This is something I would like to reply to as I am sick of listening to this nonsense.
When Rafa got the Inter job I was happy for him as finally I thought he would get a chance to manage a ready made team. But the moment the season started and I realised Inter bought only 2 youngsters and nothing else I immediately knew he was screwed, and true enough.
However if you actually followed Inter in the first few games of the season before the injuries you'd know that Inter had one of it's best ever start in terms of goals conceded since 99. Then all hell broke loose.
The reason I knew he was screwed was simple. Shanks and Bob Paisley had already spelled it out way back then.
One of the secrets of Liverpool's longevity at the top, especially since Bob, is the the fact that wherever we finished back then we always bought new players, always! Not just to replace outgoing players but actually further strengthen the squad. And this was during the days of 1 substitution and no rotation. Almost always we were doing it from a position of strength. This unwritten rule of our success was probably learnt from Shanks fallow 7 year period when he persisted with the same players for far too long and found success again after replacing those aging heroes.
When we did the double in 77 we went on to buy Kenny for a record fee and Souey the next season and retained the European Cup. When we won the Euro again in 81 we had on our books the most expensive teenager in world football in Rush and Grob and supplemented the squad with Lawro and Nicol the next season, players who were the backbone of Fagan's treble season. Under Kenny, when we did our first League and cup double, it was only after we bought Barnes and Beardo in 87 that we further extended our dominance having had net spend of -ve 2mil the season after the double.
In world football very very few teams have gone on to do a treble. We did it twice, Man U, Barca (6 in fact) and Inter. Of all these teams only Man U and Barca have gone on to win the league, so far at least. When we did the treble in 84 our net spend for the next season was almost nil and we won zilch. After the treble in 01 we broke even in the market and only came in 2nd, close but no cigar. But for the 99-00 season, Man U's net spend was about 8 mil, or about 20 mil in today's market and won the league again. Barca spent 70 mil Euro on Ibra and sent Eto' to Inter. After winning the league again they sold Ibra and got in Villa.
Compare that to Inter and you should be able to see the picture. In fact, both teams that contested the European cup last season did not buy big this season and both have suffered greatly this season. Bayern have only now climbed the table having started extremely poorly due to.... ta da! injuries to key players. Then there's Chelsea who only bought Ramires and Benni this season after doing the double last season and look where they are.
Given these circumstances it's hardly surprising that Rafa was adamant about buying new players every season when he was with us, and this too not from a position of strength. To challenge for the title we needed more players and the same went for Inter, who probably had promised him some signings and reneged later on. One of the reasons we were so poor last season was because the horrific injury list not only prevented us from playing our best players it also stopped Rafa from rotating the squad and freshening it for the final push. Coupled that with the negative net spend we had the perfect storm last season. The same thing has happened to him at Inter.. No one bats an eyelid when Barca and Man U strengthen after winning titles and cups but when Rafa demands improvement and new players for Liverpool, having coming so close to the title, or for Inter, to maintain their dominance he is accused of being greedy and controlling. To maintain your dominance in any field you have to be a step ahead of your rivals and always demanding improvement. When asked what his hopes are for the new year, Tiger Woods answers would always be the same every year. "I want to be better than last year". I'm going out on a limb here but could that be the reason for his dominance and making him one of the best to ever play the game of golf?
According to reports the pace of football these days is 20pc faster than it was back then and players play almost 30pc more than their predecessors. It's also why rotation is so vital in today's game. With the demands of winning being such and the pressure almost incessant it's hardly surprising that players are injured so easily hence the need for new blood every season. Obviously there are many reasons that go into winning anything but when all else is equal it's the little details that make a difference, or in some cases tens of millions of pounds. That I could tell beforehand that Rafa would have problems at Inter due to their lack of spending says something.
I find it outrageous that people don't see the correlation between spending and success especially in modern day football. That Man City have finally led the table, albeit briefly, after so long must all be a coincidence and nothing to do with their spending. Then again you don't have to believe me but maybe you'll believe this cock:
"Ballack's contract came to an end," Ferguson said, according to The Guardian. "Belletti's contract came to an end. They have been replacing these players with younger ones such as [Danny] Sturridge and the young boy [Josh] McEachran. So maybe that's why their results have been erratic. Their plan was always to start introducing younger players and I think that's a good thing but it can backfire if you get injuries."
The Scot also took a pop at the Blues' relatively small squad, as United in comparison have a larger squad that could arguably cope better with injuries.
He said: "You need big squads these days because the number of matches and the intensity of matches does produce injuries. There's no question that having a big squad helps."
The same cock who had the cheek to accuse Rafa of overspending.
Good read and no way my reply will do that post justice but was there not years where Liverpool basically added a squad player to the team and some years did not even do anything as they just kept ticking over. No disrespect to Rafa and maybe the next 6 months will prove Inter is suffering but he surely could have done a wee better with what was available to him and also his comments about his own Inter players in public when he needed their backing was a little foolish.
Also it was not as if Inter has been sitting around watching an aging team lose its way as here is some of the most recent purchases
January 2010 Inter Transfers
In: Goran Pandev (free, Lazio), Nwankwo Obiorah (undisclosed, ECO F.C.), Federico Del Grosso (co-ownership, Ternana), McDonald Mariga (undisclosed, Parma)
Summer 2009 Inter Transfers
In: Diego Milito (undisclosed, Genoa), Thiago Motta (undisclosed, Genoa), Riccardo Meggiorini (undisclosed, Cittadella), Denis Alibec (undisclosed, Farul Constanţa), Kerlon (undisclosed, Chievo), Lúcio (undisclosed, Bayen Munich), Samuel Eto’o (undisclosed, Barcelona), Alexander Hleb (loan, Barcelona), Marko Arnautovic (loan, FC Twente), Wesley Sneijder (€15m, Real Madrid)
Summer 2008 Inter Transfers
In: Stefano Giacomelli (loan, Foligno), Luis Antonio Jimenez (permanent deal, Ternana), Mancini (€13m, Roma), Sulley Muntari (€16m, Portsmouth), Victor Obinna (undisclosed, Chievo), Ricardo Quaresma (€18.6m initially + Pele, Porto)
Of course Rafa could have expected some of his own men last summer and it was lacking but to say the same
thing happened at Inter as it did at Liverpool is a bit harsh to say the least as in the 2 previous years Liverpool was shedding loads while Inter did bulk up as you can see. I have been pretty honest about Rafa over the seasons and always felt we only blossomed under him when the pressure was off and once we were tagged faves for anything we struggled. Also as you said spending is important but look at who is topping City at the moment, Utd a team who has been outspent by City, Spurs, Chelsea and co the past few years. Money is a blessing but when the strings were tied after the recession hit you had to use your noggin to get the best of what you had and feck them Utd showed us a thing or two as many of their starring players are hardly world class signings are they?