muttley
Alert Team
I always felt that in the summer of 2017 was our time to push on as a club after amassing 86 points in the league and finishing 2nd. It is intriguing (and disappointing) to see the fortunes of Liverpool and Spurs in that period since, but importantly have a think about what we now need to do in these next 3-5 years. We obviously didn’t push on and there is no point looking backwards and putting ourselves through that again. Instead, I thought I’d share some data on Liverpool and perhaps identify what we now need to do in these next 3-5 years to achieve the outcomes we all want. What model do we need?
The last 5 years for Liverpool under Klopp have been amazing for the fans. Starting with the 2016/17 season, we finished 10 points clear of them on 86 points. They finished 4th and made the Champion’s League places. Then they put the afterburners on.
What has happened since is transformational and once again this weekend they step out in a Champions League final, as favourites. On the positive side, I like to think we did our bit to stop them winning the league (and potential quadruple) with our result at Anfield a couple of weeks back.
So tracing it back, here’s the journey.
Liverpool squad 2016/17
Goalkeepers: Simon Mignolet, Loris Karius, Alex Manninger
Defenders: Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan, Mamadou Sakho, Tiago Ilori, Nathaniel Clyne (HG), James Milner (HG), Alberto Moreno
Midfielders: Emre Can, Jordan Henderson (HG), Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana (HG), Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane, Lucas Leiva, Kevin Stewart (HG),
Strikers: Daniel Sturridge (HG), Roberto Firmino, Danny Ings (HG)
Notable U21 Players: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cameron Brannagan, Pedro Chirivella, Ovie Ejaria, Shamal George, Joe Gomez, Marko Grujic, Caoimhin Kelleher, Sheyi Ojo, Divock Origi, Connor Randall, Harry Wilson, Ben Woodburn
Trophies in last 5 years: 1 League Title, 1 Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup
League finishes
17/18 – 4th, 75 Pts.
18/19 – 2nd, 97 Pts
19/20 – 1st, 99 Pts
20/21 – 3rd, 69 Pts
21/22 – 2nd, 92 Pts
Transfer Spend
2017/18 – In £156m, Out £166m (In: VVD, Salah, Ox, Robertson Out: Coutinho, Sakho)
2018/19 – In £164m. Out £34m (In: Allison, Keita, Fabinho Out: Solanke)
2019/20 – In £9m, Out £40m (In: Minamino Out: Ings)
2020/21 – In £74m, Out £15m (In: Jota, Thiago, Tsimikas, Out: Lovren, Llalana)
2021/22 – In £78m, Out £25m (In: Diaz, Konate Out: Wilson)
Over the 5 years, that is £481m spend on incoming players getting £280m back. So average of £40m net spending a year but lumpy because of the Coutinho exit.
There was also an interesting article a couple of months ago sharing the current “Big 6” salaries. In brackets is the same number from the 16/17 season from another older article.
Manchester City £355m (£244m)
Chelsea £333m (£256m)
Manchester United £323m (£264m)
Liverpool £314m (£200m)
Arsenal £244m (£234m)
Tottenham £205m (£120m)
For me, the final bit of the story comes with the revenues. Liverpool had £364m in 2017 and has now exceeded the half billion. Through COVID the club flatlined around £490m mostly dues to the success on the pitch. Compared to us, our revenues started at £306m in 2017 and we rose just above £400m before the impacts of COVID and no Champion’s League took us back to £360m by the 2021 accounts. So what do we conclude from this? Mostly that we can compete more than we think we can, especially now we have a fully leveraged stadium and Champs League again.
What the Fenway Sports Group (John Henry) did was put the right leadership structure around Klopp. Everything from a link-role between the US and UK to having throw-in coaches to improve the performance on the pitch. They got the recruitment right because they got the recruitment team right. They got a strong manager and they still play the same formation as they played 5 years ago. They figured out rotation and they kept their players fresh enough to play at the intensity that wins things. They clearly had the right level of depth in their squad, but only 6 or 7 of the 16/17 squad survived the journey. Klopp had great players but he never built dependency on any individuals.
So I would say that we have reasons to be optimistic. We are not yet operating at the salary levels of the others yet, but there is no reason why we can’t bridge the difference over these next couple of years. Mostly though, we need to emulate the stability in the leadership team and the execution in the transfer market. In Conte, we now have our Klopp, and he can make things happen on the pitch.
