That Would be Just Terrible

Liverpool are stuck in the past and in danger of becoming a provincial club

It is no surprise Raheem Sterling wants bigger and better things elsewhere - a proud club is failing to think beyond the confines of its city

By Gary Neville

1:40PM BST 22 May 2015

If you compare Liverpool to Manchester United over the same period of time, I can think of only one player - Cristiano Ronaldo - who left when he wanted to go, rather than when Sir Alex Ferguson wanted it to happen.

The comparison with United is valid because, regardless of the recent successes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, English football’s biggest, most historic, successful and best supported clubs are Liverpool and Manchester United.

If you travel to Ireland, Scandinavia, Malta, Thailand or wherever, the red shirts of Liverpool and United vastly outnumber those of every other club.
But while United have been happy to shout from the rooftops about how big they are and promote the legend and mythology of the club on a global scale for years Liverpool seem to have been stuck in their own mud.

Liverpool have begun to realise the commercial value of their brand on a worldwide basis, but they are years behind the biggest European clubs and, for me, their problems - which have been given a public face this week by the Sterling situation - are a direct result of that failure to think beyond the confines of their city.

Yes, it's true, Liverpool FC, the club from that jet-setting internationalist world-capital and centre of world-commerce and culture that is Liverpool is in danger of becoming a provincial club.  That would be tragic.

Far better that they should be more like Manchester United, with exponentially more fans outside the environs of their hometown than inside, with traditional fans unable to afford seats, and eventually attracting a hostile takeover from a foreign billionaire via a leveraged buyout that would leave the club with a massive debt.  What, they're already owned by a foreign billionaire ?  Shit.

Not that I care that much specifically about Liverpool or United, or football generally, but is there no-one in this world any more who doesn't value success and commercial profit over all other values ?  What's the point in Liverpool FC or Manchester United FC being dominant global teams if they no longer primarily represent the people of those cities ?  Just as I'd ask what the hell is the point of a Labour party that tries to win elections by simply adopting the platforms almost wholesale (minus support for the aristocracy and hunting) of the Conservative party.

Why not just sell off the naming for teams to the highest bidder, as the names clearly don't mean anything any more ?  We already have the Emirates FA Cup.  Why not Barclays FC or Qatar United ?  Fer fucks sake...