Author Topic: Chasing the Title  (Read 1474293 times)

Offline RedTriumph

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #120 on: October 30, 2018, 03:40:49 am »
Lets go back to the old take one game at a time and see where we are the last few games of the season.

Absolutely.

If we lose, as fans our week is ruined. We can't help come to RAWK or Twitter or wherever else and whinge and over-analyse. We've got nothing else to do. We might be the best armchair manager in the world but in reality we can do fuck all. We can sit at second or third position in the table, looking up at those above us and thinking 'I hope someone fucks you up... I hope your feet fall off, you free-scoring bastards'. There's one person who gets paid to train and improve our players, and he understands football better than any single one of us. Our manager's job is to fuck everyone else up, and he's doing that pretty well right now. He works all week on it and goes into every match with the belief that his team are well-prepared and will give us something to sing about. Because all he's bothered about is the next result.

Klopp is superb tactically, and he seems to be improving his in-game management, which is of course aided by such an improved squad depth.  I think he's developed his tactical nous to a level to compete with Rafa at his best, and now we're winning the games which, for the past fifteen years, we'd previously have drawn or lost.

Klopp won't be scouring the web for fan opinions right now. He'll be watching our matches back, seeing where we can improve, and studying the opposition so we can target and exploit their flaws. If we gain fewer points against Arsenal than City do against Southampton (which we have to accept is a distinct possibility) Klopp won't be shaking Emery's hand at the final whistle thinking 'bollocks, now we've got to chase the complacent Manc c*nts'. He won't be sitting at his desk at Melwood jealously cursing City's squad depth or counting their goals. He goes on working, making sure we continue running in the marathon and making sure that if we fall we get right back up, knowing this road is rocky for even the fastest and nimblest.

Anything can happen. The only thing we can do is keep faith in the man who is leading us... oh, and make some fucking noise while we're at it.

Offline Redcap

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #121 on: October 30, 2018, 04:15:35 am »
I've spent the last 3 hours writing a multiple paragraph post about why this is not a black and white issue from almost every angle I can think of and I could probably write even more.  Since it would probably bore the majority of you I'll try to instead just sum this up in bullet points the best I can.

-ManC is the best team in not only the PL but also at the moment Europe.  From a statistic standpoint it's not even close.  The +2.x xG difference quoted earlier, there is no team in the world also above 2.0.  It's a big gap and it seems to be only growing.  ManC is better than last year and that's without De Bruyne for the majority of the season so far.  Here's a good stats bomb article by an Everton fan, so he's not a homer, going over some facets of their dominance - https://statsbomb.com/2018/10/guardiolas-manchester-city-is-breaking-the-premier-league/

-Does the above mean that what they've done through 10 games will hold true through game 38?  One the one hand no, obviously it's impossible to accurately predict the future.  On the other hand there is nothing indicative from 38 games last year through 10 games this year that there is any consistent negative blip upcoming.  Not to mention that outside of Aguero and Fernandinho it's a very young squad that should be together at least 2-3 years.

-Does that then mean that fans should be content with LFC being at best 2nd fiddle and just hope that ManC slips up but if they don't then there's nothing we can do?  There is nothing wrong with wanting your club to be the best while recognizing the challenges that lie in the way to get there.  In the end it may be impossible to overcome ManC in the next 2-3 years but we have to try and the club seems to agree with the spending on Keita and the attempted spending on Fekir which is where our biggest hole vis-a-vis ManC's squad lies.  Granted there is nothing we can probably do now for the 18/19 season but that doesn't mean we shouldn't always be keeping this in mind in order to keep in context how we are doing in relation to the ultimate goal.

-If you think like I do that we should do whatever we can to control our own destiny and not just hope that ManC underperforms because of how unlikely that is over 38 games then does that mean you'll look like an idiot at times saying performances or players aren't where they need to be?  Yes.  But that just goes to the previous point in wanting the club to win and again the club and Klopp are doing the same thing you are.  Noting where we are falling short and figuring out short and long term solutions.  Do I think Milner, Gini or Hendo are bad players?  Certainly not.  Would I take any of them over D. Silva, Bernardo Silva or De Bruyne?  No.  There's nothing wrong with admitting facts however tinted our glasses may be.

