Liverpool FC Forum

[7_Kewell]

Brendan is building. Already we look a better side. Unless BR turns out to be an absolute doofus, he'll be here for a long time I should think. The teams around us have made a lot of progress, so there'll be time and room for error yet. As long as we keep moving in the right direction and gathering momentum, then that's fine by me. Over the course of the season I'd say 4th, 5th and maybe 6th, depending on the manner of it, should suffice.

I'm not so sure the teams around us have made that much progress, Man Youuuuu, Arsenal and the Chavs are not that much better, and Man City are in transition....there's no reason we couldn't be the surprise package 

[Santa]

BR has a long way to go to convince me that he has what it takes as a manager - as a coach I think he is very good and has proven that but as a manager he has so far fell short and has achieved nothing so far. Last season BR was the first manager to ever have a "free" season - it was a poor result in the league and cups by any standards. We cannot have the same again this season and BR can't hide behind the owners.

Fair enough...so is 3 wins out of 3 not a sign of progress or showing potentials? I understand it's the results at the end of season that counts but let's leaving the judging and skepticism until then. In the meantime, we have 6 win-able league games coming up next and barring any banana skin, and depending on how Suarez's return and the new players gel into the team, we could still be leading the table with 10 games in. Only then can we have a reasonable view of how we have progressed or what position we can reasonably expect to end the season with.

We certainly do not have the biggest squad nor the most expensive starting XI compared to last season's top 5 but we do have a reasonably good manager and if he can man manage, motivate and mould this group to play as a team and for the jersey, then we just might surprised a few this season.

[Kenny Kan]

What's acceptable will be determined by what people's expectations are - I expect the club to challenge for as long as possible in the cups with possibly winning one. I also expect the club to be in the top 4 in the Prem. Anything below that and it's not good enough.

With such expectations you must be happy and confident enough with the Summer signings like Aspas, Toure and Mignolet etc to expect finishing above a Spurs side you've been jizzing yourself over all summer and Arsenal, the ambitious side you lauded.

Wow your expectations have drastically changed since the transfer window shut- can't think why that would be.

[RedAnt]

Brendan is building. Already we look a better side. Unless BR turns out to be an absolute doofus, he'll be here for a long time I should think. The teams around us have made a lot of progress, so there'll be time and room for error yet. As long as we keep moving in the right direction and gathering momentum, then that's fine by me. Over the course of the season I'd say 4th, 5th and maybe 6th, depending on the manner of it, should suffice.

I'm not so sure the teams around us have made that much progress, Man Youuuuu, Arsenal and the Chavs are not that much better, and Man City are in transition....there's no reason we couldn't be the surprise package 

I agree they've not made that much progress, but City and the Chavs, even Spurs have heaped a lot of pressure on themselves with their appointed managers and money spent.

Man U are over. The golden age is ended and Moyes will do a lot of damage before they dump him. They already look like Everton.

We really could be a suprise this year. There's not much pressure on us. There's an aura about us. Anfield will not be a place teams are looking forwards to visiting.

[Benny The Noon]

Only been 3 games so far - the Chavs are unbeaten and the rest have lost one game each. If the current trend stays the same until Xmas then we can be confident but lets not get carried away by three results. Certainly wouldn't write the Mancs off yet.

[RedAnt]

Only been 3 games so far - the Chavs are unbeaten and the rest have lost one game each. If the current trend stays the same until Xmas then we can be confident but lets not get carried away by three results. Certainly wouldn't write the Mancs off yet.

When you look at where United were 10-15 years ago there's been a definite decline. And under Moyes they certainly don't look like moving forwards. Moyes too his Everton staff to United, and the lanky Belgian, who is decent but really, really not good enough for a top team. He tried to take Baines too. If I was a manc and be seriously worried.

Moyes' finest hour so far is managing to keep Shrek. Fergie would have shipped him out and replaced him. The rest of the dressing room will see Moyes, jacket too big, being bullied by Rooney, and it won't have a good effect. RVP will be kicking up a fuss soon if things don't improve. Fergie must be ill or something. He's really dumped them in the sh*t. Last season they wanted Ronaldo. This season they signed Fellani and missed out on Baines.

The psycological hit of losing against us will be huge.

I'd not be suprised if they're struggling in the battle for fourth in the business end. Question is, who takes their spot?

[Kenny Kan]

Only been 3 games so far - the Chavs are unbeaten and the rest have lost one game each. If the current trend stays the same until Xmas then we can be confident but lets not get carried away by three results. Certainly wouldn't write the Mancs off yet.

When you look at where United were 10-15 years ago there's been a definite decline. And under Moyes they certainly don't look like moving forwards. Moyes too his Everton staff to United, and the lanky Belgian, who is decent but really, really not good enough for a top team. He tried to take Baines too. If I was a manc and be seriously worried.

