Liverpool FC - can they do it???

[Junaid8]

Reckon this will be the closest LFC will get to winning the BPL. Next season they will have the added burden of Champions League football and many of their starting players have shown during the end of this current season that they can't hack another season. Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard, Lucas and even Agger to an extent. They will need to revamp their defence and with the likely CL winners Madrid looking to sign Suarez and Man UTD probably bouncing back I'm not too sure they will even make top 4 again next season.

[Shane]

What do you mean they have shown they can't hack another season? Mentally? Physically? Liverpool lost the title at Chelsea due to a mixture of inexperience on behalf of the manager, a weaker team than Chelsea, and a bit of bad luck with the first goal. The Palace draw was down to poor defending and again, poor tactical judgement by BR.

So apart from these two games tell me where you think they can't hack another season? They've come 2nd to a team with a world class squad and ended up above a team with a world class squad. They have a poor defence and a weak squad and you can be sure these deficiencies will be rectified in the transfer window.

And the Champions League being a burden? I think any manager would love that as a 'burden'.

Reckon this will be the closest LFC will get to winning the BPL. Next season they will have the added burden of Champions League football and many of their starting players have shown during the end of this current season that they can't hack another season. Glen Johnson, Steven Gerrard, Lucas and even Agger to an extent. They will need to revamp their defence and with the likely CL winners Madrid looking to sign Suarez and Man UTD probably bouncing back I'm not too sure they will even make top 4 again next season.

[MakeColdplayHistory]

The point is that our national team is weakened by the overly large presence of foreign players, and not just in the Premiership. If we don't address this we will never succeed on the world stage.

We are not that fussed about the national team.
Many of us (if not all of us) would happily strengthen our club side at the expense of the national side.

[sibeer]

I didn't write that the league was better when full of UK nationals. Yet another thread on this forum twisted about. I'll make allowances as you claim to be from Manchester. The point is that our national team is weakened by the overly large prescence of foreign players, and not just in the Premiership. If we don't address this we will never succeed on the world stage. The way Gemany have gone at this problem is admirable. However the league was certainly better when it wasn't full of overpaid c***s waving imaginary red cards and screaming at referees.

The Premier League sold it's soul to become the most watched league in the world a long time ago. It is an international product with ridiculous amounts of cash so regardless of what they do we will continue to have more foreign nationals playing in our league. Personally I love it as we get to watch such high quality football and have one of the more balanced leagues as a result. We do however need to find a way to progress our youth rather than have them relegated to being nearly men at big teams. It would also be nice to do something about the majority of footballers being "overpaid c***s waving imaginary red cards and screaming at referees" but that unfortunately appears to be an international progression of the game rather than limited to our league.

Anyway, on topic WELL DONE to the redmen of LFC! You played quality football, you relied on a strong contingent of British players and youth and you did it without a ludicrous sugar daddy. Next year they will be even stronger and most importantly we will have the pleasure of watching them take on some Champions League competition. Stage 1 of Brendan Rodgers plan has come in ahead of schedule, we will kick on!

[sibeer]

We are not that fussed about the national team.
Many of us (if not all of us) would happily strengthen our club side at the expense of the national side.

Nice if we can do both though. Far more club than country myself, but I love the fact that LFC has got a top first team player and a quality English international from the youth in Sterling (with thanks to QPR for his earlier development).

[VoleBoy]

Nice if we can do both though. Far more club than country myself, but I love the fact that LFC has got a top first team player and a quality English international from the youth in Sterling (with thanks to QPR for his earlier development).

I might be in the minority, but I would love to see England lift the World Cup. I've been watching since Mexico 86 and since then it's just been years of heart-ache and false dawns. I can't see any way it's going to happen soon though. The thought of never in my lifetime is quite sobering.

[sibeer]

I might be in the minority, but I would love to see England lift the World Cup. I've been watching since Mexico 86 and since then it's just been years of heart-ache and false dawns. I can't see any way it's going to happen soon though. The thought of never in my lifetime is quite sobering.

