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Damien Comolli believes that Liverpool ownership group FSG treated him unfairly in his time as the club's director of football and football strategy, according to the Liverpool Echo.
He said that FSG asked him to invest in the long term future of the team, but did not allow his project enough time to develop. "You cannot say you have to focus on the future and at the same time say the young players are not ready to compete at the top level," said Comolli.
In his short time at the club, Comolli oversaw the big money purchases of Luis Suarez, Andy Carroll and Jordan Henderson, with the latter two additions drawing the ire of Liverpool's ownership.
"When I left Liverpool, the owners told me Henderson was a massive mistake," said Comolli. "Now he's turned out to be the next Liverpool captain and he's a regular in every game."
Henderson struggled to match expectations when he first arrived at Anfield, but he has since become one of Liverpool's best midfielders. That development came too late for Comolli, who parted with the club in April 2012.
"I don't think I have to justify whether Carroll was a good decision or a bad decision," said Comolli about the similarly controversial signing of striker Andy Carroll. "Look at it as a whole. When people talk to me nowadays about Liverpool, they say what a fantastic job you did in bringing players like Luis Suarez and Jordan Henderson to the club."
Comolli's legacy is an interesting one -- he bought many of the players that symbolized Liverpool's tumultuous spell outside of the Champions League from 2010-2013, but he also acquired key pieces that helped lift the Reds back into Europe. It may be difficult to defend some of his maneuvers -- Carroll, Stewart Downing and Charlie Adam stand out as memorable mistakes -- but one must not forget that he brought in Suarez, one of the best strikers to ever play for Liverpool, and Henderson.
In a business of highly publicized hits and misses, Comolli found both ends of the spectrum. For FSG and many Liverpool supporters, that was not good enough.
