Liverpool FC Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13

K-9

opr wrote: »

It's quite funny actually to compare the tactics in the City game to how Dalglish used to set his teams up in his most successful days as Liverpool manager. It's also identical to how Rodgers set us up against City and Norwich. I wish he hadn't changed it against Arsenal as I think it's now nailed as our best formation/tactics/team.

Kenny generally played with a 4-4-2 which had attacking fullbacks, a holding midfielder, creative midfielder, a winger on one flank and then a more tucked in orthodox midfielder on the other flank. Deep lying number 7 with an out and out striker ahead. Almost exactly the way we played to a tea yesterday.



Kenny would have bought Downing as the winger, Henderson as the tucked in midfielder on the flank. Suarez as the number 7 with Carroll ahead. Lucas holding with Gerrard going box to box.

Funny that Rodgers has landed on his exact system with them all being used in those roles bar Carroll. Henderson playing as the tucked in wide man. Downing holding the width. Gerrard/Lucas midfield with the tweaking of having a much more mobile front man in Sturridge ahead of Suarez.

Jordan Henderson may have taken time to settle in but the huge improvement that has been seen in him will have been in no small part to the amount of time we spent watching him last season learning the same role he's currently being deployed in this season.

Opr

It looks encouraging for next season with hopefully an upgrade on Downing on the way, Sterling rested, Lucas up to speed and Allen, Sturridge and Henderson should be improving as players.

LB upgrade on Enrique and I'd be happy enough with our attacking options, CB and DM are the areas I'm more concerned about.

donfers

I am so sick of downing now


some people thought he did well against city, i thought he slowed down our play every time he got the ball with his usual go backwards or infield stuff, he is so predictable, just stand him up and he'll go nowhere, a waste of a body, just delaying our play all the time, when he does cross it he never finds anyone anyway

henderson is a workhorse but doesn't have the finesse either, still has more quality than downing though

both of them are obviously still way short in confidence after the pounding they took last season

henderson i think would only ever be a useful squad player for a top level side while downing has to be dumped in the Summer, he doesn't have any kind of game-changing ability whatsoever and he is taking up a shirt week in week out and offering at best an average play it safe performance


disappointed with throwing away a lead yet again, some people are overjoyed at the performance - what they fail to realise is we were playing an average side minus their two most important players by a country mile in kompany and toure but we blew it again. I was very disappointed as I thought the win was there for the taking and now having failed to win the gap may be unmanageable to 4th

The CL was the target but it looks like it's almost certainly gone unless we are near perfect until the end of the season and we look we have neither the character, aggression or mental fortitude to get the run of wins we need


neat, pretty and tidy - yes


commanding, refusing to yield, win at all costs - no

ah well on to next season

mav79

Even though Reina is not playing at the level he was a few years ago and can make big mistakes, I'd be very worried about our defence without him there. I really don't know of another keeper that would join the club and be an improvement on him. There is some very good young keepers around europe but no-one knows how they will cope for Liverpool. I remember Friedel looking hopeless for us then going on to be one of the best premiership keepers over the last decade.

opr

Pacheco's goal 1.18 into these highlights. Super finish from almost no angle.

http://www.canalplus.es/play/video.html?xref=20130203plucanftb_14.Ves

Ngoo's goal 1.15 into these highlights. Super individual run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI2rNHXq960

Opr

K-9

4th was the target? Even the owners gave up on that after last season and said they'll give him time, we should be hitting 60 points this season which will be progression in the league and are still in the EC. You aren't Dion Fanning by any chance?

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/premier-league/dion-fanning-no-escape-from-grim-reality-for-rodgers-3375702.html

Good reply from savslfc:

savslfc wrote:

Well Dion. You have obviously reached a conclusion on Rodgers after his 6-month reign at Liverpool. You have reached the conclusion that Rodgers is a "middle class" manager who incapable of taking on a big job like Liverpool....and you attack him accordingly. I have been a Liverpool fan since the age of 6 and have watched my team through the last 3 decades. I have enjoyed the brilliant Liverpool sides of the 70s (though very young) and the 80s. And then watched the collapse of the Liverpool dynasty in the 90s and beyond. We enjoyed certain success under Houllier and then more so under Rafa. We were the best Europe over a 5-year period under Rafa and we even went close to winning the league. After working under the most difficult conditions, Rafa eventually lost his way and we lost a great manager.

