“Liverpool are becoming Tottenham, think they are a big club, but the real big clubs are not too worried about them and what they are going to do and who they are going to buy. At this moment Liverpool think we are a big club but we are not.”
These are the words echoed by Jamie Carragher as Liverpool sacked Brendan Rodgers on the 4th of October 2015 in the Sky Studio. Liverpool were heading nowhere, 25 years since they won the League and only a League Cup to show in the previous decade. Their squad too was an indictment of where they were and carried the likes of Christian Benteke, Steven Caulker and Alberto Moreno to name a few. Liverpool and FSG seemed to be sailing a rudderless ship and the cycle of disappointment looked set to continue.
However 4 days later their fortunes were set to change as they appointed a bespectacled German Coach named Jurgen Klopp and the rest as they say is history. It got worse before it got better and his first season included 2 Cup Final losses and Liverpool finishing 8th in the league. But 5 years later Liverpool have won the Premier League while losing only 2 games in 2 years, reached 2 back to back Champions League finals and won the tournament in 2019. This has been nothing short of a 5 year miracle that has been a product of astute management, planning in the transfer market and a clear identity and a winning culture that starts from the owners and spreads to the guys cleaning the Kop after a match-day.
Klopp has been the influential cog on Merseyside and has developed a style of football that is both attractive to watch and effective. He has transformed his front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino into world beaters, created a midfield trio of marathon runners and has demonstrated the impact of full backs on the modern game. But this transformation is much more than just the manager.
Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s director of football and the man behind the scenes has had as much of a role in the rise of the club in recent seasons. To get to where they are today Liverpool have done as much right off the pitch as they have done on it. Their scouting network and money-ball based transfer policies have worked wonders. They unearthed diamonds from relegated clubs like Newcastle and Hull by signing Robertson and Wijnaldum. As Gary Neville said they turned 30 million pound players like Mane and Salah into 130 million pound players. And finally when they had to go big they bought the finished article in terms of Virgil Van Dijk and Alisson to complete their team.
But it does not end there, Liverpool have done all this while being a selling club and have had a net spend of only 107 million pounds across this 5 year period. They have been able to squeeze out every single penny from the transfer market. Benteke and Mamadou Sakho were sold for a total of 52 million to Crystal Palace, Dominic Solanke and Jordon Ibe were shipped off to Bournemouth for a total of 35 million and Phillipe Coutinho was sold for a massive fee in excess of 100 million. Since that fateful night in October 2015, Liverpool have hardly put a foot wrong in these last 5 years and are now set up to dominate England and Europe for the foreseeable future.
That same day, Arsenal beat Manchester United 3-0 at the Emirates. Ozil and Sanchez were in the prime of their careers, Coquelin and Cazorla controlled the midfield and Arsenal finally had a reliable keeper in the form of Cech. Coming off back to back FA Cup wins it seemed as if Arsenal had turned a corner and could supplement their consistent Champions League finishes with a sustained title push. But as Liverpool’s fortunes rose with the emergence of Klopp, Arsenal’s light grew dimmer and dimmer. The 5 years that followed included the entire Wenger Out shenanigans, the Emery fiasco and the growing divide among the fan-base as demonstrated weekly on AFTV. To add to that there has been a complete failure at board level in the last 5 years. Ozil and Sanchez were allowed to run down their contracts, Aaron Ramsey was let go on a free, the transfer strategies are highly questionable and now it seems like Arsenal’s transfer policy is dictated by super-agents.
So that is where we are now, in 2020. Arsenal are facing a situation not too dissimilar to what Liverpool found themselves in during 2015. A managerial change, the fans dissapointed with their board and American owners and the club slowly losing its identity and brand. It would be naive to think that Arsenal are a big club. Yes Arsenal are a huge organisation, with history, values and a huge stadium and a global fan following. But are Arsenal really challenging? Do the likes of City or Liverpool or Chelsea really care what Arsenal do in the transfer market or are worried that the Gunners will catch up with them or be a force to be reckoned with? Much like how it was for Liverpool in 2015 the answer unfortunately is no.
Arsenal currently sit 10th in the Premier League (as I write this) and are set for their worse Premier League finish since its inception. Their star striker and captain Pierre Emerick Aubameyang only has a year left on his contract and could leave North London this summer. Mesut Ozil is earning 350k a week and is nothing more than a shadow on match-days. And finally the defensive issues at Arsenal are perfectly encapsulated by David Luiz who Arsenal have offered a 1 year extension.
While things do look despondent at the club, its never as bad as you think and its isn’t all isn’t doom and gloom yet. Arsenal now have a manager who like Liverpool and Klopp, the fans can believe in and rally behind. There is a promising set of youngsters emerging from the Hale End academy such as Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, Joe Willock that Arsenal can build around. Signings such as Martinelli, Saliba, Pepe and Tierney also do show some promise. Football moves in cycles, and there will come a time in the future where Liverpool will drop off, Guardiola will leave City and United and Chelsea might have to evolve. That time will come, and Arsenal and Arteta need to set themselves up now so they can take advantage of the changing of the guard when it comes and be in a position like Liverpool are in today.
In the age of spending and oil money, Liverpool have been able to compete with the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea on a much smaller budget. They have shown clubs like Arsenal what the way forward is, and what direction they need to take. It is now down to the Arsenal hierarchy to follow their footsteps, and bring the glory days back to Islington.
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