08/09 Squad - A (not so drunken) rant and look back

[_00_deathscar]

I'm actually at work, but was chatting to a friend about our 08/09 side. Which intrigued me. We were talking about use of money and how well some of it was spent.

 

As a reminder, here are the main players of our squad in 2008-2009, with the approximate sum we paid for them:

Reina 6 Cavalieri 3 Dossena 8 Arbeloa 2.5 Aurelio 0 Carragher 0 Hyypia 2.6 Agger 6.5 Skrtel 6.8 Mascherano 18 Lucas 6 Alonso 10.5 Gerrard 0 Kuyt 9 Riera 7 Benayoun 5 Torres 20 Keane 20 Babel 11

Total cost: GBP 142m

 

Now, obviously, not all players were signed in the 2008/2009 season, so inflation must be taken into account. However, what must be remembered is that bar Gerrard & Carragher (free) and Hyypia (1999), all the other players were signed during Rafa's tenure, with Alonso having been there the longest (4 season at the start of 08/09). Following that, Reina, Agger and Kuyt. All the other players had just been signed in the last season, at the start of the season, or in the interm transfer window (at the start of 08/09).

 

If you account for average inflation over a period of time in a developed economy like the UK/Europe being 10% year on year, the cost of the squad adjusts to 163m. Also, some of the fees above may have been inflated naturally (e.g. no one really knows how much Keane/Mascherano cost, so I went with the high end), and then further inflated to account for inflation.

 

We had built a team capable of dominating Europe for 163m. This astounds me. The wheels fell off, yes, but I just don't see where the "Rafa wasted money" myth perpetuated by the media comes from. Of the above squad, only Keane and Babel were 'bad buys' - and we (nearly) got back what we paid for Keane and it's arguable that Babel paid for his fee with his cameo vs. Arsenal in the European Cup alone. The "Rafa wasted money and delivered nothing" brigade just astounds me. Three of the players above were there before he came - the rest of the side was his. It shone, albeit very briefly.

 

Chelsea haven't dominated Europe, but have done extremely well domestically - and they've spent that approximate sum on their defenders! Man City haven't achieved anything yet, and have spent that sum probably on left backs alone.

 

Of course, we all know what happened after. I was merely intrigued, and extremely bored at work - so decided to do some calculations. That's all.

 

As it is, we sold Mascherano, Torres and Alonso shortly after for a combined 100m (nearly).

[Ramón Benítez Hernández]

[Cooldude]

You f***ing legend

 

Take out Keane who basically did nothing and it's even cheaper as you say, the amount of undeserved s*** Rafa gets is increcible

[Case]

Good job.

 

I think Rafa often gets a beating over signings like Nunez, Josemi, Gonzalez, Voronin, Kromkamp, Degen, Jovanovic etc... none of whom cost much money and were moved on fairly quickly (in most cases). Also the fact that he never quite got the 2nd striker right (Crouch, Keane, Morientes, Voronin again, arguably), which meant we could never quite catch behemoths like Chelsea, ManU.

 

I never ever got that Benitez was accused of wasting money - lazy journalism didn't just start with the Suarez affair.

[_00_deathscar]

Also the fact that he never quite got the 2nd striker right (Crouch, Keane, Morientes, Voronin again, arguably), which meant we could never quite catch behemoths like Chelsea, ManU.

 

 

I still think we should have kept Baros. He was dumb as a lamppost, but he could have been useful - certainly when we needed back up to the oft-injured Torres.

[floyd]

but I just don't see where the "Rafa wasted money" myth perpetuated by the media comes from.

[sangria]

If you want someone to build your club up to consistently challenge in the English leagues, but you're not going to give him money with which to do so, relying on him to generate the money himself, there are 2 people you turn to. One is Wenger. The other is Benitez. Assume that gate moneys, merchandise, sponsorship, and so on only suffice to keep the club running, leaving £0 left for transfers. No problem, they can generate their own transfer money from prize money and transfer profits. It's ridiculous the gulf between what he did and how he's perceived by some Liverpool fans, and most other fans. Also see the myth that Benitez spent shedloads of money and left a worse squad than he had when he came in.

[johngibo YPC]

I still haven't got over 2008/09

[richwilks]

I still haven't got over 2008/09

 

We looked amazing going forward the last few months of that season.

 

 

 

[Bigal]

I still haven't got over 2008/09

 

I dont think I ever will

[Epic Swindle]

Ballague reckons he's a manager who just likes a huge turnover of players.

[richwilks]

Ballague reckons he's a manager who just likes a huge turnover of players.

