We are into our first season of rebuiding and though most fans can see great progress and are dreaming of success, there is, as there alway will be, the skeptics. City are the team in the League at the moment, that most others wouldn't mind switching places with in terms of League position anyways. Let's have a look at LFC and City to see who is doing better , relative to the amount of time and money spent in their respective rebuilding work.
This is last season's table after 15 games; exactly where we are now in the season.
P W D L GF GA GD PTS
1 (1) Manchester United 15 8 7 0 35 16 19 31
2 (1) Chelsea 15 9 2 4 29 10 19 29
3 (2) Arsenal 15 9 2 4 32 17 15 29
4 (4) Manchester City 15 7 5 3 20 12 8 26
5 (6) Tottenham Hotspur 15 7 4 4 23 20 3 25
6 (5) Bolton Wanderers 15 5 8 2 28 22 6 23
7 (7) Sunderland 15 4 8 3 19 18 1 20
8 (8 ) Stoke City 15 6 2 7 19 19 0 20
9 (12) Newcastle United 15 5 4 6 23 22 1 19
10 (9) Liverpool 15 5 4 6 17 19 -2 19
11 (10) Blackpool 15 5 4 6 23 29 -6 19
12 (11) West Bromwich Albion 15 5 4 6 20 26 -6 19
13 (13) Blackburn Rovers 15 5 3 7 18 25 -7 18
14 (14) Birmingham City 15 3 8 4 16 18 -2 17
15 (15) Aston Villa 15 4 5 6 17 24 -7 17
16 (16) Everton 15 3 7 5 17 19 -2 16
17 (17) Fulham 15 2 9 4 15 18 -3 15
18 (18) Wigan Athletic 15 3 5 7 11 26 -15 14
19 (19) Wolverhampton Wanderers 15 3 3 9 17 27 -10 12
20 (20) West Ham United 15 2 6 7 14 26 -12 12
As you can see from above, we are 7 points better of this season than at the same time last season. It is interesting to note that last season at this stage Man City were on 26 points; as we are now. The reason City were in fourth last season after 15 games on 26 points and we're not, can be down to two things: one is that all the top four or so teams were just playing worse than they are this season with weaker teams and so on or two; that in the first season of LFC's rebuilding all the teams are playing better and/or have improved alot more because of how advanced they are in their rebuilding process. Two sides to the one coin.
City finished 3rd last season with 71 points. Let's have a look at how much they spent to get there.
2008/09
Players in
PLAYER FEE
Jo £18,000,000
Tal Ben-Haim Signed
Vincent Kompany £6,000,000
Shaun Wright-Phillips £9,000,000
Glauber Berti Free
Pablo Zabaleta £6,450,000
Robinho £32,500,000
Wayne Bridge £12,000,000
Craig Bellamy £14,000,000
Nigel de Jong £18,000,000
Shay Given £5,900,000
Total £121,850,000
2009/10
Players in
PLAYER FEE
Gareth Barry £12,000,000
Roque Santa Cruz £17,500,000
Dedryck Boyata Signed
Stuart Taylor Free
Carlos Tevez Signed
Emmanuel Adebayor £25,000,000
Kolo Toure £16,000,000
Sylvinho Free
Joleon Lescott £22,000,000
Patrick Vieira Free
Adam Johnson £7,000,000
Jerome Boateng £10,460,000
Alex Henshall £250,000
Albert Rusnak Signed
Total £110,210,000
2010/11
Players in
PLAYER FEE
Mario Balotelli £24,000,000
James Milner
£26,000,000
Edin dezko £27,000,000
Yaya Toure £24,000,000
David Silva £26,000,000
Total £127,000,000
So over 3 seasons to achieve the same amounts of points after 15 games that LFC are now on and to finish the season in 3rd place with 71 points, City had a gross spending spree of approximately £358,000,000.
Over the same 3 season period on player sales, they took in approximately £70,000,000. That gives them a net spend of approximately £288,000,000.
Now for the fun part: let's look at how much LFC have spent in their first season of rebuilding under new owners and managment.
Players Purchased Fee --------- Players Sold Fee Net Total
Season 11/12
Jordan Henderson £16,000,000 Paul Konchesky £1,500,000
Charlie Adam £7,000,000 Chris Mavinga £1,000,000
Doni Free Gerardo Bruna £750,000
Stewart Downing £20,000,000 Milan Jovanovic Free
Sanchez Jose Enrique £6,300,000 Daniel Ayala Free
Sebastian Coates £7,000,000 Emiliano Insua Free
Craig Bellamy Free Sotirios Kyrgiakos Free
Villyan Bijev Signed Christian Poulsen £1,000,000
David Ngog £4,000,000
Raul Meireles £12,000,000
Tom Ince Free
Total £56,300,000 £20,250,000 £36,050,000
If we take into account the purchases of Carroll and Suarez and the sales of Torres and Babel, we have a gross spend of approximately £113,000,000 and a net spend of approximately £38,000,000.
In summary, after 15 games of this season Liverpool are 7 points better of than last. To acihieve the 26 points, we had a net spend of approximately £38,000,000 and ONE season of rebuilding. It is a fair comment to say that compared to last season not only are we 7 points better off, but you can only see us getting better; where as last season we were on a downward spiral.
It took Man City THREE seasons to achieve a top four finish after a net spend of approximately £288,000,000. In the 08/09 season, which was really their first season of rebuilding, after 15 games City were on 18 points and finished 10th with 50 points after a net spend of approximately £75,000,000.
When we judge the work that FSG and Kenny have done, we must look at it in context. If we were to acheive a top four finish this season, it would be an amazing achievement. There would be no comparision between Liverpool FC's and Man City's progress after one season. Liverpool FC would definitely come out on top and it would solely be testament to FSG and Kenny .IF we can achieve this in one season imagine what we can do in three or more!
Looking at the type of football we are now playing, where we are on the table and taking into account that it seems we're only going to get better and comparing our progress to City's in the same time of rebuilding, all I can say is:
They may have the Sheikh but we have THE King; LONG LIVE THE KING!
@dominic_allen
nb Even when you take into account the current players that were bought before Kenny's appointment: Reina, Johnson, Carra, Skrtel and Agger, and players like Kuyt and Maxi, our spending remains well, well under that of City's.
In addition to the above spending, City have spent a further £76,000,000 on Aguero, Clichy, Savic and Nasri this season. Though they qualified for the Champions League for the first time last season they were dumped out in the group stages, which considering the amount of money they have spent, is a massive under-achievement, to say the least.
http://thekop.liverpoolfc.tv/_LFC-38-Man-City-Compared/blog/5637538/173471.html?as=173471
