John Henry imposes his winning policy on Liverpool as the Reds prepare for the new season
John Henry, the Liverpool owner, revealed he was focused more on building up the club instead of short-term success. The club’s activity in the transfer windows has been synonymous to the American owner’s claims.
Instead of going for big names, like the ones most other top English Premier League sides have been linked with, Liverpool have been focusing on relatively unknown players. Another thing that is to be noted is that most of the Red’s recent signings have been young players.
Since the takeover of the Fenway Sports Group, Liverpool have witnessed changes and a much needed resurgence. Having a terrible start to last season, Liverpool managed to finish sixth in the English Premier League table.
The January transfer window of last season saw the departure of striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 for a record breaking fee of £50 million and the arrival of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll as replacements for the Spaniard for a combined fee of £58 million.
They began preparation for the new season with the acquisition of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Wayne-Bridge-c36733, the Reds put those rumours to rest with the arrival of the Sunderland youngster.
Henry confirmed http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 were targeting younger players and not reinforcements above the age of 30. His recent posts on his Twitter account read:
“Speculation on players shouldn't include those of a certain age.
We are not going to be successful by merely filling short-term needs at LFC.”
A shrewd businessman, Henry has managed to lead the baseball team Boston Red Sox to better profits and wants to do the same with the English Premier League outfit. He has identified the sale of players at a greater price in the transfer windows as the perfect way to do so.
So far the policy has been a success at Anfield, with the Reds having sold Fernando Torres and having purchased Suarez, Carroll and Henderson so far. 18-year-old Connor Wickham was a target, but the Ipswich midfielder chose to sign with Sunderland instead.
According to Henry, timing and price was important when buying a player. He continued:
“Everything in sports is overpriced now - especially the cost of winning. But you make your choices based on a plan.
Some things happen early and some late. The important thing is that things happen. Sometimes what you avoid is important.”
Liverpool are currently chasing Charlie Adam and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Stewart-Downing-c34221, 25 and 26 respectively. The Blackpool midfielder, Adam, is expected to strengthen the midfield, while the Aston Villa winger would provide much needed width to the squad.
With a disappointing finish last season, missing out on both the UEFA Champions League and Europa League spots, Liverpool are determined to get back to winning ways in the upcoming season. They begin their season with a clash against Sunderland at Anfield.
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