TAW Player | 4 comments
I’ll be honest, I don’t like this cynicism towards Arsenal being happy to finish in the top 4. It’s not even true anymore.
I celebrate top 4 so enthusiastically because I want Liverpool to be the best again but I’m not naive enough to think it can happen over night. It’s a process and that process requires the Champions League both for the money to buy better players and the lure for attracting better players. Without it you’re nothing. You’re second tier. So, top 4 is progress whilst not getting top 4 is going backwards. That’s just how it is. Aim to win the league, as all the top 5 do, but if it’s not gonna be then make sure you’re in the top 4.
Arsenal deserve respect. They took a decision that to remain a top team they had to make changes but those changes meant years of struggling. Yet, they qualified for the CL every year despite having a negative net spend of £40m between 2006 and 2012. Without that qualification they’d have been fucked. It was even worth celebrating then, although difficult for a fan to see that because, it’s true, that’s not what fans see as success.
No fan wants to go through a spell like Arsenal have had but then fans don’t think long term strategy either. Luckily for them their board has. Now the stadium is paid off they’ve got £70m a year extra to spend on their previous seasons before any tv increases this year and next. Last year they bought Ozil and this year Sanchez. £40m players improve your team. As pointed out, Ozil hasn’t been amazing but Arsenal have just won 2 FA Cups since they started to benefit from the stadium for the first time. The last 2 seasons has seen a £30m and then £65m net after years of negative spend. Next season’s net will top that again.
That might sound like a load of bollocks but the bottom line is this – Arsenal are now gonna have a decade of success. These FA cups are only the start of it. Certainly leagues and possibly a CL will follow in the next 10 years. This was their plan. You saw after the final last week Walcott and Wenger both said they’ll challenge for the title next season. The days of aiming for 4th are over for them. It was part of a sacrificial period where they needed 4th for their long term plan. But, their threat is still in it’s infancy, to keep it on track they had to secure their CL spot this season. Simple as that. If I know 100% that this was their plan and I’m 100% confident they’ll win the league in the next 3 years then the players will be up to speed with the strategy too. It was worth celebrating.
Personally, (although Arsenal haven’t proved anything yet) I think Arsenal is an interesting case study. Fans wanted Wenger out even though they know he’s had no money to spend. They know about the stadium repayments and future benefits. They moan like fuck about everything to do with the club yet now they’re gonna look stupid because Wenger and even the board are gonna look like geniuses with the benefit of hindsight, over the next few years.
Point being, just maybe there’s something similar going on at Liverpool. FSG’s vision doesn’t strike me as 5 year plan. I think more of a 12 year plan. Obviously, that’s far to long for us to wait but maybe if we’d have been able to do what Wenger did and get in the CL every year then it could have been a 5 year plan. Anyway, it’s the be all and end all for me. I like winning but I can also get by knowing Liverpool are progressing. Top 4 is the only benchmark for that.
And while I’m here, I fuckin love hearing that CL music knowing that Liverpool are in the competition. How can you not. I’ve bought in.
People jibe Arsenal because they’re jealous of their record of making the competition without fail year on year. Had City and Chelsea not bought their way to the top, Arsenal would have romped many league titles without oil money. Think on that.
Whether others can accept it or not, Arsenal are way ahead of LFC in every department. Every time an LFC “fan” wanks off about “history”, they’re confirming that’s all that’s left of the club they claim to support. I’d wish these tossers would fuck off and get back in their holes.
The only problem with your assumption, Robin, is that FSG do spend. Our problem is not what we spend, it’s how we spend, or more precisely what we spend it on. Look no further than our current top transfer target, Benteke who, if we’re to pay his buyout clause of £32.5 million, will have cost more than Chelsea paid for Costa who is a better fit for our style of play and a superior goal threat. Same goes for Downing, Carroll and countless others we’ve bought under FSG’s tenure. We’ve matched Arsenal’s spending, even out spent them at times but where as they’ve bought sensibly, we may as well have pissed it up against a wall because of our refusal to sign established stars.
This backs up my point though. What have Arsenal won in the last 10 years prior to their 2 FA cups. Nothing. What have they spent prior to the last 2 years – nothing. So, why were they able to get Sanchez. Why did Suarez want to leave us for them. Why does Sterling want to leave us for them. People say offer the money and they’ll come but it’s not true. Suarez wasn’t about money. I don’t think Sterling is about money now. As it happens I don’t think Sanchez came down to money. I read that he pleaded with Barca not to make him join Liverpool. Quite simply, they get 4th every year. They still progress. We don’t. Therefore, they get Sanchez and we get Benteke. Finishing in the top 4 shouldn’t be knocked. I know we have problems with our wage structure but it’s far from our main issue. People don’t rate teams that aren’t in the CL. Simple, and that’s the difference. So, yeah, we spend. We have a vision but that vision falls flat on it’s face if you’re not CL regulars. That’s why it’s so critical. Arsenal will now reap the rewards of all those 4th place finishes at a time when they were building their stadium. We’ll now suffer setback after setback because we can’t get a regular place in it.