We won't be winning anything till we start developing quality center halves again. The most promising ones are either played out of position (mainly as right backs) like Richards, Kelly, Smalling, Jones and Wisdom or end up at lower level clubs with sadly less chance as a result such as Caulker and Shawcross.

[steptoe]

The point is that our national team is weakened by the overly large prescence of foreign players, and not just in the Premiership. If we don't address this we will never succeed on the world stage. The way Gemany have gone at this problem is admirable. However the league was certainly better when it wasn't full of overpaid c***s waving imaginary red cards and screaming at referees.

I don't remember the national team being that successful when we had almost 100% british players in the league teams.

[millie-mail]

Er no but they can do one.
I'm so uplifted, I could build a canal all the way to the coast.
Well done blues, in a game ruined by "investment", you are the one shining light.

[Neil.C]

I don't remember the national team being that successful when we had almost 100% british players in the league teams.

You're not as old as me then, I remember us winning the world cup in the days that foreign players were pretty much non existent.

We did pretty well in '86 too, being beaten in the quarters by the eventual winners helped by a handballed goal.

[Junaid8]

What do you mean they have shown they can't hack another season? Mentally? Physically? Liverpool lost the title at Chelsea due to a mixture of inexperience on behalf of the manager, a weaker team than Chelsea, and a bit of bad luck with the first goal. The Palace draw was down to poor defending and again, poor tactical judgement by BR.

So apart from these two games tell me where you think they can't hack another season? They've come 2nd to a team with a world class squad and ended up above a team with a world class squad. They have a poor defence and a weak squad and you can be sure these deficiencies will be rectified in the transfer window.

And the Champions League being a burden? I think any manager would love that as a 'burden'.

Injuries and fatigue accumulated in the Champions League are the main reason that Arsenal crumbled, whereas LFC pretty much just had the league to concentrate all their efforts on. Having the CL to play is definately a burden to a teams PL ambitions.

As for having a weaker team than Chelsea? Debatable. Manager of the year, player of the year, runner up player of the year, 2 top scorers in the league. Chelsea do not have a world class squad, their only world class players are Hazard and Courtois.

There have been many times this season where LFC scraped draws or wins because of their deadly front men which cloaked defincies in other parts of the field. Conceded 3 goals to Hull, 3 to Stoke, 3 to Swansea, 3 to Cardiff and 3 to Palace and what 8 clean sheets in the PL?

Lets not forget LFC have been spending substantial amounts of funds, the third highest spenders in the BPL so it's not really a surprise that they came second. Also their new owner has stated they don't want to spend substantial amounts unless they need to replace a key player. They need to replace plenty of players, Johnson who has been awful, a new LB, a CB who can actually defend, a DM as Lucas is leaving, somebody to replace Gerrard as he's ageing fast, a more experienced wide man and a new keeper to challenge Mignolet.

[burnsey66]

Your trolling is not working Fluffy Bunny...

Suarez will not be at Liverpool FC next season, hopefully for the rest of us one trouble free season in Europe, then Liverpool FC can vanish again for the next 20 years.
Leaving European football a much safer place.

No one bit.

Come on City !
Save us all from the return of evil and darkness.
People all over Europe, especially in Italy prayed for a Man City victory today.
Save us from The Stain returning.

No one bit.

They should now do the honourable thing for English football and withdraw from the European football next year, rather than risk getting us all banned again.

No one bit.

Come on the Palace put The Stain out of their misery and save English Football from the shame of having them as champions with their racist cannibal up front.

No one bit.

Oh how we laughed, long into the night.
The Stain and their racist cannibal 3 nil up and fancying themselves; then there is a God after all.
Poor little racist cannibal booing his head off.
Oh well he will be playing at Real Madrid or PSG next season and The Stain will just be a memory.
What a time for a team to lose its bottle and heart.
Really looking forward to Gerrard's face on the final day.

No one bit

Why everybody hates Liverpool FC and their violent racist cheating dog.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/sport/foo...r-resurrection

This is why Liverpool FC bring the entire English game into disrepute, by employing such a person.

