A plea for a return to 90s football as Liverpool fan told to keep perspective
Can we go back to a time before all the average foreigners? And Paul the Liverpool fan gets the shortest of shrifts.
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Can we go back to the golden Premier League years, please?
Since the mailbox seems to pretty much be a warzone between City fans and everybody else over whether moral bankruptcy or moral grandstanding is worse (the former obviously), I thought I’d try to mostly avoid that for my first ever mail.
I’m old enough to remember the Premier League in its first season all the teams only had 13 foreign players in total and no clubs were foreign owned. In the 90’s foreign players were a treat then whether it be the unpredictably brilliant Eric Cantona, thunderb*astard king Tony Yeboah, the technically perfect Dennis Bergkamp or silky skills of Gianfranco Zola. These players were rare and will never be forgotten by fans as they were unique, a joy to watch.
Now with the glut of mostly forgettable dross that clubs buy foreign players are very rarely special anymore. Kevin De Bruyne is brilliant and probably the best midfielder in PL history but its all round consistent brilliance. He’s too perfect and will be remembered for that on stat lists and by holding records rather than for any singular special moments (unless you are a City fan possibly). Fans will remember more vividly the flawed but forever entertaining Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and David Ginola. The good old days of foreign footballing mavericks gracing our shores certainly are gone.
The question is why can’t we go back to that? The UK is no longer in the EU so doesn’t have to adhere to their freedom of movement or employment laws so a strict cap on foreign players is possible. A cap of 4 or 5 foreign players seems reasonable and is common in leagues across the world. “That would make English teams uncompetitive in Europe” Some would cry but would it really?
When Manchester United won the Champions League in 1999 they only fielded five foreign players (Dwight Yorke is a British citizen so didn’t count) and only had one other in the squad, Raimond Van Der Gouw. Arsenal when they won the Cup Winners Cup in 1994 had zero foreign players in their matchday squad. To add the greatest club side in history, Pep’s Barcelona had very few foreign players when they won both their CL titles. Only 4 or 5 players in their starting XIs were not Spanish. Not having strict foreign player caps only causes clubs to unnecessarily buy cheaper foreign players instead of buying domestic and focusing on developing young talent.
Not a surprise when you think about two standout teams I mentioned (1999 Utd and Pep’s Barca) who won everything domestically and Europe that they both were squads built with mostly homegrown talent thus killing the ‘uncompetitive in Europe’ argument.
A cap would force English clubs to develop their own talent and buy more from lower-league clubs which would help UK football as a whole. They would only spend money on elite foreign players not average ones they seem to buy as a British player would be more expensive or using an academy talent is considered ‘too risky’. More British talent in the PL might actually erase or at least reduce the premium paid for top-class English players too.
Another argument would be “it would reduce interest in the league therefore revenues for the clubs” again, would it really? English fans certainly wouldn’t stop giving clubs their money because they have more British players. In regards to interest from international fans and sponsors, clubs would have to be very tactical which foreign players they buy. Clubs wouldn’t be buying average players from Asia to sit on the bench so they get extra fans and sponsors from that part of the world. They would have to buy a Son Heung-Min type of player which is better for all fans and would attract the biggest sponsors. You would get a lot more Yaya Toures and Sergio Agueros instead of Eric Djemba Djembas and Alfonso Alves as clubs would have to be a lot more sensible with their transfer budgets.
In regards to bringing back the good old days to clubs foreign ownership should be banned entirely and even better the German 50+1 rules should be instituted here to make things even better before. If clubs can only spend within their means, TV deals are worth so much and sponsors are as generous as ever why do clubs need rich foreign owners? They cannot spend unlimited amounts of their own money forever without revenues offsetting the outlays so any advantage can only be gained by bending the rules or violating them entirely.
Foreign owners only seem to want clubs for three reasons. To buy clubs using debt, saddle the club with said debt after the purchase so they effectively got the club for free then use the club as an ATM. Connected to reason one if consider the Glazers, secondly is buying a club so it can be fattened up for a highly profitable sale at a later date. Thirdly is clubs being bought by a state as a PR vehicle. None of these reason are at all good for fans or the game as a whole. In a best case scenario clubs should be owned by fans even if one of those fans happened to be rich enough to buy 50% of the club.
Sadly none of these things will ever happen, we are more likely to see the opposite so the game can be continued to be ruined.
