Liverpool FC Forum

[Effes]

Can't believe nearly 40% of people on here think we're gonna win the league

Wish I was a bookie.

[OneHotRed]

We have the ability to beat Chelsea and Arsenal, the team needs to have the belief.

If they start believing in themselves, second place.

If they fall apart around christmas as usual, fourth.

This is bang on - I'll go with that - coould go two ways 2nd or Fourth, those whoi think we'll have the title are deluding themselves - as much as I would love to see it it just aint going ot happen

[zarababe]

Can't believe nearly 40% of people on here think we're gonna win the league

Wish I was a bookie.

If you're on an lfc supporters site - why r u surprised ?

[Toffeehater]

Ive been a critic of RB in the past - but the season i believe we will win the league. Man Utd havent really signed anyone and their star player will be hated even by their own fans and players as his heart is in Madrid. All Arsenal have done is lose players. Chelsea - i think are in turmoil. So all though i think we have a better team team than last year i dont think it is great, but the defence seems solid. The centre of midfield is probabley the best in the league, Up front providing rotation isnt a big part of this years plans, is by far the most deadley in the premiership. Behind the stick has always been sorted under RB. The only weakness i see is the width. Taking all this into account, i think the league title will be back where is belongs by the close of the season. The one thing i would say is Portsmouth Man City Spurs and Villa are going to play a big part in the top 4 this year. I think one or more of them could be playing champions league football sooner rather than later.

spot on about most things but fergie has come out and said that ron will be there till the end of his career and the manure fans are hypocrites , they'll start loving him when again when he wins them a trophy or to , they'll forget the whole incident , like the world cup , where most of them were calling for him to go .

[faldo]

we will win the league by 15 points.....if we play each game like we are in the champions league. they now know people are not impressed with liverpool doing well just in the champions league but not bothering with the league,while chelsea,manu and arsenal are battling on many fronts.

i really hope they remember the excuses people were making last season,as for the reason why we keep doing well in the champions league.

manu is our greatest enemy,if we can't be motivated to stop our biggest enemy equaling our league record....then whats the point of having the rivalry.

[Bad Bob]

Mourinho!

JOSE: THIS COULD BE LIVERPOOL`S YEAR

Optimism about Liverpool's title chances are not just limited to the fans - former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho believes this could be their year.

Talking about the Premier League title race, Mourinho dismissed Arsenal's chances but talked up the prospects of Liverpool.

"I saw Arsenal. They have a good team but have a small group of experienced players. The second group is full of boys," Mourinho told The .

"They have talent but maybe Arsenal are without the depth needed to win the title.

"Man United and Chelsea will be fighting but one day Liverpool are going to get that title. I think it might be this year."


LINK

[account deleted by request]

Time for a little happy clappy :-


PAUL TOMKINS ON OUR TITLE CHANCES
Paul Tomkins 11 August 2008 
  It's become something of a Kop cliché to say 'this is our year'. Equally, the final pieces of too many Liverpool jigsaws have turned out to instead belong to Sunset At Sea or Midnight In Manhattan. 
For starters, a missing jigsaw piece suggests a vacant hole – but no football team plays a season with ten men. As soon as you add a new piece to the jigsaw it has to replace one that was already in situ. We saw with Paul Ince's arrival in 1997 that the extra grit he brought to the side came at the expense of John Barnes' calm, composed passing.
 
All you can hope for from the manager is that, year on year, he strengthens the team and the squad, making it more competitive. There are no final pieces to football jigsaws, but there are players who can improve the team. And in Keane and Dossena, I feel there are two players who immediately do that.
 
As pre-season has gone on, the Italian left-back has impressed me more and more. He looks outstanding going forward: quick, skilful, strong, and with good delivery into the box.
 
I do find it funny when people accuse attacking full-backs of getting caught out of position; if he overlaps, as instructed, and the move breaks down, of course he'll be caught out. The key is that one of the holding midfielders is alive to it.
 
You can't expect proactive runs into space but the same player to also be at the other end of the pitch at the same time. Phil Neal was always told by Bob Paisley that once he went forward, to stay with the attack; it was then someone else's job to fill in.
 
There will inevitably be some negatives along the way this season, such as the irritating loss of three players to the Olympics, while of course, no-one can foretell problems and injuries that might arise. Even so, should there be no serious adverse luck – and all successful teams need good luck – I feel there are a number of reasons to believe that this can be the year when a serious challenge is made.
 
