Why credit crunch could be Anfield's saving grace

Yes, we all know that Manchester United make about a gazillion pounds more per home game more than us.

Yes, we know that parts of Anfield are somewhat antiquated and are unable to cope with the demand both for corporate and 'ordinary' supporters.

But are we raising the stakes - whilst simultaneously tossing away our greatest asset - in a game that we can't possibly win?

Some people seem to think a new stadium magically rights all a club's wrongs.

Ask Leicester City or Southampton how their new ground was helping them as they fought it out on the last day of their seasons to avoid the drop to English football's third tier.

Or even Arsenal as they watched their promising season disappear down the plughole, arguably due to a lack of squad strengthening in January, which Arsene Wenger may have been reluctant to do, even though his board reportedly had made money available to him, due to his awareness of his club's need to pay off the millions borrowed to build the shiny, soulless Emirates.

It is futile to try and even compete financially with the gargantuan financial might of lottery winners Chelsea and United - who didn't just embrace the new commerical imperatives that emerged with the advent of the Premier League in 1992 but left their underwear at home on the first date and let their footprints get embedded on the ceiling.

There is no doubt the club needs to market itself better and capitalise more effectively on the resonance the name of Liverpool FC still has around the world of football.

But build a 70,000 seater stadium and the Mancs'll go to 90,000.

Spend £100m a season and they'll spend £200m.

Ferguson's mob won the championship last season - then lashed out around £50m net, the summer's biggest spenders, to improve their squad and won it again.

What we should be doing is making sure the corporate side of the club is operating proportionately as well as it can while ensuring that football side of things is adequately supported and able to function without distractions.

That means ensuring we keep hold of the most precious commodity we have, the sacred patch of turf, bricks and mortar that is still spoken of in hushed tones the world over and has inspired unfathomable feats from those wearing Red whilst turning those trying to stop them into jelly-legged bystanders.

It may well be that the Dubai folk, or whoever end up owning the club, have a new stadium as item numero uno on their agenda, and it can be argued that LFC, and the fabled 'Liverpool Way', ceased to be the second that the Americans walked through the door last February.

There may only be a tiny shard of light left behind that stable door with the horse straining its reins to breaking point as it prepares to bolt, but whilst the club still plays at our Anfield, there remains hope that the brink will be pulled back from.