Liverpool FC Forum

by **Garymac** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 7:57 pm

As last season came to a close we had the glory of winning the Champions League and a hell of roller coaster ride which also brought us a taste of Cardiff which was due because we hadn't been for 2 years!

But if last year was the most bumpy, nerve wrecking, up and down of a roller coaster ride which in the end i was just happy to get off alive, the same cant be said at all for this season. We have become a well oiled machine on a road this season which hasn't offered as much excitement but has offered us, stability, strength and most of all Consistency.

Going into this season we all wanted one thing, we knew the league was out the question so closing the gap was the realistic aim and my god with 2 games to go its been achieved, from 37 points to, with 2 games to go, 12 points, thats 25 points gone in a matter of a season and when you consider Chelsea are just 7 points off last seasons total you can see that closing the gap has been done solely by us, they have not slipped up at all so to show an improvement the way we have has been immense.

Carrying on with the league there was 2 issues that needed addressing, one was the diabolical away form, and 2, was to make Anfield a fortress once again and with just 1 defeat to the champions and just 7 goals conceded, i think we can agree that that has been achieved.

The away form has been fantastic too, we have 1 away game left at Pompey and at the moment we have lost just five on the road, and we got beat at the 3 big teams so that leaves just the 2 slip ups on the road to Fulham and Charlton.

And are away form has improved thanks to 2 of Rafas signings in the Summer, Momo and Crouch, players who can change games in different ways, Just look at last night and what Momo does for us, his ability to get all over the pitch, to tackle, to harass, to basically be a pain in the a$s to opponents and he is doing that as well as any Midfielder in the country right now.

And Peter, for me has come on a lot since the start of the season, i remember him playing down at palace and he was nothing short of shocking, i honestly thought he was going to be the biggest flop in the history of this club he was that bad, but its amazing what a goal can do, and goals against are biggest rivals United and Everton have done him no harm in becoming a cult figure, and the fact he will end the season playing in an FA Cup final and going to the World Cup tells you the lad hasn't had a bad season.

And thats what i move on to next, the FA cup final, Rafas 3rd final in 2 years and means he has reached all finals possible to do so since becoming manager of Liverpool, not a bad feat at all.

We played in the 1st final at Cardiff winning it and we will play the last ever FA Cup final to be played in Cardiff and if im honest, i fu*king love the place and im honoured that my club will once again, on the 13th of May will be doing this city proud as we have not once ever let are slefs down in that city, its a special bond and its one which i hope ends in the most wonderful of finals with us out on top.

And what a way that would be to end the season.

So to answer my question, we brought in Coruch, Momo and Reina (Who have not mentioned at all but with 33 clean sheets this season we know hes not done bad!) and then swopped Josemi for Kromkamp and brought God back on loan, another master stroke by Rafa.

And what has it brought, well we have closed the gap by over 20 points, and looking at the league table now that 12 point gap could have been cut to 0 in just 2 games, how, if we would have beat Chelsea twice, and when you look at it, thats how close we are to a realistic title challenge.

And we have yet another showpiece final to close the season, so apart from the dissapointment of the defence of are champions league i doubt Rafa could have done any more to improve us over a course of 12 Months, and with Gonzlaez on his way next season with Paletta and Aurelio, and of Course a couple of other names to come next season we might just come as close to are dreams as we have done in any of the past 15 years.

Hes not done bad at all then has he really!

My aim for next season: Beat the teams who are around us in the league whilst continuing the form we have showed against the other clubs this season, and dreams might come true!!!

by **spion** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:08 pm

£20 million?

Bollo*ks. Rafa had to sell players, let others go that were on big contracts & basicly cut his cloth as thin as possible. He never spent the money given to him in January because he refused to be ripped off by Benfica. He might regret that now because the object of his affections (Simao) knocked us out of the champions league. The only reason Benfica put the price up was because Chavski let it be known that they might be interested which was a ploy by Maureen to stop Liverpool getting the rightsided option Benitez had coveted since the summer.
To ask a stupid question like was the money well spent look at the past purchaces by Houllier. Benitez has'nt been alowed to spend badly because the chairman & more so chief exec keep watch on any buisness the manager wants to do.
Your question may be better asked at the end of next season rather than now.

by **redsince2001** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:16 pm

great post!

Yes ,we hav improved immensely ,the only thing we need now,if we are to win tne crown next season is to improve our away form......in the Epl we cant be the best if we lose 5 games away from home.

