Liverpool FC Forum

[JBG]

Excellent progress so far.

The team has matured a lot as the winning run progressed. The performance against Sao Paulo was interesting. While we lost that game and missed loads of good chances, we completely bossed the South American champions in the way you would expect the likes of Juventus, Bayern or Milan to boss the game. There was certainly progress to be seen.

Coming second is still a big ask. Man UTD will drop points and I still think they will have a difficult time yet when the fallout of Roy Keane leaving settles, but they are out of Europe and that is probably worth an extra 5-6 points - at least - to them in the Premiership. We are probably due another sticky patch but I think it will be close. There is every chance that we'll go into the last match with a chance of second place.

The Champions League will be very difficult, but there is an air of confidence  about the side now, and we have proved we are very difficult opponents in two leg ties. I expect us to get past Benfica but after that we could run into a road block in the form of somebody like Barcelona or AC Milan, bent on revenge. However, if the draw is kind to us for the quarter final (such as a PSV or Villareal/Rangers) then things will get interesting. The last 16 draw was strange as a few big clubs were drawn together. All of this will be academic if we don't beat Benfica, but after watching the Lisbon team against Man UTD, I genuinely think they are one of the poorer sides left. Liverpool have plenty in the tank to beat Benfica, and if we go out, it will be because of our mistakes rather than anything coming from Benfica.

Great progress so far, but it will be all for nothing if its not maintained and built upon.

[azriahmad]

We're playing good passing football and creating a lot of chances while being very solid at the back. Definitely a big improvement and such a different style of playing as compared to the Houllier years.

I only wish that our strikers are more ruthless and clinical at putting away the chances to that we kill off the games we dominate very early. We still have average players in the squad and Benitez is trying his best to get the max from the squad in the absence of a larger transfer kitty.

I look forward to reinforcements in the more critical areas so that the team becomes more balanced and even stronger.

[JBG]

We're playing good passing football and creating a lot of chances while being very solid at the back. Definitely a big improvement and such a different style of playing as compared to the Houllier years.

I only wish that our strikers are more ruthless and clinical at putting away the chances to that we kill off the games we dominate very early. We still have average players in the squad and Benitez is trying his best to get the max from the squad in the absence of a larger transfer kitty.

I look forward to reinforcements in the more critical areas so that the team becomes more balanced and even stronger.

Good point azriahmad.

There are still some average players in the squad - Troare, Josemi (until he leaves), Warnock, Cisse, Pongolle etc. None of these are particularly bad players (I don't think Josemi and Traore are quite as bad as some people make out) but we don't have as much overall quality as Chelsea do.

Benitez is doing very well with what he has, and despite his and Gerrard's claims that the squad can do much better, I think, all things being equal, the squad in its current incarnation is close to maximising its potential. Although we can see more in Harry Kewell and with the right guidance Cisse and Pongolle could get a lot better, its impossible to have a situation where all of the players are playing excellently all of the time. Even Chelsea have some players who are not always playing well - Geremi, Bridge, Johnson and Charlton Cole are currently not playing as well as they can (or at all) but as a whole, Chelsea's squad is achieving its potential as a whole, domestically at least.

In order to raise standards Benitez needs to add more strength. If things stood still the squad will not get better but worse, as Sod's Law dictates that one or two top players will get serious injuries and one or two others will see a drop off in form.

[hobbes]

I might sound unrealistically optimistic.. but truly I feel with the new transfer window open, and if we get the right players I am sure we can beat Chelsea and Man U and of course Spurs and Arsenal.

Ok probably it might seem too short a time. But as I said, if we get the right players in time.

Even with the current squad, we are capable of beating these teams.
With the current run and confidence apart from Chelsea and ManU Liverpool is the club that is very consistent.

Look like this, what are the clubs that might beat Chelsea and yet to play..

1. Man U
2. Liverpool
3. Spurs

That we havent taken into account of boogy team that might just beat or draw Chelsea MAn City, Everton. etc

So, if we do our part well.... win all the games from now on...about 17 matches....we might beat Chelsea...



Chelsea has 1 more match against ManU whereby, ManU might just draw.(possible).

Then 1 match against Liverpool. If we beat them  its good.

