No Asterisks With Any of Liverpool's Successes – "Sport" Matters, Financial Doping Just Sullies

Winning is only winning if won fairly

Still no one has won the Champions League (or European Cup beforehand) whilst finishing with over 90 points in their domestic league; Liverpool aside, of course, with 97 points in 2019.

A proper success, built on smarts and enormous spirit and toil, not sleight of hand, enormous legal teams and oil.

It must feel strangely hollow to win so many trophies based on having so much money that you may as well buy the trophies from a trophy shop, and skip the annoying rigmarole of having a truly elite manager – the 2nd-best of the past decade, no less – and a deep squad of super-talented players who, adjusted for inflation (and other payments) averaged almost £700m per XI selected in the Premier League this past season, and who therefore rank 1st on £XI.

Or, in other words, 40% more than the Reds' £XI. That was the financial gulf, which has been built on … sand.

And Liverpool ranked 3rd on £XI, narrowly ahead of Chelsea (whose squad cost, by contrast, was through the roof – they just couldn’t field those 37 players – with Man United directly between City and Liverpool on £XI costs).

It just doesn't feel like City have earned it off the pitch. They've earned it on the pitch in a sense, and make the most of their spending power; but it seems they've built teams and squad depth on the not-so-marginal gains of spending more on players than, it seems, they were (allegedly) allowed to spend.

Apropos of nothing, drug dealers and racketeers can put their cash in banks and investment funds and earn interest – rewards – that appears washed. That makes them richer still, and they can buy things “legally” with that money, unless caught.

Or in City's case, it’s like (allegedly) attaching a special rocket booster to a F1 car, where everyone else has to use an engine. Yeah, great, whoopee, whatever.

“Lance Armstrong, Ben Johnson, Floyd Landis, Sun Yang, Martina Hingis, myriad East German Olympians, Calciopoli, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Tonya Harding, BALCO ballers, Jimmy Gauld, Peter Swan, David Layne, Hansie Cronje, Tim Donaghy, Sylvester Carmouche, Saracens rugby club, ten current Chinese snooker players, Lord Beaverbrook, Maggie Thatcher – can you hear me?!”

You gave sport one hell of a beating!

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