No one bit.

That is Liverpool done for another 20 years, racist cannibal off to Spain, Gerrard even worse next season than this.
Back to a comfortable 7th, 8th or 9th which is about right for a club of that size with a medium sized ground.

Time to give up?

[burnsey66]

I am proud to have you as my stalker ging'er midge.
Where are appearing with Snow White this holiday season?

Lovely braids. I love YouTube.

[Foxy100]

Your trolling is not working Fluffy Bunny...



No one bit.



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No one bit.



Time to give up?

Apart from you. Walk away from the troll!

[comdiver]

Injuries and fatigue accumulated in the Champions League are the main reason that Arsenal crumbled, whereas LFC pretty much just had the league to concentrate all their efforts on. Having the CL to play is definately a burden to a teams PL ambitions.

As for having a weaker team than Chelsea? Debatable. Manager of the year, player of the year, runner up player of the year, 2 top scorers in the league. Chelsea do not have a world class squad, their only world class players are Hazard and Courtois.

There have been many times this season where LFC scraped draws or wins because of their deadly front men which cloaked defincies in other parts of the field. Conceded 3 goals to Hull, 3 to Stoke, 3 to Swansea, 3 to Cardiff and 3 to Palace and what 8 clean sheets in the PL?

Lets not forget LFC have been spending substantial amounts of funds, the third highest spenders in the BPL so it's not really a surprise that they came second. Also their new owner has stated they don't want to spend substantial amounts unless they need to replace a key player. They need to replace plenty of players, Johnson who has been awful, a new LB, a CB who can actually defend, a DM as Lucas is leaving, somebody to replace Gerrard as he's ageing fast, a more experienced wide man and a new keeper to challenge Mignolet.

What a load of rubbish, id say 60million plus sales is quite an investment from the owners. You do realise Liverpool have won the champions league/European cup 5 times. As far as i know Steven Gerrard ages at the same speed as everyone else. Where is Lucas going? You seem to have an inside track on Lfc.
Concentrate on your own club and we'll see what happens.

[Shane]

Arsenal had a hard time because their squad just wasn't big enough due to them not strengthening sufficiently in the summer or January transfer windows. They did have major injury problems but it was their performance against the other big clubs that let them down. They still managed to beat most of the mid/lower PL teams.

If you don't think that Chelsea have a stronger team (more to the point, squad) than Liverpool then the millions that Chelsea spent to bring them in must have been money wasted. You're saying that Chelsea don't have a world class squad? I disagree - I think players like Eto'o, Willian, Oscar, Salah, Ramires would get into most teams. Chelsea's squad is MUCH stronger than Liverpool's - Jose had a good selection to choose from to bring off the bench who could change a game. I'd be interested to hear from any Chelsea supporters who agree that it's debatable whether Chelsea's team is stronger than Liverpool's. The fact that LFC won all those awards is irrelevant when it comes to the strength of the team. The awards were won because of outstanding performances by those individuals. You only have to look at the other end - the defence - to see that it's the worst performing unit for what, 50+ years?

The CL may make it harder to win the PL but to get into the CL is the ambition of every manager, player and supporter. It's the pinnacle of club football and LFC have won it 5 times.

The club will have a healthy budget for the first time in many years, plus the allure of CL football to attract quality players. If the owners have any desire to win the PL then they will give BR the money he needs to strengthen the team.

Injuries and fatigue accumulated in the Champions League are the main reason that Arsenal crumbled, whereas LFC pretty much just had the league to concentrate all their efforts on. Having the CL to play is definately a burden to a teams PL ambitions.

As for having a weaker team than Chelsea? Debatable. Manager of the year, player of the year, runner up player of the year, 2 top scorers in the league. Chelsea do not have a world class squad, their only world class players are Hazard and Courtois.

