The beginning of their fall? A lot of fans expect it to happen...personally, I was hoping that they and us would round out the top four...
five points of third, with a third of the season to go. if you had told me that in november i'd slap your face. sturridge is back, defense is solid, emre can is making us question our sexuality, markovic and coutinho are in good form, ibe has the swagger, mario is scoring. we may not make it, but i like our chances. in my mind, i remembered us being very a very good second-half team in rodgers first season -- and we certainly were last year, setting some records, if i remember correctly. i saw today that under rodgers we have only lost 4 matches after january.
Next Four Games and my thoughts. 47 - Man Utd 3rd, @Swansea, Sunderland, @newcastle, Spurs 46 - Southampton, 4th, LFC, @WBA, CPalace, Chelsea 45 - Arsenal 5th, @CP, Everton, @QPR, WHam 43 - Spurs 6th, , WHam, Swansea, @QPR, @manu 42 - Liverpool 7th, @Soton, ManCity, Burnley, @Swansea Everything is getting compact. ManU and Soton have the points but Arse, Spurs and Liverpool are the form teams and closing the gap. Is it me or does it seem that ManU plays the Burnleys and Sunderlands each week? Anyway a little tougher next four for them. Soton looking shaky, 2 losses, 1 draw and 1 win in all comps in last four. Very surprised as the in form team and easier schedule on paper. Starts getting tougher, next four will tell if they will compete or fade. Only PL games to play may hurt them especially with FA Cup weekends coming up. May see some rust. Opposite to LFC. Arsenal keep clicking along and team looks better and is healthy. Next four may see them move up. Team is playing with confidence and scoring goals and eaking out wins when it matters. Spurs looked great even in the loss to us. They have the Europa hex as in past years to deal with. They don't play well after Thur games plus a League Cup Final Derby match that may see them looking forward. Liverpool are on a good run. 20 out of 24 possible points for the last 8 matches. @Soton and hosting ManCity will be tough. Have to pull some points from them. Hopefully catching Soton at a good time. I think the busy schedule actually favors this team. There is a game every four days and there is little time to contemplate. Just got to stay healthy. We have a young team with young legs and Sturridge changes this team big time. Palace and Besiktas up next. Play 'em strong lads.
Remaining big/tricky games, for each: Utd: Spurs, @LFC, City, @ Chelsea, Arsenal (also @ Swans, @Ev, @New) Soton: LFC, @chelsea, Spurs, @City (also @WBrom, @ Ev @ Stoke) Arsenal: LFC, Chelsea, @ Utd (also WH, @ New) Spurs: @chelsea, @Utd, @ Soton, City (also WH, @ New, @ Stoke, @ Ev) LFC: @ Soton, City, Utd, @arsenal, @chelsea (also @WBrom, @Stoke) Based on this, you'd think Arsenal will breeze 3rd, but they have CL/FA cup to chase at least for the next month. Spurs and Soton have a tough runs, as do we, but having done it last year should put us in good stead to do it again. ManU is crack once they face real opposition, but that isn't for about a month, so they'll be hanging around for a bit yet. We need 2.15 per game to get to 70, which unless there are a bunch of draws in the above fixtures, we'll probably need north of that to get 4th.
i would say we need at least 10 points from these five to get fourth, as well as avoid one of our usual stinkers against one of the bottom-dwellers. it does look like arsenal has the best shot. ...although, man u is starting to do their usual 'play like shit but still take the three points' gig. ...and spurs have a striker that can't stop scoring. we all know how valuable that can be down the stretch. ...and we've been waiting for the floor to fall out under soton since november and they continue to stay in the mix. ..this is going to be tough. should be a fun ride.
the scum have a tough road march to mid-april - lets them build up their hopes in the next month only to have their dreams ripped away as they finish in 6th. @ newcastle, spurs, @ Liverpool, villa, man citeh, @ chel$ki, @ everton
I come in peace. You guys SUCK!!!! Seriously, I looked but I didn't see a thread for Ibe. (If the discussion took place it must be buried in a match thread and i didnt look through them all) I caught a glimpse of him a couple times in the past 2 weeks or so I thought he looked decent. Good pace, decent skills, young looks like he is willing to learn. Not into the hyping up of players at such a young age (see Kane, H) but I think Ibe could be something. I think he could be a true "Liverpool" player. Something about him kinda says Liverpool to me. Now admittedly i havent seen a whole lot of him but I will try to pay more attention to him in the coming weeks as I think he could be something good to better-than-just-good. what are your impressions of him?
Like I said, we've got to beat those teams above us to finish above those teams who are above us. Spurs was the 1st of what I hope is a trend. Too bad we couldn't have played Citeh when Toure was absent but I expect them to get in gear in their next match. Man U will be tough to catch as they don't have Europe & have a easier remaining schedule. I hope BR doesn't take Europe seriously. The PL matches after Thurs matches kill us.
I dunno about this. Personally, I get more excited about the EL than most of you guys: plus there are two specific reasons to win it this year, more than just the fact we're liverpool - 1) allow God to leave on a bang 2) I believe the winner earns a CL place. That's not too shabby.
Considering the treble season was the first I was able to start watching games live on a regular basis, I've got lots of time for the UEFA cup.
I remember we won the treble when I was in 8th grade. My middle school was a 10-minute walk from my house but sometimes on the last school period I'd have some ridiculous class, like "study hall": I'd just go to the nurse and tell I wasn't feeling well so I could come home early and watch those 245 UEFA Cup kickoffs. I watched the Alavés game on its entirety.
Winning is infectious. I'd happily take the EL trophy - it should spur our young team into wanting to achieve even more.
it's going to be tough but I think one thing in our favor is everyone else's low point total. Southampton is on pace for 69 points. Last season that was the 6th place point total. Soooo no guarantees but looks like low 70's should be enough. As for the EL debate I want a strong squad for Bestikas at home but then see what happens with Southampton. If we beat the Saints EL becomes the 3rd priority for me. Not saying we play the kids but if we have to rotate some guys do it on Thursday.
didnt you win the EL recently. i remember the CL win in 05 and that you made it back to the CL finals but I thought you won the EL since then???
9 games to win the EL draws in half of those will likely be enough to get through. We need to win at least 10 in the League, if not more, to get 4th. No brilliant teams in EL, versus 5 teams above us in the PL, none of which look like they are going to go away anytime soon. Path to Champions League certainly looks easier on paper through the EL, rather than the league.
yeh only thing is while we could get away with more draws in the EL and generally against a lower quality of opposition you still have a bit of the luck (or bad luck) of a cup run. For me all comes down to the Soton match. 3 points and I focus on the league, anything less and its the EL.
If we were away in the first leg I'd be with you but we have 4 days rest and are at home. Play a full strength team and rotate in the second leg if needed. Our poor start to the season leaves us no choice but to go all out on all fronts for the next few weeks. We don't have the luxury of prioritizing any competition. Get the results we need in the next few weeks and we can reassess.