You say in your article that had Rafa come back he would have demanded more (than Rodgers) and that there were a number of other far better managers to pursue than Rodgers (who is limited in your opinion). You give a number of examples - no actually you give one example in Frank De Boer. In Rodgers you see an arrogant, limited, mediocre manager who is destined for middle-of-the-table football. In De Boer you see a manager who would be able to take Liverpool to the next level. Fair enough. But let me give an alternative picture. Could it be that FSG made a very brave decision to give a young, progressive British manager a chance. It remains to be seen, but could it be that Rodgers is destined for great things at Liverpool? Should we not give him more that 6 months? United gave Ferguson 7 years to build his dynasty. But if you see the development, should you not give a manager time? Isn't that what the British media bemoans every time a manager is sacked? Yes, Rodgers is arrogant, yes he will make mistakes, yes he is young and unproven. But tell me one successful manager who is not arrogant (Jose, Fergie, Rafa) and who has not made a multitude of mistakes on the way to success.

Liverpool may not have beaten a top team yet this season, but so what? We are now able to dismantle lesser teams, especially at Anfield, and we are playing more fluid, expansive football. We lost to Oldham. So what? Even the great Liverpool sides suffered shock defeats to lower league teams in the past. So Rodgers lost his cool and said some things about the younger players. In a world of constant media spotlight, espcially after disappointing defeats, yes managers tend to say things they may later regret.

So he has this season publicly berated Enrique, Downing and Henderson. Well bloody hell, it seems to have worked! Get off your high horse Dion. You're a journalist, you're supposed to offer both points of view, not offer a biased, hurried opinion of a young British manager under the spotlight and under intense pressure...6-months in. Real Liverpool fans see progress and have the patience to see this through. Rodgers may turn out to be a failure, or he may turn out to be the real deal. And we are certainly willing to give him more than 6 months. Just ask the Kop.

Dub13

Some good questions in our Q&A with Dion Fanning,its been closed off tonight so if you have anything you want to ask get in asap...

http://www.irishkop.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22166

mike65

opr wrote: »

Pacheco's goal 1.18 into these highlights. Super finish from almost no angle.

http://www.canalplus.es/play/video.html?xref=20130203plucanftb_14.Ves

Ngoo's goal 1.15 into these highlights. Super individual run.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI2rNHXq960

Opr

Hilarious stuff, and typical Ngoo really. Like Bambi on ice but somehow keeping the ball just about under his control.

That Canal video won't play for me.

Kess73

Well I think the starting XI for the West Brom pretty much picked itself based on the performance of the starters yesterday.

Was a very impressive performance for the most part from each of the starters. Agger was probably the worst of the outfield players and he did not have a bad game.


Sturridge was bloody immense. Have been at each of the last five games he played for us and I cannot get over the difference in how he is playing (in the central role) compared to what he showed at Chelsea. I had written him off as being very selfish and lacking in tactical acumen, but I have left the ground five times in a row now wondering where the old Sturidge has gone, and also hoping that the old version stays wherever he has gone.

What he has given us up front (other than his pace and movement) is the genuine physical presence that Carroll was supposed to have in his locker. Time after time over the past five games he has held off defenders, muscled past players, jostled players and generally gotten stuck in.

One more league goal from Sturridge and he will have matched Carroll's total of league goals for all of last season.

Must admit that if Sturridge keeps showing this attitude more often than not, then those on here that were happy to see him sign will be proven 100% correct on the player.

For me he was easily man of the match.

Coming in close behind him were Gerrard and Henderson.

