Liverpool FC Forum

Improvement in the league and hopefully another trophy!

That's all I ask for, a better finish than 8th and more points than last season's miserly 52 points.

What I hope for (realistic hopes) is 4th spot and back in the CL and maybe a good run in the FA cup. We shouldn't be bothered with the Carling Cup and the Europa League.

But I don't expect us to get 4th. Maybe we'll be close but I don't think we'll get it. I don't think our team will be ready for the competition of other teams.

At the beginning of the season just gone, there was a lot of optimism on here which was a little over the top in my humble opinion.... I said at the time top four was a big ask and felt that progress would be shown by doing well in the cups and having a better league season than last year, with top six being realistic.

As things stand we have the same squad, minus aurelio, and we have not established what Cole and Aquiliani will be doing.

Next season I would like to see us playing good football and getting back to our roots. I think that the new manager will do this. For too long people have been posting on here about how we only need a few players to challe ge, which in my mind is rubbish. I reckon we need to get another five or six high class players in, be that in signings or improving what we have (such as Henderson and Carroll). I also think Aquilani if motivated and given a chance could turn out to be wonderful.

So, I would like us to concentrate fully on the league this year and really go for that top four. As things stand we are some wa off this, but great strides can be made during this close season in improving the playing staff and getting a stable platform and the core of the side right.

I also think that the next season needs to be Carraghers last. I don't think he will be able to go on after next season.

Top six would satisfy me. I would be delighted with top four, and a good showing in the European trophy of Micky mouse. 

Right now I think we have about the 6th best squad in the division, a long way off Man City, Man U and Chelsea's but close enough to Arsenal and Spurs's to reasonably expect that with a few shrewd additions and sensible management, we can muster a challenge for the top four, be it until January like last season or beyond. As last season proved, there's also no reason we can't go far in one or more of the cups.

As many have said, though, I think that at this early stage, with the new manager and new players still to properly bed in, it'll matter somewhat less where we finish in the league if there are real signs we're headed in the right direction. So, I'd expect to see improvements in our passing game, in our retention of the ball and in our finishing to match the improvements in defence. There's obviously real potential there if the manager can make a few new signings and get the likes of Carroll and Henderson performing.

Eventually we'll need to see much better results but for now I think it's sensible not to expect too much and instead hope for a pleasant surprise.

My expectations are the same every year ,to see the reds consistently playing football that no one else can live with ,and to stop the sniggers of the media
who revel in our fall from grace . 

Top four is achievable ,anything higher is unrealistic ,and to go all the way in Europe and put that beautiful cup in our trophy cabinet would be the icing on
the cake .

Luis Suarez to prove to all his doubters just what a truly phenomenally skilful player he can be ,and to light up the Premier League with his brilliance .

Andy Carroll to cause as much mayhem as a hurricane and be twice as lethal ,Jose Enrique to remember he used to be a pretty handy LB,and Henderson to
thrive on playing regularly in the middle ....   

I want to have other high profile teams looking in our direction at our brilliant young manager and thinking it could have been them .

Incidentally this will be the only season I have dampened my enthusiasm and overall expectation by thinking with my head and not my heart ,I do however believe we could shock a few this season if all the players show a strength of conviction that was sadly missing last season .

YNWA

Last season we beat Arsenal at Arsenal. Beat Chelsea home and away (again) Drew with Utd and City at our place (really should have won both) So i dont think we lacked quality last season.

Where we slipped up was against the lower sides Fulham Swansea WBA ETC that was mainly down to teams just defending against us and wanting a draw.

We also have to say our strikers didnt perform as well as they could have done Suarez included. However i think the team with strengthen. Lucas returns from injury. Gerrard gets himself playing more Suarez doesnt miss 9 games and we buy a few gems.

We also need to use our squad better in my opinion we will hopefully have alot of games to play his season and we are going to need a strong squad in depth.

If we use the likes of Sterling Shelvey Flanagan and Robinson in the right way it will give the older members of the squad time to recover and also releave some pressure.

So to sum up. With one or two additions we have a squad to actually contest for the league and 3 cups but every player will need to realise there a Liverpool FC player and put in 110 % every game.

Contest for the league AND 3 cups ?!

Going from 8th to contest with the league ? Do you not think that is very unrealistic

I said we have the squad to do it I never said we would. Our back 5 is better than any side in the league.

We have a captain who when is fit likes has showed for england is still one of the best in the world.

We have Suarez with his trickery and skill turns defenders inside out.

We also have Lucas who is  probably one of the best players to win you the ball and break up play.

If Andy can turn into a 15+ striker next year and the midfield chip in more then we will again be feared.

Rodgers knows where we need to strengthen and that is in the wide areas.

top 4 finish and a couple of good cup runs , just for us to look like a decent side again would be nice in the first season

To see a team that fights every week and is visibly moving forward to better things.

I am not arsed in the slightest about the cups and for me if we are in or around the
4th spot for much of the year that will do me even if we miss out.

Until we play consistently well in the league we will never get back close to being
the team or club we once were, and the cups are not and never have been a yardstick
for this or any other football club.

Nobody but nobody could have predicted what would happen last season. Those who doubted we would finish in the top four could never have known the main reason would be because of that little French tw@t and the purple nosed cu'nt who egged him on. The FA and the media absolutely slaughtered us and the impact of this should not be underestimated. We lost our best player for nine games which knocked the stuffing out of us and virtually ended any challenge for fourth. Add on to this the unbelievable amount of times we hit the woodwork, missed penalties and plain didnt turn up its a wonder we finished eighth, won a cup and qualified for europe!
Anyone can see we underachieved last season which obviously means we should have achieved more. Take the Evra sh'itstorm and the bad luck out and we could have easily finished fourth. Which is why Im optimistic about next season. If we get a decent start and a fair run with no controversy we will be definitely amongst the top six and probably the top four.

i think there will be quite a big improvement from last season, lucas being back will make a big difference in the centre of the park and andy carroll is a different player to the one that started the last campaign, he`s leaner, quicker, sharper and now looks as good as anyone at holding the ball up in heavy traffic, him and suarez will be a right handful for any defence.
the back 4 are entering their prime and i dont think reina will have another season as poor as last one.
i think the performance against chelsea at anfield at the tail end of the season showed that there is a heck of a lot of potential there, one or 2 new signings and we could surprise a few people.

Reg » Tue Jun 05, 2012 5:20 am wrote:3. We stop losing to small clubs at the bottom of the table.
4. We play consistant football week in, week out.

I don't think these changes will happen quickly. There seems to be a culture, developed over many years now, of us being a team that needs to be playing against a big team to get up for games. We don't have that ruthlessness, that winning mentality.

Culture change doesn't happen quickly.

If Rodgers can change this, he will leave a very important legacy that'll far outweigh trophies, IMHO.

Last season we were still contenders for 4th place finish until we lost the service of Lucas IMO. After that it was all downhill. Now we are really a WIProgress side and scary to think that we're facing manure, arsenal and city almost right away nxt season. Personally, I expect us to play better football and to improve in our points tally and league finish but I don't think we are good enough to qualify for 4th place yet. At this moment, Manure, City, Arsenal and Chels. are just too strong for us  both in terms of player qualities and fund availability. Suarez will most likely want to leave without CL football and B.R. will expect to play the team without our best attacking player and find suitable replacements for a Post Suarez era coming soon.

We need to get at least 4th anything less will be a bad season imo because we need to be in the CL to attract world class players, and of course to bring big ears home again to his spiritual home.