Liverpool FC Forum

[Ciggy]

Not really mate, we had an awful lot of dead wood and them only wanting to pick up the pay cheque pulling on that liverpool jersey didnt mean all to some of them, Xabi and Luis respect Liverpool as a club, does Harry?
the song we all dream of a team of Carraghers wasnt made for nothing as we wish every player was like him absolutly adoring Liverpool fight and determination, we dont have as many world class players as arsenal, chelsea and the mancs, look at the mancs since Heinze got injured, arsenal when henry was injured, Chelsea without robben and Duff it affected them also, but they have good players to replace them we didnt also we had 14 injuries at one point, no team in the world could cope with that no matter who they are.

[Anfield rapper]

Obviously if we had gone out when we played Olympiakos this would have been a very poor season (maybe we would have won the UEFA cup?), but we have to give rafa credit we can still beat any of the clubs above us on our day. I think the area rafa needs to consentrate on is playing the smaller teams this is where our season has gone down hill. To win these games he needs a couple of strong physical players, at the moment i don't think we have many of these barring our defenders. We need players that can hold the ball well in midfield. Time and time again i have seen us loosing the ball very easily in midfield and being caught out at the back.

I think rafa is due alot of credit this his first season, next season will be critical to see if we are making progress or not.

[Ace Ventura]

For people to suggest that the mancs (scum) wont be up there next year really surprises me. He has made some shocking buys and they have fallen behind Chelsea an Arsenal, but they will be up there next year and if we are challenging them for third i will be more than happy. It takes time to build a championship winning side...especially from what Rafa inherited. Yes Mourinho did it first season...BUT he had whatever funds he wanted and brought in the players he wanted. He also started in a far healthier position, Chelsea were 2nd last season and would of pushed on no matter what. So for Rafa to get us into a champions league final with the injuries we have had is unbelievable.
The league form has been poor and away from home often disgraceful but its not the team he has built and he should be judged after that.
Alonso is class and one of the buys of the season, Garcia has his doubters but has settled quicker than Pires did at Arsenal Nunez and Josemi have struggled to make an impact and might never but they deserve a bit of time. Pellegrino was only ever a short term measure although i think he has really stuggled with the pace of the premiership.
I am optimistic about next season, and i think we will definately be top 4 and finish 10-15 points better off than this year.

[stmichael]

Never thought we'd get this far in the Champions League and like the rest of us I'm totally made up . I do however look back to when we were within' minutes of going out of the competition to Olympiakos and wonder has our progress in the Champions League blinded us to the failure of our team and Rafa in the premiership ? I know that may sound a bit blasphemous to some in this forum but surely a sign of real progress is not a bit of fortune in a knock out competition ?

I know it's early day's for Rafa ,first season in the prem etc etc but some of our performances have been abysmal to say the least ,Southampton,Burnley,Crystal Palace and so on, just as we praise a mgr when he get's it right we should also retain some objectivity when he gets it wrong  . I like the man and if we win the CL will be dancing with the rest of yer ,but when I sober up I'll still be thinking "can Rafa get us into the the top 3 in the prem next season ? "

Your thoughts 

at the start of last season, a lot of people on here were saying that we would finish 2nd, finish above manure blah blah blah. in simple terms, they were kidding themselves. as much as i love rafa (he will turn this club into a force again), he needs to learn from his mistakes in the league this season. too often he has made wholesale changes to the side for no apparent reason. the classic example was everton away when he dropped baros, luis garcia and alonso to the bench, despite having just achieved our most important result of the season by beating olympiakos three days earlier. tiredness is not an excuse. do you see chelsea making wholesale changes every week?

when i look at our team, i think we have a lot of players who are technically excellent. this technical ability will get you a long way in europe. however, whether they are cut out for the pace and physical nature of the premiership week in week out is still to be determined.

i still think that we will finish in the top 4 next season, given the right additions to the squad. i'll also be surprised if everton finish in the top half next season.

[PhiLFC]

Well the way I see it is simple. We have had major changes to the squad and management, unbelievable injuries and have still managed to get to the final of the Champions LEAGUE which isn't a knock out comp until the latter stages - and apart from a bit of luck - you've gotta be a good team to get to the final for fuchs sake.  5th is okay but it isn't okay for Liverpool FC - coz we're winners.

We've had about 7 really bad results which would have made all the difference - I guarantee that they wont happen next season - C'MON

[azriahmad]

We should be able to finish better next season as Rafa would have improved his appraoch to the EPL after this year's learning curve.

It is still very difficult to get closer to Chelski or Arsenal unless we suddenly get loads of money and can buy high quality players or Rafa finds Wenger's knack of getting extraordinary bargains - Fabergas is proving to be a real snip given his quality. As to challenging Manure, well we need to improve the squad first.

[A.B.]

Fourth place is no longer acceptable. Rafa knows that and he will be aiming higher in the league next season and we will do better next season imo.

[66-1112520797]

Not really mate, we had an awful lot of dead wood and them only wanting to pick up the pay cheque pulling on that liverpool jersey didnt mean all to some of them, Xabi and Luis respect Liverpool as a club, does Harry?
the song we all dream of a team of Carraghers wasnt made for nothing as we wish every player was like him absolutly adoring Liverpool fight and determination, we dont have as many world class players as arsenal, chelsea and the mancs, look at the mancs since Heinze got injured, arsenal when henry was injured, Chelsea without robben and Duff it affected them also, but they have good players to replace them we didnt also we had 14 injuries at one point, no team in the world could cope with that no matter who they are.

So what has that got to do with us breaking into the top three next season ?

Whoever is at the club come what may in August i still think it is feasible for us to finnish in the top three.

[A.B.]

i can confirm that, becoz, if we are buying alot of players to replace, then those players need time to adapt, moreover, manc, chelsea, arsenal are very stable team, which do not need much changes, when u don't change much, there is no need for time to adapt.. i am predicting we will be 4th next season, new players need time, maybe on the third season, liverpool will be champions..

Get fourth place out of your system, thats not good enough. We need to challenge the top three places, it would be disapointing in my opinion if we didn't finish finish in the top three next year.

[laza]

i can confirm that, becoz, if we are buying alot of players to replace, then those players need time to adapt, moreover, manc, chelsea, arsenal are very stable team, which do not need much changes, when u don't change much, there is no need for time to adapt.. i am predicting we will be 4th next season, new players need time, maybe on the third season, liverpool will be champions..

Get fourth place out of your system, thats not good enough. We need to challenge the top three places, it would be disapointing in my opinion if we didn't finish finish in the top three next year.

Agreed
Rafa has had his learning season, a serious challenge to the top 3 is what we should aiming for, not a scramble with rest of middle league for that 4th spot