Henderson probably had his best game in a Liverpool shirt, and, unlike the Arsenal game from a few days earlier, his off the ball work was even more impressive than his on the ball play. His decision making was as suspect as ever, but damn has his attitude improved to a massive degree under Rodgers. He is nothing like the player he was last season in terms of attitude.

Gerrard was a notch above Henderson imho, and a notch below Sturridge. Was far from a flawless performance but it was a very consistent one, and one that would have been very impressive even without the smashing goal. One thing that has become very easy to spot at games now is how Gerrard communicates with Rodgers. Over the past six or so weeks he tends to make his way to the sideline to converse with Rodgers whenever there is a break in the game. Now this is not new for Gerrard to do, but over the time period mentioned I have not seen Gerrard do that on such a regular basis with a manager since the season we came second under Rafa. Just seems to be an awful lot more communciation going on between the player and the sideline than there has been for a few years now, and usually Gerrard heads for certain players after the quick chat to, I presume, pass on what was said.


How we lined up was interesting as well. When we had the ball we moved forward in a very obvious 4-2-4/4-3-3 (depending on which half we had the ball in), but when we lost the ball we went 4-4-1-1 pretty much everytime and chased it in a very rigid version of that formation. Watching the red shirts from the stand you could almost draw lines between them to make the formations.

We seem to be trying this since the United game, and against City it really clicked for the most part.

What I really loved though was our first goal. Not one of our players buckled under the pressure being applied by the crowd whilst Dzeko was play acting. We stayed rigid in our 4-2-4 on the ball and kept going. Was lovely to see that and lovely to see a bit of play acting being punished through his team conceding a goal.

As always our weaknesses within the team were pretty clear to see both on and off the ball, and I still think this team is short (at the very least) quality players in the positions of keeper, centre back, and midfield. Some might say a left back as well.

Am really hoping that the on pitch improvements kick on from here in, and my next four home games (West Brom, Swansea, Zenith, and Spurs) have me leaving the ground with a similar "Fcuk Yeah" feeling to what I felt whilst strolling a Manchester footpath after the game.

4th was a distant target I'd say.

If we'd have started a bit better we'd be in the race perhaps.

I'd like to see us now trying to win the EL tbh.

joe123

Sir Gallagher wrote: »

]

Showing no loyalty? To Reina or Agger? More or less everyone is agreed that Reina would be best moving on and how is saying Agger needs a kick up the hole not showing loyalty? Should we be good little fans and be ever so grateful to these players for not leaving when the had the chance? Bollox to that, theyre open to criticism like anyone else who isnt playing well.

Didnt really mean to include Agger in that, and no I agree that sometimes there comes a time when players need to move on.

I just found it funny how so many fans will berate a player for wanting to leave a club etc etc, yet they cant even see themselves and I quote "I've love Reina over the years but honestly, see you later pal".

These same fans who say the above like yourself, will be going ape the next time some player wants to leave the club.

Whats the difference in a player wanting to leave a club because the club is doing poorly as opposed to a fan wanting a player to leave a club because that individual is doing poorly.

It was just an observation. Fans go on about loyalty to clubs and ****e, but they rarely show loyalty to any player who is playing poorly/isn't good enough.

Im all for giving players a kick in the hole though.

Vanolder

PRAF wrote: »

Knowing what we know now about Skrtl and Agger, would anyone have taken £35-40m for the two of them this summer?

Yes, gladly. They are sh*te. I'd keep Agger as back up only but would not be disappointed to see either leave, they are not up to it.

opr

mike65 wrote: »

That Canal video won't play for me.

Playing fine for me. It's similar to the below goal Suarez scores only from the other side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAClZN01eZU

Opr

murpho999

Just comparing our progress.

At present we have 36 points.

Last year at 25 games we had 39.

Would suggest we were better last year.

However, out of the remaining 13 games we only got 13 more points and finished on 52.

With the run in we have I can't see our form being that shocking and surely we'll beat that handily.

That would definitely be a sign of progress.

djPSB

Vanolder wrote: »

Yes, gladly. They are sh*te. I'd keep Agger as back up only but would not be disappointed to see either leave, they are not up to it.

