You must read this...

[XabisBadFoot]

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/news/drilldown/N...060313-1953.htm

 

A great article on the LFC.tv site from a guy I've never heard of. Really does sum up a lot of the posts on here and it's a good read after a bad few games.

 

 

"The defeat to a very good Arsenal side on Sunday was a blow but, after an indifferent Premiership season of their own, Arsene Wenger's team met Liverpool at just the right time. The Gunners confidence is sky high right now after knocking Real Madrid out of the Champions League and all of their young players seem to be rising to the top of their game when it matters most. Liverpool, meanwhile, have had their confidence rocked in recent weeks and losing their grip on their Champions League crown last week will have probably hurt them more than they care to admit.

 

Liverpool supporters today should take comfort in the fact that even defeat on Sunday only allowed Arsenal to move within eight points of their club. I wonder how many fans would have settled for a lead like that over Wenger's side at this stage of the season back in August when the Premiership kicked off?

 

Everyone always goes on about Liverpool needing to catch Chelsea but I think that's missing the point somewhat. In living memory, I can't recall one team who has jumped from fifth in the Premiership to winning the title the following year. It just doesn't happen.

 

What Liverpool needed to do this season was improve their Premiership form and bring some consistency to their game. In my eyes, they've done that. I'm sure at the start of the season, Rafa probably had Arsenal and Manchester United in his sights far more than Chelsea. Jose Mourinho's side are in a league of their own when it comes to winning matches week in and week out in the Premiership and while I believe that Liverpool will eventually mount a realistic title fight against the Blues under Benitez, it's Arsenal and United that must be conquered first.

 

To sit eight points ahead of Arsenal with just 9 games of the season remaining is astonishing. Arsenal may be a side in transition but so to are Liverpooland to be eight points ahead of a team who last season finished 25 points ahead of you is what I call progress. Forget the 37 points Chelsea finished ahead of Liverpool last year, if Liverpool can even make up 25 points on Arsenal this season you'd have to say that's a successful season.

 

Yes, losing to Benfica may have surprised some people and the defeat would have hurt but, realistically speaking, winning the Champions League again this season was unlikely for Liverpool. Not many teams retain the Champions League and I don't think Liverpool have anything to be ashamed about in going out in the knock-out stages after such a gruelling season that has not only seen them compete in three domestic competitions but also the Champions League, Super Cup and World Club Championships.

 

Liverpool should now forget about the Benfica defeat now and concentrate on the domestic affairs with the FA Cup still there to be won. Benitez had a brilliant first season, winning the European Cup, and I'm sure he'd love to add another trophy to the cabinet this season.

 

The manager knows deep down that scoring goals has been a real problem for Liverpool this season and, in the end, it was probably the only reason why they weren't in the hat for the Champions League quarterfinal draw on Friday. Fernando Morientes has struggled to adapt to the English game, while Djibril Cisse seems out of favour. I remember watching Cisse playing for France Under-17s and I thought he was the best player I have ever seen, but he had a bad injury last season and isn't someone you would class as a regular now. Crouch has his qualities but he isn't a prolific striker and while Robbie Fowler is still capable of scoring goals. Even he would admit that he isn't the same player as he was in his prime at Anfield.

 

Liverpool won the European Cup last season without having what I would say was a world-class striker capable of scoring 20-plus goals in a season but I think the Reds were the exception to the rule. You won't find many teams winning the Champions League without a really prolific striker. Indeed, Chelsea have a similar problem and that's why they went out to Barcelona but I think Benitez will address the situation at Liverpool in the summer.

 

While many comment on the lack of goals in the current side, in my opinion, Liverpool are only a couple of genuine world class players away from having the perfect team; one that's capable of putting real pressure on Chelsea's Premiership crown. Defensively they are brilliant and the midfield is really strong. In key areas, Benitez has some of the best players in the Premiership ? Reina, Carragher, Finnan, Gerrard, Alonso and Sissoko who are the real backbone of the team. It just needs some final touches to turn Liverpool into a great team.

 

Until those new players arrive to complete the jigsaw, Liverpool still have much to play for between now and the end of the season. I think they have a great chance of winning the FA Cup and I would predict a Liverpool v Chelsea final. Liverpool can rattle Chelsea, as we saw last season, and are more than capable of matching them and beating them in a one-off game. The thought of Steven Gerrard lifting the cup in Cardiff should be enough to lift every Liverpool fan after Sunday's disappointing defeat."

 

 

Well said i reckon. Thoughts....???

[Kurt]

ScOr3 mOrE GoALz.

[Ombudsam]

I would predict a Liverpool v Chelsea final

 

How can you do that? That's stupid

[Superjay]

Summised in 10 words or less please..

[Cobs]

1. It was an Arsenal side we battered for 90 minutes only a month ago

2. In living memory i can remember Liverpool finishing 5th in 1981 and winning the European Cup and following it up by winning the title the next year

3. The title race is not about beating Arsenal it's about finishing 1st. Overtaking Arsenal (if we still are at the end of the season) does not make it a successful season

4. what sammygay said

5. Sack Parry

6. Behead everyone

7.

