The Sundance Kid
26 Jul 2007, 09:10 AM
facts since rafa the gaffer took the job:
Season 2004-2005 - spends £28m
Josemi Rey Malaga £2,000,000
Antonio Nunez Real Madrid £1,500,000
Xabi Alonso Real Sociedad £10,700,000
Luis Garcia Barcelona £6,000,000
Mauricio Pellegrino Valencia Free
Fernando Morientes Real Madrid £6,300,000
Scott Carson Leeds United £1,000,000
Season 2004-2005 - spends another £28m
Josh Mimms Rotherham United £50,000
Antonio Barragan Sevilla £240,000
Boudewijn Zenden Free Transfer Free
Jose Reina Villareal £6,000,000
Mohamed Sissoko Valencia £5,600,000
Peter Crouch Southampton £7,000,000
Godwin Antwi Real Zaragoza Unknown
Miki Roque Lleida Unknown
Jack Hobbs Lincoln City £150,000
Besian Idrizaj LASK Linz £190,000
Ramon Calliste Free Transfer Free
Mark Gonzalez Albacete £1,500,000
Paul Anderson Hull City Player Exchange
Jan Kromkamp Villareal Player Exchange
Daniel Agger Brøndby £5,800,000
David Martin MK Dons £250,000
Robbie Fowler Man City Free
Season 2006-2007 - spends £34m
Craig Bellamy Blackburn £6,000,000
Gabriel Paletta Club Atlético Banfield £2,000,000
Fábio Aurélio Valencia Free
Jermaine Pennant Birmingham £6,700,000
Dirk Kuyt Feyenoord £9,000,000
Nabil El Zhar St Etienne £200,000
Astrit Ajdarevic Falkenberg £750,000
Emiliano Insúa Boca Juniors On Loan
Daniele Padelli Sampdoria On Loan
Jordy Brouwer Ajax Undisclosed
Francisco Durán Malaga £66,000
Ronald Huth Tacuary FC Undisclosed
Álvaro Arbeloa Deportivo £2,500,000
Javier Mascherano West Ham On Loan (+ unknown amount £)
Lucas Pezzini Leiva Gremio £5,000,000
people often say he spent £100m in his first three seasons, but in reality it's only £90m, unless i've forgotten some players, which is possible, seeing as there are so many. on the other hand, quite a few fees are undisclosed (we can only speculate as to why), therefore the figure may be over £100m, i just don't know. also, some of these loans have since been made permanent, so the figure may be even bigger.
of course these facts do not take into account money accrued from sales. going by an article in the independent, rafa has spent £56m net, compared to £145m for chelsea, £44m for united, and £5.2m for arsenal over the same period, which excludes this summer.
that means that, before this summer, rafa spent more than any other manager bar mourinho since he came to england. bearing in mind the fortune houllier spent, no-one can accuse the liverpool board of being misers. hats off to them for showing ambition. but are they getting value for money? you decide.
also, it calls into question rafa's accusations in the immediate aftermath of the champs league final last may (namely, that he hadn't been given funds). however, we can forgive him for that, seeing as many managers try to deflect attention when their team lose or when they've failed to land a trophy (especially when the football hasn't been great to watch). glenn roeder did it all the time.
everyone knows chelsea pay a premium because they are so rich (although now they have serious competition in the rich stakes). arsene wenger said chelsea have to pay double for transfers, therefore i take their figure with a pinch of salt, perhaps we can halve it to get a realistic figure (they still spent more of course but they probably had more catching up to do). fergie has spent less than rafa and yet still comes way ahead in the league every season, as does mourinho, with huge points gaps over rafa. but neither won the champs league in the last three years. although of course, winning cup competitions requires a fair degree of luck whereas the league is the real test for any manager.
in the three penalty shoot-outs rafa's had, liverpool have won them all, resulting in the two trophies he's picked up in his three years. considering the outlay, would his record look quite so good if those shoot-outs had been lost (i.e. no trophies at all)?
this summer of course rafa has gone for broke and heaped the pressure on himself, which i admire:
£55m (excluding undisclosed fees, of which there are many as usual, and the money spent on mascherano's loan, believed to be in the tens of millions for two years).
