No Friendly, No More Insua

I was hoping to write about Liverpool's first friendly today. Lord knows I'd much rather "analyze" matters on the pitch. Ha.

Instead, after postponing and then canceling the game against Al-Hilal due to torrential rain in Austria, the official site announced that the rumored Insua to Fiorentina link is a done deal. When it rains, it pours...

I expected bad things to happen this summer. I still expect more. But I did not expect the sale of Emiliano Insua.

Don't get me wrong; "worse" things can happen. And, yes, I admittedly have more time for the player than most, having been firmly on the bandwagon since his debut against Pompey in April 2007. But this sale makes zero sense.

He is young, on comparably low wages, and would have counted as a homegrown player come next season. He was the only senior left back at the club. The deal will reap all of £4-5m, which will scarcely be enough to purchase any new left back, let alone keep "bigger names" at the club. This move is stupid and short-sighted any way you look at it.

More ominously, this came out exactly one week ago:

“I saw him play in the last three days and I like him both as a player and on a personal level,” Hodgson told Radio Blu in Florence.

“However, talks with Fiorentina started before I got here, so I don’t know how advanced they are.

“I cannot say if Insua will stay at Liverpool or not. I’ll have to discuss that with the club.”

Super. It's not proof, but it's yet another sign the bankers (read: Purslow) are running the club. I doubt Hodgson's seen enough in the past week to change his mind, and it's exceptionally strange Insua came along on the Swiss training camp. It also, again, begs the question of who's running the football side of the club, but, sadly, I don't think that question needs answering.

The only, only explanation I came come up with is that it's "senior sources" yet again. Insua was a scapegoat last season, even though he played more games than expected because of Aurelio's inability to stay fit and the sale of Dossena for working capital. I can't help but think that, like with Rafa, the media's doing Liverpool's business through Cecil. Picking off the players that Purslow thinks the fans will make the least fuss over, even if they're the young prospects the team should be built off of. Wonderful.

Despite last season's difficulties, Insua still had five Premiership assists, six in all competitions, which made him joint-third in the squad (Gerrard and Benayoun had more in all competitions; Gerrard and Aquilani had more in the league). Yes, he was beaten like a rented mule at times last season, but he thrown into the deep end with bricks tied to his ankles. His acceleration and pace on the turn are questionable, but otherwise, he's always an above-average attacking fullback and will only get better defensively. And he is 21 years old. Other than Ashley Cole and Gael Clichy, I'm struggling to come up with any left-backs who've been defensively solid or made the breakthrough in the Prem at that age.

I am so baffled and irate about this transfer. And I'm sure it won't be the last time before the end of August.

Word Salad

At Liverpool, colorless green ideas sleep furiously. Absolutely nothing makes sense anymore, and I can't help but believe that's the point.

Liverpool hasn't had a plan for a new manager since sacking Benitez, evidenced by the wildly widely disparate names discussed during the month that the position's been empty. But from their personal point of view, having no plan is Hicks and Gillett's best possible policy. It buys them more time to have no plan to sell the club, and it keeps the fans focused on more trivial matters. Sadly, in this case, the trivial matters are the manager who decides the team and tactics for the game that we're all here to watch, the man who will try to make our summer of discontent somehow glorious. But because we're big business, the football takes a back seat so our loving custodians can make a buck off our love of football, selling snake oil with a Liverpool logo. Round and round in circles we go and where we'll stop, nobody knows.

Make sense? Good. It shouldn't. That's exactly how it's supposed to be. We of the Internet are a minority when considering the millions upon millions of fans worldwide. And there's a minority in our minority with heads still in the sand. Ignorance gives our enemies a large range of probabilities, and it is worse still to be ignorant of our own ignorance. Get the word out any way possible, wherever you are. Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies, and then the club dies. Those trivial matters will truly be trivialities, no matter the future manager, if Liverpool continues on its winding, wayward path.

Picture the larger picture. Recognize what's nonsense and hold who's responsible accountable. Sleep furiously tonight, but be sure to dream in red.

EXCLUSIVE!!!!1! LFC MANAGER SEARCH PROCESS REVEALED

I hate this summer, these owners, and Purslow so much. This is why I keep doing World Cup match reviews, and why there have been few posts about Liverpool. Because there's been no news from Liverpool – just obfuscation, smokescreens, and unfulfilled promises.

It's Dalglish. No, it's Hodgson. No, it's Pelligrini. No, it's Hodgson. No, wait, we're after Rijkaard or Deschamps, we promise. Ugh.

Wake me up in August.

Acta est Fabula, Plaudite!

Well, I hope you're all happy.

This isn't an obituary of Rafa's tenure, because I won't be able to do the man justice, and there will be enough of those anyway. But this rant might be an obituary for the club.

All the tactical nonsense, all the questions over whether Benitez was too conservative, or spent unwisely, or didn't hug the players enough, it's all insignificant. It's all insignificant because of the cancers who still own this club.

