Football 2011-2012

[thetime]

Connor doesnt look like he will turn it round but they were probably better appointing him than a bruce, curbishley type manager who could easily have taken them down, would have wanted their own staff bought in and would have had costly wages.

Its hard to predict the other 2, all seem to be giving it a decent fight. I hope villa go down just to get mcleish and his boring football out of the league.

[eFestivals]

Liverpool are a shambles. Massive rethink needed. Discipline gone now too. Diving and even Reina losing his head.

Worst Liverpool team I can think of. Ever.

Oh c'mon, get a grip.

No one in your own team ever dives, and none of those players ever lose their heads.

And given that Liverpool have one trophy already and could be heading for a 2nd, and have qualied for Europe for next year, yeah, this year is a complete disaster, more disastrous than the very many seasons of an empty silverware cabinet at OT.

They might not be the best Liverpool team ever but they're hardly completely shit. Newc deserved their win without a doubt yesterday, but they hardly ran the game did they?

The simple fact remains that Liverpool are only a little bit short of where they want to be (even if that'll take an upgrade of a lot of players). If all those "hit the post/bar" chances had gone in over the season then things would be hugely different. The results have been much worse than the team is.

Whether the owners will open their wallets enough to make the needed improvements to the squad remains to be seen.

[thetime]

Glad Wolves are going down... I really thought it was wrong to sack Mccarthy....

[eFestivals]

Carroll proved today that hes fucking useless.

Fucking. Useless.

Yep - tho it was one of his better games.

It's defo time to give up on him.

[eFestivals]

I never really understood the widespread assumption that liverpool would get top 4 at the start of the season. I thought they were in with a chance but 90% people predicting top 4 for them didnt seem to me to match with their squad strength in relation to others.

I can't remember if I was one that predicted them for top 4 (I might well have been), but I don't think it was such an outrageous idea given how well they played in the 2nd half of last season and with them having strengthened their squad for this season - cos no matter how bad those buys have been, they've got a stronger squad now than they had then, they were down to the bare bones.

But overall their squad is far too average, and I doubt that next season will go much better than this one because I can't see them upgrading enough of those average players to make enough of a difference.

[pink_triangle]

The simple fact remains that Liverpool are only a little bit short of where they want to be (even if that'll take an upgrade of a lot of players). If all those "hit the post/bar" chances had gone in over the season then things would be hugely different. The results have been much worse than the team is.

Whether the owners will open their wallets enough to make the needed improvements to the squad remains to be seen.

[thetime]

Yes carroll is a very average player but it wasnt him who paid the trnsfer fee, so the fault there is with liverpool.

I cant believe suarez isnt getting alot of stick for his form, does a fancy trick and dribble in the box but nothing comes of it.

Could be 5 points clear tonight but would take a draw. People say its a crap united team but we must rank one of the best as if we do win the league it will be 5 titles in 6 seasons.

Is there a team with that record? not even in liverpools heyday, and when you include 3 champions league finals aswel.

[The Nal]

Oh c'mon, get a grip.

No one in your own team ever dives, and none of those players ever lose their heads.

[thetime]

Get out of town!! They're miles short. Miles.

[eFestivals]

Diving in front of an open goal?! Why didn't he just knock it in with his right peg?

Ashley Young?

Confidence I guess, I bet it's shattered. What's been Young's excuse?

Scraped past a championship team on penos to win the pisspot.

It's still a trophy - one more than you have right now - that people like you suddenly stop calling the pisspot when it's all you win in a season.

And what if they lose to Everton?

it gets to mean that Everton are a better team than the pisspoor teams that a pisspoor Liverpool knocked out?

Get out of town!! They're miles short. Miles.

They're really not.

As I keep making clear, they've got big problems because there's a number of players who need upgrading to fix things. I'm not pretending there's an easy fix.

But all the same, just consider these:-

1. they've got one of the best defensive records in the league, and it's not that good record because they put all of their efforts into defending.

2. despite their lack of goals, they've dominated most of their games (more so before the new year than recently,. I admit).

3. despite the lack of goals, they've been making loads of chances, and very good chances too (rather than half-chances).

4. the lack of goals have been helped along by L'pool meeting goalies on their best days along with loads of shots against the woodwork. A team which was having luck run more in their favour would have seen more of those go in, and we'd be far less likely to be having this convo because of it.

I'm not trying to paper over the cracks and think that they could stick with the same players and next season the luck would swing in their favour and they'd be top 4. Too many of those shots against the woodwork are the result of players being unable to shoot straight rather than them being shots that would go in on another day, for example.

But all the same they've been unlucky at times, such as yesterday. Newc were worthy winners cos Liverpool only turned up for the first 20 minutes .... but Liverpool should have had a penalty, and Newc got a bit lucky in clearing Suarez's chance at an open goal. Meanwhile Newc barely got onto Liverpool half, and made very few chances - but the chances they made they took.

There's a lot that needs doing at Liverpool, but they're nowhere near as bad as you're suggesting.

[eFestivals]

And he calls united fans blinkered.

As The Nal is proving himself to be.

Liverpool are a piss-poor team, the worst there's ever been, he says with his blinkers on.

