Liverpool FC Forum

[Dundreamin is back]

I don't know why, maybe blind faith but I think we will finish 4th, yes I did say 4th

[redshade]

It will be very competitive.
Top 2 will be City or Chelsea. 3rd imo Arsenal. If we are to pip united for 4th we have to be consistent. Heart says will finish 4th head says we will finish 5th.

[C-R]

I went for 5th, even though (imo) we have made some good additions i just think the others are stronger

[maguskwt]

Voted 4th. I think we are the weakest among the top 5 clubs, but if we get the tactics and strategy correct, we could steal 4th.

[Reg]

Assuming we bring in Benteke +1 other first class striker.

[killerp]

5th. Based on our squad that's where we belong.

[The_Rock]

I know pre-seasons are not a good measure as how the team will perform once the season starts. But this is Rigid Rodgers we are talking about. And I see the same areas of weakness we had the season before.

The bad :
(1)Midfield offer no protection to defence

(2)Skrtel always drops back when the opposition is running at the defence (it happens a lot when the midfield does not protect the defence). The back 4 then tend to drop back along with him and it cause all kinds of mayhem in the defence (and that's how bribane scored their goal).

(3)The defence is not being helped by our fullbacks (or shall I call them wingbacks) being so further up the pitch. So firstly we get no protection from our midfield. Add that to our wingbacks being so far up the pitch.....and you gotta wonder why Agger, Sakho and practically all the CBs under rigid rodgers have suffered (in comparison to their previous clubs or national teams). If our wingbacks are putting in crosses, scoring goals, creating chances...then it is understandable if they are allowed to venture further upfield. But No....Under Rodgers ouw wingbacks put in the least amount of crosses in the league (Check the stats). They always try to cut in and shoot or try to dribble past 3 or 4 opposition players which will inevitably result in them losing the ball. And with (1), (2) & (3) in motion.....we end up looking all over the place when opposition players slice through our midfield like knife through hot butter. We after are well-known for making average joes like Bolaice look like Messi whenever he plays against us.

4)Midfield still very much want to keep possession instead of carving out chances by being more direct. It makes the midfield very easy to defend against. One thing I notice...it is all the more tiring when we play possession football (mentally and physically). The teams that can get away with it are Barcelona and Brazil as they have top notch players who are good tacticians (to quote rigid Rodgers). But when we have Hendo, Allen, Milner doing it..... well we look very uncomfortable doing it. The players we have just can't do it. And it is sad. we have a powerful team and if we play to their strength (counter-attack, set pieces (we have to train for it), direct play) we can go places. But when we play slow stupid a$$ possession ***** (to prove a worthless point)....we look utterly vulnerable.

The good.
1)Impressed with Lallana so far. I have been his biggest critique. So it says a lot when I am praising him. This looks like the season when he moves up a tier or 2 (like suarez did).
2)I like milner's mobility. He will score Lampard type of goals for us. I just think the possession game that rigid Rodgers wants to implement will not suit him (and most of our players).

The Ugly.
Rigid Rodgers. He looks like Mayor Quinbee.

So to answer threadstarter's question, I don't think we will get top 4 with the squad Rodgers is assembling (especially with him setting up the tactics and all). I do think better managers will get us 4th for sure. I don't see that happening under Rodgers.

I can see us getting 6th again as I expect clubs like Southampton and Tottenham iron out their weakness from the last campaign. We won't....... as rigid Rodgers apparently thinks he is god's greatest gift to football (and chicks).

[RedAnt]

I've gone for fifth. I'm being optimistic though. I expect Man U, Chelsea, City and Arsenal to be above us. We'll battle it out with Saints, Spurs and one or two others for the rest. I wonder what the season's targets will be. Id say top four is looking unrealistic (even though BR said last year that we'd be ready to challenge this season, cue the massive shake up). Surely the board don't think we'll make fourth? We've spent £88m or something? The owners probably think that's a huge investment, but look at what others have done. Sweinsteiger for £15m? Sheesh. That's football now. Invest nearly £100m (again) and we still only look like a 5th place team.

[The_Rock]

I've gone for fifth. I'm being optimistic though. I expect Man U, Chelsea, City and Arsenal to be above us. We'll battle it out with Saints, Spurs and one or two others for the rest. I wonder what the season's targets will be. Id say top four is looking unrealistic (even though BR said last year that we'd be ready to challenge this season, cue the massive shake up). Surely the board don't think we'll make fourth? We've spent £88m or something? The owners probably think that's a huge investment, but look at what others have done. Sweinsteiger for £15m? Sheesh. That's football now. Invest nearly £100m (again) and we still only look like a 5th place team.

I do think Sweinsteiger is on his way down (injuries have taken a toll on him). His performance for Munich was very very average. Guardiola couldn't leave out Sweinsteiger from the team whenever he was fit (the gerrard situation) so he was very glad to let him go. But where Manure did right was to sign schinderlin. They had a central midfield problem last season and Van Ghoulie has solved that with 1 signing. Him and Carrick will dominate most midfield battles.

I just can't see us rectifying our weaknesses if we don't sign in a classy DM.

