So it seems that big news is expected to be announced soon and what Liverpool supporters have long been waiting for has arrived. A buyer has been found and it does seem like that just minor formalities stand between the completion of the new ownership.We’re not going to expect things to get worse, or better said, can things really get even worse than they are now? So we’re just going to ask ourselves about how quickly and how much better can things get for the Merseysiders.
I’ve done my share of research about the potential new owners, and it turns out that The Boston Red Sox is owned by New England Sports Ventures which is led by John Henry and includes investment from the New York Times Company.
The current trend has been to expect the spending of huge money when new owners are in town, probably that idea developed after what happened with Chelsea and what has been going on at Manchester City but Liverpool fans should not be expecting that because Mr. Henry’s fortune does not surpass one billion dollars and he’s not exactly the mega-rich Saudi Sheikh type.
However; a smart fan wouldn’t be too bothered about his fortunes right now but rather about his achievements with the Red Sox. SUCCESSFUL they describe his running of the Red Sox as they won two championships shortly after he took over; that seems to be really something as the Red Sox had always been a ‘a much beloved but ultimately unsuccessful team over the course of 80+ years’ as a fellow blogger describes them.So what are we really expecting to happen here? Future is never certain, but it does seem like football fans should not be expecting to see Liverpool throw money at every player that moves or to directly jump into the market to buy all the available stars.
Under the guidance of Mr. Henry, the approach the Red Sox took to reach success was based on innovation in the use of statistical analysis in evaluating players and finding relative bargains based on how other clubs were evaluating players, so a similar schema is what I expect to see at Liverpool with Henry keeping a low profile while trying to find a general manager to transform things at Anfield to the better. After all, when you read the Red Sox story, you find out that much of the credit of building the Red Sox goes to a guy named Theo Epstein, who is referred to as the ‘whiz kid’ General Manager who built the Red Sox.
So from here, Liverpool should be expected to take Wenger’s Arsenal approach and really stay away from competing for the biggest names and splashing on them and instead using their own formula for winning and that would probably be buying undervalued players that fit the system. Of course, fans around the globe wouldn’t be satisfied to just see these sort of signings, and there might be big name signings sometimes but it won’t be happening all the time, and there will not be too many stars in the lineup with the manager having the headache of picking his lineup every week (Yes, I’m thinking about having to pick between Milner - Adam Johnson - Barry - Yaya Toure - De Jong - Viera - Tevez - Adebayor - Balotelli - Jo - SWP - ……)
In short, I think the outcome should be great for Liverpool on the long run. Their fans have shown us that they can be really patient so that’s a relief for the new owner as there will be no huge spending spree in January but rather a foundation and a plan for long term success. A mid-table finish might be on the cards for Liverpool this season but soon after I expect them to be back in Europa Cup, and then a serious challenge for Champions League and maybe the Premier League after a couple of years as Y.N.W.A. will always be playing in that 101m x 68m rectangle they call Anfield.
Sick Puppies™
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