Firstly, Sammy Lee is back. Losing Alex Miller this summer was a blow, but Mauricio Pellegrino, like Lee, can add some fresh ideas and a new perspective.
 
Second, there's the return of Daniel Agger. At Anfield he often becomes an extra midfielder, and he will help break down all those teams that set up to defend. Above all, he's a quality ball-player. It is one cliché that is true: he is like a new signing, and a £20m one at that. Also, the presence of Martin Skrtel means Liverpool now have four excellent centre-backs, when for the first half of last season there were just two fit and available.
 
Third, there's the confidence the quartet of Spanish lads will have gained from their summer exploits. Of course, Torres in particular will be a marked man, and possibly liable to fatigue after a monumental 12 months, but I feel he will actually get better this season, providing he stays fit and can be kept fresh (which may mean more debate on rotation, but he cannot play every single match). The potential for improvement also applies to other young 2007 first-team signings, like Babel and Lucas, and even older ones, like Benayoun.
 
Fourth, the improvements hit upon in the second half of last season. We now know Gerrard, who developed an excellent understanding with Torres, can do the second-striker role to a high level if required, and that Kuyt can be very effective on the right of midfield. It all gives the manager more options.
 
Fifth, there's the quality of the young reserves, and how, one year on, they should be closer to pushing for a place in the first team; at the very least, at this point in their careers, they add serious depth to the squad, rather than merely making up the numbers.
 
And of course, finally, there's the new players signed this summer. As a result, the squad looks a lot stronger. Some good players have left, but on the whole even better ones –– and ones better-suited to the way Benítez wants to play –– have arrived. How quickly they settle will be important, but the blend now appears sweeter. Crouch's height will be missed at times, but Robbie Keane's contrasting style is more suited to partnering Torres.
 
I've come to really appreciate Robbie Keane over recent seasons. While no player is ever a clone of another, he does have aspects of Peter Beardsley in the way he plays these days; cleverness in deeper areas, sharp thinking, excellent movement, quick feet and an ability to weigh in with a very handy amount of goals; it all makes him the perfect second striker.
 
Once I stopped seeing Keane as an Owen-type 'out-and-out goalscorer' and more like Beardsley, his qualities made a lot more sense to me. He can create chances for himself and others, and regularly gets into the mid-teens for goals; he got 22 in total last season, but that included three penalties, and he may not take them at Liverpool. Even so, 19 from open play is a great tally for a second-striker.
 
Excluding the Gerrard/Torres axis that shone for the last few months of the season, it's been a long time since Liverpool have had a brilliant established pairing up front, but Keane has shown himself to be a 'partnership player'. He gives those quick, clever passes that a sharp fellow striker can thrive on.
 
It's not a cheap transfer for a 28-year-old, but sometimes you have to pay for a player who is especially suited to your style of play and meets your specific, hard-to-resolve needs. As with last summer and this winter just gone, Rafa, whilst given money to spend, has also raised funds by selling some of his earlier signings for good profits to keep improving the side.
 
Crucially, I see Keane as someone who can help the team exceed the sum of its parts. There's also his leadership skills and infectious personality, which are always worth far more to a side than a more talented but disruptive type.
 
Keane is yet another winner, another team player with great desire and dedication. It is no accident that the squad is filling up with such players, and the spine players –– Reina, Carragher, Agger, Skrtel, Hyypia, Mascherano, Lucas, Alonso, Gerrard, Torres, Kuyt and now Keane –– all possess such traits.
 
Then there's the need to solve a problem immediately. The long-term future may involve the talents of Ngog, Nemeth and Pacheco, who are three very special teenagers, but that trio, who incidentally cost peanuts, will need time to become regulars. While everyone at the club will be patient with them, the manager cannot just wait around until they are ready. If they prove themselves sooner rather than later, that's great, but Rafa has to strengthen the first team now.
 
From the clips I've seen and the pre-season games I've watched, Ngog, like Torres and Henry (both of whom started out slowly as goalscorers), has height, pace and skill, and it will hopefully be just be a matter of time before the scoring instincts that have helped him shine at youth level come to the fore. His pre-season goals could help him settle more quickly, and while raw, he looks a prospect.
 
With pace and skill added to the wide areas in the form of both new full-backs, Babel maturing nicely on the wing as last season progressed, and two lively forwards added, there's every reason to be confident ahead of the new campaign. The main weaknesses in the squad appear to have been addressed, there's more pace in all areas, while Keane can add a new dimension to the Reds' attacking play.
 
