by Tony Attwood
Most clubs and their owners talk a decent fight when they are forced to, but of course not all of them have the 100% baacking of their fans AND the national media. Liverpool generally are the big exception – they have undying support from Liverpudlians and those who have chosen to follow from elsewhere, and support from the media. This ensures they get lots of extra money coming their way – transfer income is higher because the players on offer have had the Liverpool experience, and the media ceaselessly show Liverpool games live. That in turn sells lots of extra memorabilia at ever higher prices.
So Liverpool can buy whomever they want, and last summer they did. And it was a disaster. It’s like the rich kid buying all the toys and then finding he doesn’t want any of them. But worse than that – those in the club couldn’t believe it had gone wrong, because this was Liverpool and this doesn’t happen to Liverpool.
Yet it had worked in the past, so it was also the model that Chelsea seemed to want to follow, but somehow they cocked up the process too, perhaps feeling that everything could be achieved in the blink of an eye. The Club World Cup winners making transfer mistakes, just like the eternal champions. Who would have thought it! Even worse, it seems the media didn’t really have a clue that Liverpool were getting it wrong and so somehow treated their fall from grace as a temporary affair that would soon be righted.
Certainly, there was a lot of mucking about with the team a year ago, and yes, of course, the sudden death of a colleague affects everyone in many different ways. Such an event is awful, but it happens in all sorts of organisations, and larger organisations that are utterly dependent on the mental well-being of the employees should have a team in place to deal with all unexpected incidents. Of course, player deaths happen thankfully very rarely, but life-changing injuries and loss of form due ot psychological issues happen more often, and the support team is supposed to be there to deal with all of that.
Arrogance has often been a word associated with Liverpool, and maybe they won the league so easily last season they thought that they could spend like Barcelona or Real Mad – meaning buy the most expensive players and if some don’t work out well, who cares? They were certain to win the league again, and that thought was extended by the fact that Chelsea, not Arsenal, were seen as the biggest rivals. And Chelsea didn’t worry anyone much because clubs run by people who don’t know much about football always screw up. As evidence, I offer Tottenham Ho.
So there was a situation last summer in which Tottenham, Chelsea and Manchester United were seen as being run by people who simply didn’t know how to build a team, while Arsenal were dismissed because, well all the media said Arsenal were not up to much, what with coming second three seasons running and some fans demanding Arteta be sacked for not having a winning mentality. Liverpool had it all pretty much to themselves and when Chelsea started doing that “sack the manager” thing, the certainty of a good season for Liverpool was extended.
But there was something else going on as well: support. While a few Arsenal supporters said that after five and a half seasons, Arteta should go, most didn’t. And because the media didn’t take Arsenal seriously, so neither did the other big clubs. Which is why when Arsenal started winning a lot, the rest didn’t seem to mind. The media was already preparing the “Arsenal cheating” theories, but somehow the refs didn’t notice.
Surely it couldn’t have been because of our referee previews, showing just how biased some refs can be which made some of them change track? Obviously, we will never know but it is a nice little suggestion to bring up over the final pint.
And certainly, as Arsenal fans grew into the feeling this could be quite a good season, so uncertainty spread elsewhere. As for ManC they looked like a team that couldn’t believe that the referees were not doing what ManC required. After all, they always had done in the past.
Arrogance is a dangerous emotion to have in football. It is ok when you win, win and win again, but any other time it can make both players and supporters look and feel stupid – and while players can go home and count their cash, supporters reflect on just how much supporting this team is costing them. Fans can turn, and when they do, clubs need to beware. Arsenal fans have never turned on Arteta because the man who came before him was so awful in the way he spent transfer funds; his appointment has been seen as a warning ever since. By and large we are still feeling good.
