Yes, until now
I think this ties directly into the conversation about the links between the league/clubs and gambling and the NFL is the case study the owners are likely using. There was an inflection point for popularity of the NFL relative to the other US major sports about 10-15 years ago that saw it go from the most popular of the sports to a category of popularity all of its own way out ahead of the others. This directly coincided with the mainstreaming of fantasy football. Once this happened a whole new group of fans all of a sudden made Sunday their football day. These were not fans who could tell the difference between different block schemes or anything you and I might think of as knowledge of the game a fan has, but they came to know the stats inside and out. Essentially the sport has become dominated by a fan base that doesnāt watch the games, couldnāt tell you what was happening in them, but has a vested interest in the relative merits of a good running back vs wide receiver. These are fans who watch on Red Zone rather than watching any particular game (an awful experience IMO) and so have already chosen an experience that ignores that of the match going in-stadium fan.
I think there is an argument that the value of the premier league is in the perception of its top to bottom competitiveness and the fan experience the crowd produces, but I think that experience of the NFL shows another path to monetizing the sport.
Been a bit quiet in here of late.
Where is everybody?
Pot noodling, Iāll warrant.
Waiting for Mbappe not to be signed
I think the FSG Out boys are busy working out at how far we could have have moved up the net spend table had Henry given Porto the Ā£70m they wanted originally for Diaz. We could be in mid table now, the tight bastards.
If we could just get to 8thā¦
Sorry wrong thread
Maybe waiting for news on Mo Salah sale.
Set of fans 1; Surely with our revenue we can strengthen the side a bit more? Thereās issues that need addressing.
Set of fans 2; Youāre so unreasonable wanting FSG out after all theyāve done for us, I canāt believe you want Man City style owners.
Set of fans 1; Thatās not really what we said though was it?
Set of fans 2; Oh here they go the plastic idiots who donāt understand that weāve raised our wage bill and cant afford to run at a loss coz of FFP.
Set of fans 1; Well actually weāre not under any danger of failing FFP and we make great revenue our wage bill is actually really manageable. We just think with a bit more backing Klopp could be winning more!
Set of fans 2; Wow have you not noticed weāve won the league after how many years? The Champions League not good enough? Such a sense of entitlement!
Set of fans 1; Not really, there shouldnāt be any reason why we canāt add the odd player more than we have been with our finances we just want to win things whilst weāve got the best manager in the worldā¦
LIVERPOOL SIGN NEW EXCITING PLAYER
Set of fans 2; Ha-ha this will shows those FSG out idiots now I bet they feel like such idiots with nothing to complain about now!
Set of fans 1;
Iād hold off until we see what happens in the summer before we start thinking theyāre spending more. Itās pretty clear this was earmarked for then and not now so itās one less weāll see next window.
Oddly, the bloke in yellow in the bottom right of that gif is my mate.
I think we genuinely needed new blood into the team anyway. As great as it is at times a little bit of staleness is starting to creep in. Iām reminded of the stories of Shanks letting the team get too old together out of loyalty to the players that had won things for him and being in real need of a reboot.
Maybe more like
Set of fans 1: The owners are shit because they wouldnāt let Klopp by a CB and then when a unprecedented injury crisis hit, it almost cost us the Champions League.
Set of fans 2: Maybe they held off on a CB because there was a long term plan to bring in Konate, and since the injury crisis was unprecedented, that wasnāt actually a terrible decision.
Set of fans 1: Well they also keep promising next summer they will spend money! I doubt that will be the case. We have an aging team and need to do a lot of work
Set of fans 2: Maybe hang on and see what happens in the summer. The squad isnāt in that bad a shape, and two or three players added over the next three summers should be enough to solve the issuesā¦oh look, hereās one of the summer targets now.
Agree we need new blood I just donāt think this signals a loosening of purse strings by the owners or Klopp all of a sudden following in Pepās shoes.
Iād view this in context with what happens in the summer too rather than in isolation now as thatās when they wanted to make the deal by the sounds of things. I both sides of that particular argument will be pleased right now and then probably back to arguing by the end of August.
Probably best to just enjoy it for now and try not to over analyse it.
My gut feeling here was at 80M Euros, weād have other options or heād be someone to replace one of the front three (could still be the case) sold in the summer. I really believe at the pricing being reported it was just too good of deal to pass up and maybe keeps some leverage in the summer when the Mane or Mo rumors start getting aggressive. Weāve already got a replacement in and at a cut price deal. Good start to Wardās tenure.
We have a tendency to be pretty ruthless when we find out we have some leverage.
The thing is nobody has ever wanted this but itās the lazy way of mocking the arguments of those that would like more investment into the playing squad.
If you really think the counter arguments have been that respectful you need to reread the thread.
Hahahaā¦so glad I dropped byā¦
Diaz good business. He is a very good player who is going up a level, and has every chance of becoming world class at Liverpool. Pace, skill, goals, canāt wait to see him in a red shirt.
He might be an addition to the current forward ranks, or he might be a replacement, say for Mane. Hard to say at this point.
Not sure what any of this says about the owners. They are about the same as before! Whatever side of the ādivideā you are on, signing Diaz wonāt change it.
Even if in the summer they add Bellingham and Nkunku, there will be those who say they should have splashed the cash sooner, and not allow Man City to have it mostly their own way the past few years
This.
This is all about capital allocation which will be based of a chain of decisions made by those at the club, not just spur of the moment stuff, and takes into account information we are not party to. No one here will know yet as to how the club plan to account for the money being spent on this deal and so it is definitely way too early to suggest there is a sea change in FSGās approach. For example,
- this could have been cash put aside last summer for a potential deal that didnāt happen.
- The club could have been deliberately waiting out for the FFP rules to bite this window to make this deal happen.
- It could be from the Ā£40m we assume is available as a minimum for transfers for the new season,
- it could be from pending sales of Minamino and Origi, or even Mane next or Salah next summer.
- It could be from increased revenues weāve been seeing leading to increased cash available for deals.
Logic in this thread?
Stop it. Youāll ruin all the fun