Haukur Gudnason
11-11-2003, 11:33:AM
An Open Letter to Gerard Houllier.
You know; we've had some good times and we've had some bad times. We've seen players come and go. We've won trophies, and we've lost trophies. We've sung our hearts out, and we've sung your name louder than we thought possible.
We've been to Cardiff and we've been to Dortmund. We've been the length and breadth of the country and of Europe. We've been through health scares and we've been top of the table.
We've been through a lot.
Ignore the Pro and Anti Houllier brigades - neither of them are ENTIRELY right; the truth lies somewhere in between. To see us drop down the table is a hard pill to swallow, especially after the initial progress we made over the last few years.
You have the courage of your convictions to keep playing the same underperforming players, hoping against hope that something will spark in them; they will suddenly become the player you imagine they could be.
If you have those kind of convictions, it's time you refocussed them.
We're fed up of seeing the same pretenders running around, falling over and making mistakes. Players whose first touch is so bad they must have the studs on the inside of their boots.
You've let some great players go, when personally I would have loved to see them stay. Competition is the key; we get a couple of injuries and we're down to the bare bones.
I remember Shankly said that Liverpool have the two best teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and the Liverpool reserves. What happened to that?
Isn't it time we had players who really want to play for the badge? Who are so determined to play well for Liverpool that they will spend their time in the reserves to EARN their chance? Players who love playing for Liverpool so much that they consistently put in blinding performances so they don't get dropped from the team?
I would have crawled across broken glass to play for Liverpool. If I had the opporunity I would work harder than I've ever worked in my life to EARN a place in a Liverpool shirt. I would PLAY FOR FREE to have the privilege of playing for the Mighty Reds.
That's how much I love the club.
I felt that if I played for another club I would be a traitor; a fake and a charlatan. And when you'd get the odd complaint about not playing and being in the reserves; I'd be mortified! Playing in the reserves for Liverpool is better than playing in the first team for any other club, surely?
That's the key ingredient we've got missing. We haven't got the quality pushing through from the reserves; making a real threat to the players who ALWAYS get picked. We don't seem to have a passion running throughout the side that they are playing for THE top club side in the world.
If you're wearing that shirt you had better BE THE BEST or at the very least aspire to BE THE BEST, because Liverpool deserves nothing less.
You've had five years in sole charge, and I thought you might have been able to instil the "fear factor" in the players, letting them know that they either "shape up or ship out" - but some of the underperformers still seem comfortable.
All I'm asking for is a little more passion from some players; a little more determination. I'd like to see you instil a fear into the players that will push them to be the best.
I'm going to use Heskey as an example; but don't think I'm attacking him solely; he is just a good illustration of what I'm trying to say. Really, I'm trying to be constructive.
Perhaps coddling Heskey too much has had the opposite effect. He should be more greedy, he should wear longer studs in his boots, and he should learn to use his strength.
When he played for Leicester he was the pacy one; he'd bring down the ball, and then look for a free-kick. That was the Leicester way, and his abilities in winning these dangerous free kicks kept Leicester in the Prem for a long time.
Heskey's certainly got the ability but you HAVE to make him into a better player. If anything, his play is now worse.
You've instilled this teamwork ethic which was perhaps missing before your tenure in charge, but perhaps you've gone too far; if you want Heskey heading balls out of defence all the time, then make him a defender.
That isn't where he should be, of course! He should be on the shoulder of the last defender, using his power to create openings. He's got the ability to take on any goalkeeper and score.
The problem with Heskey is that he's too nice. He puts the team before himself; and that will ruin his career. Unless you make him more confident, and he could do with a little bit of swagger and arrogance too - then he's not going to improve.
We all realise that you love the club and that you're trying hard this season to give us attacking football, but I don't think all of our personnel are good enough for the job.
As from the beginning of this season, the entire squad is made up of Liverpool Academy players and YOUR signings. That makes this season's crop of players YOUR responsibility. You have created this squad, and I do feel it is a little light of strength in depth.
I don't want you to be sacked; we don't want another manager to come in with a five-year plan. Another five years without the Premier League championship is too much. I can't wait until 2008.
I think the problems at Liverpool are summed up by the Liverpool Credit Card application form you guys keep sending me.
"Help players at the academy become the next Michael Owen or Steven Gerrard" it proudly proclaims.