And even with all this said the gap between them and us is not that big as it is and while we are definite underdogs we are at least in the conversation unlike the pretenders in Chelsea or Arsenal who's underlying numbers in no way support them actually challenging us let alone ManC over a 38 game schedule.  WE CAN WIN THE TITLE THIS YEAR.  But if we don't then what?  Pointing out that not being complacent when up 2-0 at home in an eventual 4-1 win isn't being negative, it's talking about the gap between ManC and us because they sure as shit wouldn't be once Pep learned his lesson his first year about how muddying up games is a risky business.  It's talking about how spending 45 minutes against Southampton doing absolutely nothing could have cost us in another situation or how Napoli away better never happen again.  Those are the margins were talking about when going toe to toe with a ridiculous oil funded doping juggernaut.

I agree with most of this, but I think it's useful to draw a distinction between our place as fans and Jurgen's place as a manager and FSG's place as owners.

Can the team do things better than we have so far this season? Sure. We can always improve. It's the job of the manager and players to learn from how we've performed so far and continue to get better and better. And as fans, we have every right to look at the mistakes and also reflect on what we can do better. Any thinking fan should.

With that said though, we're currently scoring 2 goals a game and conceding .4 goals a game. There's a lot to love about that. What's more important as fans, in my view, than getting analytical about what we're doing wrong, is to enjoy what we're doing right. That good feeling will flow through to better supporting the team, than getting angsty about fine margins, in case they don't add up to quite enough at the end of the season.

We are performing very well, and we have as good a chance as we've ever had to hit a record points total. We have to try and enjoy that for what it is, and trust the manager and players to figure it out.

Offline jooneyisdagod

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #122 on: October 30, 2018, 05:53:12 am »
With Chelsea and Man City doing so well, my first reaction was to think "Crap, why couldn't they have shit years for once while we are good?!". But I've realised that this is the worst attitude to have. I think that if we want to win the title, we've got to beat the best and if that means beating City and Chelsea, then let's do that.
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Offline killer-heels

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #123 on: October 30, 2018, 06:24:51 am »
With Chelsea and Man City doing so well, my first reaction was to think "Crap, why couldn't they have shit years for once while we are good?!". But I've realised that this is the worst attitude to have. I think that if we want to win the title, we've got to beat the best and if that means beating City and Chelsea, then let's do that.

The worst attitude is for the club to be like it has been after a title challenge. Sell a few players and then see you all in 5-6 years time.

If it is not going to be this season then we need to be good next season. Then the season after that and so on.

We cannot become a side that just challenges now and again. We are one of the biggest clubs in the world and Klopp is turning us into a side that doesnt need to be 100mph each game. We have a top keeper, the best young fullback in the league, the best fullback in the league, the best young centreback, the best centreback period, one of the most talented midfielders in Europe and an amazing attack.

We should be adding more and more and competing every season.

Offline Fromola

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #124 on: October 30, 2018, 06:29:48 am »
The worst attitude is for the club to be like it has been after a title challenge. Sell a few players and then see you all in 5-6 years time.

If it is not going to be this season then we need to be good next season. Then the season after that and so on.

We cannot become a side that just challenges now and again. We are one of the biggest clubs in the world and Klopp is turning us into a side that doesnt need to be 100mph each game. We have a top keeper, the best young fullback in the league, the best fullback in the league, the best young centreback, the best centreback period, one of the most talented midfielders in Europe and an amazing attack.

We should be adding more and more and competing every season.

Improve every year and eventually we will succeed. We challenge for a year and then drop off in PL era.

In all probability City are too strong this season and maybe next season but they're not going to win it every year forever and Guardiola won't be there forever. Next time they don't that's when we have to be in position.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 06:32:16 am by Fromola »
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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #125 on: October 30, 2018, 06:30:23 am »
The second part of the season is going to be very important, therefore, if we want to continue pushing, we need one or two players in January. Also, the next game is crucial.
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Offline jooneyisdagod

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #126 on: October 30, 2018, 06:32:27 am »
The worst attitude is for the club to be like it has been after a title challenge. Sell a few players and then see you all in 5-6 years time.

If it is not going to be this season then we need to be good next season. Then the season after that and so on.

We cannot become a side that just challenges now and again. We are one of the biggest clubs in the world and Klopp is turning us into a side that doesnt need to be 100mph each game. We have a top keeper, the best young fullback in the league, the best fullback in the league, the best young centreback, the best centreback period, one of the most talented midfielders in Europe and an amazing attack.

