Re: World Soccer XVIII: A New Season
I get the feeling that Liverpool will be a copy of the Red Sox in many ways... and I'm not sure Liverpool fans are going to like it per se.
First of all, we all know that Henry is not Abrimovich or the Saudis(?) who own Man City... he's somebody who has made slow and steady gains but will first and foremost be using the club's revenues to further the club and not his own piggy bank.
I think we'll see "moneyball thinking" in the way that they select their managers and other support staff. While soccer is hard to quantify... not for lack of effort.... with the interest in soccer being what it is there is a lot more people trying to analyze it... I have to believe they're like the NFL in that the competition mechanism they'll gladly slaughter sacred cows if it gave them an edge. Baseball has traditionally been lazier and melancholy when dealing with the competitive framework.... such is the nature of the sport when parity is what it is. That being said, i think the same type of thinking will be reflective in the management they choose... its effectiveness will be muted in that others probably already think along the same lines. I also think that fans won't be so thrilled because the effort is more of a growth model than a purchase model. So many fans want "the miracle" to happen where they go out and spend whatever it takes to get certain players... Sox fans are not immune to this... no sports fan is immune to this. Nevertheless, I think you'll see an eye towards internal player development and resource management... its funny to have Henry and the Kraft/Belichek in the same (New England) market because they're similar in that type of strategy. Also, like the Red Sox, there exists a budget, yes its larger than most teams, but it does and will exist.
Also, in terms of stadiums... I've seen a lot of writing on how the "fenway preservation" will be the model for Liverpool. Not knowing Liverpool and their geographic reality I would say that while it may be likely due to the success of the Fenway modernization project, I think its silly to say that such things are inevitable. I have to think that Henry will study that situation, if he hasn't already, and make that decision independent of the goings in Boston. The only issue will be, "if you build a new stadium it will cost money"... but all stadiums do in the end. Keeping the old stadium is often an advantage because you don't have to go deeper into debt. Of course, myself not knowing Liverpool, can he tap into the same kind of insanity that envelopes the Red Sox?
It should be interesting to see what happens... and while I've foresworn "taking on an EPL team" or getting invested into club soccer I can't help but be interested to see what road Liverpool goes down as their situation is a little testy and that Henry isn't the magical billionaire investor who will throw around dollars like it was water.