I'm sure some actually will be happy that Rafa's gone. I'm obviously not one of you. And given that there will be no long-term hire until the club is sold, I'll be stunned if any of the 'name' managers mooted would even interview, let alone accept this poisoned chalice. Dalglish as interim manager is the best possible situation, and seeing Kenny's legacy tarnished by the "custodians" is just as depressing as Benitez's exit.

Don't believe for one second that this is because of player power. That Torres or Gerrard or Carragher wanted Benitez gone. Each player's on record, multiple times, discussing how Benitez has improved their games – Torres especially. And even if it were true, you can't let the inmates run the asylum in the best of circumstances, but it's even dumber when there's a full-on riot in the yard.

Hicks and Gillett now hold every single card.

I'd bet any amount of money this leads to major players sales, which will pay down debt, so Hicks and Gillett will make a profit. Paying down the debt makes the club more attractive to vulture buyers, and it'll help ensure that Hicks and Gillett make a profit on this institution.

The club couldn't sell any player without Rafa's okay thanks to the contract signed last year. That barrier's gone. No more little Dutch boy with his finger in the dike. Be prepared for a tidal wave of excrement now that the dam's broken.

I am absolutely heartbroken on a personal and football level. Not for Rafa, who'll get a fantastic job somewhere (probably Inter), and not because he hasn't the third-highest winning percentage of any Liverpool manager this century (behind only Dalglish and Paisley). Not for me, whose predictions and analysis over the last few years has been proven wrong and meaningless. I am heartbroken over what's become of, and will continue to happen to, Liverpool FC. The most decorated club in English football. And it is only going to get worse.

I Hate Everything

Update 10:45am: Endgame. Official Statement from Liverpool FC on Benitez's exit. Eulogies to follow later. When I have some semblance of sanity.

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Just when I thought I could ignore malignant Liverpool "news." Ha. Not with these cancers in control.

Not long after 8pm British time, the Internet exploded.

Liverpool offer Rafael Benitez a way out of Anfield

The "relevant" part:

Liverpool have attempted to pave the way for Rafael Benitez’s departure by offering their manager a compromise deal to leave the club this summer.

In what amounts to a vote of no confidence in Benitez, the Liverpool board approved a proposal to the Spaniard which would see him depart Anfield with a lucrative pay off worth in the region of £3 million up front.

According to the terms of the five-year contract he signed in March 2009, Benitez is entitled to a £16 million severance package but given their current financial predicament there is no possibility of Liverpool being able to come up with that kind of money, regardless of their desire to bring about a change of manager.

As such, the club’s hierarchy is hoping that Benitez will stand aside without demanding the windfall that he would otherwise due or else they will have no option but to allow him to continue in the role he has been in since the summer of 2004 in the knowledge that he is no longer wanted/

And it's by Tony Barrett. Needless to say, my heart still hasn't slowed down, and I'm working on my noose knots.

My first thought was the usual Benitez defense, of which there are countless on this site. We can do the "he's underrated and unfairly criticized" or the "Liverpool will lose star players and everything built since 2005" arguments. But I'm sick of those, you're sick of those, and it'll accomplish even less than usual. Now's not the time to debate Rafa's managerial merits.

What I will repeat is this. I continue to believe that Rafa is the last line – the only line – of defense against the owners of this club. Purslow is the bank's yes man. Broughton is a Chelsea fan. The majority of the board is made up of Hicks' and Gillett's friends and families. If Rafa goes, then all those references to Leeds and Newcastle really could come true. Say goodbye to Torres, Gerrard, and Mascherano. Say goodbye to a worldwide scouting network that's brought the likes of Pacheco, Insua, etc. Say goodbye to stability, and any semblance of the Liverpool Way.

It's truly become Benitez versus the Tumors, and the owners know it. Which is why the story's come out like this. There are no quotes from Rafa or his agent, only reports of the Board's actions. And it's at 8pm, giving Benitez no time to respond but ensuring that the national media will have nothing but Rafa come morning. It is a power play. And it is yet another disgusting example of what Hicks and Gillett have done to this club.

Once again, we're airing our dirty laundry in public. Even if Benitez's isn't gone, this is the day Liverpool Way truly died. Shankly is rolling in his grave so hard the coffin might come out.

My only hope is that Benitez will tell to owners to sit and spin. He has no need to take £3m when owed £16m with years left on his contract. Hopefully he'll continue to be a bulwark against the criminal negligence of the custodians. But it doesn't look good. Fight. For the love of all that is holy, please Rafa, fight.

Being a sports fan creates such a feeling of impotence at times. It's especially hard when we're an ocean away. I know first-hand that Americans love this club and want to help. One of the few things we can do on this side of the pond is join with those who are doing something. Help Spirit of Shankly help us.