We should be adding more and more and competing every season.

Agree 100%. We have in the past got too downhearted because we missed out. It's time to build and build and build. It's almost more important to trust the process and look at the underlying metrics rather than purely the outcome. And in those terms, we are making large strides under Klopp. I can't reiterate what you've said strongly enough. It is absolutely imperative that we don't lose our nerve if we don't win the title and rather than lose players, we need to add more. I think we need to add an attacking player in January as it happens.
Quote from: Dion Fanning

The chants for Kenny Dalglish that were heard again on Wednesday do not necessarily mean that the fans see him as the saviour. This is not Newcastle, longing for the return of Kevin Keegan. Simply, Dalglish represents everything Hodgson is not and, in fairness, everything Hodgson could or would not hope to be.

Offline RedorRed

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #127 on: October 30, 2018, 06:47:10 am »
My fear is that Klopp’s contract runs out before we finally take the title. I don’t think he’s going to extend his contract further and will look for one final challenge before riding off into the sunset.
I think he is the key to everything.

Offline killer-heels

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #128 on: October 30, 2018, 06:56:37 am »
Agree 100%. We have in the past got too downhearted because we missed out. It's time to build and build and build. It's almost more important to trust the process and look at the underlying metrics rather than purely the outcome. And in those terms, we are making large strides under Klopp. I can't reiterate what you've said strongly enough. It is absolutely imperative that we don't lose our nerve if we don't win the title and rather than lose players, we need to add more. I think we need to add an attacking player in January as it happens.

Yep. Things like players like Dembele being available is a signal for us to show we are in this for the long term.

Offline El Lobo

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #129 on: October 30, 2018, 06:59:34 am »
My fear is that Klopp’s contract runs out before we finally take the title. I don’t think he’s going to extend his contract further and will look for one final challenge before riding off into the sunset.
I think he is the key to everything.

I think he might leave if we don't beat Arsenal
If he's being asked to head the ball too frequently - which isn't exactly his specialty - it could affect his ear and cause an infection. Especially if the ball hits him on the ear directly.

Offline Fordy

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #130 on: October 30, 2018, 07:49:16 am »
We need City to lose at least 3-4 games this season.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #131 on: October 30, 2018, 08:02:56 am »
It's imperitive that even if we don't get over the line this season, we continue to build. City and the others aren't going to stand still either and players like Milner, Lallana etc might need to be replaced over the next couple of seasons. It took City ten years or so of slow building to become what that they are (a superb, entertaining team / squad) - the progress we've made in the last eighteen months has been immense, but we must keep the momentum going even if we fall slightly short come May next year.

We are so close.

Offline Red Beret

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #132 on: October 30, 2018, 08:08:09 am »
Or we might get 88 and finish first

Why don’t people just wait and see? Every game isn’t must win, we’re not going to get 110 points. I’ve seen people saying if we want to win the title we absolutely must beat Arsenal. If we lose we’re still going at a rate that’s get us 90 points. It’s a long old season, all this crap about needing to do this and that doesn’t really help anyone at this stage.

If we're going to have that attitude we may as well just shut the board down until May. ;D

People want to talk about this, and naturally there will be as many views as there are people.

When I talk about us possibly hitting 90 points and finishing second, it was more in a "it would be just our luck" manner; as those years were we've challenged we have been really good, and it's always just been another team that has been insanely brilliant to pip us. 

Fact is Man City are a crushing machine that shits points, so it will take a herculean effort to topple them.  What we cannot afford to do is what we have done after each season we've challenged - regress, and regress badly.

It's not enough to hit 88 points this year; we have to hit 88 points NEXT year too, and the year after.  So that season where City DO stumble we are in a position to take full advantage of.

We can't afford to look at seasons in isolation.  This is a war of attrition, where maybe every fourth or fifth year the title might be within reach.  I'm not sure that is this season, but this is certainly the season where we must lay down the marker.
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Offline jepovic

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #133 on: October 30, 2018, 08:21:24 am »
ManC looks very strong now, so do we and it's a long season. There's a reason it's been 10 years since the PL champions defended their title. We have the brutal holiday schedule, and then CL and the cups gradually become more important. I think ManC really want to go for the CL title this year, more than anything.


« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 08:26:42 am by jepovic »

Offline Qston

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #134 on: October 30, 2018, 08:31:23 am »
The worst attitude is for the club to be like it has been after a title challenge. Sell a few players and then see you all in 5-6 years time.

If it is not going to be this season then we need to be good next season. Then the season after that and so on.

We cannot become a side that just challenges now and again. We are one of the biggest clubs in the world and Klopp is turning us into a side that doesnt need to be 100mph each game. We have a top keeper, the best young fullback in the league, the best fullback in the league, the best young centreback, the best centreback period, one of the most talented midfielders in Europe and an amazing attack.

We should be adding more and more and competing every season.

Spot on. You need to be consistently challenging to stand a chance of winning it. If we maintain our current level, or dare I say improve yet further, and challenge season in season out then we will eventually do it.

As it happens, and putting any stats aside, I don`t think city will match their points total from last season.
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Offline El Lobo

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #135 on: October 30, 2018, 08:32:06 am »
If we're going to have that attitude we may as well just shut the board down until May. ;D

People want to talk about this, and naturally there will be as many views as there are people.

When I talk about us possibly hitting 90 points and finishing second, it was more in a "it would be just our luck" manner; as those years were we've challenged we have been really good, and it's always just been another team that has been insanely brilliant to pip us. 

Fact is Man City are a crushing machine that shits points, so it will take a herculean effort to topple them.  What we cannot afford to do is what we have done after each season we've challenged - regress, and regress badly.

It's not enough to hit 88 points this year; we have to hit 88 points NEXT year too, and the year after.  So that season where City DO stumble we are in a position to take full advantage of.

We can't afford to look at seasons in isolation.  This is a war of attrition, where maybe every fourth or fifth year the title might be within reach.  I'm not sure that is this season, but this is certainly the season where we must lay down the marker.

No Red Berry, we don't need to shut the boards down until May. We probably just need to cut out all the 'oh my good Man City look unbeatable' shite, 'woe is us for being good when the league is unwinnable, how unlucky we are'. Its fucking October! Even last night against a pretty woeful Spurs side, they gave up plenty of opportunities. They've already dropped points against Wolves.

No-one has any idea what it'll take to win the title, not in October anyway.
If he's being asked to head the ball too frequently - which isn't exactly his specialty - it could affect his ear and cause an infection. Especially if the ball hits him on the ear directly.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #136 on: October 30, 2018, 09:00:15 am »
No Red Berry, we don't need to shut the boards down until May. We probably just need to cut out all the 'oh my good Man City look unbeatable' shite, 'woe is us for being good when the league is unwinnable, how unlucky we are'. Its fucking October! Even last night against a pretty woeful Spurs side, they gave up plenty of opportunities. They've already dropped points against Wolves.

No-one has any idea what it'll take to win the title, not in October anyway.

Exactly is doing my head in, thankfully the players don’t have this pessimist view a lot on here do, already talking about next season when joint top, why can’t we just enjoy it, you can do whatever analysis you want but at the end of the day we can’t account for what will happen in the future, Fernandinho could tear his ligaments next week and all can change, for me I think we’ll win the league and I have no reason to doubt that as of yet, after all we are join top.

Offline planet-terror

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #137 on: October 30, 2018, 09:02:41 am »
Just rack the points up see where it takes us. Dont worry about goal difference. We aint going to match them.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #138 on: October 30, 2018, 09:49:00 am »
ManC looks very strong now, so do we and it's a long season. There's a reason it's been 10 years since the PL champions defended their title. We have the brutal holiday schedule, and then CL and the cups gradually become more important. I think ManC really want to go for the CL title this year, more than anything.

We sure do. Just like September was meant to be brutal, but we came out of those fixtures OK. So if we are still within a few points of City after the fixture at theirs then we will be in a very good position.

Offline Ossie T

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #139 on: October 30, 2018, 09:51:58 am »
Atletico competing with Barca and Real is, for me, comparable to us competing with Man City and Chelsea.  Not when it comes to history, prestige, fanbase etc, but when it comes to buying and retaining the world's best players.  We are the underdogs and to expect we're going to outgun them over a league campaign is asking a lot, thinking we can be more ruthless and gain more points is achievable.

La Liga table for 2013/14...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013%E2%80%9314_La_Liga#League_table

Atletico won the league despite having an inferior goal difference of 16 and 15 to Barca and Real respectively.  Sure, had Atletico dropped another three points they would have finished third on goal difference - but they didn't!

