Liverpool FC Forum

Next season is when we need to see real improvement and challenge Arsenal and Spurs for 4th right until the end - even would say 4th is a minimum requirement for us next season

Nah, 4th as a minimum is setting the bar too high.
But 5th or 6th with a seroius challenge on 4th is bare minimum.
Exactly the same season next year and Rodgers might look for a new job.

At the end of last season I remember going to the West Brom and Fulham matches at Anfield which we lost. West Brom we had a shed load of chances and simply could not score. Fulham was simply one of the worst and most embarrassing games I have ever been to at Anfield in over forty years. Quite simply we were utterly pathetic and it was shameful to watch. The team that beat Fulham at the weekend was worlds apart in terms of attitude and ability. Last season we had an awful second half to the season and simply looked as if we were going nowhere. This season the reverse has been true. BR inherited a team that simply had lost belief and ok he could be accused of taking too long to sort out the problems and making too many tactical mistakes but the fact remains that we are actually finishing the season quite strongly. The football we are playing now compared with the end of last season doesn't compare and it is for that reason that with a decent summer I think that top four next season is a real possibility.

Management is the key. Look at Man City as an example. Some of the team performances this season have been pathetic. The FA Cup final was no exception when they were beaten by Wigan who look certain to be relegated. It is not all money money money. Look at Swansea's league position. Swansea also won the Football League Cup. Desire and determination got Swansea where they are. That was missing from Liverpool at the end of last season but in fairness to BR I think he has turned probably that most important aspect around.

Yes, 2nd half PL performance of last season was plain awful. Kenny was out of touch with the modern game and I agreed it was right to relieve him of his duties to maintain his legendary status.

Penguins » Mon May 13, 2013 11:19 pm wrote:Nah, 4th as a minimum is setting the bar too high.
But 5th or 6th with a seroius challenge on 4th is bare minimum.
Exactly the same season next year and Rodgers might look for a new job.

Couldn't disagree more.

Even an idiot can see the change that Sturridge and Coutinho have made since January, I'd even hedge my bets and say that if we had signed them from August we would have been challenging for 4th next week. They easily could have been the 10 point difference we have today.

Combine this with some more signings in the summer and the least I'd expect is a top four challenge, Rodger's has set this target himself.

Lets not forget that Brendan expected to start the season with Dempsey and Siguarsson, if it wasn't for Siguarsson's wage demands and somebody deciding that Dempsey was not worth an extra million or whatever it was. Those two could easily have got us a couple of places higher.

Next season, it's all change for the three richest clubs, with new managers and probably some big signings, Arsenal and Spurs will also spend and hope to push on from this year. I think Everton will struggle without Moyes and a few of their best players and Swansea will hope to improve on their very creditable 8th or 9th place of this season.

We need to sign a few quality players with the right blend of age and experience to put us right in the mix for the top 4, it's going to be a very important season.

another 2 signings of Sturridge and courtinho quality then we'll be in with a shout of 4th I'm sure of it.

I agree, but it is a big difference being in with a shout and 4th as minimum expectations.
I still think the top 5 are better than us right now.
But a carpon copy of this season and it is tar and feathers for BR.

redno7 » Tue May 14, 2013 11:46 am wrote:another 2 signings of Sturridge and courtinho quality then we'll be in with a shout of 4th I'm sure of it.

Why only 4th   That's assuming Luis doesn't go anywhere !!!

I was being realistic, in my opinion. Obviously we should be aiming higher.

Im excited by the progress that we've made, particularly since January.  But I am not going to get too carried away just yet.
We've seen what happened when Kenny first came in and how badly things went wrong the following summer / season.

This is going to be a huge summer for Rodgers.  He needs to address the centre defence with Carragher retiring and one or both of Coates / Skrtel leaving.

He may need to have a few GK targets lined up in case Reina decides to leave.

He'll need to figure out what the future holds for Sterling, Suso, Shelvey and many of our other young players since we won't have the Europa League to develop them in.

He may have to deal with some big offers for Suarez.

And hopefully, he has quite a few of his own transfer targets lined up.  Huge summer for him and for us and one that we really need to get right!  We've f.ucked it up so badly every summer for years now and if we do it again we can forget about top 4 next season.

I would be cautious. Since the United defeat in September the team has still only taken 55% of the available points meaning that we would have only had another six points in those five games had things started differently. Under Kenny at the end of season 10-11 we took 60% of the points.

If the right players are bought in the summer with regard to defence and probably midfield/winger then another improvement next year is likely but unless the team concedes more than ten fewer goals next season fourth is going to be difficult.

To date, in terms of goals scored per se, we've scored 70, which is more than 2nd place City and Tottenham. But we conceded 43 which is also much more than the teams above us. So bucking up the defence is more important than the goal scoring department though I believe we still need 1 more quality striker to grab more goals to reach top 4. FSG needs to fund BR to get the quality signings that he wants, if they're going to be interested in more kids, then be prepared for the same kind of performance next season. I wonder whether they will demand a CL finish like they did with Kenny at the start of last season.

Basil » Tue May 14, 2013 11:46 am wrote:Lets not forget that Brendan expected to start the season with Dempsey and Siguarsson, if it wasn't for Siguarsson's wage demands and somebody deciding that Dempsey was not worth an extra million or whatever it was. Those two could easily have got us a couple of places higher.

Next season, it's all change for the three richest clubs, with new managers and probably some big signings, Arsenal and Spurs will also spend and hope to push on from this year. I think Everton will struggle without Moyes and a few of their best players and Swansea will hope to improve on their very creditable 8th or 9th place of this season.

We need to sign a few quality players with the right blend of age and experience to put us right in the mix for the top 4, it's going to be a very important season.

Well, it's arguable that if we had got Dempsey and Sigurdsson, we might not have been allowed to buy Sturridge & Coutinho in Jan. Between the former 2 and latter 2, I would take the latter 2 anytime. Already they are showing great good performances, and they are so much younger.

blessing in disguise when Dempsey went to spuds and Sigurdsson for that matter. Our 2 January additions are right up there with some of the best signings ever. If we replicate that standard in summer for the defense then we'll not go far wrong.