By Vincent Hogan
Monday July 13 2009
With all the money splashing around Manchester just now and Real Madrid swooping on targets like a great, insatiable albatross, you can see why Rafa Benitez reckons football might just be spinning out of control.
But when did anyone ever shop in Aldi or Lidl for Premier League success? It hasn't happened.
Last Thursday, as he unveiled an £18m full-back as Liverpool's marquee summer signing, Rafa was -- perhaps -- slightly appalled by the reflection in the mirror. And, naturally, he found a way of diverting our gaze.
Gareth Barry's decision to join Manchester City on a reputed weekly salary of £110,000 drew an observation from Benitez that the move was "clearly 100pc about money".
Given his 18-month courtship of the same player, this surely poured an unflattering light on Rafa's own ability to distinguish the authentically ambitious from the 'Big Time Charlies' of the game.
After all, had Barry gone to Anfield last season, it would almost certainly have precipitated the sale of Xabi Alonso to Juventus for £15m.
Instead, the same Alonso is now priced at £35m by Liverpool in a desperate effort to fend off the clawing talons of Madrid.
Still, the lines are forever blurred between reality and fiction at this time of year. In summer, rumour is the methadone fix for Premier League devotees. It builds into a great river, roaring along, routinely indifferent to reality.
So much of what passes for transfer speculation is, actually, just the puppetry of agents. Wives, suddenly, become disillusioned with the grey skies of Lancashire.
Sterling's weakness gets depicted as a one-way street to penury.
Little mischiefs are sewn by people who live on a percentage and for whom all business is, thus, good business.
To agents, transfer speculation becomes a kind of soulless Nintendo war. As a species, they are harder to like than locusts.
I remember interviewing a top Premier League footballer in London some years ago and his agent -- a small, rather oily figure -- continuously invited people out to an adjacent courtyard to view his latest purchase. The grey, fat-wheeled Porsche, he assured us, was absolutely identical to one owned by his famous client. We all twittered and cooed around his car, no one inclined to say what we really thought of this unpleasant, little man, with his loud voice and ill-fitting suit, brandishing his money like a badge.
Benitez isn't everyone's cup of tea, but you didn't need rose-tinted glasses to recognise the central truth of what he was arguing last Friday. Glen Johnson could have made more money by going to Manchester City or, indeed, returning to Chelsea from Portsmouth. That he chose Liverpool instead spoke of an ambition pitched to something beyond the big house and the stable of fast cars.
Fernando Torres indicated earlier this summer that a lucrative move does not interest him as he already earns "more than enough money" at Liverpool.
mediocre
Now salaries at Anfield aren't exactly mediocre, so Benitez's men aren't quite volunteering for the soup kitchens here. Yet, is there not something reassuringly old-fashioned about the idea of footballers having the moral fibre to put the game before its trappings?
At Chelsea, after all, John Terry now seeks a significant rise on his already astronomical salary because of the Abu Dhabi offer of a reputed €230,000 a week to join the circus at Eastlands. And just six months after his arrival at Arsenal, Andriy Arshavin's connections seem besotted with the idea of their client now changing to a Spanish address.
No question, the sheikh's purchase of Manchester City has taken Premier League salary scales to new depths of vulgarity.
Certainly, the old hierarchy is shaken. Chelsea haven't been flexing much conspicuous muscle in the markets and Manchester United's only palpable response, thus far, to the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez has been the signing of a striker the rest of football seems to consider a three-legged horse.
Benitez had abundant opportunity to re-sign Michael Owen since the former England striker returned from Spain. But Owen, once to goals what Napoleon was to artillery, goes to battle with a slingshot these days.
There is a sense of Alex Ferguson, having -- reputedly -- made soundings in early summer for Torres, Benzema, Kaka, Villa and Ribery, now finding himself out-manipulated in an over-heating market.
Of the 'big four' in England, Liverpool actually look in the strongest position. Key figures like Reina, Gerrard and Torres have committed their long-term futures to the club and, if either Alonso or Mascherano leaves, it will only be for Rockefeller money.
In a world dripping with self-interest and wealth, Benitez actually seems to be nurturing quaint ideals like loyalty and communal ambition at Anfield.
His words may grate wretchedly at times (his depiction of Everton as some kind of lower caste before the FA Cup match last season was lamentable) and it would be nice if he desisted from depicting Liverpool as some kind of corner shop battling with the Tescos of football.
But all the indications are that he is building something with an identity as distinct from a price-tag.
Could it be that he is on to something?
