---
title: "Sustainability: The Origin of Success"
canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/articles/sustainability-the-origin-of-success/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Jack Widnell"
section: "Articles"
published: "2013-02-07T18:25:54Z"
modified: "2013-08-23T19:31:13Z"
---

# Sustainability: The Origin of Success

It’s coming up to the tenth anniversary of Roman Abramovich’s purchase of Chelsea Football Club. Looking back, it’s difficult to conceptualise a time before ‘modern football’ and its investor sandbox-like atmosphere for billionaires to indulge the riches they possess in order to spy trophies. But there was indeed a time when a £10million transfer wasn’t considered a bargain and where a club’s profit wasn’t expected to be fluttered about in the transfer market as freely as butterflies into the wild.

In a short period of time, football’s dynamic has evolved to such an extent that long-term stability, paired with success, has been all but cast aside. The fact of the matter is money talks. The incessant requirement for continuous investment in order to initiate and maintain the success of clubs is such that the more self-sufficient clubs, without the backing of oil-rich Arabs, are very much struggling to adapt to the evolving structure of modern football.

It’s been over two years now since Fenway Sports Group’s contested purchase of Liverpool Football Club was completed and the effects of their reign are still yet to be witnessed. Despite the wealth of the Boston-based consortium stretching into the billions, they certainly aren’t advocates of throwing money at problems in a buoyant attempt at finding a solution. Abiding by UEFA’s recently introduced Financial Fair Play rules is a key objective at Liverpool whereby reducing the wage bill, bringing in new commercial deals and a much debated transfer policy of signing young players has been introduced in efforts to make the club profitable.

Concern has also been raised about how the club’s owners are trying to generate revenue, but there is nothing wrong with attempting to make the club host a profitable skeleton. In truth, it would be more beneficial. Arsenal are one of the few clubs around in a healthy financial state and they are still able to remain (relatively) competitive. The only problem being; investment is a fundamental requirement in order to be able to progress and develop, otherwise the other teams around you, who are more willing to spend to improve their squads, begin to strengthen and consequently, you begin to weaken.

The epicentre of discussion at the Anfield based club has recently been about the transfer policy employed by the owners. It’s no secret that FSG and Brendan Rodgers are looking to sign younger talent. Since Brendan Rodgers came to the club, six of Liverpool’s seven signings class as under-23s, the only exception being Oussama Assaidi, who turned 24 just three days before completing his move to Merseyside. Liverpool boast one of the youngest squads in the Premier League, but debate has been raging on about the lack of experience in the squad.

FSG have, on occasion, spoken about younger players being preferred as developing potential leads to a player having a greater re-sale value. My criticism of that is that a team trying to be the best needn’t be concerned with how much money they can get for their top talent. Any successful club would need to look at retaining their top talent, not offloading it. Fans have voiced their concern on multiple occasions, as have key players. Luis Suárez and Steven Gerrard have both had sly digs at the club’s youthful policy, with Gerrard expressing disappointment at the lack of proven, experienced talent being recruited.

Suárez was the one to insinuate that a youthful policy hints at a lack of ambition and desire to succeed. “Success does not depend on individual players, but the whole team. The mentality is that young players win matches and experienced players win championships.”

“I think you’ve got to add experience to young gifted players as well because in this league and at this level you need experience to be successful”. Gerrard has a point. Although Rodgers, and owners alike, have stressed that there is no overnight fix to Liverpool’s problems and that any solution is long-term. One of the first things Brendan Rodgers was quick to emphasise was that “it’s going to be a process”.

The current Liverpool squad has too much recognised ‘potential’ and doesn’t possess enough standout quality to be able to compete for the highly coveted Champions League spots. Patience is not a trait possessed by the modern football fan, but in-terms of a long-term process, the club is developing nicely. Although initially sceptical about the idea, regardless of how eager I am for success in the short-term, the long-term stability and progress of Liverpool Football Club takes precedent. Success in football nowadays is so readily available, with brain-detached cash-injections, that anyone not able to keep up with the extortionate levels of investment are gradually expected to slip away. The harsh reality is teams with the right approach are allowed to not only follow UEFA’s FFP guidelines, but create a stable platform for success to be built upon, but seldom is that going to ignite success overnight. This is what FSG are hoping to accomplish. Building a steady platform for success to be developed may not be the most popular move in the short-term, but if they play their cards right, they could end up with the strongest hand in the long-term.

Aston Villa were so obsessed in creating a youthful team, reducing their wage bill and becoming profitable that now their lack of experience and leadership results in them slipping away at an alarming rate, and they’re beginning to witness the drawbacks of cutting costs too quickly. Failure to make a process such as cutting costs a long-term process results in deterioration due to losing quality and influence too quickly.

At the start of the season, the squad was in dire need of options in attack, but the success of academy graduate Raheem Sterling alongside the revival of Stewart Downing, paired with the capture of Daniel Sturridge and Philippe Coutinho has left Liverpool with not only a dangerous offensive line, but a youthful one. Brendan Rodgers has stressed that it will still take one, two or three transfer windows before he is going to be able to build the squad he wants, but the early signs are encouraging, I’m confident that Liverpool, under Brendan Rodgers’s guidance, are going places. It’s just going to take time. Patience is obligatory.