Liverpool FC Forum

[JC_81]

Agree, except Essien is a decent replacement for Makelele[/quote]
He could maybe fill in there, but he's more a box-to-box midfielder and wouldn't give the same sort of protection Makelele does.  If Essien can carry his world cup form into next season he'll be tremendous.  I just think Mourinho needs to take the shackles off him a bit and let him get forward like he does for Ghana.

[anfieldadorer]

Our weakness of course is that if Steven Gerrard gets injured for a sustained period (I couldn't bring myself to post on the "Gerrards not World Class" thread as it is a ridiculous notion) then we will do well to finish top-three.

The repercussions of a bad injury to Gerrard are just not worth thinking about Mick, it could be disastrous.  He's not a one man team anymore, but he's still our best player by some margin.  Arsenal are in the same boat if anything happens to Henry.

Man U don't necessarily rely on any one player heavily these days now that Keane is gone, but the fact they were unable to replace him is why they couldn't mount a serious challenge last year and probably won't this coming season.  They have serious rebuilding to do and I don't think they'll be in the top 3 this season barring some major coups in the transfer market.

The one player Chelsea don't really have a ready made replacement for should anything happen to him next season is Makelele, every other player has someone just as good or almost as good on the bench waiting to come in for them.  Their strength in depth is unbelievable, the like of which has not been seen since the Milan team in the early 90's.

i'm with you on this one
losing gerrard will certainly be a massive blow to the team, but rafa has been learning a lot from this and this and has always found some ways to compensate this. it's probably amazing but previous stats showing (since rafa arrived) that unavailability of gerrard has not been so far influencing the team heavily. remember when we destroyed leverkusen 3-1 (CMIIW) without him at a match where we believed we needed him the most to get through the next stage of champion league. there are also some examples i can't remember well. so, i believe losing gerrard as long as for a 'normal' period won't affect the team too much.

[JC_81]

i'm with you on this one
losing gerrard will certainly be a massive blow to the team, but rafa has been learning a lot from this and this and has always found some ways to compensate this. it's probably amazing but previous stats showing (since rafa arrived) that unavailability of gerrard has not been so far influencing the team heavily. remember when we destroyed leverkusen 3-1 (CMIIW) without him at a match where we believed we needed him the most to get through the next stage of champion league. there are also some examples i can't remember well. so, i believe losing gerrard as long as for a 'normal' period won't affect the team too much.

We can certainly cope without Gerrard for short-to-medium term injuries as you say (maybe up to a month or 6 weeks).  After that it'd start to show I think.  We need him in the big games, if we're playing badly he's the one player you can count on popping up with a crucial goal or pass, how many times has he done it?!  I wouldn't like to have to rely on him scoring over 20 goals again next season, hopefully our strikers will weigh in with a few more.

[teamleader1]

Obviously if SG were to get a long term injury, it would have a big affect on the team, but dare I say it, not anywhere near as much it would have had a little while back,
If we do manage to get a RW stevie will slot back into the middle, and fortunately we have the likes of Alonso/sissoko/Zendon who could slot in there and do a great job,
SG under Rafa has become a better player because hes not trying to do the jobs of the deadwood that weve carried in the past,
I think we are moving away from the days when we relied so heavily on SG,
LFC like any other top class team would miss a world class player like SG, but we must also be able to cope if he gets a long term injury,
and I think Rafa is putting together a squad to do just that,
Anyway SG wont get any long term injuries and chelsea are far from invincible,

This is our year IMHO    

[Red Indian]

I think the best we can hope for us is to finish 2nd, but it won't be as easy as some people think.  I still think we'll struggle to score goals against the top teams this year.  The problems are not just with the strikers but our general creativity, we don't seem as fluent as Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal.  Perhaps the addition of Gonzales and a quality right winger will help.

1st - Chelsea

2nd - Liverpool

3rd - Man U

4th - Arsenal

[Ace Ventura]

I cant see why people are saying that second place is the best we can hope for.
I know that Chelsea have swept away all before them in the league for 2 seasons but i am with Jonny regarding there new arrivals. Unless Mourinho has a whole new system he isgoing to use the players just dont seem to fit into the way they play. Without there wingers they are not good at breaking teams down, remember the F.A cup semi final ? They were woeful without the wingers, but if the wingers play, then were is the room to fit Ballack and Shevchenko in, obviously Makelele and Lampard will play and if they play Shevchenko up front on his own i dont think that would work, he is top quality but not the type of player that likes playing with his back to goal.
Obviously there are still a few weeks to go regarding transfers so who the top clubs sign now could make a major difference, but if the season was starting tomorrow i would be confident that we could win the title. All we need imo is the much talked about right midfielder and another striker, and that is only to boost the squad, our first 11 would and will beat Chelsea this season imo.
Cant wait for it all to kick off i am as optimistic as ever.