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/benitezs-quaint-ideals-offer--virtue-in-a-soulless-world-1818808.html
Monday July 13 2009
With all the money splashing around Manchester just now and Real Madrid swooping on targets like a great, insatiable albatross, you can see why Rafa Benitez reckons football might just be spinning out of control.
But when did anyone ever shop in Aldi or Lidl for Premier League success? It hasn't happened.
Last Thursday, as he unveiled an £18m full-back as Liverpool's marquee summer signing, Rafa was -- perhaps -- slightly appalled by the reflection in the mirror. And, naturally, he found a way of diverting our gaze.
Gareth Barry's decision to join Manchester City on a reputed weekly salary of £110,000 drew an observation from Benitez that the move was "clearly 100pc about money".
Given his 18-month courtship of the same player, this surely poured an unflattering light on Rafa's own ability to distinguish the authentically ambitious from the 'Big Time Charlies' of the game.
After all, had Barry gone to Anfield last season, it would almost certainly have precipitated the sale of Xabi Alonso to Juventus for £15m.
Instead, the same Alonso is now priced at £35m by Liverpool in a desperate effort to fend off the clawing talons of Madrid.
Still, the lines are forever blurred between reality and fiction at this time of year. In summer, rumour is the methadone fix for Premier League devotees. It builds into a great river, roaring along, routinely indifferent to reality.
So much of what passes for transfer speculation is, actually, just the puppetry of agents. Wives, suddenly, become disillusioned with the grey skies of Lancashire.
Sterling's weakness gets depicted as a one-way street to penury.
Little mischiefs are sewn by people who live on a percentage and for whom all business is, thus, good business.
To agents, transfer speculation becomes a kind of soulless Nintendo war. As a species, they are harder to like than locusts.
I remember interviewing a top Premier League footballer in London some years ago and his agent -- a small, rather oily figure -- continuously invited people out to an adjacent courtyard to view his latest purchase. The grey, fat-wheeled Porsche, he assured us, was absolutely identical to one owned by his famous client. We all twittered and cooed around his car, no one inclined to say what we really thought of this unpleasant, little man, with his loud voice and ill-fitting suit, brandishing his money like a badge.
Benitez isn't everyone's cup of tea, but you didn't need rose-tinted glasses to recognise the central truth of what he was arguing last Friday. Glen Johnson could have made more money by going to Manchester City or, indeed, returning to Chelsea from Portsmouth. That he chose Liverpool instead spoke of an ambition pitched to something beyond the big house and the stable of fast cars.
Fernando Torres indicated earlier this summer that a lucrative move does not interest him as he already earns "more than enough money" at Liverpool.
mediocre
Now salaries at Anfield aren't exactly mediocre, so Benitez's men aren't quite volunteering for the soup kitchens here. Yet, is there not something reassuringly old-fashioned about the idea of footballers having the moral fibre to put the game before its trappings?
At Chelsea, after all, John Terry now seeks a significant rise on his already astronomical salary because of the Abu Dhabi offer of a reputed €230,000 a week to join the circus at Eastlands. And just six months after his arrival at Arsenal, Andriy Arshavin's connections seem besotted with the idea of their client now changing to a Spanish address.
No question, the sheikh's purchase of Manchester City has taken Premier League salary scales to new depths of vulgarity.
Certainly, the old hierarchy is shaken. Chelsea haven't been flexing much conspicuous muscle in the markets and Manchester United's only palpable response, thus far, to the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez has been the signing of a striker the rest of football seems to consider a three-legged horse.
Benitez had abundant opportunity to re-sign Michael Owen since the former England striker returned from Spain. But Owen, once to goals what Napoleon was to artillery, goes to battle with a slingshot these days.
There is a sense of Alex Ferguson, having -- reputedly -- made soundings in early summer for Torres, Benzema, Kaka, Villa and Ribery, now finding himself out-manipulated in an over-heating market.
Of the 'big four' in England, Liverpool actually look in the strongest position. Key figures like Reina, Gerrard and Torres have committed their long-term futures to the club and, if either Alonso or Mascherano leaves, it will only be for Rockefeller money.
In a world dripping with self-interest and wealth, Benitez actually seems to be nurturing quaint ideals like loyalty and communal ambition at Anfield.
His words may grate wretchedly at times (his depiction of Everton as some kind of lower caste before the FA Cup match last season was lamentable) and it would be nice if he desisted from depicting Liverpool as some kind of corner shop battling with the Tescos of football.
But all the indications are that he is building something with an identity as distinct from a price-tag.
Could it be that he is on to something?
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/benitezs-quaint-ideals-offer--virtue-in-a-soulless-world-1818808.html
