Brendan Rodgers and his players have copped heavy criticism at times this season and understandably so, but the absence of Liverpool’s owners on Saturday was, in my opinion, a reminder of how Liverpool’s issues lie further than the manager and the players.
We said goodbye to the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be on Saturday… well the fans did anyway.
Those who run the club we love stayed back in Boston to think of new ways they could improve their beloved baseball side, the Boston Red Sox.
For me, there’s no questioning that FSG’s passion remains within Boston and not within the city of Liverpool. Baseball is the sport they grew up with and that’s what they invest more time into it, but that is still no excuse for their absence on Saturday.
The fact that John W. Henry and Tom Werner did not attend Steven Gerrard’s final game at Anfield sums it all up. The greatest ever player to wear the red shirt made his final appearance and not one of them was there.
Fans from all around the world spent ridiculous amounts of money to get a seat within Anfield on that fine Saturday evening and here we are talking about two owners who, by the looks of it, had better things to do.
I have always questioned FSG’s commitment from early days. FSG took over at a difficult period and saved us from debt, but what have they done since?
They aren’t interested in football and we are nothing more than just an ordinary football club to them. They don’t understand how big and how much Liverpool Football Club means to so many.
Liverpool is a club that should have some of the best players around the world, but very few of the current crop of players we have now have me feeling even slightly optimistic about next season.
If FSG were serious about Liverpool winning trophies and becoming a European powerhouse again, we wouldn’t be selling our best players and looking at players who are nothing more than promising.
The FSG model just simply isn’t for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big believer in getting young and exciting players but that is providing there are players who have proven themselves on the biggest stage around them. Right now, Liverpool don’t have that.
The footballing world won’t stand still for the likes of Jordon Ibe and Raheem Sterling (if he even stays!) to turn into those proven, quality footballers we desperately need now.
I love the look of those two youngsters but if FSG seriously believe we can challenge for Champions League positions every season with kids then the pain will continue for the supporters.
We’ve been in the Champions League once in the past five years. That one year we managed to finish in the top four, it was very much down to the brilliance of a world class footballer, Luis Suarez. There was a blend of youth around players like Suarez and Gerrard and it is something we are lacking at this present time.
FSG love to do good business, which in their eyes is bringing a player in as cheap as possible, and that is the problem. To get the best players available, you need to spend big and FSG aren’t prepared to do that. We need owners who understand football and not what good business is.
FSG are now five years into their tenure and you would think they have learnt a thing or two about how the footballing world works. It doesn’t seem that way though.
If the owners couldn’t make an appearance at Steven Gerrard’s final game at Anfield, then that says it all about how much passion they have for the club.
For Liverpool Football Club to progress and return to Europe’s elite, they would need the owners to have a drastic change in mentality or a new ownership is brought in. People need to look beyond what FSG have done for us and look at what they haven’t done for us. We need owners with ambition and that want to see us at the top again.
People can criticise the young manager and the young group of players, but at the end of the day, this is FSG’s model and vision. From my personal standpoint, if anyone is to go, it should be them before anyone else.
