Can the Liverpool way be exercised in top-flight modern football?

By This Is Anfield on May 20, 2012

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• daza

  if they played to win every time it wouldnt matter , so many games last year there was no heart in the team , you need to finish high to get the cl , but every trophy counts, too many primadonas and some players thinking they run the team not the manager

  • Steven__Gerrard

    Word.

• abed bill adamz

  i tink ,yessssssssssssss

• football/brain?

  all this hassle could be solved if we got an ambitious manager like walter mazzari, or the tactical brilliance of louis van gaal.Rest assured the trophies would come instantly.

  • eskimo

    expect trophies to come instantly is an excellent example of what’s NOT the liverpool way

    • football/brain?

      that’s the point, dalglish tried the liverpool way. Not so good , especially in this pace injected era, “smarts” ARE required and dalglish ” sorry to say” hasn’t got them. So it’s not a case pf the liverpool way, its more of adapting to the situation. So as for liverpool pre season needs to rehearsed NOT the liverpool way of the 80s. But the NEW ERA smart, quick, astute, driven, technical, very mobile liverpool

      • adrian

        Rubbish

      • j75j

        Kenny’s team of the 80s was smart, quick, astute, driven, technical, very mobile liverpool

    • adrian

      well said the young people now read a name in some rag and the next thing they are on the pc demanding we must get him.

• j75j

  Wasn’t one of the Liverpool Ways of the 60s and 70s to take unknows or promising young talent and make them great?
  Isn’t that one of FSG targets?

• MR GRUMPY

  It,s not a case of the Liverpool way or any one else s way, to be successful now you have to be able to afford to compete with the best, and that means money and loads of it, yes there will be the odd upset when a team like Newcastle almost gets into the to the top four, but when that happens it s a rarity, so what Liverpool need now to compete is plenty of money and good management whither we get either remains to be seen, if not prepare to become also ran s for the foreseeable future.

• Edward

  The era of secrecy and seclusion is long gone. In this modern age, people want their clubs to be more open and inclusive. They want to have a broader understand and access which years ago, earlier fans were not bothered by.

  On the subject of cups, I feel a fourth place finish is only exceeded by a champions league win or a premiership title win. Anything else is simply not good enough. The longevity of the club, economically speaking, requires a fourth place finish. Any other cup without a fourth place finish is irrelevant.

• lfchris

  To compete with the top four teams now its all about money and if you dont have a lot you might as well forget about it.

• baker

  todays problem is there no time in football ne more fans want it now an if not its not gud enough and thats the sad thing about football now gone the days u wud c a manager in for more then 6 years i wanted kk to stay but u had fans boo at the ground an everything but when fsg do sumthing about that an try an get us back to wot we were its not gud enough sounds silly but if it wasnt for them it wud have been the end of liverpool fc but no one ever c that an at the end of the day i love lfc an lets get behind them no matter wot