Agger as back up.

Are you for real?

One of the best defenders in the League. A couple of average performances does't change that.

murpho999

joe123 wrote: »

Didnt really mean to include Agger in that, and no I agree that sometimes there comes a time when players need to move on.

I just found it funny how so many fans will berate a player for wanting to leave a club etc etc, yet they cant even see themselves and I quote "I've love Reina over the years but honestly, see you later pal".

These same fans who say the above like yourself, will be going ape the next time some player wants to leave the club.

Whats the difference in a player wanting to leave a club because the club is doing poorly as opposed to a fan wanting a player to leave a club because that individual is doing poorly.

It was just an observation. Fans go on about loyalty to clubs and ****e, but they rarely show loyalty to any player who is playing poorly/isn't good enough.

Im all for giving players a kick in the hole though.

I think Reina should be looking at his comments and then his own performances to see why we're not competing etc.

He's responsible for at least 6 points this season.

murpho999

opr wrote: »

Playing fine for me. It's similar to the below goal Suarez scores only from the other side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAClZN01eZU

Opr

Amazing, everyone who celebrated that goal with him is not playing at the club anymore.

djPSB

Defensively, we're not as good as last season.

But we played a totally different type of game. It was basically Suarez or Carroll up front in isolation while none of our midfielders gambled going forward. Players like Adam, Spearing, Downing and Henderson rarely got into the box and basically camped on the halfway line.

Our midfielders are pushing forward alot more which inevitably means there will be more gaps at the back.

I think if we get in a top quality centre back to play alongside Agger and a Keeper, we will stop leaking soft goals. With a fit Lucas and Gerrard in front of them.

murpho999

djPSB wrote: »

Agger as back up.

Are you for real?

One of the best defenders in the League. A couple of average performances does't change that.

I actually wonder if only LFC supporters think that.

murpho999

murpho999 wrote: »

Just comparing our progress.

At present we have 36 points.

Last year at 25 games we had 39.

Would suggest we were better last year.

However, out of the remaining 13 games we only got 13 more points and finished on 52.

With the run in we have I can't see our form being that shocking and surely we'll beat that handily.

That would definitely be a sign of progress.

Last seasons collapse was astounding.

Hard to say if we'll make progress yet, we should do.

Would extra 5/6/7/8 points and no trophy count as progress? I'd say not.

Next season(:)) will be the real test of progress tbh, 70 points being the target

Morzadec

tibor wrote: »

He's 6'2".

Surely there's no way Sturridge is 6'2 is he?? Taller than Gerrard? I'm going blind if that's the case! I thought we would be 5'9, 5'10 or so

EDIT: Just checked and apparently he's 6'0. One of those deceptively tall players I suppose, would have thought he was a bit shorter, around Walcott's height or something

opr

The goal is a collection of mistakes rather than just blaming Agger. Yeah he appeals for offside but Dzeko should have been followed by Enrique who is doing nothing. He isn't marking anyone, at least Agger is trying to cut out the ball. Johnson is the wrong side and Carra has been sucked out of position causing Agger to move across to try and deal with the cross.

Stolen from elsewhere.



Opr

Raif Severance

murpho999 wrote: »

I actually wonder if only LFC supporters think that.

Probably not.

I'm a LFC Supporter and I don't Rate Agger nor Skrtel.

For me a CB needs to Pass certain Criterias before I Rate them. They need to be Strong, has Pace to Recover, has Commanding Presence, can Organize Defense, etc.

I just don't see it with those 2.

I'm not saying they are Bad, just not the "Best Defenders in the League" Tag that most of our Fans seems to give them.

murpho999

rarnes1 wrote: »

Last seasons collapse was astounding.

Hard to say if we'll make progress yet, we should do.

Would extra 5/6/7/8 points and no trophy count as progress? I'd say not.

Next season(:)) will be the real test of progress tbh, 70 points being the target

Well I think the league should be the yardstick.

