Topic: Chasing the Title

[Sharado]

What's the sentiment for Rodgers since he left? Is he well liked? Would ye consider him a club icon if he managed to hand ye the title?

I still don't know what to make of him. 2014 was a great season and he got us there so credit to him for it, but it was a massive outlier in terms of his time here. And it really didn't end well. The tail end of 2015 was horrendous and the start of the next season just as bad. His transfer record was pretty awful if you look at it objectively and whoever's decision 'being liverpool' was didn't get him started on the right foot. I seem to be going a little against the grain of other opinion on here though, maybe it's just me.

With all that said, if he took anything off city I'd think of him more fondly than many members of my own family. So there's that.

[Lynndenberries]

I still don't know what to make of him. 2014 was a great season and he got us there so credit to him for it, but it was a massive outlier in terms of his time here. And it really didn't end well. The tail end of 2015 was horrendous and the start of the next season just as bad. His transfer record was pretty awful if you look at it objectively and whoever's decision 'being liverpool' was didn't get him started on the right foot. I seem to be going a little against the grain of other opinion on here though, maybe it's just me.

With all that said, if he took anything off city I'd think of him more fondly than many members of my own family. So there's that.

I share a similar sentiment. 2012/2013 was an enjoyable season overall, even though we were in the process of a rebuild. It felt like we had truly pressed the reset button, acquired some talented attacking players, and were playing an attractive brand of football. 2013/2014 was one of the most fun seasons I have experienced, partly because no one in a million years ever expected us to challenge that season. Ultimately that season ended in disappointment, but it was still an incredible experience.

It kind of all went downhill from there though. The tension between Rodgers and the transfer committee was prevalent in the summer of 2014, and worsened in 2015. Tactically, Rodgers always seemed to struggle in Europe, however some of that was due to our squad being poorly constructed. In the end, I think most (if not all) of us were thankful for the moments he helped create in 2013/2014, but recognized it was time to part ways.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Just to add the performances in the CL 2014/2015 were massively disappointing, even though we had the likes of Balottelli playing up front, there's no reason why we shouldn't have made it out of the group. That was another thing that irked me. The reserve side against Madrid at their place.

[Keith Lard]

I'm telling you, these 3 games for City could be real banana skins.

Burnley are Burnley - we know their strengths and weaknesses, and Dyche will want to stick it to Pep and City in general.

Leicester are a genuinely good team managed by a top manager, who will also want to put one over Pep and claim his part in a Liverpool title win.

Brighton will hopefully still be fighting to stay in the league, which will be motivation enough.

So there you have it - mark my words, this League title is far from over.

[killer-heels]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/philmcnulty/2009/08/chelsea_and_manchester_united.html

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/28742392

It's just one guy's prediction, but McNulty is generally as safe and consensus as they come, and he had us 1st and 4th in those respective years. Anyone saying they saw a disaster forthcoming having challenged for the title is probably talking through their arse.

I'm generally very sceptical of any long-term predictions in football. Things can change and happen so quickly. Nothing should be taken for granted at all.

How talented was that 09/10 squad compared to this one? Like really compare the squads.

Its not even close.

Also there was already tension behind the scenes the season before. Lets not forget that many players were vexed over the sale of Alonso.

[BrandoLFC]

I can't bring myself to do that;
1. Those games were literally months ago. You starting ruing games months past then you may as well rue the dropped points vs Arsenal and Chelsea in the first few months of the season.
2. We've had 2 huge slices of luck in the Everton and Spurs games with even out the dropped points vs Leicester and WH.

I think Klopp said it best in that it's "bullshit" to say any one game won or lost the title in hind sight.  It's a totality of performances over 38 games.

With that said, you can look at most of those performances listed and note that we created fuck all in them in comparison to the standard or level that has been set for over a year now.  So there's the improvement the club can look at and where City has the advantage over us as far as this season, consistency.  That doesn't mean that the same thing can't happen in the future but you minimize the percentage chance of it happening by getting better instead hoping you get luckier the next time.

[El Lobo]

I'm telling you, these 3 games for City could be real banana skins.

Burnley are Burnley - we know their strengths and weaknesses, and Dyche will want to stick it to Pep and City in general.

Leicester are a genuinely good team managed by a top manager, who will also want to put one over Pep and claim his part in a Liverpool title win.

Brighton will hopefully still be fighting to stay in the league, which will be motivation enough.

So there you have it - mark my words, this League title is far from over.

Considering the form of the ‘top four contenders’ I’m not sure what other matches we’d consider tricky for them (apart from ourselves obviously)

[El Lobo]

How talented was that 09/10 squad compared to this one? Like really compare the squads.