There have been many times this season where LFC scraped draws or wins because of their deadly front men which cloaked defincies in other parts of the field. Conceded 3 goals to Hull, 3 to Stoke, 3 to Swansea, 3 to Cardiff and 3 to Palace and what 8 clean sheets in the PL?

Lets not forget LFC have been spending substantial amounts of funds, the third highest spenders in the BPL so it's not really a surprise that they came second. Also their new owner has stated they don't want to spend substantial amounts unless they need to replace a key player. They need to replace plenty of players, Johnson who has been awful, a new LB, a CB who can actually defend, a DM as Lucas is leaving, somebody to replace Gerrard as he's ageing fast, a more experienced wide man and a new keeper to challenge Mignolet.

[Junaid8]

What a load of rubbish, id say 60million plus sales is quite an investment from the owners. You do realise Liverpool have won the champions league/European cup 5 times. As far as i know Steven Gerrard ages at the same speed as everyone else. Where is Lucas going? You seem to have an inside track on Lfc.
Concentrate on your own club and we'll see what happens.

Gerrard looked like a Championship football during the end of this season. Lucas has been heavily linked with a move away from Liverpool and good for him because he's been very average.

Arsenal had a hard time because their squad just wasn't big enough due to them not strengthening sufficiently in the summer or January transfer windows. They did have major injury problems but it was their performance against the other big clubs that let them down. They still managed to beat most of the mid/lower PL teams.

If you don't think that Chelsea have a stronger team (more to the point, squad) than Liverpool then the millions that Chelsea spent to bring them in must have been money wasted. You're saying that Chelsea don't have a world class squad? I disagree - I think players like Eto'o, Willian, Oscar, Salah, Ramires would get into most teams. Chelsea's squad is MUCH stronger than Liverpool's - Jose had a good selection to choose from to bring off the bench who could change a game. I'd be interested to hear from any Chelsea supporters who agree that it's debatable whether Chelsea's team is stronger than Liverpool's. The fact that LFC won all those awards is irrelevant when it comes to the strength of the team. The awards were won because of outstanding performances by those individuals. You only have to look at the other end - the defence - to see that it's the worst performing unit for what, 50+ years?

The CL may make it harder to win the PL but to get into the CL is the ambition of every manager, player and supporter. It's the pinnacle of club football and LFC have won it 5 times.

The club will have a healthy budget for the first time in many years, plus the allure of CL football to attract quality players. If the owners have any desire to win the PL then they will give BR the money he needs to strengthen the team.

Arsenal have as big a squad as anyone in the league. Lets say Arsenal only had league games to play this season, they would not have lost the likes of Walcott, Ozil, Ramsey, Giroud, Arteta and Sagna to injuries. Basically all their best players were out injured for league games because of injuries they picked up in cup and European games. It's been clear for a while now that Chelsea have been wasting money, apart from the CL winning squad and the old Mourinho squads they haven't had a world class squad. A world class squad ie your current Bayern Munich and Madrid squads are a mile apart from the current Chelsea squad. How anyone can say Chelsea have a world class squad when they have one world class player (a debateable one at that) baffles me. Eto'o is well past his best and has been poor for Chelsea, he wouldn't get into any of the top 4 sides.

I stick by what I said, Liverpool won't win the Premiership anytime soon, I actually think they have a better chance of winning the Champions League than the Premier League. The quality of the teams in this seasons PL season were very poor which obviously helped Liverpool as they were one of the only clubs on the rise. Many of the big teams were going through 'transitional' phases where they were revamping their squads or had a new manager in. Next season will be even more diffucult and the winners of the league should be declared well before the final day unlike this season.

Next season will be Liverpools transitional phase as they look to revamp their squad to compete in the Champions League.

[Junaid8]

Also Liverpool were VERY lucky with refereeing decision this season. In reality they should not have been anywhere near the top spot but tbf I'm glad they did because I got to witness the biggest bottle job in recent footballing history.

[Steve27752]

Do what?

[Kingstepper]

Do what?

One?

[steptoe]

You're not as old as me then, I remember us winning the world cup in the days that foreign players were pretty much non existent.

