'Carpe Diem'
The title's in Latin and it basically means 'seize the moment'. You must be wondering why I'm on this topic. Well, because it's a lesson learned from the 06/07 season as well as the Champions League final.
Opportunities arise yet we failed to capitalise it. Shame. I agree on what most of you have been saying that the final itself is a reflection of Liverpool's league campaign where we time and again, failed to kill of games while we could and then let it slipped by.
21 points behind league leaders isn't a good sign and judging from Rafa's recent outburst, he himself know that we need to keep improving and the season that has just ended was a very disappointing one.
Have we been treading water this season? I think yes, to an extent.
Yet time is against us. It's been 19 long years since the last league title and many fans are growing impatient. Fans of my generations are yet to see the glory and therefore are more forgiving but for those who've been with the team through the 70s and 80s, they'll definitely feel the disappointments.
We have had 2 major cups in Rafa's 3 seasons in charge and to me, he has done a wonderful job thus far. With limited resources, he did his best it really made us believe.
But many of us will tend to agree with Rafa on the current situation that is we need to invest big money from now on and stop settling for the second or third best.
As I've mentioned in my post match review of the finals, I believe that the upcoming summer will be a make or break period for the club. It'll either take us to a new direction or another walk round the so called 'promise land'.
The American owner's arrival at the club signals a new era in Liverpool FC's glorious history yet what we really want to see is instant impact and how, together with Rafa, will steer this wayward ship in the right direction, or some might argue, to 'fine tune' it because we're on the right track.
Big money will be splashed on players and maybe, we do not need to settle for the Pennants or Josemis anymore.
With talks surround the likes of Eto'o, Villa and Torres, I urge you fans to drop the thinking that we're playing Football Manager and move your arse back on the ground where reality hits. We might attempt to get them but I personally feel they are out of our range.
According to reliable sources, the top 3 names in Rafa's 'wanted' list are Gabriel Milito from Real Zaragoza, Simao from Benfica and last but not least, Darren Bent from the recently relegated Charlton.
So you can see the difference between what we want and what Rafa thinks we really need. Afterall, he knows what the team needs best and also, the players that suit his style and shares the same ideology.
But leave the speculations alone, we're talking about seizing the moment. We need to act fast, like what Rafa previously said. We can no longer sit around and wait anymore. With Chelsea sniffing around for anyone who has the ability to kick a football and Barcelona using their charms to seduce players, Liverpool needs to act faster like how they got Lucas from Gremio despite several other Italian clubs in the queue.
Like the Champions League final where it looked as if Mr. Benitez has a remote control on his hands, we missed the glorious chances and missed the opportunities presented to us. Just off my head, I could think of ManYoo (home), Newcastle (Away) and Fulham(Away) where we did everything but finish the game off. And that is just a few of the examples.
So I'll have to agree with Rafa and I understand his frustration with the way things have been going. We can no longer tarry and thinks that players will have Liverpool as their first choice anymore.
Time has moved on and we 'board the train' fast. We've already made the first move by letting investors into the club, not it's time to begin the second phase of 'Rafalution'.
And hey, even ladies now takes the initiative to hook up with guys, so should we. Go out and be aggressive in the market. No time to be nice anymore. Roll on the summer!
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5 comments:
21 points behind the leaders isn't exactly a bad sign considering we have one of the highest shot counts in the league (if not the highest, i cant remember).
It's been evident ever since Owen left that we've needed a striker that can put away 20 goals a year, Cisse, Baros and Bellamy aren't that player.
At the same time we have as good a defensive record as Man U and they finished top. The only difference is that they have Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Smith, Solskjaer and Saha who can all score goals. We on the other hand have Gerrard, Bellamy, Kuyt, Crouch who regularly score goals. Kewell maybe included if he played more but the rest dont score regularly enough for a team without a good striker.
Yes its been 19 years and I was old enough to remember when we won before but I am patient enough to know that you can't just get automatic results (without paying 400 million), teams are built and every manager has taken time to build their teams up. Wenger didn't win for a few years, Ferguson didn't win for 5 years. We haven't been treading water, we've been building our team and our squad, we are a better team than last year, we have strength in depth with new players that have come in, which is something we've never really had for a long time. Yes there are players that we need to ship out but until now Rafa has had to take his time, you cant ship out every player in your first season cos you will have no money left to buy good replacements.
We don't need to spend big, we need to spend on the right players. No more stop gaps like Bellamy, we need good strikers whatever the price and for a club like ours that should always be the case.
But it wont be a make or break, people have been saying that every year, but every year we keep going and keep trying. Rafa will bring in players that much is obvious, what sort of players we get will depend on the money and the interest from other clubs.
When I saw the article from The Independent, I was a little worried. It's not of Liverpool's nature to hang its dirty laundry out in the public. And I was pretty surprised at Benitez's "outburst", though some of his comments did make sense.
But then I took a closer look at the articles again, by The Independent, football365, skysports etc. All the post-Milan match interviews revealed that Benitez wanted the club to move and act fast when going for their targetted players, and also the willingness to fork out the amount of money needed. Yet I could not find a any statements, directly quoted from Benitez, that mentioned his rift with Parry and such. All the talks about Benitez's showdown with and warning to the new American owners, were claimed by the media. Benitez could very well in fact held talks with them, but at an amicable tone, far from the picture that was painted by the media. At least that is what I hope, for the last thing we need now is an internal conflict within LFC.
That said, I really look forward to the new players Benitez is going to bring in, and that they won't disappoint us :)
YNWA
A couple of points, first to conrad - Wenger actually won the league and cup double in his first full season in the Premiership (he didn't start at the club until the October in his first season, so didn't have a pre-season with the players). That's a pretty decent return and hardly 'not winning for a few years'.
Also, yes, Chelsea are linked with many players, but I think you'll find the club is generally used by unscrupulous agents trying to get their players a decent deal. The club's already said they're looking for a striker, a midfielder and a defender. Which is fair enough, as that's exactly what we need.
I don't blame Benites for his recent outbursts because he wants to win trophies next year. Without money he will not be able to do that.
He really needs to spend big this summer.
By the way, have you been on this site.
http://www.topfootballers.co.uk/
Thankyou for reading my arcticle.
http://www.topfootballers.co.uk/
I reacommend that you visit this iste
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