Liverpool FC Forum

by **84-1106852058** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:34 pm

Realistically,are we good enough to challenge for the title this
season.It is easy to look through rose tinted glasses and say of course we are,we are the Champions of Europe.
It iseasy to sweep last seasons dissapointments under the carpet,and wollow in the memories of Istanbul.

Thirty seven points seperated us from the Champions last season,we actually finished closer to those relegated than to Chelsea.A vast improvement is needed if we are to achieve anything.

Rafa has been busy in the transfer market,and hasnt finished yet.Peter Crouch is not everyones cup of tea,but it looks like
the boss is still after him.A big centre forward does give us the option of mixing our formation.

Personally I dont know much about our new signings,apart from Zenden of course but reports I have read all seem pretty
positive.Rummours have been rife about the arrival of Luis Figo
saddly I dont think we are going to get him.He may be the wrong side of thirty,but for me he would of given us much needed width.

It has been reported that the manager has told the players,
he intends to rotate them this season.Iam not sure I agree with this system,I would much rather have a settled team.
Although I do realise we have started our season early and
fatigue could well take its toll.

According to tonights Liverpool Echo,Benitez has called on his strikers to score more goals,this is definately an area were we need to improve a great deal.Especially with plans to rotate the squad,we cant rely on Gerrard or Garcia every game.

The question I posed was are we good enough,time to put those rose tinted glasses on again,Iam not going to say we will win the league,but I think we will be a lot closer than last season.
As usual at this time of year there is a great deal of expectancy and optimism from our fans,not to mention blind faith,Lets hope we can use last seasons European success as
a springboard for success on the domestic front.

VIVA BENITEZ.

by **stromsgodset** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 7:40 pm

Well my heart says if we can avoid the injuries we had last season and get a good run of luck we could do it...my head says top three is the best we can hope for. All i know is i'm more optimistic about the direction we're going than i've been for a few years now. :nod

by **El Nino_#9** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:44 pm

for some reason, for me it depends on what players we sign and let go of before the start of the season.
if we get rid of baros, nunez, diao and bring in crouch, figo, milito then, YES, we could challenge i suppose

by **dosserboy** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 9:23 pm

Until the day Chelski fold (ie Ambrovich gets bored and b*ggers off), then the best we can hope for is 2nd, which I'm pretty confident we can. We will certainly close the gap but how can anybody compete with Chelsea and their Millions?

by **skipper** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:30 pm

dosserboy wrote:Until the day Chelski fold (ie Ambrovich gets bored and b*ggers off), then the best we can hope for is 2nd, which I'm pretty confident we can. We will certainly close the gap but how can anybody compete with Chelsea and their Millions?

Easy.

With heart and passion that is unmatched by any other club.

Remembering there is no "I" in teamwork.

Be a part of the LFC family and do your best to contribute on and off the pitch.

The greatest fans in the world.

Roman abravomich was awed by the atmosphere at anfield for the second leg. Chelsea fans cant compare to us. We beat chelsea fair and square that night. It proved that we can beat abravomich's millions. If we can put together consistent performances, you never know.

Real Madrid have a superb squad but how many trophies have they won in the last 2 years?

0.

A good team sends onto the pitch a team, not 11 individuals. I dont we will win the prem next season, but we'll get there in a few years.

by **barnesrush** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:02 pm

37 points is a ben nevis size, scottish league style gap and it would probably take a miracle of everest size proportions to close it. but hey i saw the second half in instanbul so anything can happen i suppose

seriously tho i hope to be a fair bit closer to the top, say 10-15 points yet even if we arent its still no nightmare. we are only just starting to see a rafa squad so this is still a very transitional season, u just have to watch bloody sky sports news to see the amount of change this squad is going through.

early signs are positive but we are still several signings away from a successful summers work but im sure those will arrive. crouch may be a touch expensive (if improved bids suceed) but I predict him to score more for us than drogba will for chelski

(crespo'll score a few tho)

a right winger or two (figo?) unless rafa sees potter, pongolle, cisse(surely not riight wing pleeeease!) are surely needed unless rafa wants to try kewell or gonzales.