We did pretty well in '86 too, being beaten in the quarters by the eventual winners helped by a handballed goal.

I wouldn't say one win with home advantage is a good example. And yes, i remember it. Even Greece managed to win the euros fairly recently, so one off wins do happen :D.

I'd say the 1970 team was better. But four years later, (with foreign players pretty much non existent in our leagues) we couldn't even qualify, the same happened in 1978.

[kultschar]

Also Liverpool were VERY lucky with refereeing decision this season. In reality they should not have been anywhere near the top spot but tbf I'm glad they did because I got to witness the biggest bottle job in recent footballing history.

Really? I can think of quite a few critical decisions going against them so it prob all balances out

e.g. Suarez taken out by Etto in the first game
Sterling wrongly being flagged for offside against Man City (also first game)

[dreamboat10]

Also Liverpool were VERY lucky with refereeing decision this season. In reality they should not have been anywhere near the top spot but tbf I'm glad they did because I got to witness the biggest bottle job in recent footballing history.

Bottled it??....what a load of tosh!, i don't think you know football very well tbh.

[Shane]

Arsenal have as big a squad as anyone in the league. Lets say Arsenal only had league games to play this season, they would not have lost the likes of Walcott, Ozil, Ramsey, Giroud, Arteta and Sagna to injuries. Basically all their best players were out injured for league games because of injuries they picked up in cup and European games.

So basically the CL and other cup games are to blame for Arsenal not winning the league or finishing higher than 4th?

It's been clear for a while now that Chelsea have been wasting money, apart from the CL winning squad and the old Mourinho squads they haven't had a world class squad. A world class squad ie your current Bayern Munich and Madrid squads are a mile apart from the current Chelsea squad. How anyone can say Chelsea have a world class squad when they have one world class player (a debateable one at that) baffles me. Eto'o is well past his best and has been poor for Chelsea, he wouldn't get into any of the top 4 sides.

Ok, so by your reckoning, Chelsea have a mediocre squad and were lucky to beat Monaco and push Atletico Madrid as far as they did in the CL semi finals? All I can say is that if Liverpool had Chelsea's defence or substitutes the title would have been theirs before May.

I stick by what I said, Liverpool won't win the Premiership anytime soon, I actually think they have a better chance of winning the Champions League than the Premier League. The quality of the teams in this seasons PL season were very poor which obviously helped Liverpool as they were one of the only clubs on the rise. Many of the big teams were going through 'transitional' phases where they were revamping their squads or had a new manager in. Next season will be even more diffucult and the winners of the league should be declared well before the final day unlike this season.

No they don't. They will probably go out in the group stages of the CL as City did the first couple of years. It doesn't matter how good your players are, the CL is a whole different kettle of fish. Liverpool may not win the PL next year, or anytime soon, but they will mount a far better challenge than they did under Dalglish or Hodgson. Which teams were going through transitional phases? City weren't. Chelsea had a strong enough squad IMO to win the title. Arsenal weren't in transition. Utd had virtually the same team that won the title last year. Tottenham bought £110m worth of players so even though they had to play without Bale I think their squad was big and good enough. Why should the winners be declared well before the final day? It will be another close race next year and might go down to the wire again.

Also Liverpool were VERY lucky with refereeing decision this season. In reality they should not have been anywhere near the top spot but tbf I'm glad they did because I got to witness the biggest bottle job in recent footballing history.

Decisions even themselves out - as has been said, the most blatant wrong decision being Sterling's offside call vs City. They won 11 games in a row and their last 12 out of 14. That's pretty remarkable for a team with only a few quality players. They also beat the top 4-5 teams convincingly (5-0 and 4-0 vs Spurs, 1-0 and 3-0 vs Utd, 5-1 vs Arsenal, 4-0 vs Everton and 3-2 vs City) so it certainly wasn't luck. They didn't bottle it - they lost against a tactically better prepared and better team in Chelsea. As soon as they lost against Chelsea, the title was lost. Don't forget that Chelsea had also beaten City home and away...not bad for a team that you don't consider better than Liverpool's. The problem is that your hatred of Liverpool clouds your judgement when making your arguments, which are inherently flawed and cannot be taken seriously.