But with s'hitski looking to spend another 50m in the summer on new players it wont be that easy.

But as u said if we keep working hard who knows our dreams might just come true.

by **Garymac** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:23 pm

spion wrote:£20 million? Bollo*ks. Rafa had to sell players, let others go that were on big contracts & basicly cut his cloth as thin as possible. He never spent the money given to him in January because he refused to be ripped off by Benfica. He might regret that now because the object of his affections (Simao) knocked us out of the champions league. The only reason Benfica put the price up was because Chavski let it be known that they might be interested which was a ploy by Maureen to stop Liverpool getting the rightsided option Benitez had coveted since the summer.
To ask a stupid question like was the money well spent look at the past purchaces by Houllier. Benitez has'nt been alowed to spend badly because the chairman & more so chief exec keep watch on any buisness the manager wants to do.
Your question may be better asked at the end of next season rather than now.

What the fu*k are you on about Spion you c0ck read me fu*king post instead of the title before making a comment like that because you obviously havent you wrongin.

Read the post. Not the title.

You dozy t*at.

by **The Specialist** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:29 pm

In:

Sissoko 5.7
Reina 7
Crouch 7.5
Agger 5.8
Gonzalez 3.5
Youngsters ?

Out:

Baros 6.5
Diouf 2 - 4?
Nunez 1?

Anyone else I am forgetting? Looks about a difference of 20 million to me, spion.

by **redsince2001** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:32 pm

who r pauletta and aurelio??which position do they play?

r d deals done.

by **The Specialist** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:37 pm

The Paletta deal is done. He's a young centre-back who plays in Argentina for Banfield, and who captained (If I remember correctly) the Argentinian Under-20 side to the Under-20 Championship last year.

From what I understand, the Aurelio deal is not done. And nothing is certain. He's a Brazilian left back who plays for Valencia and played under Rafa.

by **Bad Bob** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 8:52 pm

redsince2001 wrote:great post!

Yes ,we hav improved immensely ,the only thing we need now,if we are to win tne crown next season is to improve our away form......in the Epl we cant be the best if we lose 5 games away from home.

But with s'hitski looking to spend another 50m in the summer on new players it wont be that easy.

But as u said if we keep working hard who knows our dreams might just come true.

(Nice post G-Mac!)

For me, it's not the away form per se, mate. Rather, it's losing away at Chelsea, Man U and Arsenal. Sure, getting beaten at Charlton and Fulham is disappointing but no team goes through a whole season with perfect away form (okay, except Arsenal recently). In fact, Chelsea, lost at Fulham themselves a few weeks back and both they and the Mancs lost at Boro this year (no need to even get started on Arsenal's away form this season).

Point is, there will be banana-peel games in every season for each of the top sides. The key is to be as consistent as possible against poorer sides. This was our downfall last season but this year we've pretty much matched Chelsea and the Mancs in this department.

The true area that needs improvement, then, is our form against the other title challengers. This season we got turned over by Chelsea twice, managed a draw and a loss against the Mancs, had a win and a loss against Arsenal and managed to draw and beat Spurs. At MINIMUM next season we need to win against each of those teams at Anfield and at least draw with half of them away (while, of course, maintaining our solid record against the other league sides). If we get our league (rather than cup) performances sorted against the top sides we will be there or thereabouts at the top of the table come this time next year.

As a side note, I think getting knocked out of the CL at the stage we did this season was a blessing in disguise. Truth be told, we were starting to look a bit knackered in February...both physically and mentally. I think squeaking into the next round would have helped the rot to truly take hold in our league and FA Cup performances. Facing Barca at that stage might have been a touch demoralizing as well (although the image of Robbie scoring at the Nou Camp has some allure, don't it?). IMO, getting knocked out was like a splash of cold water for the lads and they responded in precisely the right way: by refocusing on the domestic competitions. Since, then, (the Arsenal away game aside, when we were still reeling from the CL knock-out) the lads have been well up for it and, as Red37 documented in another thread, we've been on a tremendous run...our second of the season. In my mind, this was a year to let the CL move to the backburner and get back to basics in the league. We've done that now, so hopefully we can mount a serious challenge on both fronts next year!

Walk On! :buttrock

by **Garymac** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:06 pm

Thats pretty much my point, look at any battle in a league season and your position is normally ruled on how you do against the top teams, look at anyone who has won the League, they have to beat the teams who are around them at the end to have a chance we took 4 points out of 6 games against last seasons top 3, Next season if the championship is going to be a real aim, then that has to change.