Winning the league cup, whilst being nice is not a sign of progress, after all Bradford are in this years final.

Just think our form going into last 13 games is better than last year, but no doubt there will be some unexpected defeats that will send this thread into meltdown.

Gbear

Mr Alan wrote: »

Gotta admit, I never really had any doubt that Henderson could turn into a very good player for us.

That's not much of an admission.


The vast majority of goals are caused by mistakes.
It's bizarre how people go ape**** every time at our defenders when strikers of other teams actually do their jobs.

I think we were spoiled by how ridiculously good at defending we were for most of Rafa's reign.

K-9

rarnes1 wrote: »

Last seasons collapse was astounding.

Hard to say if we'll make progress yet, we should do.

Would extra 5/6/7/8 points and no trophy count as progress? I'd say not.

Next season(:)) will be the real test of progress tbh, 70 points being the target

We really should be hitting 60 points with our run in and that's allowing for 1 0r 2 poor results.

If we get a run in the EC and 60 points I'd say overall it was progression from last season, the squad changed and probably Downing and Carroll gone. Hard to know if we'll replace Downing with Sterling getting experience this season and Coutinho not even playing yet. But again as others said barring an upgrade on Enrique I'd be happy enough with the attcking options for now as Borini and Coutinho need time to settle, there are more glaringly obvious areas to concentrate on in the summer.

CB to has been an area we need to spend in for a couple of seasons but other areas took priority and rightly so. A lot will depend on Lucas at DM but we need at least an able back up for him.

djPSB

Raif Severance wrote: »

Probably not.

I'm a LFC Supporter and I don't Rate Agger nor Skrtel.

For me a CB needs to Pass certain Criterias before I Rate them. They need to be Strong, has Pace to Recover, has Commanding Presence, can Organize Defense, etc.

I just don't see it with those 2.

I'm not saying they are Bad, just not the "Best Defenders in the League" Tag that most of our Fans seems to give them.

Skrtel is average enough I think. Capable of excellent performances but can go out the next week and cost you the game.

Agger would make any team in the PL IMO.

daithijjj

rarnes1 wrote: »

Last seasons collapse was astounding.

Hard to say if we'll make progress yet, we should do.

Would extra 5/6/7/8 points and no trophy count as progress? I'd say not.

Next season(:)) will be the real test of progress tbh, 70 points being the target

I think we are in for more of the same to be honest this season. We were still in with a good shout of 4th in March last year and got very unlucky at home to Arsenal. March 10th will have a big say in it, if we can win every game until then and then beat Spurs, that's our only chance of 4th imo.

12 months ago almost to the day, we had beat City over two legs, put United out of the cup and we had the league cup final coming up.........during which Suarez had a massive ban. Before the mongs chirp in, those are facts. We cant get away from what happened within the club last season during that ban. Focus on the league after the Arsenal game was not what it should have been.

Lets see how we get on now, West Brom and Swans are no slam dunks, the same equation still stands. If we beat them it will be two wins against top 10 teams which we havent managed yet this year.

mike65

Liverpool beat West Ham when they were in the top half.

Chucky the tree

Here's a a few clips of the first half vs Arsenal, mainly midfield/their chances. Probably need s 3-4 watches to pick stuff up.

https://vimeo.com/58841307

K-9

daithijjj wrote: »

I think we are in for more of the same to be honest this season. We were still in with a good shout of 4th in March last year and got very unlucky at home to Arsenal. March 10th will have a big say in it, if we can win every game until then and then beat Spurs, that's our only chance of 4th imo.

12 months ago almost to the day, we had beat City over two legs, put United out of the cup and we had the league cup final coming up.........during which Suarez had a massive ban. Before the mongs chirp in, those are facts. We cant get away from what happened within the club last season during that ban. Focus on the league after the Arsenal game was not what it should have been.

Lets see how we get on now, West Brom and Swans are no slam dunks, the same equation still stands. If we beat them it will be two wins against top 10 teams which we havent managed yet this year.