[Effes]

I might sound unrealistically optimistic.. but truly I feel with the new transfer window open, and if we get the right players I am sure we can beat Chelsea and Man U and of course Spurs and Arsenal.

Ok probably it might seem too short a time. But as I said, if we get the right players in time.

Even with the current squad, we are capable of beating these teams.
With the current run and confidence apart from Chelsea and ManU Liverpool is the club that is very consistent.

Look like this, what are the clubs that might beat Chelsea and yet to play..

1. Man U
2. Liverpool
3. Spurs

That we havent taken into account of boogy team that might just beat or draw Chelsea MAn City, Everton. etc

So, if we do our part well.... win all the games from now on...about 17 matches....we might beat Chelsea...



Chelsea has 1 more match against ManU whereby, ManU might just draw.(possible).

Then 1 match against Liverpool. If we beat them  its good.

You are talking about us winning 17 game sin a row.. almost doubling the all time club record PLUS Chelsea losing/drawing more than they are likely to.
YES, you are being overly optimistic.

BUT, we are allowed to dream.

A trip over to Paris in May on the other hand looks more likely.

[stmichael]

i'm delighted with the season so far. infact, i'm pretty much delighted with 2005 as a whole. this time last year we lost at burnley, got beat at home by the mancs and then gave the most inept display i've ever seen by a liverpool team away at relegation bound southampton.

one year on, the thought of this sort of run materialising again just isn't a reality and great credit should go to the manager for that. he's stuck by crouch and he's stuck by kewell, both of whom are reaping the benefits in recent weeks. he's also made us mean defensively and has assembled imo the only midfield who can physically match chelsea in the premiership.

i still think 2nd is easily attainable for us this season. having watched that dross between manure and arsenal last night, they're both distinctly average. finishing 2nd would finally put to bed this media b#llocks of "the big three". i can also see us going incredibly close in the CL again if everybody stays fit. Nobody will want to play us as defending champions.

here's to a successful 2006

[dawson99]

in total agreement with michael here but i thought our game against bolton was awful. we looked slow, lacked desire and spark. lets hope we can spring back into it in the ext few games tho

[stmichael]

With Arsenal and MU finishing 0-0 we picked up 10 points to thier 8 over the holidays. 7 pts clear of Arsenal with a game in hand and three behind Man U with 2 games in hand.

Who would have taken that bet after the Fulham game? 

We are on course for 82 points at this rate and considering the slow start that is some doing. The match vs Spurs is going to be crucial to the second half of the season. A win and we're off flying into the crucial matches against Chelsea and mancs. I think second is very attainable but it will take a monumental meltdown for us to catch Chelsea. Even if they go out to Barcelona it won't trigger anything but a Moanihno monologue.

The real positives are the vibe around the team, the performances and football. There is a real gulf in class now developing between us and the other sides in the league. We were half-throttle for 70 minutes vs Everton and still won comfortably. In all the matches we have won none of them can be considered 'lucky to get the points'. Remember needing a Hyypia goal to beat be Wolves 1-0? Well, we beat West Brom by the same score but the result was never in doubt. We've battered teams, we've half-throttled teams, we've walked over teams but we've not scraped by in our wins.

Arguably our two 2-2 draws were defensive/GK -ups. Not the opposition running rampant over us, not our style of play. The 0-0 with Boro we were in command, Spurs not as much so. The mancs came to play for a draw and we hadn't found our form yet. In short, Rafa has figured out the Premier League. In Europe we were never pushed, in control unlike last year's group were we needed Igor Biscan in Spain and the Boy Mellor/FSP to set up Gerrard's goal.

The future is bright- even Kewell is looking like a player. Gerrard is even better than the year he carried 4th. Garcia is still frustrating and is still popping up with goals. We've come from behind away from home to get points, we've won away from home. We've got a winnable tie in Benfica in the last 16. We could quite easily be the only English team in it.

[Lando_Griffin]

Great credit must go to Rafa and his staff for the complete turnaround in league football we have witnessed this season.
I cannot remember any team improving by such a margin in such a short space of time.

I hope we keep improving, and don't get any serious injuries, or mess up by throwing points away.