[Junaid8]

Bottled it??....what a load of tosh!, i don't think you know football very well tbh.

Yes, had the title in the bag and crumbled at the crucial time. Two errors gifted Chelsea the win and well... Lost a 3-0 lead against Palace by any definition that's bottling it.

So basically the CL and other cup games are to blame for Arsenal not winning the league or finishing higher than 4th?



Ok, so by your reckoning, Chelsea have a mediocre squad and were lucky to beat Monaco and push Atletico Madrid as far as they did in the CL semi finals? All I can say is that if Liverpool had Chelsea's defence or substitutes the title would have been theirs before May.



No they don't. They will probably go out in the group stages of the CL as City did the first couple of years. It doesn't matter how good your players are, the CL is a whole different kettle of fish. Liverpool may not win the PL next year, or anytime soon, but they will mount a far better challenge than they did under Dalglish or Hodgson. Which teams were going through transitional phases? City weren't. Chelsea had a strong enough squad IMO to win the title. Arsenal weren't in transition. Utd had virtually the same team that won the title last year. Tottenham bought £110m worth of players so even though they had to play without Bale I think their squad was big and good enough. Why should the winners be declared well before the final day? It will be another close race next year and might go down to the wire again.




Decisions even themselves out - as has been said, the most blatant wrong decision being Sterling's offside call vs City. They won 11 games in a row and their last 12 out of 14. That's pretty remarkable for a team with only a few quality players. They also beat the top 4-5 teams convincingly (5-0 and 4-0 vs Spurs, 1-0 and 3-0 vs Utd, 5-1 vs Arsenal, 4-0 vs Everton and 3-2 vs City) so it certainly wasn't luck. They didn't bottle it - they lost against a tactically better prepared and better team in Chelsea. As soon as they lost against Chelsea, the title was lost. Don't forget that Chelsea had also beaten City home and away...not bad for a team that you don't consider better than Liverpool's. The problem is that your hatred of Liverpool clouds your judgement when making your arguments, which are inherently flawed and cannot be taken seriously.

No but Arsenal lost their form when the CL and cup games started cluttering up their schedule, Liverpool on the other hand are one of the only top clubs in the league who had a relatively free calendar.

Chelsea have the best defence in the league and Liverpool don't so I'm not sure what you're trying to say? It's like somebody saying Arsenal would have won the league if they had SAS. I never said Chelsea were a mediocre side, they have a very strong squad but it isn't world class, it's one of the weakest squads they've had under the abramovich era actually. Beating Monaco is nothing to write home about but I think you mean PSG?

The reason Manchester City were failing at the group stages is because they kept getting put into the 'groups of death'. Liverpool have much more pedigree in the competition and have won it 5 times so you would imagine they would be a higher seed for the group stages than Manchester City.
City were in a transitional stage, they had a new manager who also changed the clubs philosophy and playing style. Chelsea made big changes to the squad and had to experiment with the like of Lukaku at the start of the season, Mourinho also altered the tactics to be very defensive. Man Utd's collapse is an example of what I mean. Near the end of their title winning side many of their players showed they weren't cut out for another season to challenge for the title but they didn't rectify this and look at them now, from first to 7th.

The decisions don't even themselves out, 3 penalties in one game? Skrtel getting away with so many penalties I've lost count, opponents getting sent off unfairly, it was like Man Utd with their pal Howard Webb. The title wasn't lost at Chelsea how can anyone even say that? Have a look on YouTube when Liverpool were 3-0 up against CP "We're gonna win the league!!!". Had Liverpool beaten Crystal Palace the pressure really would have been on for City, but since they only ended up needing a draw (something they could do with ease) they handed the title to them in the last game by bottling the 3-0 lead. I don't hate Liverpool I just enjoy seeing their fans' dreams crushed.