Anatoly
We’re the farmers
I’m sad and disappointed that Liverpool haven’t managed to eke a measly £200,000,000 from the last remaining Coutinho billions to score Jude Bellingham, and sadly we can only put it down to how poorly LFC is run.
As much fun as it’s been pretending to be sympathetic to the usually unbearably self-satisfied Liverpool supporters at work this year, I actually don’t really want us to be the farmers.
#ReleaseTheCoutinhoBillions
Cal Loftus
Fanmail for Paul
Paul – Wirral has handed back his season tickets, apparently he is in a snot over the constant lies and horror at having to support Liverpool and their horrendous spin, trophy winning, etc after 1 bad season. I hope he hasn’t an interest in politics as he will have to hand back his citizenship on that basis (multiple bad seasons on that front).
Apparently there is a 30 year waiting list for a season ticket at Liverpool so there is more chance of Paul getting his citizenship back than his season tickets when the oil money eventually gets the club.
Mel – Dublin, Berlin, Athlone Town (HaHoHe)
…Nice try ‘Paul, Wirral’ but I’d wager the entire Bellingham transfer fee that you have not just handed back your ‘LFC season tickets of 26 years to the club’ and have, in fact, never actually set foot in Anfield. What a hysterical view to hold. Typical of the Twitter generation rather than proper match going reds. While the ‘This means more’ is fairly nauseating and easy to laugh at, it’s a weird marketing gimmick and nothing more than that. To want Klopp to be shown the door and throwing toys out of the pram because we didn’t sign Bellingham is so ludicrous, I’m annoyed with myself that I’m even engaging with it enough to pen this response.
The Bellingham chase was irritating and obviously always going to turn out this way. It’s not a surprise how much he cost in the end and to fail to address midfield deficiencies for 3-4 windows on the misguided assumption that we’d ultimately sign him for peanuts was amateurish bordering on arrogance. But you don’t sack the manager who has achieved the highest points tallies in our illustrious history and won everything on the table because of a poor season and because you’d rather have had Bellingham than Mac Allister on your new replica shirt.
If you’ve genuinely been a season ticket holder all this time, I can only assume those around you at Anfield will be delighted you won’t be returning. I suspect the truth is that you’re actually an entitled fan of the new generation though. In which case you should know that we have no divine right to win trophies or sign 19-year-old world superstars. This isn’t FIFA. Grow up.
Jamie
…Thank you to Paul, Wirral for his excellent demonstration of what it looks like to ‘throw one’s toys out of the pram’, in response to seeing that Real Madrid had signed Jude Bellingham for (checks notes) “an initial 88.5m”.
It is curious that this past season was the year from the last 26 years which has caused the return of the season ticket (if we take this claim at face value). I’m not sure it would make my top 3 in the 20 years I’ve been watching LFC. But hey, the season ticket waiting list is very long, so I’m sure that spot will be appreciated by someone else going forward!
Oliver Dziggel, Geneva Switzerland
…Paul, please do give up your season ticket. Don’t go to games, get off social media and stop writing to the mailbox (at least about LFC). You’re embarrassing the rest of the Liverpool fans.
Honestly, how entitled are you? One bad season literally coming off the back of a year that we were two games away from winning it all and you want Klopp to be sacked? It’s hard to believe you’ve had a season ticket for 26 years, as that would make you at least 26 years old. Yet it reads like the tantrum of a teenager.
Last season was not ‘horrific’. Get some perspective. It was bad. We still beat Bournemouth 9-0. We beat Rangers 7-1. We beat Leeds 6-1. And oh, yes, we beat Man United 7-0 which will forever live in the record books. If you can’t get some enjoyment out of that, then please stop going to Anfield and make way for someone who will. We also finished 5th. That’s not horrific. It could be worse (see Chelsea/Spurs).
As for Bellingham, it’s pretty clear that we were in for him at one point. But things change. I’m pretty sure he looked at the options of Real Madrid and Europa League Liverpool and made the only sensible choice. The club then probably used the “too expensive” line to try and save face. If you actually think we could have got Bellingham this summer, you live in a dream world.
