Liverpool FC Forum

[andy_g]

FA cup final apart, Sunday is the day that could define our season. Will we get second and automatic qualification to the Champions League or remain in third spot and have to negotiate a qualifying round?

Opinion on here seems polarised with many believing that we should rest a few players against Portsmouth to maximise our chances in the cup final, while others believe we should go all out to thrash them and make United have to do all the work to stay second. The key issue of the second point of view is having a belief that United won’t beat Charlton at home as a draw or loss for them with three points for us settles the issue in our favour. They’ve had goalless draws in their last two home games against Sunderland, a frankly terrible team, and Middlesbrough, who fielded far from their best team, so why not? What will affect them most? A lack of the Rooney factor? Or coming off the back of two poor home results and really needing a win? I belive that there is a reasonable chance of them not getting all 3 points from this game.

I’m firmly of the opinion that we put out a team to beat Portsmouth soundly, in fact our strongest possible line up. The cup final is 6 days later giving the players plenty of time to recover so, possible injuries aside, that doesn’t worry me one bit. Achieving second place would be a bonus on a number of fronts. Firstly just say it – second place in the premiership - and third place in the premiership. Which one feels better to say as a Liverpool supporter? Secondly, we have only once finished above them in the premiership, so to finish above them again would be a massive boost for the club and add fuel to the argument about who really is the better club in the North West. The buzz of knowing we’d beaten them to second spot (and condemned them to the ignominy of having to qualify for the Champions League) will soothe any traces of tired limbs, jaded minds and uncertain motivations as we head off to Cardiff. Thirdly, knowing that we have a guaranteed extra £15 million in the kitty for next season from automatic qualification gives us a lot more power in the market over the summer. Compared to only probably having the money after negotiating a possibly tricky qualifier it’s a no brainer. Of course, we would all expect to get past such a game, but can you ever really be certain? Fourthly and finally, the extra 15 days without a competitive midweek game it would give us at the start of the season would be hugely beneficial after a gruelling 05/06 campaign and a world cup competition for the majority of our senior players.

From the press I’ve been reading this morning it seems like Benitez is in the same frame of mind and will do everything possible to get that second spot. Just think, a new contract for Fowler, an FA cup, and second place in the league. That is what we want to take into the summer and on into next season. We all know, even those who think that settling for third is ok, that that is the only way this club can and should approach the game.

[Red Indian]

Second is important definately.  Like andy -g said it changes the whole outlook in the way we approach our targets and spend the money in the summer.  I feel it is going to be the most important pre season in terms of strenghening the squad for us since ages.  It would make it a whole lot easier for us with the money available on the table straight away and without a Champioms League Qualifier to worry about.  Having said that, i can't see Utd having a third bad result in a row, so unfortunately, i think they'll just nick it.  As for the team selections, thats a tough one, you never know what your gonna get with Cisse but then again he had a good game against West Ham at Upton Park. 

I'd go with a fairly strong team v Portsmouth, maybe throw in a few fringe players, Warnock, Kromkamp etc  and Fowler to definately start coz he's cup tied for the final.  In the final i think he might go with Crouch up top with Stevie G behind him and Cisse on the right.

[The Ace1983]

There's a very good article in the back of the Times today about Robbie's new contract and the money situation regarding 2nd and 3rd. From what I can make out, the difference can be more than £7m. And whereas 2nd gets £3m for free, 3rd has to win their 2 qualifiers for the same amount. Come on you Reds, and come on you Addicks!!

[laza]

Not really that confident of us getting second with the MANCs at home.
What i really hope doesnt happen is the MANCs   fall over and we cant captialise down at Pompey.
Now that would really me off
Anyway we are in CL next season, Robbie has signed and we are off to Cardiff next weekend so all is right in the red world 

[ivor_the_injun]

It all depends which Charlton turn out against Man U really. They're capable of winning away at Old Trafford by the odd goal, but equally they could roll over and have 5 put past them. They've won quite a few games this season against the run of play (against us in particular), which could make things interesting even if they're under siege.

I'm hoping they put on a show for Curbishley's last game in charge, and at least hold the Mancs to a draw.

[SouthCoastShankly]

I think the best can hope for is for Manure to draw, I can't see them losing to Charlton at home. To be honest I think we should settle for third. In retrospect the two draws at birmingham cost us dearly

[Mark 23]

They have been lately the mancs so hopefully they will fail.  It will be the best way to end the season with the mancs knowing they are a spent force.  Fair enough they won the League Cup, but is that really any good for a team like Manchester United and it's fans who are accustomed to winning a lot more than that.

And as for money, I can see Rafa spending a lot more than Ferguson in the transfer market, going out on a limb here.

Next season

1. Liverpool (providing we get a 20 goals a season man, thinking about this now, imagine if we had Fowler & McManaman now in their prime, I know they are al'fellas now but when we had them around 96-97, that Liverpool team would be immense)

2. Chelsea
3. Arsenal
4. Manchester Utd

[AussieKopite]

I think nil-all draw is what we need to hope for at Old Trafford.

[48-1119859832]

Good post, Andy.

It's nice to read something optmistic, but yet realistic at the sametime (which is somewhat rare on here). Second place is definitely achievable this season. Man Utd haven't looked great at the moment & with Rooney out their attack will be weakened a lot. But they are still a threat with the likes of Saha and Van Nistelrooy, so the Addicks have a fight on their hands.

I believe 7_Kewell stated the desire to rest key players against Villa & Pompey in order to have fresh legs for the F.A cup final, which is a somewhat sensible thing to do, only if Second place was out of reach that is, and the small fact Villa - Pompey matches are week apart & Pompey - West Ham games are a week apart also, therefore it makes little sense in fielding a reserve team out.