 

I think it's more about him always looking to improve. It doesn't matter how good a player is, if he thinks he can get a better one he'll sell them.

 

The right back situation was a perfect example. He bought lots in that position, moved them on quickly and replaced them with better.

[Epic Swindle]

I get that, his demands on players are such that he needs a rapid turnover, unless they're super intelligent like Xabi. Not knocking it, it was a great ride and I thought we genuinely had it at one point, but ultimately it was another season without success.

[The_Adder]

The most frustrating thing about this whole tale is that he did all that whilst working in the financial constraints of past owners.

 

Imagine what he could have done if he had the backing we currently seem to have now - the Dani Alves signings coming to fruition and how we could have really pushed on.

[Florist Cinema Pond Goal]

Should have won the league, Macheda's a c***. It was obvious he would do nothing after that goal at Villa.

[Benzo-13]

I still haven't got over 2008/09

I'm still there, thinking we had it.

 

Ballague reckons he's a manager who just likes a huge turnover of players.

Manager can do what he wants remember.

[johngibo YPC]

I dont think I ever will

 

Yeah. Like an old fella in the pub moaning about his high school sweetheart. That will be me

Great set of lads as well. Who the f*** wants to go for a pint with Stewart Downing

[The_Adder]

Yeah. Like an old fella in the pub moaning about his high school sweetheart. That will be me

Great set of lads as well. Who the f*** wants to go for a pint with Stewart Downing

 

His ex tried that and look what happened to her.

[CarraLegend]

His ex tried that and look what happened to her.

 

Are you her? He's pretty much all you talk about!

[fred milne]

The peak was the squad at the end of 2007/2008 season - i.e. before the summer where we let Crouch and Riise go and Rafa started making eyes at Barry:

 

Reina, Arbeloa, Finnan, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Hyypia, Riise, Aurelio, Kuyt, Pennant, Gerrard, Alonso, Masherano, Lucas, Guthrie, Kewell, Benayoun, Babel, Torres, Crouch, Voronin.

Edited March 9, 2012 by fred milne

[goodrobotusses]

Ballague reckons he's a manager who just likes a huge turnover of players.

Which makes sense, given how intensive his methods are and the theory that a lot of those sorts of coaches' teams don't maintain their 'peak' for very long. Coaches that work their teams hard and demand high-pressing football (which requires lots of training ground drudgery) seem to find players getting sick of them quite quickly. Think it was Sacchi who theorised as much (someone look it up for me please).

[Knox_Harrington]

Great set of lads as well. Who the f*** wants to go for a pint with Stewart Downing

His pen vs Cardiff should mean he kicks on in that regard.

 

Glen Johnson's also getting up there as well.

 

But they were a great, great set of lads.

[_00_deathscar]

but ultimately it was another season without success.

 

That's what pisses me off so much.

 

Some of my friends say I'm a madman for thinking this, but I genuinely believe if we had met Barca in the final, which we should have:

a. Barca's "dynasty" would never have taken off for we'd have defeated them.

b. We would have gone on to unprecedented success - seeing as that was supposed to be a stepping stone.

 

I think Mascherano was always going to leave at some stage, but I genuinely think Torres, Alonso, Kuyt, Lucas, Skrtel, Agger, Arbeloa, Reina and Gerrard would still be around. Lucas and Alonso together would have formed a partnership greater than Alonso + Masch. We'd have signed some top attacking midfielder to eventually replace Gerrard, we'd have gone after Suarez anyway.

 

Whole load of s***. It should have been happening for us.

[CarraLegend]

That's what pisses me off so much.

 

Some of my friends say I'm a madman for thinking this, but I genuinely believe if we had met Barca in the final, which we should have:

a. Barca's "dynasty" would never have taken off for we'd have defeated them.

b. We would have gone on to unprecedented success - seeing as that was supposed to be a stepping stone.

 

I think Mascherano was always going to leave at some stage, but I genuinely think Torres, Alonso, Kuyt, Lucas, Skrtel, Agger, Arbeloa, Reina and Gerrard would still be around. Lucas and Alonso together would have formed a partnership greater than Alonso + Masch. We'd have signed some top attacking midfielder to eventually replace Gerrard, we'd have gone after Suarez anyway.

 

Whole load of s***. It should have been happening for us.

 

Iniesta would probably have wanted to join after we hammered Barca, maybe Messi too.

[Swipe]

Felt like you could have put anyone in front of us in the second half of that season and we'd have dismantled them.

 

The decline of the team since then is scary, in all honesty.