[RedAnt]

I've gone for fifth. I'm being optimistic though. I expect Man U, Chelsea, City and Arsenal to be above us. We'll battle it out with Saints, Spurs and one or two others for the rest. I wonder what the season's targets will be. Id say top four is looking unrealistic (even though BR said last year that we'd be ready to challenge this season, cue the massive shake up). Surely the board don't think we'll make fourth? We've spent £88m or something? The owners probably think that's a huge investment, but look at what others have done. Sweinsteiger for £15m? Sheesh. That's football now. Invest nearly £100m (again) and we still only look like a 5th place team.

I do think Sweinsteiger is on his way down (injuries have taken a toll on him). His performance for Munich was very very average. Guardiola couldn't leave out Sweinsteiger from the team whenever he was fit (the gerrard situation) so he was very glad to let him go. But where Manure did right was to sign schinderlin. They had a central midfield problem last season and Van Ghoulie has solved that with 1 signing. Him and Carrick will dominate most midfield battles.

I just can't see us rectifying our weaknesses if we don't sign in a classy DM.

I wanted to use Shni...er...dilin but didn't know how to spell it. I see you don't either! I think both are good signings. LVG is smart enough to get something out of Sweinstiger though whereas BR wasn't smart enough to get anything out of Gerrard (scored and 2 assists on his debut in the States).
My point though is that the owners may set this season's targets based on money spent without taking into account what other teams have done. They may expect fourth. SHOULD expect fourth. I have no idea why BR was kept on. I feel we've gone backwards again. We're integrating a lot of players again, plus back room staff. I'd have thought BRs first three years in charge might have put some foundations in place. Seems we haven't actually built much in at all.

[The_Rock]

I wanted to use Shni...er...dilin but didn't know how to spell it. I see you don't either! I think both are good signings. LVG is smart enough to get something out of Sweinstiger though whereas BR wasn't smart enough to get anything out of Gerrard (scored and 2 assists on his debut in the States).
My point though is that the owners may set this season's targets based on money spent without taking into account what other teams have done. They may expect fourth. SHOULD expect fourth. I have no idea why BR was kept on. I feel we've gone backwards again. We're integrating a lot of players again, plus back room staff.[b] I'd have thought BRs first three years in charge might have put some foundations in place[/b]. Seems we haven't actually built much in at all.

Schinderlin or whatever.... 

Dude, you hit the nail. 3 Years into someone's reign and you would have thought we would have an identity of play. You would have thought that the obvious weakness would have been taken care off. You would have thought that the squad would be more balanced.

But no......... it will be another year of the team getting to know each. Another year of dropping points in the 1st 10 matches (looking at the fixture schedule..that is a distinct possibility). We may go and a run somewhere in 2016 after getting knocked out of all the cup competitions until the brakes come off again.

And the owners would have spent $100M again (if Big Ben comes along) for nothing to show. Well it serves them right. They want a Yes Man. They want to go cheap on the coaching set-up....well hope it serves them well. Hope they lose more money signing players whom do not fit the "philosophy of rigid Rodgers" (i am still trying to figure whats his philosophy 3 years down the road)

[johnbarnes]

IF:
BR completes a full season - We'll finish 3rd

IF:
BR gets the chop - Klopp come in and provides a dramatic climax to the end of the season and finishes 4th. Just.

My personal reasoning:
Manure will go all out in the CL and will be the last English team standing come Feb/Mar. They will get to 1/4 Final stage minimum.
They have a manager who knows that stomping ground and they are recruiting in the kind of playing staff that will perform highly at that level.
So I think this will have a knock on effect to their PL campaign.

The manager at Man Sh!tie is not guaranteed to complete a full season either. IMO Sh!tie are vulnerable to a poor season.
Out of the 'top 6' teams in the premiership both LFC and Sh!tie managers are under the most pressure from game one.
If team will push Chelski, it will be Arsenal who now IMO have the 2nd strongest team in the PL.

Some may say I'm a dreamer...
But I'm not the only one.

[johnbarnes]

And the owners would have spent $100M again (if Big Ben comes along) for nothing to show. Well it serves them right. They want a Yes Man. They want to go cheap on the coaching set-up....well hope it serves them well. Hope they lose more money signing players whom do not fit the "philosophy of rigid Rodgers" (i am still trying to figure whats his philosophy 3 years down the road)

The only ones to lose out here are the fans and the club.
It doesn't affect the owners one bit, as they can just wash their hand of us, sell up, get richer and move on.
That's their business reality.

[Doeboy]

Don't see us finishing ahead of Chelsea,  City or Arsenal. If Utd add a couple more big players this summer, i think it will be very hard to break into top four.

However how far we get in the Europa will also have a bearing. Knocked out early, fewer games, fresher squad. But with a CL place for the winner, think we will be taking it seriously

[johnbarnes]

Don't see us finishing ahead of Chelsea,  City or Arsenal. If Utd add a couple more big players this summer, i think it will be very hard to break into top four.

However how far we get in the Europa will also have a bearing. Knocked out early, fewer games, fresher squad. But with a CL place for the winner, think we will be taking it seriously

Far points, but we are not a million miles away from Manure in terms of squad shape and ability.
They too are rebuilding and thus not guaranteed that new signing will hit the ground running. Even if they are mega buck signings...