A lose now could have dramatic consequences on our form and team morale, not something you'd want before a cup final. I did state in that thread that we should mix both youth and experience together for the Villa, Pompey games, but that's because I presumed United would get the better of both Chelsea & Middlesbrough, obviously not.

Mark, United are hardly a spent force all they need to do is correct there centre midfield problems and they should be fine, and as for Liverpool outspending United, can I have some of what yer on please? United will at least spend £35-£50million next season, probably on two centre mids. If they get that problem sorted they should be able to put on a serious title challenge.

Writing off United is the most stupidest thing one could do.

[Sabre]

Good post Andy!

I agree with it at some extent. I too think that we should not reserve specially our players for the next match, I simply would follow with the rotation system that Rafa has been applying (in which he periodically rests players, Alonso, Luis Garcia, Kewell...) , that is to say, I'd face the match just a normal game.

I'm not optimistic about the second place, to be honest, when a big team has to win a game at home at the late stages of the league, they generally manage to do so, so do the relegation involved teams that have to win against teams that are not playing for something important. Second place would be great because not playing the previous qualifying round allows you to prepare the season as you wish, not as the calendar leads you.

[48-1119859832]

Sabre, I'm pretty sure everyone connected with Liverpool have niggling doubts in their minds to the potential possibly of capturing second place. But football's not played on paper, it's played on the pitch and football is a funny old game, you never know what the score's gonna be. Who thought that Pompey would of stayed up this season? Who thought Wigan and West Ham would get into a major cup final? Who thought Arsenal and Middlesbrough would reach the final in two of Europe's biggest competitions? You just never know what's around the corner.


Whilst United are favourites, their recent league matches haven't lived up to expectations, without a decent attacking player with all the attributes of Wayne Rooney and without a decent midfield, they could well find themselves on the wrong end of a defeat.

[KennyisGod....still]

I'm goin for an illustrious hat-trick of wrongs and backin the manx for a few quid as the last 2 games i'v done it and they've fell down!!  
I aint that sure of it obviously, but what a result should we pull it off, and if not - well, the race was interestin for the first time in a long one.
This season has been a strange one, with strikers failin in front of goal, yet two superb unbeaten runs with very few goals against. There's no doubt we're headin in the right direction, so changin the team and the focus a week before Cup Final day would surely be the wrong thing to do.
One thing.....whats the odds the manx kick off the second half after us? And another thing that puzzles me, how come they get to kick off mid-week games later than most on a regular basis? very rare u see them kickin off at OT in the EPL at 7.45, its normally 8.00. A small thing i grant, but it could be the clincher when scores filter thru from 5live and the like. And of course, will AF's watch come into play if they need a goal after 97 minutes?
Yes, Sunday's gonna be an interestin day from around 3pm onwards for about 2 hours or so.....

[48-1119859832]

There's no doubt we're headin in the right direction, so changin the team and the focus a week before Cup Final day would surely be the wrong thing to do.

Changing the team would be the wrong thing to do now because we have a good chance of finishing should United crumble at the last hurdle and lose their bottle, therefore losing to the Addicks.

Changing the focus? Not sure what yer on about there but if you mean focus on getting second place instead of focusing solely on the F.A then you would be wrong, because Rafa likes to build this "one game" at a time mentality, which allows us to focus on second place until the Pompey game is finished and then allows us to focus on the Cup final.

If we get second and the F.A. cup than that's been a vast improvement upon last season and upon the few years of failure under Ged.

I don't see why we should throw the towel in on second place yet and just spend 8 days focusing on the F.A cup.

[Reinas No.1 Fan]

Anything Is possible. Boro forced a draw from the manc at home to even allow us this situation. All we can do is win at pompey 82 points is amazing and would have won the league in earlier seasons. But final day deciders are great and I'll be out watching the results come in.

1. Chelshite
2. Liverpool
3. Manure
4. Tottenham
5. Arsenal

However I hope Arsenal win the champs league and take tottenhams place, so we can the tell the eveton fans that they were lucky to even get in the qualifiers last season and shut them up moaning at us about how we were lucky to get in it.

[Bad Bob]

Way I see it, there's no point worrying about what the Mancs do...that's out of our hands.  We just need to focus on getting the 3 points at Portsmouth and see how things play out at OT.

Regardless, however, it goes without saying that we'll be going for the win and would do even if 2nd weren't still possible.  No one wants to lose the last league game, especially given that:

1) We're on a fantastic winning streak at the moment that could become a club record winning streak with a win

2) We're very close to equalling the club record for clean sheets in a season

3) We're a week away from a big cup final and want to go in with momentum

As such, we were never going to put out a totally weakened side against Pompey.  It also needs to be said that we have the depth of squad and momentum at the moment to beat the likes of Portsmouth with a few regulars on the bench.

So, having said all that I think the only thing to consider is the possibility of a key player picking up an injury.  Fresh off of last week's Rooney, Owen and (for awhile) Terry injuries I think it's natural to think about protecting the likes of Stevie and/or Xabi in this kind of game.  But, I'm of the opinion that fretting about potential injuries is counter-productive and breeds a tentative mindset that ultimately does more damage.

I think Rafa will play it smart and compromise--he'll field a strong team that should be good enough to see off Pompey but with a couple of key players (including Stevie) starting on the bench.  That way they can be saved if the result's going our way or come in if the team needs a lift.  I just hope our regular "back five" starts...we're so much better when we have that defensive platform to build on.