Fenway Sports Group seems to be living in the real world!

 

My first reaction upon hearing that Mr Henry has written an open letter to the fans was, “He is really on the pulse.” Other clubs have had worse transfer windows than what we have had over the years, but they never give their fans this sort of feedback. Arsenal FC comes to mind.

Although the general theme is positive and the right things to say, it is kind of disappointing to the Liverpool FC support. The bottom-line is that in the end it just seems that we are moving further and further away from our competition. But maybe it is the “football consumer,” to paraphrase a tweet from Mr Stan Collymore, which gets in our way of seeing the bigger picture and the actual reality of the state of our club post Hicks & Gillette era.

FSG is starting from scratch (with a bit of baggage), they know exactly where we are financially and where we are as a business. They’re getting their own people in charge and doing things from a new mindset. Very few of the big clubs in England would have gone for Rodgers or chosen Warrior Sports over established brands like Adidas or Nike. These are the advantages of coming from a non-football background. Ask any Liverpool supporter and they will rather be in Europa League than in the conference ala Glasgow Rangers.

The disadvantages are that the deals to move out Carroll, for example was amateur like. Surely we could have told West Ham United, to hold on and once we secure Dempsey or Sturridge, they can have Andy. We were in the power position. Now the manager is left with egg on his face and under more pressure. As if being a 39 year old manager at one of the biggest clubs in the world with an under strength and thin squad, with expectation from supporters to get into the Champions League places. And now add the task of implementing one of the more complex playing styles and the road looks tough.

But there is hope, signs have shown that the players are implementing and coming to grips with the new style and that is becoming effective. When having all the players on the pitch we dominate the ball. A staggering 67% possession statistic against Sunderland at The Stadium of Light, who looked out on their feet in the last 20 minutes, as they continued to chase the ball, shows progress. Sunderland had one shot on goal and that was Fletcher’s goal.

Remember where Arsenal was after their visit to Old Trafford last season? No one would then predict they would cruise to third on the table. It is a long season and with a little bit of luck (No more woodwork or injuries please), the faith shown in the manager and the philosophy might pay dividends quicker than we thought.   

As is with most things in life, it takes far longer to build something than it does to destroy something. But how mighty Rome was when it was done.

Fenway Sports Group seems to be living in the real world!