And when my money helps the next Gerrard or Owen to their £60,000 a-week wages, will they pay my credit card bill for me? I think not.
It takes about 2000 fans to come to a game for you to pay a weeks' wages to ONE top star. And when they don't look bothered, lethargic or lacking passion that filters through to the fans. And the atmosphere suffers. Sometimes it seems like everything is flowing one way. Those 2000 fans have made the effort, made financial sacrifices to come and watch the team.
Do those players realise exactly how many people make it possible for them to have flash cars and big houses?
When you consider that at their peak, some of our legendary players of the 80's weren't even earning £100,000 a year, what exactly are we getting from the current squad for our money?
We're not getting full value right now, and we know it. Liverpool Football Club aren't getting full value either.
Perhaps underperforming players should be put in front of those 2000 fans who paid the wages and explain themselves. Having to go through that after a few weeks will certainly improve their play, I'm sure.
All I'm asking is that we get something in return from you and the players.
Gerard; I want you to get nasty. It's time to send the fear of Shanks into them. It's time they played for the shirt. If they're not devoted to the club, then they aren't a Liverpool player.
If they don't respond to your words, them send them into the Kop end when you drop them, or send them into the Albert after a bad game.
Perhaps for poor away results, you should make them hitch a ride home with those dedicated away fans. Perhaps is they experience the atmosphere on the way home from an away game after a bad perfomance, they'll start to understand how important it is to us.
With the odd exception, our legendary ex-players defend Liverpool to the hilt, and when they criticise you they are doing it because it hurts them to see us struggle.
As players they felt invincible in the red shirts. The Liverbird on the chest and the blood-red call of the shirt inspired genius in their game and fear in the opposition.
No matter how their careers ended, they left Liverpool as Liverpool fans. They knew what it meant to be a Liverpool player and be a hero to the fans. That's what your players must become.
All I want is a Squad to be proud of. A squad who all fight for places in the first team. A squad who want to be the best. A squad who want to be legends.
When we have that, you'll be able to deliver the Premier League title with ease.
And when we do have an odd 'blip' (even in an otherwise stunning team) and we see a Liverpool player by the side of the road after a poor away result thumbing a lift, we'll pick him up and drive him home.
But only if he promises to play better next time...
You know; we've had some good times and we've had some bad times. We've seen players come and go. We've won trophies, and we've lost trophies. We've sung our hearts out, and we've sung your name louder than we thought possible.
We've been to Cardiff and we've been to Dortmund. We've been the length and breadth of the country and of Europe. We've been through health scares and we've been top of the table.
We've been through a lot.
Ignore the Pro and Anti Houllier brigades - neither of them are ENTIRELY right; the truth lies somewhere in between. To see us drop down the table is a hard pill to swallow, especially after the initial progress we made over the last few years.
You have the courage of your convictions to keep playing the same underperforming players, hoping against hope that something will spark in them; they will suddenly become the player you imagine they could be.
If you have those kind of convictions, it's time you refocussed them.
We're fed up of seeing the same pretenders running around, falling over and making mistakes. Players whose first touch is so bad they must have the studs on the inside of their boots.
You've let some great players go, when personally I would have loved to see them stay. Competition is the key; we get a couple of injuries and we're down to the bare bones.
I remember Shankly said that Liverpool have the two best teams on Merseyside, Liverpool and the Liverpool reserves. What happened to that?
Isn't it time we had players who really want to play for the badge? Who are so determined to play well for Liverpool that they will spend their time in the reserves to EARN their chance? Players who love playing for Liverpool so much that they consistently put in blinding performances so they don't get dropped from the team?
I would have crawled across broken glass to play for Liverpool. If I had the opporunity I would work harder than I've ever worked in my life to EARN a place in a Liverpool shirt. I would PLAY FOR FREE to have the privilege of playing for the Mighty Reds.
That's how much I love the club.
I felt that if I played for another club I would be a traitor; a fake and a charlatan. And when you'd get the odd complaint about not playing and being in the reserves; I'd be mortified! Playing in the reserves for Liverpool is better than playing in the first team for any other club, surely?
That's the key ingredient we've got missing. We haven't got the quality pushing through from the reserves; making a real threat to the players who ALWAYS get picked. We don't seem to have a passion running throughout the side that they are playing for THE top club side in the world.