S Leto (Club Atletico Lanus £1.7m)
F Torres (A Madrid, £27m)
R Babel (Ajax, £13.5m)
Y Benayoun (West Ham United, £5m)
L Leiva (Grêmio, £6m)
N Mihaylov (Levski Sofia, undisclosed)
A Kacaniklic (Helsingborg, undisc)
K Nemeth
A Simon (both MTK Hungaria, £100,000 each)
D Pacheco (Barcelona, £350,000)
M Purie (B Dortmund, undisc)
M San José (A Bilbao, £270,000)
A Voronin (B Leverkusen, free)
M Alexandrov (CSKA Sofia, undisc)
R Crowther
B Robinson (both Stockport County, undisc)
and he still wants heinze (could we be adding another £6.8m?)
of course, i will have forgotten some players so please see fit to add any which you see omitted, i won't mind at all, in fact i will be grateful.
wow. that's a lot of players. has any other manager signed so many players in the history of the game? do liverpool have the biggest squad in world football? and how does rafa keep them all happy, especially the ones that don't speak spanish?
also, what are the realistic expectations this season, bearing in mind utd have nearly spent as much as liverpool on hargreaves, nani and anderson (plus whatever tevez will cost if he joins). chelsea have only spent £13.5m on malouda (they will recoup that if robben goes), arsenal have spent on one or two players but have also sold henry and ljungberg, and clubs like tottenham, west ham, man city etc are splashing the cash big-time, although not in the same league as rafa, obviously.
question, is it time for rafa to deliver the title? after all, liverpool have been waiting a long time, and they've backed rafa with hard currency (£150m+ since he joined, which was only three seasons ago)?
that's what i call: putting your money where your mouth is.
Season 2004-2005 - spends £28m
Josemi Rey Malaga £2,000,000
Antonio Nunez Real Madrid £1,500,000
Xabi Alonso Real Sociedad £10,700,000
Luis Garcia Barcelona £6,000,000
Mauricio Pellegrino Valencia Free
Fernando Morientes Real Madrid £6,300,000
Scott Carson Leeds United £1,000,000
Season 2004-2005 - spends another £28m
Josh Mimms Rotherham United £50,000
Antonio Barragan Sevilla £240,000
Boudewijn Zenden Free Transfer Free
Jose Reina Villareal £6,000,000
Mohamed Sissoko Valencia £5,600,000
Peter Crouch Southampton £7,000,000
Godwin Antwi Real Zaragoza Unknown
Miki Roque Lleida Unknown
Jack Hobbs Lincoln City £150,000
Besian Idrizaj LASK Linz £190,000
Ramon Calliste Free Transfer Free
Mark Gonzalez Albacete £1,500,000
Paul Anderson Hull City Player Exchange
Jan Kromkamp Villareal Player Exchange
Daniel Agger Brøndby £5,800,000
David Martin MK Dons £250,000
Robbie Fowler Man City Free
Season 2006-2007 - spends £34m
Craig Bellamy Blackburn £6,000,000
Gabriel Paletta Club Atlético Banfield £2,000,000
Fábio Aurélio Valencia Free
Jermaine Pennant Birmingham £6,700,000
Dirk Kuyt Feyenoord £9,000,000
Nabil El Zhar St Etienne £200,000
Astrit Ajdarevic Falkenberg £750,000
Emiliano Insúa Boca Juniors On Loan
Daniele Padelli Sampdoria On Loan
Jordy Brouwer Ajax Undisclosed
Francisco Durán Malaga £66,000
Ronald Huth Tacuary FC Undisclosed
Álvaro Arbeloa Deportivo £2,500,000
Javier Mascherano West Ham On Loan (+ unknown amount £)
Lucas Pezzini Leiva Gremio £5,000,000
people often say he spent £100m in his first three seasons, but in reality it's only £90m, unless i've forgotten some players, which is possible, seeing as there are so many. on the other hand, quite a few fees are undisclosed (we can only speculate as to why), therefore the figure may be over £100m, i just don't know. also, some of these loans have since been made permanent, so the figure may be even bigger.
