Liverpool FC Forum

by **andy_g** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:16 pm

there's two ways of looking at the question.

in terms of what we have actually won, if you want to base your judgement on that alone, then obviously last season was miles better. as much as we love the FA cup to be crowned champions of europe is about as good as it gets.

in terms of where we are as a club, how we are performing week in week out, club records we are equalling or bettering, number of points accumulated, prodigal sons returning, finishing above one close rival and pushing the other right to the wire... etc etc. then you can only say that this has been a better season than last.

by **ALONSO** » Sun May 14, 2006 8:22 pm

Overall yes. But nothing will top the champions league final for a one off game for a long time if ever.

by **KennyisGod....still** » Sun May 14, 2006 9:18 pm

This has to be better, if only because we pulled 37 points from last year to jus 9 points this year off chelski....how can anyone argue that aint better. Ok, the CL was a hell of a competition to win, but it was done over alot less games than the PL, as was the FA Cup. Cups at the end of the day are icing on the cake, the league is the bread and butter - always has been, always will.
Gimme the choice between another CL or next seasons EPL, I know where I'd put my vote. Beat the likes of Chelski, Manx scum and what promises to be (Henry permitting) a resurgent Arsenal, I want the EPL to come to Anfield.
Thats a massive 28 point psychological thing we have to put to maureenio, and a last minute winner by Ferdinand stoppin us finishin second too. And then the gap would have been just 8 points, basically the difference between winnin home and away against Chelski to win the league. A little optimistic, but so what? Its the close season, Scotland aint made the WC so I got reason to dream!!

On that subject by the way....... whats the odds now that Scotland are the only home nation to win a trophy in 2006 ? ? ? ? ?

by **Effes** » Sun May 14, 2006 9:32 pm

I voted no.

It's a real tough one to call.

Last season we had so many magic moments:

Gerrard's goal against Olympiakos.
Trouncing Bayer Leverkusen
Garcia's goal v Juventus
The semi against Chelsea
The magic of Istanbul

by **RUSHIE#9** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:26 am

I've gone down the YES road.
Last season we achieved the biggest feat in club football with the european cup win but apart from that the season was like a camels back - up one minute, down the next.
This season has been a big improvement; okay we went out of europe with a bit of a whimper but I think we all under-estimated Benfica a little bit. The league however has been much better, we've gained nearly 30 points on the champions this season over last which by my reckoning means we should be champions by about 20 points next year

.
The dreaded away day blues were more or less exorcised although there is still room for improvement (I'm sure Rafa would agree). The area that we do need to improve in next season if we are to challenge for the title is in the games against the other 'BIG' three (Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal). This season we took a poor 4 points from the six games against these three. Now i do believe that it is possible to take the league title without taking mega points from your nearest competitors but you'd have to get nearly maximum points from the other 32 matches during the season.
We probably all agree that the most disappointing point of this season has been the prformance in front of goal. The lack of goals cost us at least second place and this HAS to be improved upon next term. The biggest let down in this area had to be Morientes, his inability to put the ball in the net on a regular basis caused a collective head scratching from the whole of anfield at times considering his 'World-class' reputation forged during the past years of his career. His arrival was supposed to boost our goals for column and help push us towards the title but when you look at the stats we've only managed 5 more goals this season than last.
Our defence has also been much better this year than last by 16 goals which is a sign of steady improvement.

In terms of trophies won then it's no contest - last season was by far the better but if your looking to the wider picture for the coming season then this season has to be considered the better of the two.

by **AussieKopite** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:36 am

I also think its an improvement because of the sheer number of points we got in the league and 1 point from the Mancs shows that it could have been even better if referee's decisions had gone the other way.

by **Bad Bob** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:36 am

I think this season has been the better season, although nothing will compare to the magic of Istanbul!

For me, watching the lads this season, it's all down to consistency. We've looked like the better side in virtually every match we've played and, for the most part, we have the 3 points to show for it. There were times during the two winning streaks (especially the second one) where we looked much the better side without really taking things out of second gear. We've made league football look pretty simple at times this season which is a HUGE improvement on the 3-ring circus that was last season's league campaign. It is as if the lads took the CL run from last year--the timely goals, the excellent team work and the stingy, stingy defense--and finally learned how to do that almost week in, week out in the league. Winning the FA Cup in glorious fashion just puts the icing on the cake for me. We have had a better season than last. Now, is it too greedy to ask next season to be better still?