If you're wearing that shirt you had better BE THE BEST or at the very least aspire to BE THE BEST, because Liverpool deserves nothing less.
You've had five years in sole charge, and I thought you might have been able to instil the "fear factor" in the players, letting them know that they either "shape up or ship out" - but some of the underperformers still seem comfortable.
All I'm asking for is a little more passion from some players; a little more determination. I'd like to see you instil a fear into the players that will push them to be the best.
I'm going to use Heskey as an example; but don't think I'm attacking him solely; he is just a good illustration of what I'm trying to say. Really, I'm trying to be constructive.
Perhaps coddling Heskey too much has had the opposite effect. He should be more greedy, he should wear longer studs in his boots, and he should learn to use his strength.
When he played for Leicester he was the pacy one; he'd bring down the ball, and then look for a free-kick. That was the Leicester way, and his abilities in winning these dangerous free kicks kept Leicester in the Prem for a long time.
Heskey's certainly got the ability but you HAVE to make him into a better player. If anything, his play is now worse.
You've instilled this teamwork ethic which was perhaps missing before your tenure in charge, but perhaps you've gone too far; if you want Heskey heading balls out of defence all the time, then make him a defender.
That isn't where he should be, of course! He should be on the shoulder of the last defender, using his power to create openings. He's got the ability to take on any goalkeeper and score.
The problem with Heskey is that he's too nice. He puts the team before himself; and that will ruin his career. Unless you make him more confident, and he could do with a little bit of swagger and arrogance too - then he's not going to improve.
We all realise that you love the club and that you're trying hard this season to give us attacking football, but I don't think all of our personnel are good enough for the job.
As from the beginning of this season, the entire squad is made up of Liverpool Academy players and YOUR signings. That makes this season's crop of players YOUR responsibility. You have created this squad, and I do feel it is a little light of strength in depth.
I don't want you to be sacked; we don't want another manager to come in with a five-year plan. Another five years without the Premier League championship is too much. I can't wait until 2008.
I think the problems at Liverpool are summed up by the Liverpool Credit Card application form you guys keep sending me.
"Help players at the academy become the next Michael Owen or Steven Gerrard" it proudly proclaims.
And when my money helps the next Gerrard or Owen to their £60,000 a-week wages, will they pay my credit card bill for me? I think not.
It takes about 2000 fans to come to a game for you to pay a weeks' wages to ONE top star. And when they don't look bothered, lethargic or lacking passion that filters through to the fans. And the atmosphere suffers. Sometimes it seems like everything is flowing one way. Those 2000 fans have made the effort, made financial sacrifices to come and watch the team.
Do those players realise exactly how many people make it possible for them to have flash cars and big houses?
When you consider that at their peak, some of our legendary players of the 80's weren't even earning £100,000 a year, what exactly are we getting from the current squad for our money?
We're not getting full value right now, and we know it. Liverpool Football Club aren't getting full value either.
Perhaps underperforming players should be put in front of those 2000 fans who paid the wages and explain themselves. Having to go through that after a few weeks will certainly improve their play, I'm sure.
All I'm asking is that we get something in return from you and the players.
Gerard; I want you to get nasty. It's time to send the fear of Shanks into them. It's time they played for the shirt. If they're not devoted to the club, then they aren't a Liverpool player.
If they don't respond to your words, them send them into the Kop end when you drop them, or send them into the Albert after a bad game.
Perhaps for poor away results, you should make them hitch a ride home with those dedicated away fans. Perhaps is they experience the atmosphere on the way home from an away game after a bad perfomance, they'll start to understand how important it is to us.
With the odd exception, our legendary ex-players defend Liverpool to the hilt, and when they criticise you they are doing it because it hurts them to see us struggle.
As players they felt invincible in the red shirts. The Liverbird on the chest and the blood-red call of the shirt inspired genius in their game and fear in the opposition.
No matter how their careers ended, they left Liverpool as Liverpool fans. They knew what it meant to be a Liverpool player and be a hero to the fans. That's what your players must become.
All I want is a Squad to be proud of. A squad who all fight for places in the first team. A squad who want to be the best. A squad who want to be legends.
When we have that, you'll be able to deliver the Premier League title with ease.
And when we do have an odd 'blip' (even in an otherwise stunning team) and we see a Liverpool player by the side of the road after a poor away result thumbing a lift, we'll pick him up and drive him home.
But only if he promises to play better next time...