It will be hard for Liverpool fans to accept right now, but losing the Europa League final last Wednesday night was actually a good thing.
I understand missing out on any major trophy is depressing and, on that basis, it is always going to be hard to find the silver lining in that scenario. And the fact that the trophy in question came with such a substantial prize makes it all the harder to see defeat as a positive.
But the truth is involvement in European competition of any sort next season would have seen the club’s resources stretched and its priorities confused.
Jurgen Klopp needs to focus on one thing at a time, and in my opinion that is not the Champions League but the Premier League.
It has been 26 very long years since Liverpool were champions of England and it is breaking that trend which deserves his full and undivided attention.
Bouncing around Europe for midweek games may sound glamorous but in truth it would have been little more than a distraction from the real business at hand.
Admittedly, a lack of European action may make it harder for Liverpool to attract the big name stars. But the charm, charisma and general positivity of Klopp, not to mention his proven track record, should be more than enough to overcome any player’s doubts.
We have seen definite signs of improvement in Klopp’s short time at Anfield, and next season, with a few clever signings, there is a good chance Liverpool may once again be a domestic power.
Putting Europe on hold for now is just what the doctor ordered for a club that desperately needs to regain its domestic relevance.
Nobody will remember last week’s failure if Liverpool are Premier League champions this time next year. But the chances of that happening would have been seriously diminished by victory last Wednesday night.
More reasons to give LVG the elbow
If I were putting together a list of reasons why Manchester United should get rid of Louis van Gaal, last week would have seen a couple of new additions to what was already a bulging compilation.
Firstly, he reiterated for the second time in a week that the fans’ expectations are too high. When he said that the first time, I thought it might just have been the heat of the moment, a slip of the tongue if you like.
But the fact that he repeated it suggests he actually believes it to be true.
You simply can’t try and explain to a group of people who support a football club that has won 11 titles in the past 20 years that their expectations are too high. They aren’t suddenly going to be content with fifth place because some dodgy Dutchman with a clipboard tells them that is their correct level. They have been brought up on better and they deserve to be treated with a bit more respect.
Nobody will remember last week’s failure if Liverpool are Premier League champions this time next year
But the thing I found even more irritating than his ‘expectations’ nonsense was his statement that the club is still going through a transitional period.
Yes I agree Manchester United needed a bit of a rebuild when he took over. But there is absolutely no way at all a club of United’s size, with the resources at its disposal, needs to spend two years transitioning. Even Bruce Jenner was quicker than that.
In this day and age, a club like United can be turned around in a matter of months. You identify the deficiencies in the squad, buy the right players to fill the gaps, devise a strategy and vision and then spend every waking hour on the training pitch putting the package together.
Why on earth should that process take two to three years to implement? In the current era, club’s change managers because of the instant impact they can have, not because they might start to register an improvement years later.
Yet not only has LVG’s impact not been instant, you could easily argue that his second season has been worse than his first, certainly in terms of performances. If United managed to win yesterday’s FA Cup final then, at the very best, you could possibly say year two and year one have been on a par. And neither have been anything like good enough.
I’m not saying United have a divine right to win things, and a spell in the doldrums is not going to do them any harm.
They will appreciate the good times that much more when they inevitably return.
But the green shoots of recovery should be blossoming into proper flowers by now. Not still struggling to break through the topsoil.
Which brings us to the decision that Manchester United’s board need to take in the next few days: take a risk with a lame duck manager who has already said he plans to retire at the end of next season anyway (remember how that worked with Sir Alex) or employ a manager who is all about impact. A manager who won’t blame the fans, use transition as an excuse or announce his retirement before he even starts.
I know where my vote would go.
I am not a Manchester United fan by any stretch of the imagination but I long for the days when they are back at the top so I can once again start enjoying it when they lose.
Why 26, Roy?
Generally speaking I do not have too many complaints about Roy Hodgson’s choice of England squad for Euro 2016.
Personally I would have taken Jermaine Defoe rather than Marcus Rashford and I really can’t understand why Mark Noble keeps getting overlooked. But for the most part it was sensible and devoid of surprises.
What I did not like, however, was that he made the dithery and rather unfair decision to pick 26 players.
As I see it he had two sensible options: name a straight 23-man squad that would only be changed in an emergency, or pick a much bigger squad and then whittle it down by the end of May deadline.
The former would have sent out a message that he is certain who he wants to take to France, while the latter would have suggested he wants to spend some time with all his players, analyse their fitness and mental state, and then decide who is most up for the job.
Either of those scenarios would have been credible.
But by picking 26 all Hodgson has really done is to ensure three players are going to have suffer the heartbreak of being jettisoned just before the party starts.
That wouldn’t be so bad if they were among 10 players, but three just seems cruel.
Your say
“I do not agree with your reference to Leicester City’s achievement this season as ‘the likes of which team sport has never seen before’.
“In my opinion there were two other instances when this ‘fairy tale feat’ was achieved: One at international level, when Greece were crowned European Champions in 2004. The other by lowly Nottingham Forest when they carried off practically all major trophies at domestic and European level between 1977 and 1980.
“Forest, a team of unknowns, were promoted from the then Second Division in 1976-77 after finishing only third. In1977-78 they were crowned Champions of England, repeating this triumph the following year 1978-79. In the meantime they won back-to-back European Cups (now the Champions League) in 1978-79 and 1979-80, besides other domestic trophies.
“It is worthwhile recalling that Forest had an insignificant prior history of success, succeeding only in lifting the FA Cup in 1898 and 1959.
“I believe Leicester’s accomplishment – truly nothing less than a miracle – may some day be equalled by another club. But can any side repeat the triumphs achieved by Nottingham Forest between seasons 1976-80 (four years in a row) under that controversial but astute motivator Brian Clough?” Joe Herrera, e-mail.
sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade