I'm the same in that I haven't really changed my thought process based on what has happened so far this season.
I think we'll probably come 2nd but be closer points wise to City than the 3rd place team is to us. I can see us finishing around 90 points. Not because of anything we've done, or will do, anything wrong but more so because I think putting up consecutive seasons of +95 points is an almost impossible task.
I like our CL group because it looks a straight forward passage with manageable travel. I do think RB Salzburg may be a bigger challenge then some people are expecting though. However, we should be looking to qualify from the group after 5 games and hopefully we can utilise the Genk home game and the final group game to rotate significantly. If we can do that, it potentially negates some of the additional games from the Super Cup and World Club Cup.
The domestic cups I'd like to see used to give squad players games and allow them some playing rhythm. That could help them if they are subseqeuntly dropped in during CL or league games. Adrian, Lovren, Gomez, Milner, Lallana, Keita, Shaqiri, Origi, AOC should all be starting the MK Dons game if fit. We can then supplement the squad with a few youngsters - Larouci, Hoever, van den Berg, Jones, Brewster. That would give our 1st XI a midweek off but also allow squad players to get game time and a select number of promising youngsters to get 1st team experience.
I suppose my original post this morning wasn't to point the finger at anyone who thought we'd struggle this season. We may still struggle this season. It was a genuine question about whether people changed their opinion or not based on what how we've played so far, the CL draw and seeing the other teams in action.
I agree that some of the latter CL games (if we've qualified) would almost cancel out the additional games this season - City qualified after match day 4 last season (although still played a strong side in match day 5 to win the group). Certainly the pressure to qualify was off for them in early November, whereas we were still slugging it out in mid December to beat Napoli and get through.
Regarding your point about two 95+ seasons being almost impossible - that's probably because its only ever been done once before. However, I think the goalposts have changed so much in the last 18 months in that us and City have become relentless machines - capable of beating bottom 10 sides consistently and taking points from rivals. We may be entering an era like La Liga used to be, where the top two are miles ahead and the chasing pack are out of the race by February/March.
As much as last season was a big leap in terms of points gained over 2017/18, the fact that we did it whilst beating Bayern, Barca, and PSG plus every bottom 10 PL side (home and away) tells me that perhaps something big has shifted - not just having better players, but that Klopp and the team have sussed the league out like City did two season earlier. Our shift under Klopp from the early days of heavy metal football to a more measured and controlled approach certainly seems to have made us more consistent and patient as a team, and much better at managing games.
Lower league opposition in the cups will absolutely help, and the players you listed are all good enough to beat those types of sides and give our first 11 some rest, without the club being accused of not taking the competitions seriously. I imagine City's domestic cup runs and rotation last season did wonders for squad morale given the easy games they had to reach both finals.
Nothing's guaranteed of course, but it does feel we've finally arrived at the place we've all talked about for years, where everything just works - from manager, to players, recruitment, owners and everything in between, and we no longer talk about 3-4 top players needed each summer to fix our problems. I also don't feel as desperate for the title (or as disappointed when we fall short) as I did in 2008/9 or 2013/14 as it feels like we'll challenge for a long time now, instead of relying on the stars aligning every 5 years and then it all going pear shaped for a while. The champions league win is also a monkey off Klopp and the team's backs in terms of success, which I think will keep them hungry for more whilst being under slightly less pressure than last season.
Edit: HBHR beat me to it with the La Liga analogy. Great minds
