Liverpool FC Forum

by **AB's Red Army** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:04 am

The sacking/withdrawing of Mourinho from Chelsea makes this years title hunt even more interesting than it was with him at the Bridge.

Had he stayed Chelsea could had a good possibility of winning the league despite their performances. Now with him no longer in the picture, come in two individuals who imo do not have the tactical nouse to win the league. [but then again you never know in football]

The loss of Mourinho will hurt them more than a key player leaving them. He was the brains behind that team and I believe that there chances are hindered now.

Moving on obviously we have Man Utd and Arsenal. United have got Rooney and Ronaldo back, and in the last three league games they've scraped all three of them. Never the less they have won them. I think it's a matter of time before they get back to the way they were playing last season. Especially once Tevez settles in.

The real threat this year is Arsenal. I really didn't buy in the notion in the summer, that they were going to go down hill because Henry left. If anything I think the absence of Henry has made more of their players step it up to another level. Many of their former players and pundits alike were predicting that they would finish behind Tottenham. And there is probably quite a few on here that thought the same as well, buying into the Spurs hype.

Personally I was not one of them, I really felt that Arsenal would have a hell of a season. They've only signed two players this summer but they've made such a brilliant start to the season.

Cesc Fabregas is such a fantastic talent, and one of the key ingredients to his game that needed to be improved was goal-scoring. Well he has certainly changed that and he has five or six already.

Looking past Cesc, they have a real group of talented defenders. Strong,fast and football intelligent. Toure is one of the most underrated defenders in the league imo, and then there is Gallas. In Clichy and Eboue they have one of the brightest prospects in their perspective position in the league. They've acquired Sagna this summer, a right-fullback giving Wenger the option of playing Eboue on the right flank if necessary. All of which suit the way Arsenal play.

Lauren-Campbell-Toure-Cole was such a brilliant combination at the back. Not just defensively but also in the attacking aspect of the game. Lauren and Cole were always involved in Arsenal's build up in every game.

I believe that they are building a similar unit once more.

If you look at their midfielders, they have more than enough quality to open up most Premiership sides. Rosicky is a brilliant little player and we all saw what he can do last season at Anfield. Hleb has not had the best of seasons in the past at Arsenal, but he looks a different player this year.

Then you have a potential world class talent, Denilson. What a focking player this kid could turn out to be. He's only 17 or 18 years old, but he has such good technical ability and he's wonderful to watch. Similar to that of Cesc.

Diaby is another fine prospect who many at the Emirates believe that he will replace the void that Vieira left. There are certainly similarities and with the right nourishment under Wenger, there is no reason he can't be somewhere as good as Vieira. Gilberto is a n experienced and versatile player with quality.

Last [you lot are probably happy now], their centerforwards.

Van Persie: Quality quality player. Far from a finished article but even so, he can rip most defenders to shreds and cause all sorts of problems.

Eduardo: Once this kid settles in, he will be something. He has been revolutionary for us [Croatia], and posses the ability to score goals that Arsenal are not known for [fox in the box type of goals]. He has scored more goals for Dinamo Zagreb than any other of our strikers in history [Suker,Viduka,etc..].

He came to Croatia at the age of sixteen with a couple of dollars and only clothes on his back. When Dinamo took him in their academy, he slept at Dinamo's Maksimir stadium because he had no where else to go. This kid has been through a lot and should settle in to the weather conditions in England.

Moving on, Adebayor also has some great skill although he can be inconsistent at times. There's Walcott as well who has great potential.

All in all, Arsenal are looking a fine side. You could argue that apart from Blackburn, they have not faced any difficult or challenging side in the league. At the same time though, United had five or six easy opening games and by the time it got tough they were ready for it.

There's also that consistent notion of Arsenal not being able to handle physical sides. So it will be interesting if they step up this time around. Also they have a thin squad, so any injuries could see them have some problems.

Apart from all that, this year is very open for most of the top four teams to win it. Including us.