of course these facts do not take into account money accrued from sales. going by an article in the independent, rafa has spent £56m net, compared to £145m for chelsea, £44m for united, and £5.2m for arsenal over the same period, which excludes this summer.
that means that, before this summer, rafa spent more than any other manager bar mourinho since he came to england. bearing in mind the fortune houllier spent, no-one can accuse the liverpool board of being misers. hats off to them for showing ambition. but are they getting value for money? you decide.
also, it calls into question rafa's accusations in the immediate aftermath of the champs league final last may (namely, that he hadn't been given funds). however, we can forgive him for that, seeing as many managers try to deflect attention when their team lose or when they've failed to land a trophy (especially when the football hasn't been great to watch). glenn roeder did it all the time.
everyone knows chelsea pay a premium because they are so rich (although now they have serious competition in the rich stakes). arsene wenger said chelsea have to pay double for transfers, therefore i take their figure with a pinch of salt, perhaps we can halve it to get a realistic figure (they still spent more of course but they probably had more catching up to do). fergie has spent less than rafa and yet still comes way ahead in the league every season, as does mourinho, with huge points gaps over rafa. but neither won the champs league in the last three years. although of course, winning cup competitions requires a fair degree of luck whereas the league is the real test for any manager.
in the three penalty shoot-outs rafa's had, liverpool have won them all, resulting in the two trophies he's picked up in his three years. considering the outlay, would his record look quite so good if those shoot-outs had been lost (i.e. no trophies at all)?
this summer of course rafa has gone for broke and heaped the pressure on himself, which i admire:
£55m (excluding undisclosed fees, of which there are many as usual, and the money spent on mascherano's loan, believed to be in the tens of millions for two years).
S Leto (Club Atletico Lanus £1.7m)
F Torres (A Madrid, £27m)
R Babel (Ajax, £13.5m)
Y Benayoun (West Ham United, £5m)
L Leiva (Grêmio, £6m)
N Mihaylov (Levski Sofia, undisclosed)
A Kacaniklic (Helsingborg, undisc)
K Nemeth
A Simon (both MTK Hungaria, £100,000 each)
D Pacheco (Barcelona, £350,000)
M Purie (B Dortmund, undisc)
M San José (A Bilbao, £270,000)
A Voronin (B Leverkusen, free)
M Alexandrov (CSKA Sofia, undisc)
R Crowther
B Robinson (both Stockport County, undisc)
and he still wants heinze (could we be adding another £6.8m?)
of course, i will have forgotten some players so please see fit to add any which you see omitted, i won't mind at all, in fact i will be grateful.
wow. that's a lot of players. has any other manager signed so many players in the history of the game? do liverpool have the biggest squad in world football? and how does rafa keep them all happy, especially the ones that don't speak spanish?
also, what are the realistic expectations this season, bearing in mind utd have nearly spent as much as liverpool on hargreaves, nani and anderson (plus whatever tevez will cost if he joins). chelsea have only spent £13.5m on malouda (they will recoup that if robben goes), arsenal have spent on one or two players but have also sold henry and ljungberg, and clubs like tottenham, west ham, man city etc are splashing the cash big-time, although not in the same league as rafa, obviously.
question, is it time for rafa to deliver the title? after all, liverpool have been waiting a long time, and they've backed rafa with hard currency (£150m+ since he joined, which was only three seasons ago)?
that's what i call: putting your money where your mouth is.