But still despite our inconsistency this season we are on course to easily surpass last seasons total, being on target for 4th isn't much use if you then go on relegation form from January. The cup runs were good but really City had other things on their mind, but still it was good to see Anfield buzzing on a cup night. 60 points is achievable, anything after that a bonus. We really need to beath both Spurs and Everton at home to have a realistic shot at 4th and we've a couple of tough away games against relegation battlers which are never easy coming towards the end of the season, the attitude will have to be right mentally and physically for those.

It's a bit early to be making direct comparisons yet as a lot depends on a EC run, if we get put out early in it all attention will be on the league and cup runs can't be used as an excuse.

5live

opr wrote: »

The goal is a collection of mistakes rather than just blaming Agger. Yeah he appeals for offside but Dzeko should have been followed by Enrique who is doing nothing. He isn't marking anyone, at least Agger is trying to cut out the ball. Johnson is the wrong side and Carra has been sucked out of position causing Agger to move across to try and deal with the cross.

Stolen from elsewhere.



Opr

I felt that it started with Gerrard tackling (was it Silva?) from behind instead of coming around goal side to force the attacker away from goal instead of towards goal

daithijjj

mike65 wrote: »

Liverpool beat West Ham when they were in the top half.

Its a pedantic statistic but fair enough. They had the same points as Norwich in 11th then and are not top 10 today.

daithijjj

K-9 wrote: »

But still despite our inconsistency this season we are on course to easily surpass last seasons total, being on target for 4th isn't much use if you then go on relegation form from January. The cup runs were good but really City had other things on their mind, but still it was good to see Anfield buzzing on a cup night. 60 points is achievable, anything after that a bonus. We really need to beath both Spurs and Everton at home to have a realistic shot at 4th and we've a couple of tough away games against relegation battlers which are never easy coming towards the end of the season, the attitude will have to be right mentally and physically for those.

It's a bit early to be making direct comparisons yet as a lot depends on a EC run, if we get put out early in it all attention will be on the league and cup runs can't be used as an excuse.

Similarly, not being in with a chance of 4th for most of the season is much of a 'muchness'. We arent/havent been on target for 4th this season at any stage. We are merely clinging to hope that after the last 2 tough games we will go on a run of wins until we play Spurs on March 10th. I dont believe for one second City didnt want to win those games, you only have to look at the line ups they put out, and imo they were much better last year. But anyway lets leave that there. The evidence is there about cup runs, look at Chelsea's finish last season and Newcastle's form this.

I see a 50/50 split in fans, one wants Europa cup focus as they dont believe we have any chance of 4th, the other want to go out and push on for 4th. For me, we dont have enough to do both. With the league right now, i believe one slip up in the next month and its a knockout punch anyway for 4th.

Timmyctc

I'll just leave this here

Morzadec

Timmyctc wrote: »

I'll just leave this here

Had me worried for a minute!

They didn't do a very good job at fixing the match it seems! If true we must have been piss poor in front of goal to only score 1

Kerrigooney

Timmyctc wrote: »

I'll just leave this here

Haha. Their keeper was bribed to let in 3 goals and we only scored 1?

That is ****ing hilarious.

whatawaster

murpho999 wrote: »

Just comparing our progress.

At present we have 36 points.

Last year at 25 games we had 39.

Would suggest we were better last year.

However, out of the remaining 13 games we only got 13 more points and finished on 52.

With the run in we have I can't see our form being that shocking and surely we'll beat that handily.

That would definitely be a sign of progress.

If you take the teams we have played this season vs the matches against same teams last season:

Last Year: 31 points
This Year: 36 points

We have comparatively easier games left as well so you'd expect us to push on from here.