[coddy]

1. Liverpool
2. Arsenal
3. Chelsea
4. Bolton
5. Man Ure

[Ace Ventura]

I cant see why people are saying that second place is the best we can hope for.
I know that Chelsea have swept away all before them in the league for 2 seasons but i am with Jonny regarding there new arrivals. Unless Mourinho has a whole new system he isgoing to use the players just dont seem to fit into the way they play. Without there wingers they are not good at breaking teams down, remember the F.A cup semi final ? They were woeful without the wingers, but if the wingers play, then were is the room to fit Ballack and Shevchenko in, obviously Makelele and Lampard will play and if they play Shevchenko up front on his own i dont think that would work, he is top quality but not the type of player that likes playing with his back to goal.
Obviously there are still a few weeks to go regarding transfers so who the top clubs sign now could make a major difference, but if the season was starting tomorrow i would be confident that we could win the title. All we need imo is the much talked about right midfielder and another striker, and that is only to boost the squad, our first 11 would and will beat Chelsea this season imo.
Cant wait for it all to kick off i am as optimistic as ever.

[Igor Zidane]

We will be there or there abouts at the end of the season. It all depends on how much pressure we can put on Chelsea or Maureen to be exact . I have a sneaking suspicion that Chelsea will implode on itself this year.

They have alot of big names at the club, and with that brings big ego's
Mouriniho's being the biggest of the lot.

Maybe it's just wishfull thinking ,but i feel that they haven't been pressurised in the league over the last 2 season's.

Ambramovich wants the champions league above all else imo, and if they fail yet again in that comp, then the pressure wiil be on Maureen from above.

It is imperative that Lfc are with Chelsea at this time to put even more pressure on them or him . As someone else has already said Maureen's tactics and decision making at times last season was dubious to say the least . I would just like to see what he's like when the sh!t hits the fan.

Like i said it's probably wishfull thinking, but it would be interesting to see
what would happen if this scenario was to happen .


Come on redmen!!!!

[JC_81]

Usually the charity shield is a pretty pointless game imo, but this year it could hold great significance where we are concerned.  Should we beat Chelsea I believe it will give us a crucial psychological edge going into the season, and more importantly it'll rock Mourinho's confidence further.  His inferiority complex where Benitez is concerned is blatantly obvious, even to the biased London media.  Should Chelsea beat us it holds less significance, the expectations are with them given the players they've brought in.

In fact Mourinho will have that problem all season.  Winning will not necessarily be good enough every week when you're fielding a team including Shevchenko, Ballack etc.  They'll be expected to win comfortably and play well against almost every team, otherwise Mourinho will start getting criticised imo.  He'll have a hard job avoiding criticism and an even harder job deflecting it when it comes his way - this is the season where we'll really see if the self-professed 'special one' is all that special after all.  I predict this will be his last season at Chelsea whatever happens.

[mitch22]

1. Liverpool
2. Chelski
3. A.rse
4. Man Ure

if you dont believe whats the point?

Exactly!

Why raise the white flag before a ball has been kicked in anger 

We can win the title this season, remember chelsea have no say in 36 of our 38 prem games,
Rafa,s right when he says the key is to match the other contenders in the head 2 head games.

Im confident we can do it, and cant wait to get back to watching the Reds


 

at least someone shares the same opinion. 

[Kash_Mountain]

1. Liverpool
2. Chelsea
3. Man utd
4. Wigan

You have to believe and have faith that we can get to the very top (that includes the players as well) otherwise what's the point..

Wigan to finish above Arsenal

Here's a tip mate, don't bet too much money on that one

JC, I just get this feeling that Wigan will do very well this season and yeah finish above Arsenal.

I think we're all in for a supprise.

Fair enough mate, everyone's entitled to an opinion.

I actually think Wigan will do well to avoid relegation this year.  They've lost Bullard, Francis and will probably lose Chimbonda.  Actually Roberts has gone too hasn't he?  Big players for them last season that they'll struggle to replace.  De Zeuw was awesome for them too, but he's an ageing player and they can't rely on him every week this season I don't think.  Kirkland was a good signing for them but obviously he'll be prone to injuries and Heskey I just don't see doing it for them - his confidence is well and truly shot at this level imo and he won't score more than half a dozen premiership goals.

If you seriously think they'll finish above Arsenal I think you'll get great odds on it down the bookies, why not have a punt?

I'm going to put a tenner on this JC.   Should get very good odds on this and when Wigan finish 4th I'll by everyone a round. 

[teamleader1]

To true Mitch!

No one should be going into this season with a negative attitude,
Under Rafa we have made more progress than any other prem side,
I dont care who chelsea have signed, its who we sign thats important

This can definitely be our time m8 

[Kash_Mountain]

1. Liverpool
2. Chelsea
3. Man utd
4. Wigan


Of course, we got to believe and have faith... But we got to be realistic as well.. we will stand a better chance, if we face reality straight in the face because only den we will prepare ourselves better to face the enemy.

I know what you mean Marcus but even Rafa is exuding confidence in interviews and when the players are shown when training.  At the begining of Last season, Rafa IMO really didn't come across as confident in interviews etc of us finishing in the top 4 but we made it.

[Kopite-Jud]

i honestly couldnt say
i meen man utd loosing all their fire power
liverpool being probably the most dangerous to chelsea after being pretty much the only team to beet them when it matters
chelsea looking to crumble a tiny bit towards the closing of last season
Arsenal growing with very good players as are totenham
chelsea buying top players pretty much every day
i really couldnt say but thats what is so good about the prem unpredictable which makes it the best league in the world