Walk On Liverpool FC! :buttrock

by **AussieKopite** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:47 am

Bad Bob wrote:I think this season has been the better season, although nothing will compare to the magic of Istanbul!

For me, watching the lads this season, it's all down to consistency. We've looked like the better side in virtually every match we've played and, for the most part, we have the 3 points to show for it. There were times during the two winning streaks (especially the second one) where we looked much the better side without really taking things out of second gear. We've made league football look pretty simple at times this season which is a HUGE improvement on the 3-ring circus that was last season's league campaign. It is as if the lads took the CL run from last year--the timely goals, the excellent team work and the stingy, stingy defense--and finally learned how to do that almost week in, week out in the league. Winning the FA Cup in glorious fashion just puts the icing on the cake for me. We have had a better season than last. Now, is it too greedy to ask next season to be better still?

Walk On Liverpool FC!

Damn straight.

by **Dalglish** » Mon May 15, 2006 12:56 am

How the memory fades, its been nearly a year since the greatest comeback since Lazarus and we are debating if this season beats what happened in Istanbul !!

Its an ambiguous question I know but in 30 years time when people ask you what was you doing in May 2005 you won't be saying "I was celebrating winning the European Cup in Istanbul and hoping for a better season "

In terms of progress made of course this season has been better when looking at the big picture but as a one off experience May 25th 2005 in Istanbul will live long in the memory

by **2520years** » Mon May 15, 2006 3:41 pm

I'm not in agreement with most people here, but I think winning the Champions League eclipses almost anything else. Winning the Premiership is the only thing that is on a par with being Champions of Europe. How often does that happen? We've only won it five times, and there are only two(?) teams that have won it more than that. Winning the FA Cup is great, but it's not in the same stratosphere as winning Ol' Big Ears.

As for the league, yes, coming third is better than coming fifth. When compared with winning the Champions League though, I don't think it matters that much unless you come first.

by **Ace Ventura** » Mon May 15, 2006 6:37 pm

I think its a very difficult question to answer.
Lets just say we have had 2 fantastic seasons and enjoy being back where we belong, challenging for the major honours every season.
Last season was unbelievable absolutely fantastic in Europe but totally inept in the league (especially away from Anfield)
But Rafa seen the weakness in the side and brought in the right players, players who many myself included thought after the european final were not big enough names for the newly crowned champions of europe. Well we were wrong Crouch and Sissoko have been outstanding this season, Momo gives Stevie the licence to do what he does best, constantly winning the ball back and unsettling the oppostion.
Crouch has also performed far better than i thought he was capable of. He has been vital, he links the attack and midfield superbly and is one of the major reasons our skipper has scored so many this season.
Then there is Reina, he has given me the odd heart attack but for his first season in english football were the game is a lot more physical then you cant praise him high enough really, the amount of clean sheets he has kept is phenemonal and his ability to save penalties is second to none.
82 points in the league and a third place finish is a massive improvement and if the other teams in the league showed a bit more resolve against Chelsea then they would of dropped more points, i think next season Chelsea will struggle to amass as many points as the last 2 seasons, if we can push on again then we could be looking at our first title in a long time.
As most have said nothing will beat the feeling of istanbul, we never expected before last season began that we could be champions of europe again, and somehow we did it.
After such an improvement in the league this season, we can rightly start dreaming of being the best team in England again.
Give us the strikers we need please Rafa.

by **lakes10** » Mon May 15, 2006 8:12 pm

ok you will need to take a seat for this, I feel with Rafa we might be very close to getting the 19th, yes thats right i have spent the last 2 seasons slating the guy, he still needs to learn a few things like dont take SG off when we are only 1-0 up and they are down to 10 men as this is english football and as the Fa cup shows most teams in england can play well with 10 men..

i realy do feel we have the best chance to close the gap on the blue russians even more next year, we must buy well if we do so we might even have the 19th by this time next year.

by **ulswater** » Tue May 16, 2006 9:41 am

For me both seasons go hand in hand as building blocks for the seasons to come, were getting better, playing some awsome football, winning trophies..all in Rafa's first two seasons, not bad going eh!!

by **alessandromagno** » Wed May 17, 2006 4:00 pm

Better, no. But more predictable and filled with solid progress.

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