If we fail to challenge for the title this year then we won't get any better opportunity anytime soon. Despite the fact that I don't believe that we have enough quality wingers, this is the strongest squad we have had in years.

We have Birmingham [home],Wigan[away] and Tottenham[home] in our next three games. I would be extremely disappointed if we didn't get maximum points out those games. After that, things get a bit difficult at as we face Everton away after the international break.

Now or not anytime soon for us I'd say.

Your thoughts?

by **babu** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:20 am

Good post AB.

I always thought Arsenal were going to do well this season, but its still early days. I don't think you should write Chelsea off at all. If you ask me, Mourinho, although great manager, was a destabilising agent in the chelsea locker room. Now that he is gone, i reckon Chelsea will be stronger. wouldn't surprise if they beat United this weekend.

I also have a feeling that Birmingham are about to recieve the same treatment that Derby got. Com'n Redmen !!!!!!!!!!!

by **AB's Red Army** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:26 am

I certainly hope that we beat Birmingham because they have left us frustrated on more than one occasion in previous meetings in the league.

I'm not sure that Mourinho was a destabilizing agent in the locker room. I think that most of their players are at the club because of him. I will not be surprised if the likes of Lampard,Carvalho,Drogba,etc... end up leaving. Imo he was well liked by all of their players.

The problem really was between him and Abramovich. Two different mentalities clashing.

by **112-1077774096** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:27 am

well we know maureen managed to win the league, wenger and ferguson both know how to win it, that just leaves rafa, does he know how to win it?

maureen will be a loss up to a point mate, but maybe judging on their early form this season it seems that other teams have found them out and know how to play against them, we walked all over them, villa did them, rosenberg got an unlikely draw, the crowd are staying away because their football is unattractive and the bandwagon jumpers have jumped ship now they are not champions anymore and have gone back to opera or art galleries, or whatever it is they did before chelsea won the league.

only time will tell if maureen getting sacked (let not pull any punches here, he was fired) causes them any problems, its all very well him building up this siege mentality but lest not forget he caused the hatred to start with with his actions and the actions of his team, if he didnt do this there would be no siege and everyone wanting to f*ck them up every chance they get. you reap what you sow.

one thing might be that the new guy will get them playing football and with the talent they have at their disposal that could be bad news for everyone else, only time will tell.

for me, i am glad he has gone, i think he was bad for football, its all very well being a character but when you are a liar and a cheat then you are no loss when you go. if anyone wants to question this comment dont bother, i will tell you why:

Lie: riikard went into frisks room at the camp nou, maureen aid he saw this when he didtnt.

cheat: whilst he was banned from the stadium for one game, he sneaked into the stadium and had radio contact with the bench, maureens own admission.

he also had his little escapade with his dog, he lied to customs, he lied to the police.

he is an unpleasant character and i am very glad he never came to us, classless b*stard

by **mungi** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:14 am

u can however negate arsenal's passing by pressing them hard through long peroids. with players like momo and kuyt hunting the ball we can play high up the park and arsenal will find it diffuclt to play the ball out. dont think they ill win it this season but look out in the next 2-3 yrs

by **AB's Red Army** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:16 am

mungi wrote:u can however negate arsenal's passing by pressing them hard through long peroids. with players like momo and kuyt hunting the ball we can play high up the park and arsenal will find it diffuclt to play the ball out. dont think they ill win it this season but look out in the next 2-3 yrs

1. They beat us three times last season despite what you said.
2. It's not like they're going to play us every week.

by **112-1077774096** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:29 am

mungi wrote:u can however negate arsenal's passing by pressing them hard through long peroids. with players like momo and kuyt hunting the ball we can play high up the park and arsenal will find it diffuclt to play the ball out. dont think they ill win it this season but look out in the next 2-3 yrs

let them worry about us and not the other way around. too many times last season we set up to not lose rather than set up to win.

this season we need to get away from that, we need to set out to win and let them try and counter us if the wish.