So why aren't Utd in the FA Cup? :.lol:

[eFestivals]

Like I said there is only Reina and Gerrard of any quality...

Liverpool are seven to nine players short of the champions league let alone the prem championship...

I'd say more like five than nine - but it looked like nine yesterday I've gotta say.

[thetime]

As The Nal is proving himself to be.

Liverpool are a piss-poor team, the worst there's ever been, he says with his blinkers on.

So why aren't Utd in the FA Cup? :.lol:

[strummer77]

Walters, Clough, Jones, Saunders, Dicks, Razor.....

Edited April 2, 2012 by strummer77

[pink_triangle]

I think how much liverpool need to improve depends a lot on their rivals. Man City and Man utd are out of reach for now but this season where Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have been mediocre/poor it probably would only have taken 1 goalscorer and they would have been within touching distance of the top 4. However chances are that chelsea and arsenal will improve next season so liverpool cant just judge how these teams are this year in terms of what is needed to compete next.

I think wholesale changes would be madness. Liverpool dont have an unlimitted budget like man city and if they bring in 5 or 6 new players the talent will end up being spread too thin.

[strummer77]

Saw this on another forum:

I said yesterday that this is not by far the worst Liverpool team I've ever seen since I've been a fan, infact far from it - but this is the most disinterested side I've ever seen.

And its true sadly

[eFestivals]

I think how much liverpool need to improve depends a lot on their rivals. Man City and Man utd are out of reach for now but this season where Arsenal, Chelsea and Spurs have been mediocre/poor it probably would only have taken 1 goalscorer and they would have been within touching distance of the top 4. However chances are that chelsea and arsenal will improve next season so liverpool cant just judge how these teams are this year in terms of what is needed to compete next.

I'm not sure that Chelsea are closer to turning themselves around than Liverpool are. Chelsea need a complete rebuild, more so than Liverpool - and I doubt there's anyone at the club or who might come into the club who has the balls to do it.

I think wholesale changes would be madness. Liverpool dont have an unlimitted budget like man city and if they bring in 5 or 6 new players the talent will end up being spread too thin.

I doubt Liverpool will do enough in the summer to get them back to the top 4 next season - tho a goalscorer (a proper one) might do enough for them if they get lucky.

[pink_triangle]

I'm not sure that Chelsea are closer to turning themselves around than Liverpool are. Chelsea need a complete rebuild, more so than Liverpool - and I doubt there's anyone at the club or who might come into the club who has the balls to do it.

I doubt Liverpool will do enough in the summer to get them back to the top 4 next season - tho a goalscorer (a proper one) might do enough for them if they get lucky.

[strummer77]

The big difference is if chelsea in theory have the funds to turn things around and I would argue that their current squad is stronger anyway.

Your right about the goalscorer for all those people saying liverpool need 6 or 7 new players, just 1 striker who could score consistently would have put them with a chance of the top 4 this year in a poor prmeiership season.

[zahidf]

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/sport/sport-headlines/ferguson-removes-dalglish-mask-201204025082/

It was never Kenny all along...

[eFestivals]

The big difference is if chelsea in theory have the funds to turn things around and I would argue that their current squad is stronger anyway.

They have the funds. And yes, their current squad is stronger.

But they need to boot out a number of their best current players to rebuild the club, which makes it dodgy with what they get in. They're just as capable of buying duffs as Liverpool have done, dependent on who is responsible for buying the new players.

While Moaniho did a great job of buying not-marquee players who turned out to be very good, almost everyone they've bought since hasn't been good enough (or not fitted with the other players, whatever).

That's a hard hard HARD job for someone - and probably made harder because Roman is less keen than ever to spend his money.

[The Nal]

Ashley Young?

Confidence I guess, I bet it's shattered. What's been Young's excuse?

[eFestivals]

The reason were top and liverpool are 8th after spending 115 million.

Utd's spending isn't much less, while starting from a far stronger starting position - so the outcome is hardly a surprise, even if Liverpool had spent that money on decent players.

Utd have a £30+M player who rarely even makes the bench nowadays - which gets to show its own poor spending on occasions.

Or alternatively, at best, it shows just how much stronger its starting position is. It means it's much more able to take punts on cheaper players in the hope they'll work out (which most don't, btw - in case that's passed you by), but via that is able to maintain its existing squad strength.

Liverpool have had to try and make all of their buys count, and of course they haven't (it's rare for any big spending like that to all work out, after all).

If you'd like to think yourself back to the mid-70's to mid-80s, Utd were starting from a weak squad position and pissing money up the wall on poor players like there was no tomorrow, and it continued for a while under fergie too.

It's far easier to maintain a good squad than it is to get that good squad in the first place. The history of football p[roves that beyond all doubt.

[zahidf]

I was fuming after Nani's dive against Liverpool a couple of years ago when he could've headed it. Why Carroll dived is beyond me! A striker is desperate need of a goal, after doing well to set it up for himself, rounds the keeper and then takes a tumble?!

[strummer77]

Kind of my point then. If he played in the worst Liverpool team in recent memory then.......

Edited April 2, 2012 by strummer77