And i dont want to get dragged up on the subject of Money it was roughly what we spent, im not LFC's bank manager and dont know the ins and outs, im just saying we spent 20 about on players who have effect are squad.

Rafa has probably spent 40 million over 2 seasons when you take away money for players he has sold, he has also got rid of the "dead wood" everyone famously went on about and reshaped are whole squad, Just look at how many bad players we had 2 years ago and look at the state are youth team was in, now 24 months later and we are on the verge of a FA Cup double and have won the champions league, whilst having players like hobbs, Antwi, Anderson, Hammill, Barragan and Barnett from the youth team wetting are appite for what might come in the future.

And its right to mention if we win on Saturday its are 2nd 10 game winning streak of the season, thats not to shabby either!

by **Bad Bob** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:08 pm

Not to mention that clean sheets in the last two games breaks our single season record in that department...what a season!

by **Fowler_E7** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 9:41 pm

to win the league all we need to do is improve our performances against the big teams, if we got at least one victory each of chelsea, man u and arsenal we would be right up there!

by **Feeney** » Thu Apr 27, 2006 10:49 pm

Nice post Gary mate.

I was thinking something very similar (as in Rafa's not done bad) only recently having had time to review where we are in the league, where we dropped points where we shouldn't and where those dropped points could have easily been turned around.

My main case revolved around Man U - a draw at home, where we battered them and an away tie where we lost due to a last minute goal. How easily 1 point could of been 4?

We then lost away to Arsenal, where for not for Gerrard's howler, I reckon we could have held on for a point.

then the 2 games against Fulham and Charlton. Fulham have been awesome at home this season, so I reckon a loss would be attributed as a correct result. Lets put Charlton in the 'win' bracket.

The 2 games against Chelsea we got nothing and this to me is fair.

So, in summary, if results would have went our way, we are looking at 7 further points in the league. That would put us, what, 5 behind Chelsea?

It was then that I had the thought "f*cking hell, that would put us on the coat tails of the best team in the country, who, by the way, we have recently beaten as well as Man U in the cup.

Holy Sh!t, have we really got a chance of the title next season?

I agree, my thoughts in this post are all based on if's, buts and maybes of the season we have just witnessed. But my thoughts also brought about a thinking that has not entered my head in many years and I dared to dream. If we are this close now, where we can see our flaws and know where we need to improve our squad, what can we achieve with those extra couple of players? Are we really that far away from bringing the league back to Anfield?

Rafa has brought us success already and hopefully will bring us more silverware in a couple of weeks time. How long before he brings us the title? Could it be too bold to say we will have a real chance next season?

My first thought was to say "nah, 1 season too early" as my attitude is to always keep your feet on the groung when it comes to football. Then I stopped myself and thought, well, is it really too early? Are we not being bold enough by not saying we can do it next season? Our team has really surprised me in just how much progress has been made in 2 seasons. Perhaps we can progress to the ultimate prize next season?

We have players in place already to strengthen the squad and with a couple more decent additions, the chance is definately there for us.

Dare to dream guys n gals, dare to dream. :buttrock

by **mikopool** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 2:46 am

Great post mate! I would like to add that I have heard many comments over the season with praise for Momo and how fantastic he is, by rival supporters,commentators,analists and whoever else has some say in the football world. When I see his name on the sheet, I immediately think " will we win it close, or blow them away? " because he has made such an amazing impression this season, don't get me wrong, the rest of the players have all improved (with the exception of morientes) but Momo was such a steal.

I say bring on next season, we are ready.

by **RedWolf35** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:19 am

Spion read the post you dozy mutt read the post

:laugh:

Rafa has spent very wisely and no doubt with the improvements he will make in the summer we will be even better next season

Think of it Real Madrid were sniffing around and Rafa turned them down point blank - do not believe that would have happened without certain assurances from the board!!!

Can see us buying a couple of 'class' players in the summer

:bowdown

by **dawson99** » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:19 am

what i love most about this season is the smaller games. last season we were really struggling aganist some of the so called lesser opposition. its players like momo who have changed that. Rafa has brought some wronguns in his time but the genius hes given us completely wipes out the bad buys. Every manager in the history of football has made some bad buys but for the 20 million spent i think hes done the best job we could have askde of him

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20 million spent and god was brought back... - ..so has the money been well spent?

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