Ever heard of Godwin Antwi? No I hadn't either.
Benitez's hall of transfer (much of it) shame.
http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sport/football/article-1221975/Rafa-Benitezs-229m-spending-spree-The-76-players-signed-Liverpool-managers-reign.html
Antwi was a Ghanaian teenager signed on a free who led the Liverpool Youth Team to the FA Youth Cup back in 2006, but never progressed and was ultimately released. I'd imagine it's a tale that's replicated across all clubs, although the odd thing is that pretty much every single young player fails to make the grade at Liverpool. Either the youth/reserve set up needs ripping up and rebuilding, or Benitez is failing in bringing them through. Anyway, to look at most of the 70 players brought in, the majority have been teenagers on free or nominal transfers, many reflecting the increasingly multi-national nature of the recruitment of youth players, which is prevalent across all top English clubs
The £220m is a gross spend; his net spend is around £90m. Over 5 seasons, that's around £18m per season overall, and in the last 2 seasons has been about £5m per season. I'm not some myopic Benitez supporter here - indeed I think it's time he left - but he did have to rebuild the team after Houllier's even more profligate spending era (with next to no top quality assets to show for it). If we look at it clinically, Benitez could raise over £100m this summer by selling Torres, Gerrad and Mascherano if he so chose.
Yes, Benitez has signed some stinkers, but - and again I find myself in the uncomfortable position of appearing to be defending him - not all the blame for those signings can be wholley attributed to Benitez. The most obvious example is Robbie Keane. Benitez wanted Gareth Barry, for a sum of around £12m. Rick Parry wouldn't authorise the spend, and instead set up a ludicrously overpriced deal for Keane against the wishes of Benitez. Yes, Benitez showed the wors tof his pigheadedness by never giving Keane a proper chance, but the signing wasn't the fault of Benitez. Jermaine Pennant was another crap signing, but wasn't Benitez first, or indeed second, choice. Benitez had wanted either Simao or Daniel Alves - both of whom could have been at Anfield for around £10-12m. Again, the club wouldn't sanction the spend and Benitez had to turn to the bargain bucket to pick up Pennant. Both Simao and Alves went on to roughly double their value in the next couple of years. He also made a loss when he bought Morientes (a purchase rushed into when Owen strung Liverppol along all summer, then flitted off to Madrid at the 11th hour). Yet who could have forseen Morientes being a failure? A strong, proven goalscorer who most pundits thought ideal for the EPL, surely a snip at £6m. Hmmm.
In just a bit longer timescale, the greatest manager of his generation has signed high-cost disappointments like Veron, Djemba-Djemba, Kleberson, Saha, Alan Smith, Carrick, Hargreaves, Anderson, Nani, Tosic and Berbatov - for a combined cost of around £170m.
I take no pleasure in seeing the back of Benitez but feel we need to if we're to progress. I just can't shake the feeling we may actually end up regretting the decision.
But most of all, we need to get shot of the two twunts who own the club.
Martin
Home: St Helens (26m asl) Work: Manchester (75m asl)
A TWO addict since 14/12/01
"How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics."
Aneurin Bevan