Liverpool FC Forum

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:45 pm**

GYBS wrote:I think its fair to say we arent anywhere near as good as previous teams that have led the league before in certain years .

And it´s fair to say we are a better side than last year at this time.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 9:53 pm**

umm tough one mate - not so sure myself , if we had torres fit then yeah

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:09 pm**

I think we're much better than last year, at this point. I remember us drawing left and right at the beginning of the season until Torres started to settle in we were :censored:

I think? Correct me if i'm wrong though I have a terrible memory but feel pretty certain that at this point last year we looked like c.rap.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:11 pm**

we started off really well mate but hit a bad patch through nov and dec

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:11 pm**

Igor Zidane wrote:Stu , your famous or should it be infamous on RAWK lash . You need to read the whole thread though.

http://www.redandwhitekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=234177.0

This lad, May the 25th, is quality!

The ever-changing mantra of the zombie:

He got lucky in Istanbul, if it wasn't for Istanbul...

Rotation rotation rotation. I'm all in a spin.

Zonal marking, it's all about zonal marking, exploit the weaknesses in zonal marking

Kuyt out Kuyt out Kuyt out Kuyt out

Will not adapt. Cannot adapt. Will never beat Man U or Chelsea

Too negative, too rigid, too organised, too stubborn. Will never win the title until he grows some balls...

Next season it will be...

Other teams had a bad year, a bad year, a bad year. He'll never repeat it

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:25 pm**

We probably are a better team than last season but not by much. We are where we are largely because of two absolutely huge results against big four rivals. On both of those days we played very well, but apart form that I wouldn't think our results so far are massively different from last season. Last season we also drew too many at Home and were hard to beat even when we didn't play well, staying unbeaten for a good stretch at the start of the campaign. Had we lost at Home to the Mancs and drawn Away to Chelsea as we did last term, we'd still be better off than last season but not by a huge amount. It's hard really to argue we are a long way better when you consider that Torres has hardly played, Keane hasn't really settled and Dossena is patently obviously not better than Riise being charitable, and not as good if we're being honest.

Riera has made a big difference to the balance of the team and has improved us without question, despite going off the boil somewhat over the last few weeks. He's been a definate plus to last years team.

Keane hasn't really been a success it's fair to say so far. It would be hard to argue for instance that despite being a better player than Crouch, he has contributed more than the big man would have, because he hasn't. In that little swap, so far we've come off second best although Keane will obviously play much better than he currently is.

Arbeloa I think has improved a lot this season, while Kuyt's form particularly (in the goalscoring sense at least) in the first dozen games was a revelation at right midfield and far better than anything he had previously shown in a red shirt.

Gerrard has just been Gerrard and thank God we have him, while Alonso has been absolutely pivotal to our success and is back to his very very best IMHO.

So team-wise, there have been some notable pluses and minuses. Less rotation has obviously helped, as has the relatively benign start we've had in terms of fixtures. More than anything else though, our immediate rivals have been less efficient and have come back to the pack, which as it was led by us previously has given us a huge opportunity. If we win it this time, there is every possibility that in the next couple of seasons we can have an "all time great" Premiership team. You've got to win the thing first though, and we'll never have a better opportunity I'm certain of that.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:33 pm**

After 17 games last season we had 33 points. Replace this seasons great wins against the mancs and Chelsea by last seasons results and we again have 33 points after 17 games. Just shows both the value of beating your rivals and how easily a good season can become an average one or even worse.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:48 pm**

s@int wrote:I agree Mick, which is why I think this may be our best chance for a long time to win the league, and why I am so worried that if we don't take as many points as possible while we have the chance,we may regret it later when one of the other teams really starts to hit form.

Hopefully we will hit our purple patch first and build up a nice little cushion, but I think rather than the mancs trip to the Far East being a big handicap for them, I think it may just kick them into top gear. I just hope I am wrong.

Agree there S@int.

Most "pessimists" are that way because we thought Hull, Fulham, W Ham at home would be a chance to get a cushion between us and Man U and Chelsea.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:39 pm**

Right, you have sold it to me.

We are cra.p Rafa is a buffoon and we are going backwards.

Rafa Out.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:41 pm**

Leonmc0708 wrote:Right, you have sold it to me.

We are cra.p Rafa is a buffoon and we are going backwards.

Rafa Out.

Kinell Leon, you dont help do you?

I haven't said he's a buffoon nor that Rafa should go.

Some of us were just frustrated at the home draws.

You even said yourself he's annoyed you the odd time with selections/subs.

Posted: **Wed Dec 17, 2008 11:59 pm**

Leonmc0708 wrote:We are cra.p Rafa is a buffoon and we are going backwards.

Sorry can't agree Leon. We aren't cr@p, we're top of an admittedly slightly under par this season Premiership, but we are top any way so we can't be cr@p.

Rafa isn't a buffoon either although he does make mistakes sometimes which is no doubt what you mean. Paying 20 million quid for a striker and then not either playing him in the first place or not bringing him on when you need a goal isn't necessarily buffoonery, but it probably is. It usually either means you've bought the wrong striker in the first place, or your substitutions/initial selections are a bit amiss. That doesn't make him a buffoon though, we are after all top of the league.

we haven't gone backwards either I don't think, as we have more points than at the same stage last season, and are top of the league. Admittedly Dossena is hardly a forward step from Riise, and crouch would probably have contributed a lot more than Keane has so far, but we haven't gone backwards.

FFS, some of these pessimistic fans on here are a joke sometimes, a fecking disgrace in fact.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 3:44 am**

bigmick wrote:
Leonmc0708 wrote:We are cra.p Rafa is a buffoon and we are going backwards.

Sorry can't agree Leon. We aren't cr@p, we're top of an admittedly slightly under par this season Premiership, but we are top any way so we can't be cr@p.

I saw an interview with MON last week I think and he was saying the prem is very strong this season and its helping his side because everyones nicking points off one another so a decent run is well rewarded.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:25 am**

Rush Job wrote:I saw an interview with MON last week I think and he was saying the prem is very strong this season

He's wrong though Rushie :;):

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 4:31 am**

bigmick wrote:
Rush Job wrote:I saw an interview with MON last week I think and he was saying the prem is very strong this season

He's wrong though Rushie

It show theres two ways of looking at it though, I think a few managers have made similar comments.

Posted: **Thu Dec 18, 2008 9:41 am**

Rush Job wrote:
bigmick wrote:
Rush Job wrote:I saw an interview with MON last week I think and he was saying the prem is very strong this season

He's wrong though Rushie

It show theres two ways of looking at it though, I think a few managers have made similar comments.

I think MON is right. The fact Chelsea and Manchester are not stronger than they were 2 years ago doesn't imply the *league* as a whole is any weaker.

The ease teams like Chelsea won their games wasn't natural, they are not any better right now, true, but the oppositions are not that weak neither.

The margin that teams like Chelsea had to improve from Mourinho times is not big. When you are in a top level like that maybe you can improve <----> and that improvement will be expensive. Where as the margin that teams like Tottenham and Villa have is bigger <------------------>.

Due to this indisputable IMHO improvement of the English League, I think there will be a less monolithic and less predictable top four in a few years. There will be, if you see what I mean, teams that like will make the role that Sevilla or Villarreal do in my country, teams that can make it in the top four.

Liverpool FC Forum

Rafa benitez - My thoughts