Beach Ball 1 Liverpool 0: It's happening again!!!

Don't blame it on Rafa. Don't blame it on the beach ball. Don't blame it on the injuries. Blame it on Gillet and Hicks.

After watching a weak Liverpool XI succumb to defeat after conceding a goal by a beach ball at Sunderland on Saturday, I thought to myself “It’s happening again...”

In 2001-02 Liverpool finished second in the League with their highest points tally in a Premiership season to date. The next season we finished fifth.

After finishing second last season with our highest points tally in a Premiership season to date, I am now really fearful that we are going to finish fifth this campaign (if not lower).

What is similar between the two seasons is that immediately prior to each one, established and experienced players who had contributed to recent successful campaigns left the club. Prior to 2002-03 we said goodbye to Sander Westerveld, Robbie Fowler, Jamie Redknapp, Gary McAllister, Nick Barmby and Nicolas Anelka. Before this season commenced, we lost Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa, Sami Hyypia and Jermaine Pennant.

Where the situations differ is that in 2002, the departing players mostly left by the manager’s choice. This summer, Rafa would have preferred to keep all the players he lost bar Pennant but realistically was not able to. In 2002, Houllier recouped very little on the players he moved on whereas Rafa recouped a fortune on Alonso and a profit on Arbeloa. In 2002, Houllier was given a significant transfer budget which he then pissed up the wall buying crap players from France. In 2009, Rafa was allowed to reinvest the money he brought in from player sales only. In 2002-03, the Champions Arsenal deteriorated significantly allowing an unimpressive Man Ure to steal the title while Liverpool’s ineptitude (they went through 11 consecutive League games without a win) allowed unimpressive Newcastle and Chelsea squads to take the remaining Champions League spots. This time round, competition has never been stronger with Chelsea and Man Ure remaining strong while City have emerged as a genuine threat, Arsenal have improved and Spurs and Villa are also having decent starts to the season.

Basically, Houllier buggered up a squad capable of challenging for the title whereas Rafa was handicapped by the club’s owners at a time when the need to strengthen has never been greater.

While these fucking Americans have been busily ripping our football apart, Rafa has somehow managed to keep us in that top four and reaching the knock-out stages of the Champions League. Now, with the rug pulled out from under his feet, Rafa faces his greatest challenge as Liverpool manager to keep us in the top four. The consequences of failing to qualify for the Champions League next season would include a significant loss of revenue and an inability to attract big name players to the club in order to strengthen thus making it harder to get back in the season after next. Worse still, these dickhead yanks would almost certainly try to pin the blame on “Roffa” and give our manager the boot. Given they were prepared to appoint Jurgen Klinsmann in the past, God only knows who we could end up with in the hot seat. Whoever they did bring in is unlikely to have money to spend other than the £20m or so we would get for Mascherano after he demands a transfer so it’s impossible to see how he could strengthen us sufficiently. With the American’s crippling loans, how long then before they start looking to cash in on Torres, Gerrard, Reina and Johnson?

It’s a nightmare scenario.

I can see only one way we can stay in the top four and that is we find a sugar-daddy prepared to heavily invest in our squad. No investment = no future. Americans out!