Liverpool FC Forum

by **account deleted by request** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:14 pm

RAFA'S ADMISSION OVER GERRARD AND TORRES
If Reds miss top four they'll struggle to keep duo

By Chris Bascombe, 09/01/2010

RAFA BENITEZ has admitted for the first time he may be powerless to keep his top stars if Liverpool's financial woes aren't resolved.

There are growing fears Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard will become easy targets for Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid unless the Reds sort themselves out.

Benitez is determined to resist persistent interest in his key players and recently said he'd quit if Torres was ever sold without his agreement.

But he knows that won't stop bids if the American owners can't bring stability to the club.

Worryingly for Kop fans, Benitez could offer no assurances about what would happen if world record offers arrive.

"We would have a conversation and decide what's the best for the club," said Benitez.

"I've said before I want to keep the best players here because that means we can be closer to the top four. They are the most important.

"We gave extensions to players because we want to keep the squad together.

"If you ask any manager in the world they will tell you they want more money and want to spend but at this moment we have to do what's best for the club. That means managing the situation for each player and see what happens."

Symbolic
Tensions at Anfield are continuing to simmer under the surface, with Ryan Babel's aborted move to Birmingham presenting a symbolic test case.

Dutchman Babel would have been allowed to go to St Andrew's had he fancied the move.

Asked if he would have been given the £8million fee to reinvest, Benitez replied: "I'm not too sure but there are not too many players on the market you can sign for £8m.

BENITEZ: Words of warning"If you want to buy top-class players they are at Champions League sides so it will be difficult to move people.

"We are trying to improve the level of the squad. Sometimes that means buying, sometimes that means selling.

"There are two players in [Andrea] Dossena and [Andriy] Voronin who wanted to move on. In terms of new business it's not too easy - and a lot of players cost big money.

"If you have big money it's easier but we always have to try to be clever and analyse the market."

Babel may still go in this transfer window if a top European club matches Birmingham's bid.

The Liverpool hierarchy say their refusal to spend significantly this month is part of a curb on 'high-risk' transfers. They insist Benitez is fully behind the decision to hold back funds until the summer when better players will be available.

That's why £1.5m Atletico Madrid midfielder Maxi Rodriguez is likely to be the limit of Benitez's spending.

The club has studied the transfer outlay under both Benitez and his predecessor Gerard Houllier and believe Liverpool have taken too many gambles on players.

The scale of the constant transition of the side is revealed by assessing the ins and outs since 2004.

Of the first 21 players Benitez signed for Liverpool, only three - Pepe Reina, Fabio Aurelio and Daniel Agger - are still at the club.

Liverpool are trying to offload a number of players which the board believes sum up the perils of splashing out at the lower end of the transfer market.

Misfits Dossena, Voronin and Phillip Degan had no experience of English football when they arrived at Anfield.

Limitations
Benitez has long defended the signings which didn't impress by arguing he's been forced to be 'clever' in the transfer market due to financial limitations.

Voronin and Degen were free transfers and £7m Dossena an Italian international when he arrived.

Benitez would love to spend big on the kind of tried and trusted, high-repute stars who can guarantee impressive performances.

Some of his most expensive buys since 2004 such as Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Javier Mascherano were the most successful.

Indeed, his biggest disappointment, Robbie Keane, possessed a greater Premier League pedigree than any other players he's signed.

The manager's view will earn plenty of sympathy on Merseyside, and the Liverpool board will have problems convincing the fans of the validity of retaining funds until the summer.

Reds supporters are less inclined to believe the current policy represents a sensible rethink on recruitment, instead arguing it's a Kop-out due to the American owners' financial difficulties. Just as importantly, Liverpool's players will be baffled if as much as £15m goes unspent, given the fragility of their league position.

The club's financial future is in such a precarious state, there are fears the money from the deals is being used to settle outstanding debts, or worse still for Benitez, being withheld in case a new manager needs funds.

Liverpool insist that's not the case. But with the side badly in need of improvement the greater gamble may be not investing now and allowing top-four rivals Manchester City and Spurs gain more impetus.

by **aCe'** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:31 pm

can you blame them ?

by **Ciggy** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 12:57 pm

aCe' wrote:can you blame them ?