Moyes' finest hour so far is managing to keep Shrek. Fergie would have shipped him out and replaced him. The rest of the dressing room will see Moyes, jacket too big, being bullied by Rooney, and it won't have a good effect. RVP will be kicking up a fuss soon if things don't improve. Fergie must be ill or something. He's really dumped them in the sh*t. Last season they wanted Ronaldo. This season they signed Fellani and missed out on Baines.

The psycological hit of losing against us will be huge.

I'd not be suprised if they're struggling in the battle for fourth in the business end. Question is, who takes their spot?

Many mancs are worried Red Ant. They're not happy with their summer transfer dealings and believe players like Cleverly, Wellbeck and Giggs at 39 aren't good enough.

I wouldn't right them off but it does look ominous for them at the moment.

[Benny The Noon]

Only been 3 games so far - the Chavs are unbeaten and the rest have lost one game each. If the current trend stays the same until Xmas then we can be confident but lets not get carried away by three results. Certainly wouldn't write the Mancs off yet.

When you look at where United were 10-15 years ago there's been a definite decline. And under Moyes they certainly don't look like moving forwards. Moyes too his Everton staff to United, and the lanky Belgian, who is decent but really, really not good enough for a top team. He tried to take Baines too. If I was a manc and be seriously worried.

Moyes' finest hour so far is managing to keep Shrek. Fergie would have shipped him out and replaced him. The rest of the dressing room will see Moyes, jacket too big, being bullied by Rooney, and it won't have a good effect. RVP will be kicking up a fuss soon if things don't improve. Fergie must be ill or something. He's really dumped them in the sh*t. Last season they wanted Ronaldo. This season they signed Fellani and missed out on Baines.

The psycological hit of losing against us will be huge.

I'd not be suprised if they're struggling in the battle for fourth in the business end. Question is, who takes their spot?

Last season they won the league at a canter with records tumbling so not sure about any decline - that was even after loosing the first game of the season against the BS and being written off . The Mancs have the right quality in the right area and it wouldnt surprise me one single bit to see them now go on a ten match winning streak like they always do. As for Fergis kicking Rooney out ?? Didnt Rooney kick up a fuss about 2 years ago and Fergie gave him a new contract ?

Its far to easy to get carried away after a couple games into the season but thats what im seeing so far. The real picture will be clear in December. I remember seeing teams like Norwich,Qpr , Charlton and Ipswich at the top of the table after 5 games whilst City etc floating around mid table - it doesnt stay that way for long

[RedAnt]

You might say last year was it for United, Benny. They did great, won at a canter, then what? Beckhams long gone, Ronaldo scoffed at Moyes, Giggs is old and fat, Scholes hasn't been replaced.

As for Rooney, Fergie knew he was held to ransom. He gave in once. He wouldn't do it twice. Indeed when he left, Fergie claimed Rooney had asked for a transfer again. This could all have been engineered. A scenario set up so Moyes could come in and lay down the law and have an instant impact. Only Moyes F'd up, claiming Rooney would be second to RVP. Twisted by the media, sure, but Moyes can't even influence the press to his way.

Then we have all the talk of Fabregas and Ronaldo, even Bale. United now look to the dugout and see Moyes, an angrier scot than Fergie, alongside him, the gimp-like Phil Neville, waving his arms around to little effect. They look to the pitch where not so long ago they watched Scholes, van Noodleboy, Bartez, and now see Fellani looking like a lamp-post with all the grace of one. Where's Ronaldo?

Moyes and his Everton boys are used to defending. They're used to being the underdogs. Their minds and footballing thoughts are all geared towards that. Time will tell if they can adapt.

The fact I'm amused, rather than afraid of recent developments at Old Dogturd is enough for me for now

[ycsatbjywtbiastkamb]

way to early to write united off, moyes is no ferguson but he`s no mug either, he`s finished above us a couple of times having just a fraction of our budget, given time he`ll produce a decent side there.
saying that i think they`ll deffo come back to the pack, under ferguson united were the team to beat, if you finished above united more often than not that meant you won the league, i think united will now be like everyone else, just one of a pack of clubs competing for the top honours/CL places.
re liverpool i like what rodgers is doing, he knows the owners arent giving him the resources to go toe to toe with the other top clubs in the transfer market so he`s trying to bridge that gap by getting absolutely everything out of our squad.
the players are grafting their @rses off, the team spirit is as good as i`ve seen it in decades and the players look like they are playing for each other and more importantly - the shirt.
in the past we went to places like barceona with johan cruyff in their line up and beat them on their own ground because we were a proper team, in other words when 11 players came together they became something much greater than the sum of their individual parts, thats what rodgers is trying to do now.
it`s not easy to get 11 pampered millionaires from all corners of the earth with very little in common to fight for each other and run themselves into the ground for a common cause, brendan looks like he may be doing it.
where ever we finish this season fair dues to brendan for bringing a work ethic and pride back to the shirt.

