A thursday five - New season almost upon us.
Posted:
Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:48 pm
by The Ace1983
It's nearly here! I hate tennis balls, golf balls, baseballs and although I don't mind cricket balls, they haven't got anything on good ol' fashioned footballs. A new season is almost ready for kick-off and Liverpool has had one of its most interesting off seasons of all time. We've got new players, new owners, plans for a new stadium and a new opportunity to win the league. So, in honour of this new beginning, I've come up with a Thursday Five.
1. After a summer where we've spent big and designed a brand new Anfield, how do you feel about our new owners? If you were anxious, has your anxiety gone? Have Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett won you over, or were you always confident that they were the right guys for the job?
2. Voronin, Babel, Torres, Kuyt and Crouch. These are our strikers. Who's going to score us the most goals in this coming season? And what do you think Rafa's prefered partnership will be?
3. The new stadium: A revolution in stadium architecture or an eyesore? How would you feel if it wasn't called Anfield?
4. We were linked with a lot of players over the summer. Is there any one player that was rumoured to be heading our way that we didn't get who you wish we had? Were you salivating over Simao, or mesmerized by Mancini?
5. You probably saw this one coming: Where do you think we'll finish this season in the Premiership? Are we destined to reclaim our crown, or will it be another season as an "also ran"?
Bonus Question:
Do you have the feeling that we'll win a cup this year? League Cup? FA Cup? Or Old Big Ears?
Posted:
Thu Aug 02, 2007 2:20 pm
by ivor_the_injun
1. After a summer where we've spent big and designed a brand new Anfield, how do you feel about our new owners? If you were anxious, has your anxiety gone? Have Mr Hicks and Mr Gillett won you over, or were you always confident that they were the right guys for the job?
First impressions of the new owners were very good - in fact I found the naive slips like "Liverpool Reds" quite endearing as opposed to out-and-out embarrassing. Since then, they've said and done nothing to make me think that those first impressions weren't spot on. They're clearly outstanding businessmen, but they seem to strike that nice balance between being successful and being proud, warm human beings. Unlike that bearded hermit that Man U have for an owner.
The way they handled Rafa's tirade after the CL final was spot on for me, and showed that they knew and respected the passion that the guy has for the club.
I think the big impression came with the quick disposal of the original stadium plans, showing that they were thinking bigger and better for us. That said to me that they were in this for the long haul, and that they genuinely care about the club and the fans.
2. Voronin, Babel, Torres, Kuyt and Crouch. These are our strikers. Who's going to score us the most goals in this coming season? And what do you think Rafa's prefered partnership will be?
Rafa clearly has a soft spot for Kuyt, so I think it'll be him alongside Torres. I'd prefer Crouch and Torres, but I think big Pete may find himself rotated in and out once again. Babel will do well to secure the left wing, and I'll be surprised if we see him up front outside of domestic cup games, while Voronin is almost certainly fourth choice striker. Hopefully he makes a good impact in subs appearances and makes it competitive up top.
As for top scorer? I have a feeling Gerrard may find his shooting boots again this season, particularly if Rafa's talk of more aggressive attacking formations bear fruit.
3. The new stadium: A revolution in stadium architecture or an eyesore? How would you feel if it wasn't called Anfield?
Outside: I'm on the fence; inside: it looks fantastic. Like I've said in another thread, it's definitely an eye-catcher, and thankfully nothing like anything else in the country. I'll hopefully learn to love it the more I see it.
As for the name, I think we just have to accept that naming rights will be flogged on. So long as it's not Tampax, I'm not bothered. The fans will christen it with a nickname, so it doesn't actually matter what it's officially called.
4. We were linked with a lot of players over the summer. Is there any one player that was rumoured to be heading our way that we didn't get who you wish we had? Were you salivating over Simao, or mesmerized by Mancini?
I'd have really liked Tevez, but I'd be much less bothered about not getting him were it not for the fact that it looks like the Mancs will. If it goes through, he'll be an outstanding signing for them, and with his vision, it's actually quite frightening how good their attacking play could be this season. It's not as if it wasn't good enough last season.
5. You probably saw this one coming: Where do you think we'll finish this season in the Premiership? Are we destined to reclaim our crown, or will it be another season as an "also ran"?
I think we still have work to do to get the title, but I do reckon that 2nd is a lot more realistic this season. I'm certainly not sure that Torres is the end of our striking problems, particularly if Kuyt doesn't dramatically improve his strike rate.
For me, Chelsea haven't kicked on enough to challenge Man U, but the problem is that for every step forward we've made this summer, the Mancs have made at least another one.
Bonus Question:
Do you have the feeling that we'll win a cup this year? League Cup? FA Cup? Or Old Big Ears?
A good season's work for me is to be the last English team standing in the Champions League, and to be competitive in the Prem with a month to go. If we come a close second in the Prem, and do nothing in the domestic cups, that's a lot more progress than we've had in recent years.
We have absolutely nothing to prove in cup competition, but everything to prove in the league. I think Rafa's selections may reflect that this season, with big players rested in the FA Cup, and next to no first teamers in the Carling Cup. The CL is always big news, but I just sense that we're not quite as hungry for it this season as we have been. Been there, done that. Let's get the title again before we concern ourselves unduly with securing number 6.
I think this season we work on getting our away form in the league right, and learn to grind out the kind of scrappy results that eluded us last year. Next summer the Mancs will have a lot of players knocking of players looming around their mid-30s, and so I think that the season after this one is when we'll really start to make a push on all fronts.
I'm not discounting Chelsea by any means, but we just have no need to be scared of them any more. The Mancs are where we need to be, and if we aim well enough for them, we overtake Chelsea by default.