Power vacuum
Angry Rafa Benitez can’t sign players – because there is nobody at Anfield to write a cheque
Jonathan Northcroft
Rafael Benitez kept blowing his nose as he spoke to the press on Thursday. His complaints about the transfer inertia of his football club’s hierarchy were caustic; a savaging with sniffles. In the lobby of Athens’ Pentelikon Hotel sat Steven Gerrard, ashen, bent forward, chin resting on folded arms. The strain of losing a Champions League final attacked manager and captain physically.
You are supposed never to walk alone at Liverpool. You celebrate and suffer as one, but infuriating Benitez was a feeling he had been deserted. Tom Hicks, George Gillett and their families were already on their way home to the US. Benitez made it clear he no longer believed Rick Parry could deliver signings: what about Gillett’s son, Foster, installed by the new owners to run Anfield? “Yes,” glowered Benitez, “but he is not here now.” Foster was on the plane with Pops. When did Benitez need him? “Today.”
Liverpool finished 2006-07 not only trophyless but with a power vacuum swirling at its heart. Benitez’s polemic about the need to spend big and change the club’s “structure” after defeat by Milan was more than just an attack on Parry, as it was reported. The manager has succeeded, with his usual painstaking effort, in coaxing at least two “top-class targets” to the verge of joining Liverpool, only to have to keep them waiting while superiors dally. Benitez spent a long time hinting to journalists at the root problem until finally being pinned down. He kept saying he trusted Hicks and Gillett’s promise to fund signings, so why no transfers? Is the money in Liverpool’s bank account, but there is nobody to sign the cheques? “Okay,” Benitez nodded. “You know.”
The manager has grown apart from Parry, Anfield’s chief executive, over several issues, including Liverpool being committed to two friendly tournaments, in Holland and Asia, this preseason. Benitez suggested Parry no longer has authority to push transfers through. Foster Gillett will not be Liverpool’s managing director until August. With Parry a lame duck and power held by absentee barons without their own man on the ground, the club feels paralysed. “We can improve the squad, but we have to do it now. It’s a crucial time. We can’t say, ‘We’ll see what happens in August’. Then you will lose your targets,” Benitez said.
Background
Fans feared Athens tragedy
He may seem like the avuncular propietario of a neighbourhood tapas bar but Benitez is as political as Jose Mourinho. On the surface throwing barbs at Gillett and Hicks seems unwise, given the my-way-or-the-high-way culture of American business leaders, but Benitez’s attack was carefully worked out. The Americans’ strategy relies on building a new Anfield, with a 70,000-plus capacity, and they need the fans with them. But the supporters are with Benitez and so are the players, Jamie Carragher and Gerrard especially.
Rather than admonishing him, the Americans have already moved to placate Benitez. Late on Friday there was a transatlantic conference call involving Foster and George Gillett, Hicks and his son Tommy, Parry and Benitez. “We had a long call and agreed on actions to be taken with our own players and with possible new players and we are all comfortable with our plan,” said Tom Hicks. He excused Benitez’s ire in Athens: “He was very upset the day after the match.”
Benitez’s challenge to the owners is to back up their words with action. The current stasis is affecting Liverpool’s most important players. Despite reports that Gerrard and Carragher had extended their contracts, nothing has been finalised. There is delay over new deals for Xabi Alonso and Jose Reina. On Wednesday night in Athens, Benitez held a powwow with Gerrard, Carragher, Reina and Alonso. They are his inner circle, the players around whom he sees Liverpool’s future being built. “We were talking about the game, the quality of the opposition players, the tactics we had. Xabi, Reina, Gerrard, Carra want to know that you have good players ready to sign. The problem is if we spend time, if we waste time, we can’t sign the players we want,” said Benitez.
Were Gerrard and company as “frustrated and angry” as he? “Yes. The players must be happy and have confidence in the team.” Should Liverpool worry about losing some of the quartet if the impasse over new contracts continues? “Could be. Because they are good players and they could have some offers.”
Benitez is about to go on holiday for a week but will continue working via his mobile phone and said he would be “disappointed” if at least one new signing is not clinched by the time he gets back. His previous three seasons at Liverpool make him pessimistic. A lack of funds in the pre-American era, coupled with what Benitez sees as Parry’s less-than-dynamic modus operandi, saw the manager put a deal in place for Nemanja Vidic, only to be gazumped by Manchester United. Simao Sabrosa was so keen to join Liverpool last summer he was sending messages to Benitez until transfer deadline day, but ended up staying at Benfica. He is back on Benitez’s shopping list along with Gabriel Milito, Jefferson Farfan, David Silva, David Villa and Samuel Eto’o.
Athens exposed the best and worst of the present Liverpool. Through effort rather than technical flourishes they had Milan pinned down until Filippo Inzaghi’s lucky opener. Yet they are also limited, lacking invention and personnel to alter a defensive gameplan at 1-0 down.
If Benitez gets the big money and quick action he wants, especially after being so bolshie, it will be his make-or-break moment. The idea he has already spent £100m is creative accounting by his critics. Benitez’s net spending is £44m over three seasons. For that he has twice finished above Arsenal and won as many trophies as Manchester United. “You must be clear. I am happy with the new owners. I trust them and they want to finish as high as possible because they are winners – this is one thing I like about them. But they need to understand the business here. We have just signed Lucas Leiva, a top-class midfielder, 20, the Golden Boot in Brazil. There was another big club after him but we did a fantastic job. It’s not always a question of the amount you pay, but how quickly you move.”
Rafa Benitez in the transfer market
- Since Rafa Benitez joined Liverpool in June 2004 he has signed 29 players. He has also unloaded 36, thereby cutting his net outlay to around £44m. His signings are:
Josemi (Malaga £2m, now Villareal), Luis Garcia (Barcelona £6m), Xabi Alonso (Sociedad £10.5m), Antonio Nunez (R Madrid swap, now Celta Vigo), Mauricio Pellegrino (Valencia free, now Alaves), Fernando Morientes (R Madrid £6.3m, now Valencia), Scott Carson (Leeds £750,000), Jose Reina (Villarreal £6m), Mark Gonzalez (Albacete £4.5m), Boudewijn Zenden (Middlesbro free), Antonio Barragan (Sevilla free, now Deportivo), Mohamed Sissoko (Valencia £5.6m), Peter Crouch (So’ton £7m), Godwin Antwi (Zaragoza free), Jack Hobbs (Lincoln free), Paul Anderson (Hull free), Jan Kromkamp (Villarreal swap, now PSV), David Martin (MK Dons free), Daniel Agger (Brondby £5.8m), Robbie Fowler (Man City free), Craig Bellamy (Blackburn £6m), Gabriel Paletta (Ban? eld £2m), Fabiano Aurelio (Valencia free), Jermaine Pennant (Birmingham £6.7m), Dirk Kuyt (Feyenoord £9m), Nabil El Zhar (St Etienne free), Alvaro Arbeloa (Deportivo £2.6m), Francisco Duran (Malaga free), Javier Mascherano (West Ham free)
Possible targets: Gabriel Milito (Zaragoza, defender) £8m Jefferson Farfan (PSV, striker) £10m Simao Sabrosa (Ben? ca, winger) £12m Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona, striker) £30m David Villa (Valencia, striker) £35m
Interesting to note that it had only been 44m rather than the often quoted 100m pounds
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