Liverpool FC Forum

[48-1119859832]

I think we have a very good chance of winning the title this season, but I'm not sure we are quite ready yet. We've made several changes to the team this season and whilst Bellamy and Pennant looked settled Gonzales and Paletta don't (which is what I expected) and that will no doubt take time. We also signed Auerlio and Kuyt and they too could take a while to settle in, so who knows how long that will take. It could be instant or it could take a season, but I definitely think we can go toe to toe with Chelsea all season, but as I said I'm not sure we will, but I wouldn't put anything past us this season, Every fan in 2004/05 season expected a bleak season and we ended up lifting the Champions League so you never know.

I think if we are to win the title we'll need the likes of United and Arsenal to struggle and battle it out for 3rd and 4th place and focus solely on Chelsea, but knowing United and Arsenal you can't count them out of anything, plus there's the added threat of Spurs as well who seem to be slowly building a solid team.

We'll need to win all our small games so no loses against Fulham or Charlton and no 2-2 draws with teams like Bolton and Birmingham, as well as no late goals conceded like the one at Old Trafford.

We need the players to be consistent in their play and we'll (as I said earlier) need the players to gel and adapt instantly to the league.

You raise good points about Chelsea, especially the central midfield partnership of Ballack and Lampard, it simply won't work and although it's too early to say (I'm taking a wild prediction) I think it will restrict Lampard's role of going forward and scoring goals, it seems that job will have to be shared out between the pair. If Lampard and Ballack play in the same team then I can't see Lampard being able to have the freedom he does with Chelsea at the moment and as you saw in the Charity Shield match it did restrict Lampard's role of going forward and he's wasn't really in the match. It wasn't until Ballack hobbled off that Lampard started to look a bit more lively and set up Shevchenko to make it 1-1. For what it's worth I think Shevchenko (providing he can adapt to the Premiership) will get Chelsea the goals that Lampard has been getting Chelsea and with the right service he might well get them more than what Lampard manages to get Chelsea. Shevchenko showed no signs of lacking intelligence on sunday as he was making clever runs and his cool composure in front of goal will could well be the deciding factor of who walks away with the league.

It will also be interesting to see if Mourinho decides to rotate Lampard and Ballack or play both in the same starting line up. Because if he does play both that could well give us an advantage and prove to the world that the "Special one" is too far up his own backside.

All in all I anticipate a good season, I think we'll challenge all the way, providing we don't slip up, but I'm not sure if our mass of new signings will all be able to settle down this season and function properly, we shall see....

[coddy]

If we make a good start to the season I think we can win the league, but us winning would involve Chelsea losing about 4 games, at least.

We can do it, albeit its unlikely.

well some might say we've already blown it lol

[shanks]

i think this is our best chance of winning the title in years with all the new signings and mark Gonzales getting is work permit dirk kuyt been the finale piece in the jigsaw i would say yep we can win it....

[SouthCoastShankly]

3) Doing much better against Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal in league games this season.  Our form against our main competitors let us down last season.  Forget the title implications for a second: had we won that game against the Mancs at OT, for instance, we'd only be sweating the Charity Shield on the back of those 3 friendly losses rather than a vital CL qualifier.

I think this is the difference between Chelsea and oursleves at the moment.

Our performaces against our peers are not up to scratch. But with this seasons signings in terms of pace and striking ability I feel we will fare much better. Both Bellamy and Kuyt offer a ruthless striking ability, one which we haven't had for such a long time.

First test will be against Chelsea at Stamford bridge. I like think we could at least get a draw there.

[taff]

think we are a lot stronger this year than last year and only the leaving of hamman has me slightly concerned due to his overall influence but we do have a very strong midfield without him.

I will go for yes we can win the league but it will be tight and we need to have a great run at some point, preferably from January to May.  The thing that I think will go in our favour is I reckon Man Utd and Arsenal will also be challenging and the strengthening of other teams in the league who will look to take points off Chelsea and a bit better equiped to do it, although that also applies to us.  But I can see four clubs there or there abouts towards the end and a great run towards the end of the season could see one of them take it at the end. 

Now with our signings and the continual improvement Rafa insists on I think it will be us that finishes the strongest and pips it.

Regarding the FA Cup and the league cup, well this year I aint bothered at all about them although if we do reach a final it will be a great achievemnet in itself.  I would be happy with reaching the quarters in the champions league and then anything can happen as we know.  But I would prefer us to be in a position where we use the strongest team in the league and everything else is a bonus.

