Liverpool FC Forum

[Lando_Griffin]

with chelsee new players (SHEVA & BALLACK) i think the league is finished but no way we can do the 2nd place after the frightfuls chelsee

Hello again Hustler.

[Lando_Griffin]

I think we WILL win the league next season. All we need is for Rafa to continue doing what he's done so far.

[babu]

Perhaps I am deluding myself, but I don't think Chelsea will win the league 06/07.
I said this before, but apart from me, none of my mates reckon it will happen.

I believe that the only force capable of taking the League title away from Chelsea next season is Jose. In fact i'd go as far as say they will struggle for second spot. However I reckon they have a real good chance to go furhter in the Champions League.

As for LFC, I would be happy with a top 3 finish. This is another unpopular view among my mates. LFC have played a lot of football this season, then there is the world cup. Add to that are the new signings (hopefully) who in my opinion will take a season to really adjust to the LFC way of playing (we can't always be lucky enough to get a Momo Sissoko).

So of course we can win the title, but top 3 finish is what i expect.

[AussieKopite]

I think it will be especially close, I'm thinking 5 points separating 1st and 3rd. Liverpool will be in the mix there, but it will come down to decisions by referees and in Liverpool's case the strikers finishing (whoever they may be).

[Shawky_Gerrard]

with chelsee new players (SHEVA & BALLACK) i think the league is finished but no way we can do the 2nd place after the frightfuls chelsee

Hello again Hustler.

 
hello optimistic
all things here r estimations
but in the next seson chelsee may be as real madrid - stars w/o wins - or be chelsee which i think

[tel]

We are in for a great year next season.

Mark my words. Chelsea will drop off this season.

There is a very fine line between where Chelsea and Real Madrid are.

Buying ageing football stars who are starting to think about life after football and losing their hunger for success.

Ballack and Sheva will struggle in the English league. Ballack came for the money and not the bruises. Sheva is a superstar that has nothing left to prove in the game.

More recent versions of Zidane, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. That's what Chelsea is buying.

Gallas and J Cole are unsettled and Robben is looking for a new club.

Chelsea = the new Real Madrid.

Liverpool = the new Barcelona

[azriahmad]

It's hard to say about winning the premiership at this juncture as we have not secured our transfer targets yet, but it is quite easy to envisage that we will be the main contenders as we will have the same core players.

Chelsea have really spalashed out on genuine household superstars this time, as opposed to buying overpriced young players (except for Makelele and Crespo who were not "young" when Raineri bought them). All the pressure is on them, especially in Europe as Ballack and Schevchenko are established CL superstars, despite Ballack failing to win a CL medal with Bayern Munich, and his main motivation to go to Chelsea was the CL title apart from the money.

[JC_81]

We are in for a great year next season.

Mark my words. Chelsea will drop off this season.

There is a very fine line between where Chelsea and Real Madrid are.

Buying ageing football stars who are starting to think about life after football and losing their hunger for success.

Ballack and Sheva will struggle in the English league. Ballack came for the money and not the bruises. Sheva is a superstar that has nothing left to prove in the game.

More recent versions of Zidane, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. That's what Chelsea is buying.

Gallas and J Cole are unsettled and Robben is looking for a new club.

Chelsea = the new Real Madrid.

Liverpool = the new Barcelona

It's a good point about the older players - Ballack and Shevchenko may not have the same hunger they had a few seasons back, but unfortunately you can't be sure about this.  There have been plenty examples of older overseas players coming to the premiership and flourishing - Makelele is a great example.  Personally I think that while Ballack and Shevchenko undoubtedly came for one last pay day, they are both fighters on the pitch, both winners.  They are also both physical players which means they have a good chance of adapting to the league quickly. 

The reason why one or both of these signings may not work is more likely to do with the system Chelsea plays.  How do you incorporate both those players?  Shevchenko is never a lone striker and Ballack and Lampard might get in each other's way.  Changes to their system is needed.

The other problem is Ballack's ego.  I would imagine Shevchenko is a good pro, but Ballack is a whinger.  Only this week he was moaning to the German press about Klinsmann's tactics for the national side.  It'll be interesting to see if he starts any of that nonsense with Mourinho.  Keeping the squad happy will be Mourinho's biggest task next year.

[azriahmad]

To accommodate and get the max from Schevchenko, he'd have to play 2 up front, with Drogba as the battering ram yet again but with Schevchenko alongside to feed off the scraps. He's intelligent and can also create so he'd be the first choice and either Drogba or another will play depending on the opposition.