[Ben Patrick]

Great post yakka

[RedAnt]

way to early to write united off, moyes is no ferguson but he`s no mug either, he`s finished above us a couple of times having just a fraction of our budget, given time he`ll produce a decent side there.
saying that i think they`ll deffo come back to the pack, under ferguson united were the team to beat, if you finished above united more often than not that meant you won the league, i think united will now be like everyone else, just one of a pack of clubs competing for the top honours/CL places.
re liverpool i like what rodgers is doing, he knows the owners arent giving him the resources to go toe to toe with the other top clubs in the transfer market so he`s trying to bridge that gap by getting absolutely everything out of our squad.
the players are grafting their @rses off, the team spirit is as good as i`ve seen it in decades and the players look like they are playing for each other and more importantly - the shirt.
in the past we went to places like barceona with johan cruyff in their line up and beat them on their own ground because we were a proper team, in other words when 11 players came together they became something much greater than the sum of their individual parts, thats what rodgers is trying to do now.
it`s not easy to get 11 pampered millionaires from all corners of the earth with very little in common to fight for each other and run themselves into the ground for a common cause, brendan looks like he may be doing it.
where ever we finish this season fair dues to brendan for bringing a work ethic and pride back to the shirt.

I'm not writing United off. I said their golden age is over and I stand by it. Things have shifted. Those things we can't quite point to. It's more of a feeling than a view. Moyes isn't a fool, but take him out of his natural habitat and stick him where he dosent belong, and he may just look like one.

As for us, I agree with all you've said. A good analysis. Players like Aspas have no pressure on them and have excellent mentalities, tailor picked from what our resources allow. All the players have impressed me with their attitudes, and by will or good luck, Suarez will be feeling humbled, watching all of this and realising the value of those resources that no money can buy, and hopefully noticing the way BR is going about harvesting them.

There's a thin line between genius and stupidity. Liverpool FC have always worked close to that line. I like it.

[Kenny Kan]

what do you all think is minimum requirement this season.?

Given the context my minimum requirement this season is simple: Progress.

I won't be "expecting" anything that realistically demands we punch above our weight.

But I'll be the happiest supporter on earth if we do - and feel quietly confident we could pull this off but I won't "expect" it.

[RedAnt]

what do you all think is minimum requirement this season.?

Given the context my minimum requirement this season is simple: Progress.

I won't be "expecting" anything that realistically demands we punch above our weight.

But I'll be the happiest supporter on earth if we do - and feel quietly confident we could pull this off but I won't "expect" it.

What would you consider progress? Would you set targets?

[devaney]

way to early to write united off, moyes is no ferguson but he`s no mug either, he`s finished above us a couple of times having just a fraction of our budget, given time he`ll produce a decent side there.
saying that i think they`ll deffo come back to the pack, under ferguson united were the team to beat, if you finished above united more often than not that meant you won the league, i think united will now be like everyone else, just one of a pack of clubs competing for the top honours/CL places.
re liverpool i like what rodgers is doing, he knows the owners arent giving him the resources to go toe to toe with the other top clubs in the transfer market so he`s trying to bridge that gap by getting absolutely everything out of our squad.
the players are grafting their @rses off, the team spirit is as good as i`ve seen it in decades and the players look like they are playing for each other and more importantly - the shirt.
in the past we went to places like barceona with johan cruyff in their line up and beat them on their own ground because we were a proper team, in other words when 11 players came together they became something much greater than the sum of their individual parts, thats what rodgers is trying to do now.
it`s not easy to get 11 pampered millionaires from all corners of the earth with very little in common to fight for each other and run themselves into the ground for a common cause, brendan looks like he may be doing it.
where ever we finish this season fair dues to brendan for bringing a work ethic and pride back to the shirt.

Excellent post. Totally agree with your sentiments especially your reference to synergy which is massively powerful. It was something that both Paisley and Shankly believed in and it seemed to work for them. It certainly didn't work at City last season. Maybe Mancini is not familiar with the concept.

Progress is certainly the key and anybody that simply suggests that BR should be sacked if he doesn't achieve CL qualification is an idiot. So far during 2013 we have definitely progressed and I'm excited about just how far he can take the team.The back four is coming together and the prospect of Sturridge, Coutinho and Suarez is not to shabby either.Our midfield could be better but it can still do an effective job.

Yes BR is going to need some luck but so does everybody. Just look at how City scraped winning the league. There was a huge element of luck involved and they spent a veritable fortune.