Liverpool FC Forum

[Benny The Noon]

6th to 10th brigade - another new label from the preacher


People are predicting 6th to 10th with our current squad - obviously when players leave and arrive we can re evaluate the situation then hence why it's still early to predict much

[Scottbot]

All very speculative at the moment because we don't know what sort of a squad Hodgson will have at his disposal but if we can keep Stevie and Torres (at the club + fit) then I'd be VERY disappointed if we're not challenging for the Top 4 all season. We've got the toughest start I can remember but then I remember looking at last year's opening 10 games and thinking we're go alright here so it isn't necessarily a bad thing.

A lot (I think) will depend how much importance is placed on the Europa league. I'd love to see Hodgson prioritize the league and rest a few for our midweek games in Europe.

[Ciggy]

The funny thing is about the 6th to 10th brigade, on some threads they reckon we'll sell Gerrard and Masherano and replace them with Paul Sharner (who will be in our starting eleven), and on other threads they say Hodgson is a sh!t manager. Then they say we'll finish possibly 6th

If we sell all our best players and replace them with free transfers and finish 6th, Hodgson should get the keys to the city never mind the football club .

One person is not a brigade, so why did you say the 6th to 10th brigade it was just me that said it.

[LFC2007]

Depending on who stays, goes, who comes in anything between 6th and 10th place.

Fair enough mate, I simply disagree. If our key players remain and the manager makes a few adjustments, I think the squad is definitely capable of making the top four. Whether Hodgson makes the most of the squad, I;m not sure, but I wouldn't anticipate us finishing any lower than 76th under those circumstances.

[Benny The Noon]

I hope to god we don't finish lower than 76th

[Scottbot]

6th to 10th brigade - another new label from the preacher


People are predicting 6th to 10th with our current squad - obviously when players leave and arrive we can re evaluate the situation then hence why it's still early to predict much

Our current squad should have us performing considerably better than 6th to 10th. I'm amazed anyone is predicting such a poor season under the proviso that we keep our best players. Our squad as it stands is better than Villa's, and if Hodgson can find a couple of bargains out there i'd say it will be on a par with Spurs. I can only guess that demonstrates the complete lack of confidence many have in Hodgson? I really hope he can prove everybody wrong.

As for our rivals, I think City will go well but agree (and hope) that the ego thing will kick in at some stage of the season. Toure, Silva and Boateng are excellent additions but that's a helluva lot of star players to keep happy in that squad now. I think Spurs will struggle a bit to maintain last year's league campaign with their involvement in the Champions League. Chelsea and the mancs will be up there as usual. Arsenal are a funny one, you never quite know which team is gonna turn up in August/September. If they start well they tend to have a good season but fingers crossed a defeat on opening day at Fortress Anfield will start them on a rocky road to nowhere!

[rocky29]

the season i think is gona depend how aquilani does. If roy gives him a free role behind the striker i think we could have decent season. But we do need good players around him especially  a winger that can cross a flaming ball. Why o why we didnt buy adam johnson ill  never know. 7million he cost.

[babu]

Top 4

And no.. I will not defend that statement, but I will stand by it.

[Owzat]

I have to say that given we don't know who is going to be here at the start of the season it is way too early to predict. Throw in the fact that we don't know how Woy will do and guesses will be just that. Some will be vindicated, others may look foolish, but that is the way guesses/predictions work. Were the people who tipped Spain to win the World Cup well informed and knowledgable or just picking one of the best teams in the competition?

I think a lot of the doom and gloom guesses as to where we'd finish were in the air BEFORE Woy was appointed manager. We still have a squad capable of finishing top four, it is the same set of players that finished second minus of course Alonso, Arbeloa and now Benayoun. Arbeloa and Benayoun should not be impossible to replace, Alonso is the crux but a change of formation and one or two signings and I'm sure those losses can be overcome. A positive approach would fix a lot of our woes, start beating some of the teams we only drew with in the last few seasons

Premiership Draws

09/10 Liverpool 9-5 Chelsea
08/09 Liverpool 11-6 Man Utd
07/08 Liverpool 13-6 Man Utd
06/07 Liverpool 8-5 Man Utd
05/06 Liverpool 7-4 Chelsea
04/05 Liverpool 7-8 Chelsea*

*did only lose one game

Average draws (04/05-09/10) : Liverpool 9-6 Champions
Average losses (04/05-09/10) : Liverpool 8-4 Champions

Those losses do include Rafa's poorer seasons of 14, 10 and 11 defeats - although I'm sure all three were 'one-offs' come 'blips'. But an average of nine draws per season shows where we were lacking, especially given a three points for a win system so we effectively dropped 18 points a season through draws alone (equivalent to six losses)

All that said I don't expect Woy to be that much more positive, I think he'll happily 'settle for a draw' in games we should be looking to win. Fulham drew 10 in 09/10 and 11 in 08/09, the 'avoid defeat' mentality isn't something easily shaken. Fulham haven't won many away games in the past two seasons, but they've drawn FIFTEEN (39.47%) compared to 19 defeats on the road (50.00%) Liverpool may currently have a better squad, but that didn't stop Rafa drawing over 25% of his games in the past two seasons and losing nearly one third of all our Premiership games in 09/10

[Keris]

The premiership.
A close one between City, Chelsea & Man U. With City nicking it with one of their multi-million £ signings.

League Cup;
Liverpool may have a chance here as the big guns would prefer to concentrate on the league & CL. Then again there is Spurs.

FA Cup;
Tough one this as Spurs, Bitters, maybe even the likes of Birmingham & West Ham will be up for this. 

I simply cannot see us anywhere around the top 4.
1. Our back 4 is as solid as a pudding.
(Carra has passed it, Agger is always injured & Skrtle's confidence is shot, we have a 'small' left back and our right back is actually a right winger in disguise.)
2. Others above us last season, are adding to whatever quality they already have while the quality in our squad is wafer thin (ergo the back 4 again).

Maybe we'll play better under the new boss but it doesn't necessarily mean we will get all 3 points, especially playing away against the top 4 as the likes of CSKA London and Manure have made it impossible to beat at their own back yard (and not to mention injuries to the 1st eleven & the odd beach ball incidents).

The way I see it, we will have to fight for maybe 6th (at best) against the likes of Villa and the Bitters.

[LittleHobo]

if one of mascherano, gerrard, torres leaves then i think we will finish 7th..........ahead of us.......chelsea, united, man city, arsenal, spurs and probaly everton

if 2 of mascherano, gerrard, torres leaves then i think we will finish 8th

if none of the above goes i think we can just sneak 5th and a decent cup run

our defence looks terrible to me, i think we will leak goals

[Octsky]

Looking at our pre season results, we will have a guage to the rest of the season.
It is like a movie trailer, if its good, there is a great chance the movie will be good,
if its bad, most probably the whole movie will be rubbish.

Saying that i dont feel bad about the season as Roy Hodgson won the league manager of the year,
he must have something out his sleeve.
Rafa won the Champs league in his first yr after we finished 5th or 6th, who knows?
maybe Roy can bring home the league?

[SouthCoastShankly]

The comments on here make no sense whatsoever.

Last season was bad, the previous season to that was great. Essentially the same squad barring the loss of Alonso and the gain of Johnson.

How anyone can predict a place position is ludicrous. It will all come down to how Roy employs the squad and how the players perform and react to changes.

Obviously losing big players will affect any decent finish but inversely keeping them all we should be able to challenge for the title as we did two seasons ago.

[JBG]

Its impossible to predict what will happen at this point. It could be as good as fourth or as bad as twelveth, who knows.

[laza]

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