Liverpool FC Forum

woof woof ! » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:40 am wrote:

Reg » Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:59 am wrote:To take you up on your point Woof, it seems BR hasn't bought badly, the lads he's bought this window seem to be to be upgrades and wisely bought in terms of not wasting (too much) money.

I'm not criticising BR's signings Reg (save that for another thread  ) I'm simply of the opinion that with the amount of money invested into the squad plus the fact that we've received the benefit of a pretty reasonable CL draw I now expect us to progress beyond the group stage.

My reference to asking questions about BR's future if we fail to qualify is made because I believe with the squad we now have at our disposal we should qualify from this group and only poor decisions from the management would prevent it.

At present it's all moot anyway Reg. I'm sure the players and BR's performance will receive their fair share of analysis once the group stage actually kicks off.

I 100% think we shoudl qualify for the group.

However, European football is not something you just walk back into. I mean look at Man City, they've failed in recent years to get out of the group and their squad was better than ours now arguably.

If we did fail to qualify, assuming it wasn't of a major tactical/strategic management ***** up - I wouldn't be calling for Rodgers head next season.

Here's my take on the teams:

Real Madrid - Well, we all know them and what they're about, favorites of the group, holding champions and all. But there's an interesting stat that's famous around the interwebs that we've never lost against Real. Although we've only played them 3 times (won all 3 without conceding), it's a nice little tradition thing to have on our side.

Basel - Probably the easiest opponent we could have got from pot 2. We have a bit of history with them but they haven't qualified to the knock-outs since then. Can't see them going in instead of us to be honest.

Ludogorets - Very low on quality but very high on team spirit and moral. Quality usually prevails but we shouldn't underestimate them and let our guard drop. They should be easily beatable if we take them seriously and not let them take us by surprise.

All in all I think we have a passable group and I'd be disappointed if we don't go through to the knock-outs.