• red66

  This past season certainly has made evident the divide amongst the LFC support in regards to what is deemed a success, and expectations of performance. Lets for a minute accept the scenario that the Liverpool way now is “Top 4 finish” and Champion League football as the yard stick. We will put aside the recent past. Forget domestic Cup success and Eurropa League, its top 4 finsih alone.
  For Liverpool FC to compete in this “FSG top 4 way” the club must be able to function and compete with the likes of Man City, Man U, Chelsea, and Arsenal on a regular basis. This new way will need to include a player wage structure, player resource investment and output that is similar and at least on par with these other EPL Clubs. Lets look at player wages LFC visave the other 4 teams 2011 / 2012
  Man City 174 million 44 million more than LFC
  Chelsea 166 million 36 million more than LFC
  Man U 164 miilion 34 million more than LFC
  Arsenal 155 million 25 Millon more than LFC
  Liverpool 130 million 34.7 million average below these 4 clubs
  These figures are from Forbes “Football’s richest clubs” and Football League. Of course these figures can vary 3 – 4 million based on transfers in and out, but it is clear LFC lag behind these other clubs. The question is will FSG invest the average 34,7 million necessary to ensure player resources and depth to succeed in the new “FSG top 4 way” ?
  Without this in todays game LFC will not have a prayer to consistently compete in this “Top 4 way.” There is no doubt LFC could succeed if FSG man up and spend another 35 million to bring our player resources up to “Top 4 standards.” This is the problem, and we need to ask is it wise to have a success definition where we can not cope due to lack off player resources investment?
  The next factor is the seating capacity of each perspective clubs home ground. This is a factor as GH and FSG both have lamented the lack of seating at Anfield in regards to “games day revenues.”
  Man U 75,000
  Ars 60,000
  Man C 47,000
  LFC 44,000
  Chel 41,000
  With only Man U and Arsenal having an exceptional numerical superiority in seating LFC is among the mix with Man City and Chelsea. This should mean with at least Man C, and Chelsea Liverpool can compete directly with “game day revenues.” That being so and nearly equal there is no real impedement for LFC in regards to “game day revenues” if they can compete for 3rd or 4th spot in the EPl table. In regards to the top 2 Man U and Chelsea and average 23.5 thousand differeance in filled seats LFC are at a distinct advantage.
  If LFC are to compete for the top 2 positions they will need more people in the seats to the tune of at least 15,000 more per home game date. This will require an investment from FSG of 100 million. This is not likely to happen any time soon with FSG’s current State side financial situation. Maybe the idea of top 4 needs to be modified as the “New Liverpool way.”
  Combining both factors it is clear the real problem lies with lack of “player resources investment” which needs to be addressed by FSG. The stadium issue is needed but not the immediate factor that is the main impedement. Will FSG pony up and kick in another 34 million of new investment in player wages? If not there can be no way LFC can consistently compete in the “New FSG top 4 way” as a yard stick for success.
  Loyalty, tradition, domestic Cup success means nothing in the “New Way” and fair dues if thats the way, money invested in player resources is the key. OK will FSG allow LFC the money to actually compete in this new reality or will success at LFC need to be redefined to include domestic Cup success and Europa League football?

  • ME

    Bingo.
    We needed benefactors and instead we’ve got profiteers!!!!
    Chelsea and Man C show you can make up for seating capacity with $$$.
    I’d rather be LFC than those two, although Man C seem to be able to distinguish between Football and the business of a Football Club.
    FSG must not had had to worry about an international base before, as the US market is big enough to support the revenues they need.
    Keep the LFC way alive, please.
    Some muppets on here wil responsed that Kenny bought duds, and should have bought “stars”.
    The last time a team of “galacticos” was built it was a complete failure.
    Where have the days gone when it was understood that “LFC was a star team, and NOT a team of stars”?
    We were starting to see that family again this year, and now its back to fighting over the inheritence.
    YNWA

• gaz

  The way to conduct yourself can still be exercised such as keepiing things in house until the right moment. But everyone is blaming the money side of things, people forget the media has a big part to play, you have to now not only be a football manager, but a pr person, a motivator, a marketer etc. Many normal people who have these type of jobs struggle at times. But fans expectations must change, whilst Liverpoolfans are extrememly knowledgeable, but they have to also realise that not only football but sport is a business and unfortunately from what I have read a lot of meaasges, tweets etc by liverpool fans have been forgetting this. the reality is that Man Utd reveloutinised the game and Liverpool fell behind not recently but in the early 90′s. this is the problem, LFC are playing catch up and because of that things are changing and people are finding it hard to accept.

• westernbarbarian

  WTF the Liverpool way was never about secrets, it was about respect for the club, fans, opposition, it was about a bond forged out of common ground and values, why are most of the comments focused on the ‘behind closed doors policy’ even FSG said they wouldn’t reveal plans ahead of time, and they have no idea what the Liverpool way is!