So what does everyone else think?
The last 5 years for Liverpool under Klopp have been amazing for the fans. Starting with the 2016/17 season, we finished 10 points clear of them on 86 points. They finished 4th and made the Champion’s League places. Then they put the afterburners on.
What has happened since is transformational and once again this weekend they step out in a Champions League final, as favourites. On the positive side, I like to think we did our bit to stop them winning the league (and potential quadruple) with our result at Anfield a couple of weeks back.
So tracing it back, here’s the journey.
Liverpool squad 2016/17
Goalkeepers: Simon Mignolet, Loris Karius, Alex Manninger
Defenders: Joel Matip, Dejan Lovren, Ragnar Klavan, Mamadou Sakho, Tiago Ilori, Nathaniel Clyne (HG), James Milner (HG), Alberto Moreno
Midfielders: Emre Can, Jordan Henderson (HG), Philippe Coutinho, Adam Lallana (HG), Georginio Wijnaldum, Sadio Mane, Lucas Leiva, Kevin Stewart (HG),
Strikers: Daniel Sturridge (HG), Roberto Firmino, Danny Ings (HG)
Notable U21 Players: Trent Alexander-Arnold, Cameron Brannagan, Pedro Chirivella, Ovie Ejaria, Shamal George, Joe Gomez, Marko Grujic, Caoimhin Kelleher, Sheyi Ojo, Divock Origi, Connor Randall, Harry Wilson, Ben Woodburn
Trophies in last 5 years: 1 League Title, 1 Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup
League finishes
17/18 – 4th, 75 Pts.
18/19 – 2nd, 97 Pts
19/20 – 1st, 99 Pts
20/21 – 3rd, 69 Pts
21/22 – 2nd, 92 Pts
Transfer Spend
2017/18 – In £156m, Out £166m (In: VVD, Salah, Ox, Robertson Out: Coutinho, Sakho)
2018/19 – In £164m. Out £34m (In: Allison, Keita, Fabinho Out: Solanke)
2019/20 – In £9m, Out £40m (In: Minamino Out: Ings)
2020/21 – In £74m, Out £15m (In: Jota, Thiago, Tsimikas, Out: Lovren, Llalana)
2021/22 – In £78m, Out £25m (In: Diaz, Konate Out: Wilson)
Over the 5 years, that is £481m spend on incoming players getting £280m back. So average of £40m net spending a year but lumpy because of the Coutinho exit.
There was also an interesting article a couple of months ago sharing the current “Big 6” salaries. In brackets is the same number from the 16/17 season from another older article.
Manchester City £355m (£244m)
Chelsea £333m (£256m)
Manchester United £323m (£264m)
Liverpool £314m (£200m)
Arsenal £244m (£234m)
Tottenham £205m (£120m)
For me, the final bit of the story comes with the revenues. Liverpool had £364m in 2017 and has now exceeded the half billion. Through COVID the club flatlined around £490m mostly dues to the success on the pitch. Compared to us, our revenues started at £306m in 2017 and we rose just above £400m before the impacts of COVID and no Champion’s League took us back to £360m by the 2021 accounts. So what do we conclude from this? Mostly that we can compete more than we think we can, especially now we have a fully leveraged stadium and Champs League again.
What the Fenway Sports Group (John Henry) did was put the right leadership structure around Klopp. Everything from a link-role between the US and UK to having throw-in coaches to improve the performance on the pitch. They got the recruitment right because they got the recruitment team right. They got a strong manager and they still play the same formation as they played 5 years ago. They figured out rotation and they kept their players fresh enough to play at the intensity that wins things. They clearly had the right level of depth in their squad, but only 6 or 7 of the 16/17 squad survived the journey. Klopp had great players but he never built dependency on any individuals.
So I would say that we have reasons to be optimistic. We are not yet operating at the salary levels of the others yet, but there is no reason why we can’t bridge the difference over these next couple of years. Mostly though, we need to emulate the stability in the leadership team and the execution in the transfer market. In Conte, we now have our Klopp, and he can make things happen on the pitch.
So what does everyone else think?