BorneTobyWilde

Who's Renia being texting :P

BorneTobyWilde

Luckycharms_74 wrote: »

My 1st gifs .
Look at Agger shouting for offside and loses Džeko (just like he lost RVP vs United)

If i was defending that then I'd have eyes for ball only,
We do same from corners, Do everything but watch when ball is struck and where flight of ball is going, Bit of common sense, Seems agger is a robot a machine programmed by years of coaching, Just clear the dam ball, forget the man, He can't score without ball!

citytillidie

Timmyctc wrote: »

I'll just leave this here

Debrecen had a player banned for 2 years for match fixing the game with Fiorentina in that group

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/8500106/Match-fixing-Ante-Sapina-co-operating-with-authorities-as-the-enormity-of-the-operation-hits-home.html

citytillidie

mike65 wrote: »

Liverpool beat West Ham when they were in the top half.

said that last week but it seems it does not count as it does not fit into peoples agenda's

Gbear

It doesn't actually matter a **** who we beat. The points tally is the only important factor.

Would people actually be happier if we swapped some results around?

No. There'd be the same entrenched argument about how we're so **** because we can't even beat teams in the bottom half.

K-9

daithijjj wrote: »

Similarly, not being in with a chance of 4th for most of the season is much of a 'muchness'. We arent/havent been on target for 4th this season at any stage. We are merely clinging to hope that after the last 2 tough games we will go on a run of wins until we play Spurs on March 10th.

Probably the more realistic target is to cut the 9 point deficit as much as possible to give something to build on, finishing above Everton is also realistic, Arsenal given their run in maybe not. I'd prefer consistently rising in the table than a collapse in the second half of the season in the league.

I dont believe for one second City didnt want to win those games, you only have to look at the line ups they put out, and imo they were much better last year. But anyway lets leave that there.

True given their quality but compare it to the United S-F the year before and I just don't think it was seen as much as a priority, they obviously still wanted to win but we just wanted it more, it was a big target in our season from putting out strong elevens in the early rounds. Doesn't take away from the achievement and a great night at Anfield that should have spurred the players on as inspiration.

The evidence is there about cup runs, look at Chelsea's finish last season and Newcastle's form this.

True, Kenny's first half season in charge to give a direct comparison.

I see a 50/50 split in fans, one wants Europa cup focus as they dont believe we have any chance of 4th, the other want to go out and push on for 4th. For me, we dont have enough to do both. With the league right now, i believe one slip up in the next month and its a knockout punch anyway for 4th.

I think we've just about enough of a squad to get to the last 8 anyway, Zenit will be tough but if we get past them the next round is winable. After that depends on the draw and how serious the "big" clubs are taking it. If we get that far I doubt many will be saying not to take it seriously, a couple of big European nights at Anfield will do the players no harm either.

K-9

Gbear wrote: »

It doesn't actually matter a **** who we beat. The points tally is the only important factor.

Would people actually be happier if we swapped some results around?

No. There'd be the same entrenched argument about how we're so **** because we can't even beat teams in the bottom half.

That's the thing, you can see progression through the season, I never thought we stood a chance away to United, so to get 2 points in the last 2 matches is encouraging, especially the performance against City. Keep beating the lower half teams and the results will improve against the top half, we've all 5 of them at home so we should break that stat!

PRAF

Reina, fcuking hell his comments are ill timed and ill judged. I hope he gets an almighty rollicking over them.

yesno1234

PRAF wrote: »

Reina, fcuking hell his comments are ill timed and ill judged. I hope he gets an almighty rollicking over them.

What's this?

monkey9

Timmyctc wrote: »

I'll just leave this here

Wrong thread. The Match Fixing thread is down below.

PRAF

yesno1234 wrote: »

What's this?

He said we can't compete with the big guns, he has been unsettled this year, etc. fcuking ludicrous to come out with that kind of tripe after you just cost us against City and have apparently cost us 10 points already this season. Needs to let his performances do the talking for him

budgemook

PRAF wrote: »

He said we can't compete with the big guns, he has been unsettled this year, etc. fcuking ludicrous to come out with that kind of tripe after you just cost us against City and have apparently cost us 10 points already this season. Needs to let his performances do the talking for him

link?

PRAF

budgemook wrote: »

link?

Read it via twitter. Think sky sports have some extracts of the interview as well.