For leaving? No. But to pay off debts there will be feckin murder.

by **REDTILLDEAD** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:22 pm

Ciggy wrote:
aCe' wrote:can you blame them ?

For leaving? No. But to pay off debts there will be feckin murder.

If that happens....Ican see lots of fans throwing their season tickets back in the yanks faces........I for one will!. :nod

by **roberto green** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:34 pm

It doesn't dread thinking about does it.Hopefully we can get some investment in the club before the summer if not

Were all Doomed I tell you

Were all Doomed!!

:angry:

by **aCe'** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 1:45 pm

Cant see Gerrard and Torres leaving...

From what i understand of that article S@int posted, I think the owners have some money to spend and they made Rafa aware of that, but they seem to have told Rafa that any offers will have to go through them first... dont think they trust Rafa in the transfer market and given his record it's hard to fault them for doing that.. If we had a director of football or someone who was responsible for transfers the past few season we would have sacked him by now (fcking Parry !).. I still expect us to pay decent money on another transfer before the window closes though...

by **NANNY RED** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:15 pm

Ciggy wrote:
aCe' wrote:can you blame them ?

For leaving? No. But to pay off debts there will be feckin murder.

Ill deffo jib it in , fed up with the lot of it now,

by **dawson99** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:21 pm

yeah, if we're not doing well and havent got money lets just find another team to support

by **Dundalk** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:25 pm

There was a Man City fan club going in Gen Chat for a while.....

by **aCe'** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:38 pm

SACK HIM GOD DAMMIT ! THIS THREAD HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH ! THIS IS A WASTE OF INTERNET ! :laugh:

by **made in UK** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:38 pm

NANNY RED wrote:
Ciggy wrote:
aCe' wrote:can you blame them ?

For leaving? No. But to pay off debts there will be feckin murder.

Ill deffo jib it in , fed up with the lot of it now,

Leave it to the real fans who'll 'walk through a storm..'

by **NANNY RED** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 2:58 pm

made in UK wrote:
NANNY RED wrote:
Ciggy wrote:
aCe' wrote:can you blame them ?

For leaving? No. But to pay off debts there will be feckin murder.

Ill deffo jib it in , fed up with the lot of it now,

Can you imagine an OOter saying that

They'd be hung drawn and quartered

I am an ooter :;):

Im getting fed up with some of the people who actualy still think these two are ok, and believe me there are lots of them still.They just cant see past Rafa Benitez, They think that if he goes all will be hunky dory . ive said before these two are my first priority , because while they are still here i can see things like this happening, And that wont matter who the manager is, There priority is reducing there dept, and thats the hard part for me to take, thats all im trying to say, As someone said ,at the moment we dont exist to win trophies we exist to pay off a loan, I will love and support my team no matter , But if they start to sell our prized assets to pay off the sh.it they have got themselves into, yes i will find it hard to spend money going the game,

by **made in UK** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:05 pm

Fair enough.

by **roberto green** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:06 pm

NANNY RED wrote:
made in UK wrote:
NANNY RED wrote:
Ciggy wrote:
aCe' wrote:can you blame them ?

For leaving? No. But to pay off debts there will be feckin murder.

Ill deffo jib it in , fed up with the lot of it now,

Can you imagine an OOter saying that

They'd be hung drawn and quartered

I am an ooter

Im getting fed up with some of the people who actualy still think these two are ok, and believe me there are lots of them still.They just cant see past Rafa Benitez, They think that if he goes all will be hunky dory . ive said before these two are my first priority , because while they are still here i can see things like this happening, And that wont matter who the manager is, There priority is reducing there dept, and thats the hard part for me to take, thats all im trying to say, As someone said ,at the moment we dont exist to win trophies we exist to pay off a loan, I will love and support my team no matter , But if they start to sell our prized assets to pay off the sh.it they have got themselves into, yes i will find it hard to spend money going the game,

Well said Nanny

by **sully0182** » Sun Jan 10, 2010 3:37 pm

Seriously, this is a lot like the leeds situation a few years ago, big club under terrible ownership, banking on success to get rid of a huge debt (owners debt in our case i suppose), the next thing that happened was leeds sold their big names (ferdinand, kewell, viduka), going by rafa's comments we could be doing the same thing

i really hope i'm wrong but it looks like we could be goin down the same road

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