Liverpool FC Forum

2nd is still on the table and at this point there is no better team in England, maybe Europe, superior to us.

Congratulations to Man City who have earned it over the whole campaign but I would argue we are their equal and better right now, a changed team to the one that started the campaign.

We have all but qualified for CL and I expect us to take second by right, next season is huge for us, an important summer to get it bang on and please no scrimping. Lets have a right go at it.

City have hit the wall imo, they set such a ridiculous early pace (dropping just 2 points from the first 50 or 60 or whatever it was) that they were always going to struggle to keep that up. They got bogged down with all that talk of quadruple's and trebles too. Even with a squad as deep as theirs it's very difficult to compete on all fronts.
Jurgen rotated a hell of a lot early on in the season but it's paying dividends now and I can see a lot of managers taking a leaf out of his book next year.
Don't get me wrong it was incredibly annoying to be dumped out of the cups by the likes of Leicester and West Brom but it does have to be said if we had played our strongest teams in those games we might be out on our feet ourselves now.
Having a strong squad is going to be increasingly important in the future, any team that wants to dominate is pretty much going to need two top quality starting XI's on their books.

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:25 pm wrote:City have hit the wall imo, they set such a ridiculous early pace (dropping just 2 points from the first 50 or 60 or whatever it was) that they were always going to struggle to keep that up. They got bogged down with all that talk of quadruple's and trebles too. Even with a squad as deep as theirs it's very difficult to compete on all fronts.
Jurgen rotated a hell of a lot early on in the season but it's paying dividends now and I can see a lot of managers taking a leaf out of his book next year.
Don't get me wrong it was incredibly annoying to be dumped out of the cups by the likes of Leicester and West Brom but it does have to be said if we had played our strongest teams in those games we might be out on our feet ourselves now.
Having a strong squad is going to be increasingly important in the future, any team that wants to dominate is pretty much going to need two top quality starting XI's on their books.

Or if one cannot afford that, pick and choose the competition. As much as the FA cup is a historic competition, the league and the CL has to be the priority.

maguskwt » Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:26 am wrote:

ycsatbjywtbiastkamb » Sun Apr 15, 2018 8:25 pm wrote:City have hit the wall imo, they set such a ridiculous early pace (dropping just 2 points from the first 50 or 60 or whatever it was) that they were always going to struggle to keep that up. They got bogged down with all that talk of quadruple's and trebles too. Even with a squad as deep as theirs it's very difficult to compete on all fronts.
Jurgen rotated a hell of a lot early on in the season but it's paying dividends now and I can see a lot of managers taking a leaf out of his book next year.
Don't get me wrong it was incredibly annoying to be dumped out of the cups by the likes of Leicester and West Brom but it does have to be said if we had played our strongest teams in those games we might be out on our feet ourselves now.
Having a strong squad is going to be increasingly important in the future, any team that wants to dominate is pretty much going to need two top quality starting XI's on their books.

Or if one cannot afford that, pick and choose the competition. As much as the FA cup is a historic competition, the league and the CL has to be the priority.

Which is pretty much what Jurgen did this season mate, particularly in the League Cup. The team which was beaten 2-0 by Leicester included the likes of Ward, Flanagan, Klavan, Grujic, Ings, Woodburn and Solanke.
I'm not a fan of writing off any cup, League Cup or otherwise, but it does have to be said this is the business end of the season and we do look a lot fitter and fresher than City who gave winning all 4 trophies a right go (indeed they won 2 of them).

I hope Brighton get something off Spurs tomorrow.

Whatever happens now ,this has been a season were the manager has worked tirelessly to transform this team into winners and as a fan I have never been so confident of a positive result as I was watching the Bournemouth game ,it just seems it's all coming together and with a touch of fine tuning and the addition of Keita these fanciful tales of jigsaws can finally be dispensed with.

This Liverpool team leading up to the quarter finals against City has just evolved into a different animal entirely ,a team that are relentless ,professional and hungry for what the future holds under this fellas passionate tutelage.


   

Few mins to go can Brighton hold on.

Great set of results for us from Spuds. Let's hope we continue with a win against WBA. We'll then be 2nd and all the team around us will have to play catch up   

I can see us making a lot of changes for the West Brom game.
The Baggies will no doubt be right up for it especially after beating United last week but tonight's result gives us a bit of leeway, a draw on Saturday wouldn't be the worst result given the circumstances (i.e us playing Roma on Tuesday).

3rd is in our hands now. I'm not confident we will finish 2nd.

Man Utd will be unpredictable to the end... the players hate the manager, the manager hates the players, the fans still think they're the old Utd. They could implode as the battle between Maureen and his players takes centre stage over winning. Lets hope so!

Although we need him fresh for the CL I hope Klopp does not rest Salah too much in the PL matches as I want him to win the Golden Boot and break the all time record of 34 goals. After Kane's phantom goal was awarded to him it is clear he will do anything to win and will probably score multiple goals as they play teams with nothing to play for. Last year he scored four goals in the last two matches to leapfrog into the lead and I think Spurs will play to have him win it this year.

Still think that with the Champions League challenge 2nd and 3rd will be too much for us. We still have to play Chelsea away from home and also WBA this Saturday. With the CL in mind, I can see us drawing both of these games while I expect Spurs to win all of their remaining 4 games. I'm definitely not writing us off, since we can even afford one draw and still finish 3rd on goal difference, but the CL obviously takes priority.

Today's ECHO:
Liverpool are within six points of guaranteeing their place in next season's Champions League group stages.

But despite the new competition rules making life potentially a little easier, there's good reason for the Reds not to settle for fourth place in the Premier League this term.

With four games remaining, Jurgen Klopp's side are currently 10 points clear of fifth-placed Chelsea, with the Londoners having a game in hand.

Wins at West Bromwich Albion on Saturday and at home to Stoke City the following weekend would secure Champions League qualification before the trip to Stamford Bridge on May 6.

Having finished fourth last season, Liverpool had to come through a qualifying round against Hoffenheim in August.
But from this season, the top four of the leading three European associations – of which England are one – earn direct qualification to the Champions League group stages.

That, though, doesn't mean Liverpool, who are currently third, won't gain in the competition from finishing higher up the table.

The split of a country's market pool – the share of money each association has proportionate to the value of their Champions League television deal – is determined by two halves.

In one half, the reigning Premier League champions take 40%, with the runner-up earning 30%, third 20% and fourth 10%.

The other half is split based on the number of games played in the competition.

It explains why last year's champions Chelsea have, at present, earned almost as much as Liverpool in this season's Champions League despite being eliminated in the first knockout round and winning fewer games.

2nd to 4th places are still up for grabs, I feel. The scum haven't sealed 2nd place yet, and it will be game on if they lose to Bournemouth tonight
They still have to play Arsenal next weekend also, so it ain't done and dusted yet.

I don't feel we will necessarily struggle v West Brom on Saturday. They are bottom for a reason. I don't think Klopp will rotate either and play Ings and Solanke again after the Derby malarkey. He will play Firmino and Salah for 60 minutes probably, then sub them. We don't have the depth of squad in attack to rotate too much.

There's nothing to suggest we cannot win our last four games.