[Molby]

good

 

but without wishing to be pedantic, I do remember one team finishing 5th in 1981 and winning it the next year

 

oops, sorry Cobs, just seen your post

Edited March 14, 2006 by Molby

[XabisBadFoot]

1. It was an Arsenal side we battered for 90 minutes only a month ago

2. In living memory i can remember Liverpool finishing 5th in 1981 and winning the European Cup and following it up by winning the title the next year

3. The title race is not about beating Arsenal it's about finishing 1st. Overtaking Arsenal (if we still are at the end of the season) does not make it a successful season

4. what sammygay said

5. Sack Parry

6. Behead everyone

7.

 

I hear what you're saying, but we are progressing, slowly, but surely. Look at the wider picture....

[Cobs]

Summised in 10 words or less please..

cheer up, we might win the FA Cup.

 

I hear what you're saying, but we are progressing, slowly, but surely. Look at the wider picture....

i am

 

and do.

 

 

 

cheers.

[Hieronymus Bosch]

good

 

but without wishing to be pedantic, I do remember one team finishing 5th in 1981 and winning it the next year

 

oops, sorry Cobs, just seen your post

 

It wasn't the Premiership in 1981

[Cobs]

It wasn't the Premiership in 1981

then the post should be dismissed for being 'Football started in 1992 mancbolllocks'

[Guest Anders Honoré]

had that team gone 15 years without winning it beforehand?

[Cobs]

had that team gone 15 years without winning it beforehand?

 

Fine

 

 

Everton won the title in 1985 having finished 7th the previous season and hadn't won the title since 1970.

 

 

happy ?

 

[Ombudsam]

1. It was an Arsenal side we battered for 90 minutes only a month ago

2. In living memory i can remember Liverpool finishing 5th in 1981 and winning the European Cup and following it up by winning the title the next year

3. The title race is not about beating Arsenal it's about finishing 1st. Overtaking Arsenal (if we still are at the end of the season) does not make it a successful season

4. what sammygay said

5. Sack Parry

6. Behead everyone

7.

 

thanks for that Cobs

[Cobs]

thanks for that Cobs

typo

[Nebraska Red]

we did show signs of forward progress earlier in the season, since the back end of December we have started to look like a team bereft of confidence in front of goal , ideas and most important, wins.

 

we are 3rd because of a combination of our great run of form and Arsenal's inability to do anything away from Highbury prior to the start of this month.

 

Losing to Benfica was not just a surprise , it was a shock to the system. They are a decent team with a few decent players that we should have taken care of over 2 legs. Instead we were found wanting in both games and dumped out after losing on our home pitch. Then we go to Arsenal and play more like Sunderland than Liverpool for 3/4 of the match.

 

We had 2nd place in our pocket a few weeks back and then we forgot how to play the game.

 

We are again in a position where we are looking at the players in the squad and feeling that we are in need of quite a few new faces in the close season.

 

It's a nice feel good post, but it does nothing to hide the fact that our forwards are playing like chumps instead of champs.

[Knox_Harrington]

 

Fine

Everton won the title in 1985 having finished 7th the previous season and hadn't won the title since 1970.

happy ?

 

Hahaha!

[Ombudsam]

typo

 

'salright cocs

 

we did show signs of forward progress earlier in the season, since the back end of December we have started to look like a team bereft of confidence in front of goal , ideas and most important, wins.

 

we are 3rd because of a combination of our great run of form and Arsenal's inability to do anything away from Highbury prior to the start of this month.

 

Losing to Benfica was not just a surprise , it was a shock to the system. They are a decent team with a few decent players that we should have taken care of over 2 legs. Instead we were found wanting in both games and dumped out after losing on our home pitch. Then we go to Arsenal and play more like Sunderland than Liverpool for 3/4 of the match.

 

We had 2nd place in our pocket a few weeks back and then we forgot how to play the game.

 

We are again in a position where we are looking at the players in the squad and feeling that we are in need of quite a few new faces in the close season.

 

It's a nice feel good post, but it does nothing to hide the fact that our forwards are playing like chumps instead of champs.

 

I get frustrated just after a game but the thing is i can't maintain it (don't want to anyway) because we have come a long way. The things which are wrong with the team are so fixable that once they are we will be a very good side. Maybe we'll even win a european cup.

[Nebraska Red]

'salright cocs

I get frustrated just after a game but the thing is i can't maintain it (don't want to anyway) because we have come a long way. The things which are wrong with the team are so fixable that once they are we will be a very good side. Maybe we'll even win a european cup.

 

I too get frustrated and fed up. Like most of us, I feel we have come a long way since the manager arrived. However, watching us play this year I get the feeling that we need 4 or 5 new players, or even more, to see us making the challenge to Chelsea next season.

 

If, as has been indicated by many, we get shut of Cisse and Morientes, we are going to need to bring in 3 attacking players. I am a great believer in Fowler, but he is not the future goalscorer we crave. So we do keep him on? I, have never been a fan of Kewell and do not see him returning to the form he showed at Leeds, does he deserve another chance?

 

It goes without saying that we need a right sided wide player and a specialist left back.

 

Where are we going to get the money?

[wacko]

Be realistic. We've made huge progress this season. Just because things aren't going as well as they were, unless we implode, we'll finish the season much improved over last.

 

We're only three or four players away from making that leap to the very top.