A year-long nightmare at Anfield - a case study

Disclaimer: In the interest of preserving the decency and sanctity of this blog, following guidelines may be observed for this post:
1. The well-known 4-letter expletive beginning with the letter "f" will hereby be replaced by the word "duck".
2. Any 4-letter word referring to garbage or human excreta will hereby be replaced by the word "clap".


Objectives of case:
1. To analyse Liverpool Football Club's ducked up 2009-10 season and the underlying causes for them ducking it up.
2. To perform a SWOT assessment of the club for the 2010-11 season.
3. To outline a true LFC fan's expectations for the club leading up to the start of the new season.


Introduction
Liverpool F.C is a professional football club based in the city of Liverpool, England. Founded in 1892, it is widely known to be the most awesome football club with the most awesome fans in the world (the Kop). It has produced some of the best players to have ever graced a football pitch on this planet, right from the likes of Alan Hansen, Kenny Dalglish and Ian Rush to Steven Gerrard, Michael Owen and Robbie Fowler. The club plays its home matches at the Anfield stadium in Liverpool. Amongst it's laurels are 18 first division league titles, 7 FA cup titles and 8 European titles. Liverpool F.C is also widely remembered for producing the most awesome football match in history, when they came from 3-0 behind to beat AC Milan of Italy in the 2005 UEFA Champions League final on penalties.

The 2009-10 disaster
The 2009-10 season has turned out to be a massive blot in LFC's illustrious history. Having finished 2nd in the Premier League the previous season, big things were expected of the club in the lead-up to the new season. But a combination of poor management and players playing like clap has led to LFC completely ducking things up. A brief summary of the significant events over the year for the club is listed below:

1. Pre-season shocker: Troubles began even before the league began, as Liverpool notched up just 2 wins out of 8 in pre-season. The writing seemed to be on the wall when the gaffer, Rafa Benitez, described that piece-of-clap midfielder Lucas Leiva as the best performer in pre-season. One wonders whether he was referring to his on-field performances or off-field :P
2. Aquilani for Alonso: Arguably Liverpool's best player in the 2008-09 season, Xabi Alonso, was sold off to Los Galacticos a.k.a Real Madrid a.k.a Clappiest club ever, and who do we get in his place? Walking wounded Alberto Aquilani for 20 million quid, who, according to Rafa, was not really an Alonso-type player. Well then why the duck do u need that injured prick, u nincompoop??
2. Duck-all start: When you lose two of the first three games of your season, you know you're ducked. However, some pride was restored after we thrashed Hull 6-1 and beat the Mancunians (thats Manchester United, an obscure club in North-West England) 2-0 at home like always.
3. Champions League Chumps: 2 wins out of 6, that too laboured wins over some Hungarian newcomers, saw the Reds unceremoniously exit from Europe's elite club competition.
4. Reading writes our FA Cup fate: On paper, one match should've been enough to see off lower division side Reading, but noooooo.....Liverpool's season is supposed to be ducked up isn't it? So the Reds lose the tie over two legs in extra-time and crash out of the FA cup. Oh, and sometime before this, they managed to get knocked out of the Carling Cup as well.
5. Club up for sale: Ah, finally those two stupid Yanks who own the club, Tom Hicks and George Gillet, do the sensible thing and put the club up for sale. The duo who left the club in 350 million pounds worth of debt brought nothing but catastrophe to the club ever since they took over. The only real piece of good news all season.
6. Europa League saving grace?: After being dumped out of the Champions League, Liverpool entered the Europa League, Europe's second tier competition. All hopes of a trophy rested on this competition, and for a while the Reds seemed to show some of that European magic, overturning first leg deficits to convincingly get past Lille and Benfica. Alas, as I earlier said, Liverpool's season is supposed to be ducked up isn't it? So they again lose in extra-time on away goals to Athletico Madrid in the semi-finals, and that's the end of that for the Reds.

Reasons for ducking up

1. Lack of quality: Apart from Gerrard, Torres, Reina and Carragher, Liverpool had completely duck-all players. There was no depth in the squad, and with Gerrard having the worst season of his life and Torres injured half the time, Liverpool had to rely on the likes of Ngog and Kuyt to produce the goals. Yeah, right!
2. Questionable management: There were too many occasions where decisions and tactics employed by Rafa Benitez were questionable to say the least. Whether it was the team formation with Lucas and Mascherano together in midfield, buying an injured Aquilani (how he passed the medical is beyond me) and then refusing to give him opportunities to play when fit, substituting Torres at critical junctures leaving even the skipper visibly flummoxed.......list goes on and on.....and sadly it's now high time that Rafa is replaced.
3. Stupid Yanks: Owner bad Americans.....no give money......no buy players.....no new stadium.....no success....

SWOT assessment


Strengths: Liverpool's key players, including the likes of Gerrard, Torres, Reina, Carragher, Benayoun etc. It is imperative that we keep hold of such players, even though most of them had pretty clappy seasons. Torres needs to go through a whole season without too many fitness worries. Also, the fans......the Kop's the club's biggest strength....YNWA!

