Source: Liverpool_Echo
Liverpool Football Club and spending in the Rafael Benitez era
Rafa Benitez[LNB]WHICH way now for the football club that once ruled Europe? Liverpool FC fights for success on the pitch and off it faces ights a battle for financial security and global audience. As the club comes to the end of a 20th season without winning the league the ECHO asks: Can the Reds dominate again? Can they attract the investment and create the management structure they need to do so? And can the city of Liverpool cope without a successful LFC? Today DOMINIC KING looks at Rafa Benitez's quest for glory.[LNB]FEW Premier League managers find their transfer record subjected to the kind of scrutiny Rafa Benitez's invariably does. After every setback Liverpool suffers it is often said Benitez has frittered away millions of pounds on bad players and there has been very little improvement between the standard of the squad he inherited from Gerard Houllier in 2004 and the one now. [LNB]Is that really the case? In an age where success on the pitch is governed by the amount of money a club can invest in its playing staff and the wages it can pay the expectation and reality surrounding the Reds are poles apart. [LNB] Clearly there have been times when Benitez has made mistakes in his recruitment drive. But then again none of his contemporaries boast perfect transfer CVs. No matter how good a club's scouting system is, flawless buying in this day and age just doesn't happen. How, though, do Liverpool compare with the summer of 2004? What have they achieved with the money Benitez has spent since succeeding Houllier? Should they be any higher up the table than they are at this moment in time? The answer to the last question must be both "yes" and "no". There is no doubt Liverpool's squad has under-performed during the current campaign and it has been hugely dispiriting to see them slip from a title-challenging position to scrapping for the top four.[LNB] But look at things another way. There have been 20 opportunities to win a trophy since Benitez first walked into Anfield and, at first glance, the fact Liverpool have "only" taken two of those would suggest a degree of underachievement. And when you consider 12 of those titles have been shared between Chelsea and Manchester United - clubs whose annual wage bill is almost double Liverpool's - a clear picture begins to form.[LNB] The years when Benitez was able to invest heavily in his squad, progress can be easily identified. In the summer after Liverpool won the Champions League, for instance, his big signings were Pepe Reina, Peter Crouch and Momo Sissoko.[LNB] Along with Xabi Alonso and Luis Garcia, both of whom arrived shortly after Benitez had acclimatised to the Premier League, they helped improve Liverpool's end of year points total from 57 to 82. And fifth place became third.[LNB] That campaign also included an appearance in the World Club Championship final in Yokohama and saw Liverpool win both the European Super Cup and, most memorably of all, the FA Cup. In 2006/07 82 points dropped to 68. But there was, of course, another appearance in the Champions League final - a game against AC Milan which should have been won - and further signs of progress. Chelsea were beaten twice, once in the Community Shield.[LNB] February 2007 heralded the arrival of George Gillett and Tom Hicks and their first summer at Anfield could not have been more encouraging with the arrival of Fernando Torres, Yossi Benayoun and Ryan Babel. Yet, remember, those big signings were not financed by the Americans.