Its not even close.

Also there was already tension behind the scenes the season before. Lets not forget that many players were vexed over the sale of Alonso.

Were they?

How many is many?

[FlashGordon]

Were they?

How many is many?

More than a few but short of loads. Obviously.

[El Lobo]

More than a few but short of loads. Obviously.

I remember Gerrard and Carragher both coming out in the press about it, but that’s about it. And they really had their fingers on the pulse at that time.

[UntouchableLuis]

I'm hoping the fact that City don't play in Europe actually stops their flow a little bit before Leicester - we've definitely seen that with us in the past.

At the minute it feels like teams wont even score against them which is frustrating - I suspect we wont see Kompany again - the time was ripe last night to score past them.

[stuarth810]

Hopes and dreams hanging by a thread now.

[soxfan]

My opinion on Rodgers is that he had a bit too little experience for the job here at the time and a bit too much ego. FSG took a chance on a young, bright manager & it was a little too soon for Brendan. I can't blame the man for trying to undertake one of the iconic managerial jobs in the world. He tried his best, had us playing some great football and I think he deserves respect for that.

I absolutely think he's capable of managing a top 6 club, as long as he has a good owner and a strong DOF. He's licked his wounds and learned some lessons. He's certainly brighter than the majority of managers in England right now. Leicester is a nice fit at the moment.

[Gladbach73]

IFor all those superstitious Reds amongst us.

1. Last time Watford got to the FA Cup Final was 1984 when Liverpool won the league and European Cup.

2. 1976 - Liverpool played Wolves the last game of the season to win the league, drew 0-0 at Goodison, and beat Everton 1-0 at Anfield with a last minute winner (Fairclough). Also drew at Old Trafford 0-0, and beat Man Utd 3-1 at Anfield. Played Barca in the semi final of the European trophy that year on the way to winning the UEFA Cup. Shades of this year?

3. Every time Burnley have been in the Premier League, they have beaten the reigning champions - 2009/10 1-0 v Man Utd, 2014/15 1-0 v Man City, 2016/17 1-0 v Leicester City, 2017/18 v Chelsea 3-2, and they play City very soon this season.

4. The last time a Club won three European Cups on the run was 1974, 1975 and 1976 when Bayern won it. Liverpool the year after in 1977. Real Madrid won it in 2016, 2017 and 2018  our turn again?

5. The last time a previous winner won the Grand National was in 1977, when Red Rum won it for the third time. Liverpool won the league and European cup.  Tiger Roll has just won the National after being a previous winner.

Too many coincidences folks, were winning the double-believe

[mrantarctica]

What's the sentiment for Rodgers since he left? Is he well liked? Would ye consider him a club icon if he managed to hand ye the title?

Really good football manager with a big mouth. Loves to talk and hear the sound of his own voice was the impression I always got.

I don't think fans were ever completely convinced seeing that he had only really managed 3 clubs and hadn't done particularly well at 2 of them, left under fairly dubious circumstances for Watford despite saying that he perhaps wouldn't, and then his achievements at Swansea were good but not brilliant. I think a lot of people were expecting a manager with international profile and so were underwhelmed when we got him. That being said, he brought some great football to the club, got the best out of a lot of good players and we played some thrilling football. Considering we had just gone through years of misery, I think he was a breath of fresh air at the time. However, he couldn't really improve the team significantly after one bumper season despite having had the backing to do so. There'll probably always be a case of perhaps we didn't quite give it long enough to see if he could have resurrected things, but also a feeling of that we thought that would probably happen sooner or later given his track record up to that point.

It'll be interesting to see how he does at Leicester. I for one will be wishing him well (especially against City!!)

[Mr_Shane]

3. Every time Burnley have been in the Premier League, they have beaten the reigning champions - 2009/10 1-0 v Man Utd, 2014/15 1-0 v Man City, 2016/17 1-0 v Leicester City, 2017/18 v Chelsea 3-2, and they play City very soon this season.

Alas they did not beat City last year.

Instead this happened

http://www.espn.com/soccer/match?gameId=480649

[4EverRed]

I'm telling you, these 3 games for City could be real banana skins.

Burnley are Burnley - we know their strengths and weaknesses, and Dyche will want to stick it to Pep and City in general.

Leicester are a genuinely good team managed by a top manager, who will also want to put one over Pep and claim his part in a Liverpool title win.

Brighton will hopefully still be fighting to stay in the league, which will be motivation enough.

So there you have it - mark my words, this League title is far from over.

Been devastated all day and trying to come to terms with not winning the league this season. The lads have performed tremendously well and I am very proud of them but we seem to be bloody cursed when it comes to winning this god damn premier league. 29 years waiting for this and we always seem to come up short , it’s mind boggling!!!

Unfortunately for us City will steam roll Burnley, Leicester and Brighton....sick as a dog I am !!!

Fuck off City !!

[krizzobizzle]

more crap...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/apr/25/liverpool-finish-second-psychologically-devastating-manchester-city

[deFacto please, you bastards]

more crap...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/apr/25/liverpool-finish-second-psychologically-devastating-manchester-city

So why post it?

[the_red_pill]

Alas they did not beat City last year.

Instead this happened

http://www.espn.com/soccer/match?gameId=480649

Good enough. Let's revise and rewrite history and say:

"Every time Burnley have been in the Premier League, they have beaten taken points off the reigning champions"

[Mr_Shane]

Still good enough. Let's revise and rewrite history and say:

"Every time Burnley have been in the Premier League, they have beaten taken points off the reigning champions"

They have not taken points off us this season. so maybe this is the year they buck the trend 

[the_red_pill]

They have not taken points off us this season. so maybe this is the year they buck the trend 

Yeah but we're not the reigning champs... yet so let's hope that trend continues, but they get relegated this season!

[Gladbach73]

Alas they did not beat City last year.

Instead this happened

http://www.espn.com/soccer/match?gameId=480649

the teams they beat were the Reigning Champions, i.e. Chelsea were the reigning champs last season, City are the reigning champs this season - now do you understand? They beat the team in the season after the season they won the league.

[Kekule]

IFor all those superstitious Reds amongst us.

1. Last time Watford got to the FA Cup Final was 1984 when Liverpool won the league and European Cup.

2. 1976 - Liverpool played Wolves the last game of the season to win the league, drew 0-0 at Goodison, and beat Everton 1-0 at Anfield with a last minute winner (Fairclough). Also drew at Old Trafford 0-0, and beat Man Utd 3-1 at Anfield. Played Barca in the semi final of the European trophy that year on the way to winning the UEFA Cup. Shades of this year?

3. Every time Burnley have been in the Premier League, they have beaten the reigning champions - 2009/10 1-0 v Man Utd, 2014/15 1-0 v Man City, 2016/17 1-0 v Leicester City, 2017/18 v Chelsea 3-2, and they play City very soon this season.

4. The last time a Club won three European Cups on the run was 1974, 1975 and 1976 when Bayern won it. Liverpool the year after in 1977. Real Madrid won it in 2016, 2017 and 2018  our turn again?

5. The last time a previous winner won the Grand National was in 1977, when Red Rum won it for the third time. Liverpool won the league and European cup.  Tiger Roll has just won the National after being a previous winner.

Too many coincidences folks, were winning the double-believe

Are Ken and Deidre getting married again in the next couple of weeks?

[Macphisto80]

IFor all those superstitious Reds amongst us.

1. Last time Watford got to the FA Cup Final was 1984 when Liverpool won the league and European Cup.

2. 1976 - Liverpool played Wolves the last game of the season to win the league, drew 0-0 at Goodison, and beat Everton 1-0 at Anfield with a last minute winner (Fairclough). Also drew at Old Trafford 0-0, and beat Man Utd 3-1 at Anfield. Played Barca in the semi final of the European trophy that year on the way to winning the UEFA Cup. Shades of this year?

3. Every time Burnley have been in the Premier League, they have beaten the reigning champions - 2009/10 1-0 v Man Utd, 2014/15 1-0 v Man City, 2016/17 1-0 v Leicester City, 2017/18 v Chelsea 3-2, and they play City very soon this season.

4. The last time a Club won three European Cups on the run was 1974, 1975 and 1976 when Bayern won it. Liverpool the year after in 1977. Real Madrid won it in 2016, 2017 and 2018  our turn again?

5. The last time a previous winner won the Grand National was in 1977, when Red Rum won it for the third time. Liverpool won the league and European cup.  Tiger Roll has just won the National after being a previous winner.

Too many coincidences folks, were winning the double-believe

Seriously, I mean this in the nicest way, and I don't mean to sound like a cock here, but please stop posting shit like this. Honestly, every single fucking time someone posts bollocks like this (like last year when we got to the final) we don't do it, so it's bullshit. There's nothing written in the stars. Our name is not on any trophy. We were in control of our own destiny at one point, and we flushed it down the drain. That's the reality we are in now. City are in charge. It'll take a monumental fuck up from them, like we did, to toss it away back to us.

