Chris Hatherall
THERE’S only one question Liverpool legends are being now that Roy Hodgson’s future is no longer the main topic of conversation and it’s this: Buy now or buy later? Nobody is in any doubt that Liverpool need new players if new manager King Kenny is going to have any chance of bringing back the glory days but the real dilemma for the club’s new American owners is who to bring in, how to spend and when to spend it. So although Liverpool fans are waiting even more eagerly than most for news of new signings before the window closes in 11 days time, the anticipation is certainly tempered by uncertainty.
John Barnes, now a pundit for television company ESPN, is in the ‘buy now, spend big’ camp.
“There’s no doubt that Liverpool need a better squad,” he said. “The investment is needed for players – not for a new stadium, not to clear debt. Liverpool need a better squad, a bigger squad because improvement starts on the pitch, that’s the most important thing. The owners will know better than me who they can get and I hope they act quickly.”
Barnes has good company in the shape of the even more vociferous Jamie Redknap.
“To move on Liverpool need some help, they need some players,” the former midfielder said. “He’s King Kenny but he’s not a magician! This has been going on for 18 months now – we’re not just talking about six bad months under Roy Hodgson because there have been poor performances for a year and a half. The players aren’t all at the level needed. They need a midfield player and another front man just to help Torres because at the moment it’s always down to him. There’s no-one else there if Steven Gerrard isn’t around. You can see that without Gerrard Liverpool really struggle to play with quality.”
There’s hope for the ‘buy now’ camp today after Liverpool chairman Tom Werner hinted there would be funds made available for “an attack” on the transfer market, with players like Luis Suarez, Stephen Warnock and Stewart Downing already linked. But some Anfield legends are unconvinced.
“Liverpool fans want investment but I think the owners are very cautious,” said former defender Gary Gillespie. “You don’t often get the players you really want in the transfer window in January and the owners may not have that much money to give Kenny to spend at this time of the year, they may want to wait and see how he does first.”
It’s an issue that concerns ex-winger Steve McManan too: “I’d love to see fantastic players who can influence games but it’s not going to happen because they would cost too much money. Liverpool certainly need a few more bodies, people with a bit of experienced and quality. But it’s very difficult to pick those kind of players up in January.
“The owners have only just arrived and have already said they are not going to spend ridiculously, I think they just want to be sensible. They seem to have said all the right things and to have plans going forward. Hopefully that’s the case and I hope they stand by their word and rebuild the club and take us forward bit by bit.”
The problem is whether ‘bit by bit’ is good enough for the Kop, who are as hungry as ever for success. But perhaps we should leave the final verdict to one of the biggest Liverpool legends of all, Kevin Keegan, who has a forthright and honest message for the Anfield fans.
“You mustn’t just look at this season; Liverpool Football Club has been in decline for a number of years,” he said. “The squad isn’t as strong as a normal Liverpool squad would be – it’s not balanced because they rely on a couple of players in Gerrard and Torres. The really good sides don’t do that. In my day we didn’t rely on Emlyn Hughes, or Kevin Keegan or Ray Clemence, John Toshack or Steve Heighway. We relied on the team and all of us. That’s the problem they have at the moment – if Gerrard doesn’t play well and Torres doesn’t score goals they seem to struggle. Well, I’m sorry but there’s more to Premiership football than just two very good players performing every week. The fans have to realise the expectation has to drop for a while as the new owners rebuild the squad. They will need time.”
It won’t be the last word on Liverpool’s crisis by any stretch of the imagination; but Keegan’s analysis is as good as any we’ve had so far.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/gZNRQTTsmh0/post.aspx
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