It also smacks of a fan who gets obsessed with rumours and speculation. Don’t. Nothing is confirmed until it actually happens. Just enjoy football for what it actually is. No, it’s not life and death. It’s not more important than that. It’s a bit of fun. Or it’s meant to be. If you can’t get enjoyment from your privileged position as a season ticket holder (if your story is even true) then I’m glad someone else will.
Mike, LFC, London
…Paul, Wirral. Look I get that it’s frustrating that Liverpool could not sign Bellingham, a generational talent by the looks of it. You seem to think that the ONLY reason he has not signed for Liverpool is due the club “walking away” from signing him despite initial talks. Now, I don’t know for sure, but my guess is that those initial talks ended because Bellingham made it clear that he wanted to sign for Real Madrid, who also made it clear that they want to sign him.
That’s the important bit, Bellingham has free will. Just because Liverpool want to sign him, doesn’t mean he has to agree to it so it doesn’t matter what their bid was. If, for any reason, Dortmund don’t want to sell him to Madrid, he is young enough to stay and run down his contract while still getting regular league and champions league game time. But Dortmund are known for their strategy of buying young, talented players, giving them the structure and platform to achieve their potential and then selling for massive profit. Which is spent on the next crop.
Between the ages of 11 and 15, Bellingham would have seen Real win four Champions Leagues. They are an elite club and have always been an elite club. That’s why Ronaldo (real, original), Ronaldo (also real but not the original) Laudrup, Zidane, Kaka, Beckham, Figo, Bale, Modric, Benzema, Carlos, Varane, Ramos, Pepe, Ozil, and many many more joined them, over other teams, when they had the chance. They are the top of the food chain. Their success is both recent and historic, which suggests it will be most likely in their future. Bellingham can anchor that team for a decade and build a legacy, assured that the players around will be on or near his level. He was always going to Spain, Liverpool were smart enough to move on.
Kevin Massey
…If Paul is to be believed and he has had a season ticket at Liverpool for 26 years, then he has seen:
*Two eighth place finishes
*Two seventh place finishes
*Five defeats in the third round of the FA Cup
*Six defeats in the third round of the League Cup
*31 games where they were managed by Roy Hodgson
Disappointments for Liverpool that would be considered achievements by 95% of other clubs, it should be said.
Something about putting up with all that but considering a failure to sign Jude Bellingham to be the final straw doesn’t seem right. Even by the standards of some Liverpool fans, this seems to lack a sense of perspective.
Ed Quoththeraven
Welcome back Warnock
I’m sure readers will already know who finished runner-up in the 2004 Autoglass Trophy, but for the handful who’ve forgotten – for shame – it was of course Huddersfield Town, managed by a relatively young Neil Warnock. Even better was to come the following year, of course, with promotion to the second tier via the play-offs. Mock all you want, fans of Big Club FC – the joy of a play-off win is almost indescribable to anyone not lucky enough to have witnessed one – let alone four!
Barring a disaster, we’ll go into 2024 managed by a (slightly older) Neil Warnock. A gap of three decades. That’s almost unprecedented in English football, surely? Incredible, as is the longevity of a mighty impressive career at rather less fashionable clubs than the ones that usually dominate the Mailbox.
You’d struggle to find a Huddersfield Town supporter opposed to it – even then, largely just a fear that he could tarnish his reputation – and I doubt you’d’ find any with a bad word to say about him. To some extent I understand the antipathy some people have towards him – but from someone who supports one of his many previous clubs? Not too many, I’d wager – and that covers an awful lot of clubs.
It might sound crazy to describe a manager’s four-month contract being extended by just 12 more – and surely, no more – as bringing stability, but actually I think it does. Continuity, certainly. In a week that’s seen the departure of our DoF and goalkeeping coach, a new CEO and a US takeover that’s just about to be ratified, that ought to be invaluable. The new CEO’s track record in US soc…football is mighty impressive, but with a new American owner too – albeit one who already owns a club in Sacramento – a bit of English football nous can surely do no harm during this period of transition. Well aware I sound a little parochial, but if there’s anyone alive today with a better working knowledge than Neil Warnock, I’d be astonished.
So exciting times, under an old favourite. After his miraculous rescue mission from what seemed like certain relegation last season, there’s hope without too much expectation. We’re not generally the most demanding fan-base, really. Mid-table in the second tier? I’d bite your hand off, right now. Bet against a campaign battling for a play-off position? I couldn’t possibly comment.
Lukas