[who the hell is diarra]

Well i'm not sure about winning it this season , although Chelski are not invincible,  the signings they've made make a strong team stronger. However we are stronger too this season , we now have so many attacking options you can't really fail to get exited about what we can achieve this season we have everything upfront , pace , height , skill , and exelent movement from Bellamy , Crouch and Fowler. We now have much more width than we've had for a long time with Pennant and Gonzales both having the ability to strech teams out on either flank, previously we seem to have been overly reliant on pushing though the middle or the ball over the top which can make us predictable. 2 good wingers can really  make the difference , and possible push us that extra mile this year , realistically though it's a big big ask.

[Judge]

i see no reason why liverpool cannot be there or there abouts. How many people thought we'd win the CL then the FA cup in the first two seasons of Rafas rule. why not the league in year three, why not indeed

[Feeney]

Following our defeat to Chelsea, thought it might be a good time for reflection in this topic.

As usual, people are saying the league is over with 4 games gone (including, for those that seen the pre-match build up, quite strongly by Mr Andrew Gray) - that to me is quite frankly laughable. You can't predict 10 months of football within 4 games, end of. Yes, we are playing poor at the moment, no question, but like the old saying, "football's a funny old game". It will take only 1 decent result and performance (which, I believe will come against Newcastle) to put it right.

We have played 2 of our hardest games (away to top 3 and local derby) in our first 4 games whereas Arsenal are about to play 1 of thiers, Chelsea and Man U haven't played any. When they do play each other, we play the likes of Man City at home and away, Fulham at home and Pompey at home.

It's far too early to start writing us off in this years league challenge - i'm quite dismayed as to how many people are being quite narrow minded and not putting things into context. We can still win the league - admittedly, our start hasn't been the best, however, I suspect when we get 12 points from the next 4 league games which are Newcastle at home, Tottenham at home, Bolton Away and Blackburn at home (as well as 6 points in the CL and hopefully bag a result at Man U, making it 15 points out of 15) that peoples tunes will change.   

Our squad is stronger and also new - these games that we have played already will serve in the players learning about each other and they will click - no doubt. 

[soccerfreek421]

I don't see why we can't win it.  We are clearly one of the best clubs and if we can put a ncie streak together we will be right back in the thick of things.  No reason to worry, there is plenty of matches to go and a lot of injuries to recover from.  The past match should give us confidence as well.

[coddy]

Based on this performance today against Spurs. i think we have a good base now to get a run together and start keeping some clean sheets. we will see our true colours when the ManUre game comes around.

One thing i would like to know, is Peter Crouch now just a bench player?? or should all of our strikers be rotated in accordance with the importance of the game??

[Ace Ventura]

Feeney and anyone else that mentions Andy Grays statement before and after our game with Chelsea, do you's reckon that Gray made the statement to try and hype the game up to make it more appealing to the SKY viewers ?
I was on holiday but managed to watch a bit of the build up and imo Gray was making them statements to make sure people tuned in, lets be honest no matter what the result there was no way with 2 defeats that we would of been out of the title race...it obviously makes it a hell of alot harder but i just think that Gray had his media head on...trying to make sure the game seemed like the biggest of the season, they always try and do that at SKY. Liverpool-United is the biggest of the season, then its United-Arsenal BIGGEST of the season, United-Chelsea...biggest of the season...obviously all big games but SKY overhype them to try and gain more viewers.

[Dalglish]

One things for sure reagdring this seasons title race.....LFC WILL have a big say in where it ends up even if they don't go on and win it .

We are simply too strong to get snotted by the other big 3 home and away. Last season we lost 4, Won 1 and drew 1 of the 6 Games against Chelsea. Man U and Arsenal. That statistic simply has to improve this season.......


A BIG test comes in a few weks time when we play the Mancs. Last season we went there and lost a medicre game in the last minute. Despite this we were possibly the better team and cewrtanly deserved to get something from the game...........

[CardinalRed]

We cannot afford to be up one week and down the next... maintaining a level of consistency is the key, the difficulty comes from playing so many different styles of game.... That is to say, Premiership games are different to Champions League games and then FA Cup matches and Carling Cup games are different again, especially when they're against lower league opposition.... Probably the reason why Doubles and Trebles are so scarce......


                                                                 

[CardinalRed]

Writing after the Man U game, looks like we were deluding ourselves all along.....

                                                   

[account deleted by request]

tHE WAY WE ARE PLAYING WE WILL BE LUCKY TO WIN A EUFA CUP SPOT!