Weaknesses: Bunch of duck-all players led by the likes of Lucas, Babel, Insua and Ngog. Seriously, I can't stop talking about how full of clap they are! No creativity in midfield, no worthy strike partner for Torres (Gerrard's better off in midfield), manager trusting the wrong players and making the wrong decisions. All the clap needs to be offloaded and new faces brought in. The youth academy needs to be looked into, as it's been a while since any major players have come through (Insua's clap, so not counted).

Opportunities: With the club being put up for sale, there is a chance for freshening up at the Boardroom level. An owner willing to invest massively in the club is the need of the hour, 'cos with a club like Liverpool, intelligent investing with a long term ambition will definitely yield good returns. Also, a new manager with a different style and perspective of the game is required, and his vision should be backed up with sufficient funding and resources.

Threats: Keeping the best players in the squad will be a tough task, now that the team has not qualified for the Champions League. Also, whether a large enough investment to overhaul the rest of the squad will be available is debatable. It's clear that money is available with the likes of Tottenham and Manchester City, and it's now upto the new owners, whoever they may be, to help Liverpool keep up the pace.

Expectations for 2010-11: An LFC fan's perspective

1. An owner with a vision and financial resources to back that vision. Look at Liverpool as a FOOTBALL CLUB and not a ducking business investment.
2. An astute manager who can create a tactically sound unit and get the best out of his players. I'd love to see someone like Martin O'Neill at the club.
3. Take out the trash, bring in some quality. Priorities: (a) a good left-back (b) cover at right-back for Glen Johnson (c) creative midfielder, I always felt Liverpool missed out on Wesley Sneijder last year when he was available, they need someone like him (d) decent wingers....crossing into the box has been atrocious this season, we need people like Milner, Ashley Young or David Silva (e) Strike partner for Torres.....Darren Bent is a name that comes to mind, scoring 20+ goals for teams like Charlton and Sunderland is no joke, and he has consistently proved himself in the Premier League.
4. Re-opening of plans and resumption of work on the new stadium at Stanley Park.....vital for increased revenue generation over the long term.
5. Consistency in performances.....positive and clinical football....leading to trophies.....we need silverware to restore confidence!

Conclusion
In summary, new owners -> money -> new manager -> quality players -> consistency -> success. Period.

The Return of Tony Stark

Not too many movies have been worth writing about this year. I last wrote about My Name is Khan primarily due to the controversy surrounding SRK and Mumbai, and the irony of the situation vis-a-vis the theme of the film. It really has been a disappointing year thus far for movie-lovers, but that drought has finally been broken - and we warmly welcome back Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark a.k.a the IRON MAN.

The sequel to the 2008 blockbuster was highly anticipated and built-up to be the adrenaline-filled entertainer of the year. Whether it truly does live up to that billing is debatable, but there is no doubt about one fact - the movie rockkkkkkss! High-octane action, memorable lines, mind-blowing visual effects, a chick named Scarlet......the movie has it all, and is a worthy sequel to the first member of the proposed trilogy. Tony Stark is back - and as cocky and arrogant as ever. The mega-billionaire refuses to share his technology with the US military, claiming it would be at least 5 years before anyone comes even close to replicating what he has created. While Tony basks in his own glory, Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a physicist and son of Anton Vanko, a former Soviet scientist, successfully recreates the arc-reactor that powers Tony's Iron Man suit. He is out for revenge on the Stark family after Tony's father Howard was indirectly responsible for his father being banished to Siberia. He proceeds to attack Tony in Monaco, but is captured. He is later broken out, and strikes a deal with Tony's rival, Justin Hammer. Hammer enlists Ivan's help to replicate the Iron Man, but Ivan secretly uses Hammer's resources to carry out his own hidden agenda. All this leads to a fantastic showdown between Ivan and Tony in the climax, with some exhilarating sequences powering the adrenaline rush inside you.

Robert Downey Jr. yet again steals the show, rendering a performance with flair and panache, just as you'd expect him to. He brings out the cocky and egoistic nature of Tony Stark's character effortlessly, yet providing subtle human touches in between when needed. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, Tony's assistant and later CEO of Stark Industries, is elegant as ever. Scarlett Johansson as Natalie Rushman provides the visual treat for the guys (and maybe some girls too? ;)), and you just cannot take your eyes off her when she's on screen! The sequence where she battles a bunch of agents in the corridoor reminds one of certain sequences from The Matrix. I was surprised by how little Mickey Rourke had to do in the film, and expected his role to be much longer. Though he emaculately portrayed the negative role as required, he hardly had any lines to say, and a man with the kind of talent he possesses (anyone who has watched The Wrestler would vouch for that) definitely deserved a lot more. The rest of the cast did justice to their parts, and contributed to one helluva movie.

The movie has its fair share of memorable lines too - I doubt anyone would ever forget Tony Stark pompously declaring "I have successfully privatized world peace!" for a long time! The movie may seem a bit more mindless, at least compared to the first part, but then hey, it's science fiction.....and when you have RDJ and Scarlett J on screen, who gives a fck?? Just sit back and enjoy....! 4/5 for me.....you'll definitely get your money's worth!