I sometimes worry that the FSG In/out thing is like the brexit vote before it happened (thankfully they won't have a referendum). All the noise is made by people with short term objectives and no long term planning without any real practical solutions to the problems. The people who see the logical and sustainable operations carried out by them don't say much on public forums and hence only the FSG out shouts get amplified. Just look at the other top 6 teams or our previous ownership if you want to see how bad it could get.
Good shout comparing the FSG-Out brigade to those who supported Brexit. In both cases, they have no clue what they want. FSG has been an exceptional owner in delivering (i) results as well as (ii) the foundations laid for continued success.
Only City & Real Madrid have achieved better results than LFC in the past 10 seasons under FSG. Bayern Munich & Chelsea have a claim but it's not a clear case. We contended for the league title in 4 of the past 10 seasons, winning one. In the most difficult domestic league in Europe, we earned a place in UCL in 7 of 10. In those seasons, we reached more UCL finals (3) than any club in the past 10 seasons, except Real Madrid, and won it once. FSG have restored the club to Europe's elite. Elite players now want to join & stay at our club.
In addition to exceptional results, FSG have invested in the "foundations" needed to contend for titles each season. They have hired the best leaders (manager, sporting director, coaches, analytics & commercial) for on-and-off field success. They rebuilt Anfield to enable 15,000+ more supporters to attend each match. They built a larger & modern training facility to best prepare and develop our players. They have managed the financials sustainably & grown commercial revenue 3-fold to enable funds for transfer fees & wages. We can be sure to contend perenially now.
While I agree with Stephen's comments about all of the good things that FSG have done to get the club in such a strong position (which they 100% are), I wonder what they have planned to continue and build on that success. It was clear FSG was one of the first clubs to truly leverage analytics to build an incredible squad by making all of the "right" buys. Then we had a manager in Jurgen that could ensure no one ever truly flopped by putting players in positions to succeed. We went 8 years without buying a major mistake transfer (possibly Darwin will be ruled a mistake but both Klopp and Slot have gotten good minutes out of him) which is necessary based on the strict budgetary approach FSG want to follow. Whereas, if you look at City, Pep threw hundreds of millions just at fullbacks before he got everything right. However, everyone uses analytics now and Jurgen has moved on.
With all of that though, if it really comes down to it... three buys have changed Liverpool's trajectory, Salah, VVD, and Alisson. As Josh likes to put it they are the three that directly affect results and points totals. All of them are getting older. We have great players in the squad surrounding them (Robbo, TAA, MacAllister, Ibou, Gravenberch, etc), and guys like Firmino, Gini, Mane, Henderson, etc. were incredible for us in the past, but really a lot of the results have and still come down to the output of those three players. FSG need to show that they can strike gold again with some real point winning deals. If not, they need to extend VVD and Salah and hope to wring a few more trophies out of them before age really takes them down!
Maybe with Edwards back in the fold we will come up with a long term plan and find our new result driver signings, but as yet... the key minutes and in-game plays are being handled by the old hats. FSG have shown they won't just throw money at problems until they are solved, so really these next 6 months in terms of contracts and transfers will determine if they are really good owners, or GREAT owners, or maybe even legendary owners, but they have to get things moving! We have a window, let's not let it close without more trophies!
I sometimes worry that the FSG In/out thing is like the brexit vote before it happened (thankfully they won't have a referendum). All the noise is made by people with short term objectives and no long term planning without any real practical solutions to the problems. The people who see the logical and sustainable operations carried out by them don't say much on public forums and hence only the FSG out shouts get amplified. Just look at the other top 6 teams or our previous ownership if you want to see how bad it could get.
Glad to hear you say you're FSG in.
Good shout comparing the FSG-Out brigade to those who supported Brexit. In both cases, they have no clue what they want. FSG has been an exceptional owner in delivering (i) results as well as (ii) the foundations laid for continued success.
Only City & Real Madrid have achieved better results than LFC in the past 10 seasons under FSG. Bayern Munich & Chelsea have a claim but it's not a clear case. We contended for the league title in 4 of the past 10 seasons, winning one. In the most difficult domestic league in Europe, we earned a place in UCL in 7 of 10. In those seasons, we reached more UCL finals (3) than any club in the past 10 seasons, except Real Madrid, and won it once. FSG have restored the club to Europe's elite. Elite players now want to join & stay at our club.
In addition to exceptional results, FSG have invested in the "foundations" needed to contend for titles each season. They have hired the best leaders (manager, sporting director, coaches, analytics & commercial) for on-and-off field success. They rebuilt Anfield to enable 15,000+ more supporters to attend each match. They built a larger & modern training facility to best prepare and develop our players. They have managed the financials sustainably & grown commercial revenue 3-fold to enable funds for transfer fees & wages. We can be sure to contend perenially now.
such a clever well researched piece as always by Josh providing us with other insights that we would typically not think about
While I agree with Stephen's comments about all of the good things that FSG have done to get the club in such a strong position (which they 100% are), I wonder what they have planned to continue and build on that success. It was clear FSG was one of the first clubs to truly leverage analytics to build an incredible squad by making all of the "right" buys. Then we had a manager in Jurgen that could ensure no one ever truly flopped by putting players in positions to succeed. We went 8 years without buying a major mistake transfer (possibly Darwin will be ruled a mistake but both Klopp and Slot have gotten good minutes out of him) which is necessary based on the strict budgetary approach FSG want to follow. Whereas, if you look at City, Pep threw hundreds of millions just at fullbacks before he got everything right. However, everyone uses analytics now and Jurgen has moved on.
With all of that though, if it really comes down to it... three buys have changed Liverpool's trajectory, Salah, VVD, and Alisson. As Josh likes to put it they are the three that directly affect results and points totals. All of them are getting older. We have great players in the squad surrounding them (Robbo, TAA, MacAllister, Ibou, Gravenberch, etc), and guys like Firmino, Gini, Mane, Henderson, etc. were incredible for us in the past, but really a lot of the results have and still come down to the output of those three players. FSG need to show that they can strike gold again with some real point winning deals. If not, they need to extend VVD and Salah and hope to wring a few more trophies out of them before age really takes them down!
Maybe with Edwards back in the fold we will come up with a long term plan and find our new result driver signings, but as yet... the key minutes and in-game plays are being handled by the old hats. FSG have shown they won't just throw money at problems until they are solved, so really these next 6 months in terms of contracts and transfers will determine if they are really good owners, or GREAT owners, or maybe even legendary owners, but they have to get things moving! We have a window, let's not let it close without more trophies!