Quite where Gerrard will play once the lads are back from the Olympics I'm not sure. But his versatility will be crucial. If it's away from the centre, then the stronger the team is, the less isolated he will find himself. He did very well on the right in 2005/06, when he scored a lot of goals and the team bagged 82 points; with a better side this season, he could really thrive out there.
 
After all, no-one moans about Cristiano Ronaldo being 'wasted' stuck out wide; he roams, just as Gerrard does. This is a fluid Liverpool system.
 
Most importantly, the interchangeability and movement of the supporting front players –– Keane, Gerrard, Babel and Kuyt in particular –– will pose opposition defences innumerable problems.
 
Add Torres, who won't stray too far from a central position but will still offer world-class movement to drag defenders around, as well as picking the ball up in the inside-right and left channels to run at defenders, and the attacking play could easily improve again on last season, when 117 goals were scored in all competitions. The aim has to be to get a higher percentage of goals in the league, and Keane's arrival will help.
 
I'll admit that I'm still not a fan of Keane's various celebrations; call me old-fashioned, but I like to see a simple statement of pleasure and a beaming smile, as seen with Dalglish and Torres.
 
Having said that, I'm more than willing to get used to them. Should his goals, or just his all-round play, help to land that 19th league title, I'll happily consign myself to a hospital ward for the summer by (very foolishly) attempting to replicate his famed tumbling

[Igor Zidane]

Yer got to love this fella , his posts make me feel all warm and tingly and full of rose tinted happy clappyness.

[The Manhattan Project]

Hicks and Gillett would put their money where their mouth is, but it's tough to fit a credit card in a gob.

[Toffeehater]

thats tompkins for you

[SundanceKid]

I'm sure we'd all love to be champions again but it's not a matter of being good enough for it, can we beat United? I honestly don't see that yet. I say second. Not sure exactly of the placing, but we won't be more that 6 points from 1st.

[Owzat]

I wonder how they feel after yesterday's performance

[SundanceKid]

I wonder how they feel after yesterday's performance

Haha right. Before the match. I said to myself "This is a great line up" [I said this to myself because there's no other in Texas that really keeps up with football ] I was thinking we'd get some good practice without wings and our new striker partnership. But goddamn...

[LFC2007]

Jamie Carragher believes the task of winning the league and claiming that elusive 'number 19' has never been tougher. 
The club's vice-captain has won every domestic and European honour during 11 years in Liverpool's first team – except the Premier League.
 
It's a pill which becomes harder to swallow with each passing year, though Carra recently found comfort in the words of an Anfield icon who helped bring eight championship trophies home to Merseyside.
 

"I was reading something from Alan Hansen during the summer and it really brought it home to me," the 30-year-old told LFC Magazine.
 
"You can't criticise much of what Liverpool teams of the past did when Hansen was playing. Obviously they were the best team around but it was interesting to read him say that sometimes Liverpool won the league even though they didn't have a particularly great side.
 
"He went on to say that there is no possible way you could do that today. It struck a chord with me and I thought it was a fair point.
 
"I'm not saying bad Liverpool teams ever won the league – of course they didn't. But maybe a few years ago you could afford to carry a few players.
 
"I don't think that's possible now. Every position has got to be filled by a top player if you want to win things on a consistent basis.
 
"Look at the other top sides in the Premier League: even the full-back positions are filled with the best full-backs in the world now.
 
"Years ago you could probably get away with carrying the odd player here or there.
 
"It was good for me to hear that from someone who actually played back then rather than it coming from current players, where it'd probably just sound like an excuse.
 
"Basically what Hansen was saying was that it's more difficult to win the league now than in his day. The standards have been raised much higher over the past five to 10 years, especially with the Chelsea situation and what's happening there.
 
"That means our standards have to be higher."

.tv
...........................................................................


A very interesting insight I thought, and also bit worrying (being an optimist) as he makes comments which few players would vis-a-vis the quality of the squad and what it takes to win the league - there's a stark realism about it. I get the impression that he feels we're miles behind in certain departments i.e. full backs. I think he knows we need more, but also feels we may be able to get away with it if we're lucky enough and our very best players are exceptional throughout.

[66-1112520797]

So do you think Carra feels we're "carrying" certain players in the team at the mo ?