milito proving difficult to tempt but i would be happy with a cheaper upson for perhaps what we have bid for milito or less. traore may prove himself able back up (4 year contract anyone). oh well probly deserves it for that block in the final even if it was going wide! centre back he can jus give the ball to cara so doesnt have to play football. come on hes nearly at hyppia's level of distribution so his heading or tackling could make him useful.

the futures bright, the futures rojo!

by **H_K_LFC** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:05 pm

Am pretty confident we can finish second if we stay clear of injuries 2 big players.Ppl forget that gerrard,alonso,cisse were out for long times in the season.If we can avoid that then second place is not 2 hard 2 get.Aswell as a good fa cup run winnin the league cup n defending the champions league.

by **jeffiroquai** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:04 am

I think top three is realistic as long as we get additional depth at the back. All this chatter about Figo and Crouch and whomever......we need at least one more centerback for the multitude of fixtures we have to play this season.

Carra is the rock, and I love Sammi, but who else is there?

??

Traore??? Whitbread???

We need Millito/Upson

Yesterday

by **mrcool2003** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:27 am

not this season no, i dont think winning the title is a realistic hope for us this season, we havent got the strength in depth quite yet, though i think we will improve our points tally this season and finish comfortably in 3rd hopefully

crouch wont make us any better, and since hes been quoted as 8 mil hes not worth it, cause realisticly he'd only be good to throw on if we're losing out in height or if we need a goal near the end and i wouldnt want to see him at all come here, overrated, and traore is another player who i nearly died when rafa signed him up for another four years but he will see the error when traore does a burnley backheel or a bambi slipping on ice dance too many times

by **A.B.** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:53 am

I expect us to finish third at the most, if we take it step by step then we'll be ready to challenge within two or three years but first we need to get into the top three before we can challenge Chelsea for the title

by **stapo1000** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 3:24 am

If we can get a decent centre half and a right winger who can give us width then yes we can challenge for the title. But until we do, NO. Thats my honest opinion.

by **The_Rock** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:00 am

stapo1000 wrote:If we can get a decent centre half and a right winger who can give us width then yes we can challenge for the title. But until we do, NO. Thats my honest opinion.

agree... But i don't think right winger is that important, given that we was kewell (he can play there...although he is sh1t), garcia & gonzales. I think a Striker is more imminent that a winger now given that baros is more likely to leave.

1)Centreback - spend money to get quality centreback.

2)Striker - if there is excess cash, use it together with baros sale to buy top notch striker (AND I DO NOT MEAN CROUCH).

3)Any excess cash, can go into signing a good winger

by **A.B.** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:31 am

agree... But i don't think right winger is that important, given that we was kewell (he can play there...although he is sh1t), garcia & gonzales. I think a Striker is more imminent that a winger now given that baros is more likely to leave.

If we get a good right winger then we'll have better chances of Morientes scoring, he's great in the air and we need to use that.

Garcia can play as a winger but he couldn't cross through out the whole game if his life depended on it. Gonzales is injured until November so we're short on the right side.

I rather we get a right winger first than getting a striker.

by **azriahmad** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:35 am

Realistically, no, unless we have some minimum 50 mil to 100 mil to completely buy quality like Chelski can buy.

However, I'd expect us to considerably close the gap between us and the league champion and we should really mount a strong season long challenge for the very top honours in 2006-07.

Of course, Benithez is always welcomed to exced my expectations...

Since the CL scrapped the second stage league format and replace with it with a 2 legged knock-out format, this has given squads with less depth and overall quality a better chance. Otherwise, teams like Chelski, Milan, Barca, Real with a bigger squad depth can always endure the grind of league style games better and go through - now, instead of beating all of the teams in the league, you'd have overcome your opponent in an aggregated home and away game. This is the best format as it gives team like ours and Porto to overcome the big spenders.

by **PinkPantha** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:38 am

According to Carragher, we aren't good enough to challenge this year

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