More interesting will be the midfield. If Moureen has to accommodate both Ballack and Lamps, with Joe Cole, Duff or Robben on the flanks, he may have to sacrifice the holding midfield which may allow opposition more room to attack Terry & co and more goalscoring chances. Otherwise, he'd have a very unhappy Ballack or Lamps, poorer team morale, and more players who'd need IQ tests like Carvalho.

[Shawky_Gerrard]

We are in for a great year next season.

Mark my words. Chelsea will drop off this season.

There is a very fine line between where Chelsea and Real Madrid are.

Buying ageing football stars who are starting to think about life after football and losing their hunger for success.

Ballack and Sheva will struggle in the English league. Ballack came for the money and not the bruises. Sheva is a superstar that has nothing left to prove in the game.

More recent versions of Zidane, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. That's what Chelsea is buying.

Gallas and J Cole are unsettled and Robben is looking for a new club.

Chelsea = the new Real Madrid.

Liverpool = the new Barcelona

Sorry but the problem in Real Madrid not the age of ZIDAN RONALDO but they don't have defenders at the level
they don't have CM player like REDONDO _ MEKALELY- CAMBIASO
in Real Madrid there is no Juse Morinho
a big difference betwen 2 cases

[7_Kewell]

We are in for a great year next season.

Mark my words. Chelsea will drop off this season.

There is a very fine line between where Chelsea and Real Madrid are.

Buying ageing football stars who are starting to think about life after football and losing their hunger for success.

Ballack and Sheva will struggle in the English league. Ballack came for the money and not the bruises. Sheva is a superstar that has nothing left to prove in the game.

More recent versions of Zidane, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos. That's what Chelsea is buying.

Gallas and J Cole are unsettled and Robben is looking for a new club.

Chelsea = the new Real Madrid.

Liverpool = the new Barcelona

agree with a lot of that.  Ballack and Sheva have come to the Premier league, not to purely be successful, but to earn a HUGE amount of money that they wouldn't get anywhere else.  That's a very dangerous situation, because (as has been stated) their hearts might not be up for the long hard slog of our league.  Can you see Ballack, Sheva and Carlos really being motivated to play at a snowy Vicarage road after getting a few late tackles and no decisions their way?  I can't....i'm banking that a bad run of results will bring to the surface the animosity that is lurking in their dressing room.  There are 4-5 BIG ego's there that aren’t happy.  It's ok now, because they're successful, but have a bad run (like they had in their last few games) and things might not be so rosy.

[Anfield Kop]

We definitely have a great chance of winning the league if we take a look at the progression we've made since rafa arrived...

5th in 2004/2005
3rd in 2005/2006
1st in 2006/2007 ?

We've climbed 2 places each season since Rafa's arrival !

[48-1119859832]

We definitely have a great chance of winning the league if we take a look at the progression we've made since rafa arrived...

5th in 2004/2005
3rd in 2005/2006
1st in 2006/2007 ?

We've climbed 2 places each season since Rafa's arrival !

Lets hope so, I'd love nothing more than to end this long draught without a league title and it will be even more sweeter if we can do against a Chelsea side worth over £400million. 

[account deleted by request]

I honestly believe we can, if we bring in 3 good quality players, if Hyypia can manage another season as good as last year,if Gerrard can come close to his goals tally for last season and if we can get a striker who scores goals. Four big ifs I know but not impossible. Alonso and Sissoko will only get better with age, a revitalised Kewell and Gonzales will sew up the left side and a confident Crouch will obviously have a better start next season than this. Yes we can honestly win the EPL. The real question is WILL we win the league next season. I think yes

[Bad Bob]

I honestly believe we can, if we bring in 3 good quality players, if Hyypia can manage another season as good as last year,if Gerrard can come close to his goals tally for last season and if we can get a striker who scores goals. Four big ifs I know but not impossible. Alonso and Sissoko will only get better with age, a revitalised Kewell and Gonzales will sew up the left side and a confident Crouch will obviously have a better start next season than this. Yes we can honestly win the EPL. The real question is WILL we win the league next season. I think yes

Don't forget the biggest IF of all...

...IF none of our truly key players don't suffer any long-term injuries.  We got off pretty lucky on the injury front last year but might not fare so well next season.

Not trying to be doom and gloom...just realistic.  Hopefully we'll get a rub of the green as far as injuries go next season.  On the other side of the fence, great squad or no, it would be interesting to see how Chelsea would fair should Terry, Makalele or Lampard succumb to a long-term injury (for once) next year!