setting out to not lose is in my opinion the sign of a manager not confident that his players can win and an admittance that the others are better than us.

wouldnt it be nice for once for the mancs to worry about gerrard rather than us worry about ronaldo, why should we shift gerrard to the right (nullifying his threat), why shouldnt ferguson worry about gerrard in the center and have to counter his threat.

we have better players than the mancs in midfield so lets play our strongest midfield rather than weaken it counter others, in fact we have the strongest central midfield in europe in my opinion so people should be worrying about us, so arsenal, chelsea etc should alter their game, they must love it when they see gerrard out of position

by **account deleted by request** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:42 am

Good post A.B. As one of the people that fell for the Spurs hype, I have been surprised by Arsenal this season, I really thought Arsenal might struggle. Cr@p goalkeeper disjointed midfield and pretty but ineffective football was the way I saw it. Looks like I was wrong. I think their test will come when the bad weather comes in and a few teams start to bully them again.

Fabrigas is one hell of a player who seems much older than 20 and with VanPersie and Toure are the pick of the crop for me. I still believe Arsenal will flatter to deceive this season, and hopefully will stumble and fall away once a few results start to go against them.

Spurs on the other hand have been p!ss poor this season so far, but I expect them to improve as the season goes on, they could hardly be any worse. I can't see my prediction of Spurs overtaking Arsenal being correct now, but I can't see Arsenal finishing any better than fourth either.

Arsenal are the type of side that can overawe a team with their fast passing and swift attack, but I think if teams hang in there, Arsenal are always likely to conceed a goal and their head drop. Arsenal remind me a bit of Liverpool under Evans, somehow lacking a little charactor when the going gets tough.
Having said that I think most of their goals this season have been scored late on?

Good shout though A.B. and I wouldn't be too surprised if they didn't give us a run for our money on our way to the title.

by **AB's Red Army** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:25 am

Fair points raised Saint.

The one thing that impresses me about Arsenal, that is not often mentioned about them, is the fact that they can come back from behind.

They did it so many times last season, losing 1-0 and with ten or fifteen minutes they would win 2-1 or 3-1.

They don't let their heads drop when they let in a goal first. Which is opposite to us. If we don't score first, I can't see us winning most games. We've only lost one game when we've taken the lead, and that was against Newcastle last season under Benitez.

by **112-1077774096** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:28 am

are my posts invisible

by **woof woof !** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 6:33 am

Topic, More suited to the premiership discussion area of the forum.

by **account deleted by request** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:11 am

woof woof ! wrote:Topic, More suited to the premiership discussion area of the forum.

Kgb agent Woof sent this thread to a gulag to die

by **woof woof !** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:16 am

s@int wrote:
woof woof ! wrote:Topic, More suited to the premiership discussion area of the forum.

Kgb agent Woof sent this thread to a gulag to die

Not my intention. It's unfortunate however that the "Premiership" section is tucked away near the bottom of the page, not sure if that can be changed (I'll ask)

by **Judge** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 11:51 am

woof is certainly getting into klinkdom

by **JC_81** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 12:19 pm

I think that's a fair assessment of the Arsenal side AB. They do have a lot of quality players and a lot of people did underestimate them this season in terms of their ability to finish in the top 4.

This isn't a dig, but I think perhaps you've gone a bit too far the other way mate, I think you're overestimating them as far as this season goes. They have some fantastic players, Fabregas being the crown jewel, but I still don't think they're equipped to win the title this year, or to even challenge for it.

We're only 5/6 games into the premiership season, and while Arsenal have played some great stuff, they've yet to be really tested. Spurs away should have been that test had Spurs not collapsed on themselves that day.

3 things will mean Arsenal finish no higher than 4th this year.

1) Overall lack of experience
2) No reliable keeper
3) No plan B to help them win games on days where their passing game is below its brilliant best

In the next couple of years I can see Arsenal emerging as the team to beat once again, but not this year and not until they sign a decent keeper.

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