Loyalty to the Club

[Twenty26Six]

First paragraph says it all...

"Michael is going and Danny Murphy has gone. It's disappointing because they are my mates but I'd rather be winning trophies with Liverpool than having a kickabout with my friends,

"The new manager was proven right at his previous club because he won trophies and we hope he repeats that here. He has a plan and if that works I don't care who leaves so long as I'm here to be part of the success.

"The most important thing for me is to play for Liverpool. I can understand Michael wanting to go to Madrid. But for most players it is probably a step down to leave Liverpool and I don't think I could leave.

"It's not that I lack ambition. It's just that I realise you have to make sure you appreciate a top club like Liverpool and try to stay here as long as possible."

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N145681040814-1124.htm

[ScouseCat]

There's not as much loyalty these days, especially when there's money and careers at stake. I am disappointed that Owen and Murphy have gone as well, but life goes on and the fact was, we couldn't win the title with them here and I want my team to be challenging for the title.

[655321]

There's not as much loyalty these days, especially when there's money and careers at stake. I am disappointed that Owen and Murphy have gone as well, but life goes on and the fact was, we couldn't win the title with them here and I want my team to be challenging for the title.

You don't think we could have won the title with Owen on the team??

[TruReds]

You don't think we could have won the title with Owen on the team??

Valencia won it with Aimar (the star player) hardly feature regularly. That's Rafa's style, no prima-donna. :)

[NC RED]

You don't think we could have won the title with Owen on the team??

The fact is we didnt WITH Owen on the team.

[655321]

The fact is we didnt WITH Owen on the team.

True...but the same could be said for Hyypia, Dudek, Fowler, Hamann, Babbel and other great LFC players...I mean, c'mon. I'm not super bummed that Owen is gone, but I don't understand saying that we needed him to be gone in order to win the title.

[TruReds]

True...but the same could be said for Hyypia, Dudek, Fowler, Hamann, Babbel and other great LFC players...I mean, c'mon. I'm not super bummed that Owen is gone, but I don't understand saying that we needed him to be gone in order to win the title.

if he is prima-donna? remember no one player is bigger than the club? basically, Rafa is hired to run the rules in LFC, what GH was so lacking.

[655321]

I'm not arguing Owen leaving...I just wanted some clarification on "Owen needed to leave for Liverpool to win the league". Let's just drop it.

[TruReds]

I'm not arguing Owen leaving...I just wanted some clarification on "Owen needed to leave for Liverpool to win the league". Let's just drop it.

ok, peace!!! :D

[Kimmy]

I'm not arguing Owen leaving...I just wanted some clarification on "Owen needed to leave for Liverpool to win the league". Let's just drop it.

I guess in a way, yes he needed to leave Liverpool for them to be able to win the league. Have you watched his body language and facial expression the last two seasons? Misereable to say the least - what do you want with a player who doesn´t seem to have his heart in it?

He was also messing Liverpool around - they wanted to extend his contract he was dragging it out, obviously he didn´t really want to stay, therefore his commitment on the pitch could cost Liverpool in the long run seeing how many chances he did miss last season and how many he would have missed this season.

There is Cisse now and we have Baros - give them time to get used to one another and I can see them being a good goal-scoring partnership.

[Matt Clark]

I'm not arguing Owen leaving...I just wanted some clarification on "Owen needed to leave for Liverpool to win the league". Let's just drop it.

OK - I'll give it a shot. But before I start, I'm only playing devil's advocate here. "The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of the management."

With Owen in the team, the team had to play to his strengths. Had to be built around him, so to speak. Now, we all know what his strengths are - deadly finishing and pacey, intelligent movement. However, we have all been witness to the fact that, over the past couple of seasons, he has become less effective in this focal role. Not INeffective, as some people are now so disingeniously insisting, but less effective.

We all have our opinions why - be it the way in which the team played deep and isolated him or the attritional effect injuries had on his fitness or be it the increasing frustration he felt at spearheading such an ineffectual footballing unit.

But if we can agree on the general premise, then we must ask ourselves how much of a stretch it would be to at least partially allow for the idea that Owen's presence in the team exacerbated that team's inherant weaknesses. A lack of pace down the spine - and most particularly at centre-back - coupled with a total absence of a lack of width often meant the most convenient tactical disposition was a deep, compact formation with a large gap between attack and defence. Space which, if all went well, would be occupied by our opponents moving up their own defensive line to tighten their grip on midfield. Which, conveniently enough, exposed those opponents to the two of Owen's qualities mentioned as pre-eminent above.

Benitez faces the task of making the team play in a different manner (and equipping it accordingly) - of deploying them further up the pitch, of adding wit and nuance to the midfield and of ensuring we do not get stuck in the same rut that often bedevilled the Houllier teams for the last of his two seasons in charge. And it is by no means impossible that the disappearance of Owen will not actually make that task a touch easier ...

[Lanky134]

There's not as much loyalty these days, especially when there's money and careers at stake. I am disappointed that Owen and Murphy have gone as well, but life goes on and the fact was, we couldn't win the title with them here and I want my team to be challenging for the title.

"Loyalty to the club" is a myth created by management once it was discovered how much they were getting away with in the fine print of players' contracts.

[imasyko]

"Loyalty to the club" is a myth created by management once it was discovered how much they were getting away with in the fine print of players' contracts.

Bingo. And used to great effect to make the players look bad during contract negotiations and such.

[lfcfan858]

But if we can agree on the general premise, then we must ask ourselves how much of a stretch it would be to at least partially allow for the idea that Owen's presence in the team exacerbated that team's inherant weaknesses. A lack of pace down the spine - and most particularly at centre-back - coupled with a total absence of a lack of width often meant the most convenient tactical disposition was a deep, compact formation with a large gap between attack and defence. I agree with this reasoning. This article http://liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N145720040818-1055.htm gives us a sense of what Benitez wants to do with the club, namely diversify options for attack and make us more of an offensive threat by means of quality attacking players in the flanks and middle of the attacking third. I feel like Owen's status as a Reds icon encouraged playing to his needs, which many clubs do for their top players and goal scorers. However, the major down side to this is that when a team marks Owen well, it's easy to neutralize him as a threat. Add to that the fact that Owen's most-used service came via long balls from deep midfield, and we have an attack option that's easy take out of the game. I do believe that his could have changed even with Owen at the club, but now that he is gone it really does force the squad to work towards playing balls in from all areas of the attacking third, both in the air and on the ground. With Cisse, Baros, and FSP, we have strikers who are competing for positions and who each have their own preferences for service. Just my two cents.