There are several preconceptions about football transfers in the Premier League era, and these include the notions that English players are overpriced; foreigners are more skilful but also more flighty; and that experience of the game on these shores is a genuine bonus in terms of future success. Also, speaking more generally, you would expect [...]
In a recent article I saw reference to Stewart Downing becoming the Reds’ 4th-most expensive transfer of all-time if all clauses were met. While I see nothing wrong with the reporting, it did strike me as unfair on the player, and those behind the decision to bring him to the club. When the British transfer [...]
“Pay As You Play:The True Price of Success in the Premier League Era”, published last autumn, covered 1992 to 2010. This brings several aspects of the analysis up to date. This article is for Subscribers only.
April 2nd, 2011. The twittersphere goes into meltdown as a late Chris Brunt penalty allows West Brom and new manager Roy Hodgson to beat Liverpool in a media-fuelled grudge match. A month earlier there was a similar reaction as Liverpool contrived to draw 1-1 at Wigan Athletic. The connection? Both games saw disappointing results for [...]
Adios Señor, Bonjour Monsieur: A Look At Liverpool’s Forays Into Different Transfer Markets I have to admit that I wholeheartedly bought into the Spanish revolution at Liverpool; so much more than the French one that went before it. The big difference, of course, was that we got the best of Spanish: best manager, best players. [...]
By Dan Kennett. In the light of Liverpool’s recent involvement in the transfer market, as well as being involved in two of the biggest transfers of all time, I thought the time was right to put this into context using Transfer Price Index. As we all know, Cristiano Ronaldo is the most expensive player in [...]
Just when I think I’ve got little new to say about Rafa Benítez and his work at Liverpool, his record comes under attack yet again, and I feel compelled to put that record straight. While Benítez can no longer even be referred to as Liverpool’s previous manager, ‘his’ players have been very much in the [...]
Yesterday marked the third time Kenny Dalglish has broken the English transfer record for a Geordie striker. On the previous two occasions it worked out pretty well. In 1987, Peter Beardsley arrived for £1.9m, and Liverpool turned into arguably the finest English club side seen to date (certainly few have bettered that red vintage). The [...]
Zach Slaton, the author of A Beautiful Numbers Game blog and an Arsenal fan (by trade a mechanical engineer and Six Sigma Black Belt), takes a look at the data from Pay As You Play and calculates how much investment is needed by Liverpool to return to the Champions League.
By Dan Kennett. Following on from the previous review after 13 games this article aims to put Liverpool’s performance in the first half of the 2010/11 season into context with the history of the Premier League. Halfway is a fair point for extensive analysis as apart from postponements, clubs have played each other once. As [...]