[CraigDS]

Honestly, every single fucking time someone posts bollocks like this (like last year when we got to the final) we don't do it, so it's bullshit.

Aren't you guilty of posting the same thing you've just complained about?

[Macphisto80]

Aren't you guilty of posting the same thing you've just complained about?

No. Not sure what you're on about there. I've never posted anything to do with superstition. Feel free to trawl my back history there.

[PhaseOfPlay]

Well.. it's a bit lukewarm..
He's certainly not disliked though, but sort of accepted as "one of our own".

Personally, I like Rodgers very much and I would even like to see him back here again at some point in the future when he's grown and developed his ideaology. The man's teams can play Football- and it's a type of football that I like- a pressing, passing and attacking whirlwind instead of a passing-to-death type of attacking football!
One thing that perplexes me and many others is what his fascination is with traditional target men if they are naturally ill-suited to his game?
Feel bad for him that he couldn't win the title while he was still here, but he can do it now by assisting Klopp!

It's not so much "target men", as mobile target men. The idea is that when the possession isn't opening up defences, then they can send one up to the target to hold the ball and bring the midfielders into play. On the other hand, if the possession IS working, then you need that mobility to run onto the passes behind, or to get out and make combinations. Dembele at Celtic is probably the best example of what he looks for.

[CraigDS]

No. Not sure what you're on about there. I've never posted anything to do with superstition. Feel free to trawl my back history there.

You said every single time someone posts one of those we don't do it.

Was taking the piss. As you were.

[Macphisto80]

You said every single time someone posts one of those we don't do it.

Was taking the piss. As you were.

Sorry, craig. Got my literal thinking cap on. Still a bit sullen after last night.

[Andar]

more crap...

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2019/apr/25/liverpool-finish-second-psychologically-devastating-manchester-city

Love how she puts forward the argument of how Spurs will challenge next season. As if that is a serious obstacle

[Andar]

Seriously, I mean this in the nicest way, and I don't mean to sound like a cock here, but please stop posting shit like this. Honestly, every single fucking time someone posts bollocks like this (like last year when we got to the final) we don't do it, so it's bullshit. There's nothing written in the stars. Our name is not on any trophy. We were in control of our own destiny at one point, and we flushed it down the drain. That's the reality we are in now. City are in charge. It'll take a monumental fuck up from them, like we did, to toss it away back to us.

Have to agree. There were a load of these for the CL last season.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Have to agree. There were a load of these for the CL last season.

He was taking the piss. There were loads of those posted when we won it in 2005 and it proved to be true, it's a coincidence obviously, does no one any harm and has feck all influence on anything.

[Mr_Shane]

If we win the title, we win the title. No use thinking so deeply into it. This is already a special season, and I still think there is going to be a twist in the tale. When you have two teams neck and neck for the title like we are in now, something out of the ordinary usually happens.

[UntouchableLuis]

You just know next season the title winners will do it on 78 points or some shit.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

You just know next season the title winners will do it on 78 points or some shit.

I look forward to us winning it with 78 points then

[S]

If we win the title, we win the title. No use thinking so deeply into it. This is already a special season, and I still think there is going to be a twist in the tale. When you have two teams neck and neck for the title like we are in now, something out of the ordinary usually happens.

Exactly. I’ve had basically no nerves in terms of this title challenge. We’ve already far surpassed expectations. Still hoping for a miracle and some City dropped points, but there’s no outcome that will make me disappointed with our season.

[Gladbach73]

He was taking the piss. There were loads of those posted when we won it in 2005 and it proved to be true, it's a coincidence obviously, does no one any harm and has feck all influence on anything.

Absolutely spot on. It's posted by myself as a bit of fun with true happenings. If people don't like it, then tough titties, just ignore it, but don't berate someone for having a genuine post of interest (to some). In other words, take a chill pill!!!!

[keyop]

As much as we like to hold out hope, I think it's almost guaranteed that City will win all of their remaining games and therefore the title will be won.

It was almost guaranteed at half time that AC Milan would win in Istanbul. It was almost guaranteed we'd beat Wimbledon in the FA cup final. It was almost guaranteed we'd pip Arsenal to the title before that late goal. It was almost guaranteed Utd would win the title before Agueroooo. There are quite literally thousands more examples down the ages of surprises and upsets.

Football has no guarantees, and never has. That's why its the world's favourite sport and is so much fun to watch.

[andy07]

For what its worth some of the Mancs seem worried that it is 2019 and title wins will be 20:19.  Their worry continues with 20:20, 20:21......

Now that would be so satisfying.