I'm glad you mentioned Atletico, I said at the start of the season the team to compare ourselves to would be them, in that your going up against teams with ridiculous budgets and special players.

What they have shown is that you if keep faith with your manager, keep investing in the team and then if you fall short in the title race as long as the fan base and managements heads don't fall off you will be challenging again the following season and over a 5 year spell there will be one season where the others will tail off and you will be ready to pounce.

City produced a record breaking season last year, and look on target to repeat that this season, if we come 2nd to them it's not a stain on us.  As long we stay positive we will be knocking on the door again and surely city can't produce 3 record breaking seasons in a row????

Saying all that were in the race this year so I'm all in on this ride.

Offline MNAA

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #140 on: October 30, 2018, 09:53:31 am »
City is strong. City is a juggernaut. But who would have expected Wolves to hold them to a draw. Lyon went to Etihad and won.

10 games into the season, we are staying in touch with them. Chelsea too. We are stronger than we were last season and that should give us hope that there will be fewer unexpected results at our end. And at the same time have faith and hope that City will have more bad hair days and dropped points unexpectedly like they did at Wolves

Winning this league is bloody hard these days. We have done well to have a team that we have today, be competitive and staying in touch and be toe to toe with City while at the same time playing very good football and getting the results without really being anywhere near our peak form. What’s not to like? We should all relax and enjoy the ride

Offline Indomitable_Carp

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #141 on: October 30, 2018, 09:55:27 am »
Forget about goal difference. Even with City battering Tottenham most of last night, Tottenham were close to putting in an equaliser. Mahrez rocketed a penalty way over the bar against us. As long as we do our part, its not inconceivable that City drop a few points somewhere else along the way.

As for us, just enjoy it.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #142 on: October 30, 2018, 10:03:26 am »
City are a fantastic side they really are, but like everyone else a little bit of luck , good or bad, will have a big impact on how things pan out.
He's probably their best player, but I didn't for 1 second think losing De Bruyne would impact them. Lose Fernandinho, or Aguero, and its a different story altogether. You seen last night when Aguero went off they weren't as dangerous and Spurs had them a bit
Fernandino makes them tick. He's their key man for me. he makes it all just work. Just like Van Dijk is for us.
Another thing, they are playing fantastic stuff, we're not totally really, but we're right with them.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #143 on: October 30, 2018, 10:11:53 am »
ManC looks very strong now, so do we and it's a long season. There's a reason it's been 10 years since the PL champions defended their title. We have the brutal holiday schedule, and then CL and the cups gradually become more important. I think ManC really want to go for the CL title this year, more than anything.


If City get to the semis of the LC, then they could have 8 games in January - and possibly more if they draw an FA Cup game. Then they start Feb with Arsenal and Chelsea. Just need to stay within a few points of them around that time and then the run in begins. And as you say, if they are going all out for the CL they may take their eye off the ball domestically.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #144 on: October 30, 2018, 10:12:42 am »
We should expect Chelsea and Man Utd to beat City in City's away games. We then just have to draw all the three teams away. That should do it.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #145 on: October 30, 2018, 10:17:12 am »
We should expect Chelsea and Man Utd to beat City in City's away games. We then just have to draw all the three teams away. That should do it.

I would be vaguely shocked if United beats City at OT.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #146 on: October 30, 2018, 10:42:21 am »
Our big picture situation in the league is tedious as fuck to be honest
People made this point as a joke at the start of the season but there really is a massive chance we hit our record points total this season and don't win the league because another team is owned by a fucking country and has spent over a billion quid

Sorry I know this is the 'one game at a time.. live the dream' thread but there's luck in sport and over 20 years its got really fucking dull that every time we hit the point in our cycle where we're legitimately good there's some super team that wins 63 games in a row..........
Doesn't mean I'm not 'enjoying the journey' or watching us dominate almost every team we play but our 'big picture' situation in the league is unbelievably frustrating

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #147 on: October 30, 2018, 10:53:39 am »
For what it's worth, i think we need to be top when we go to city in the new year. If that's the case, i think we're in business.
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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #148 on: October 30, 2018, 10:55:19 am »
No Red Berry, we don't need to shut the boards down until May. We probably just need to cut out all the 'oh my good Man City look unbeatable' shite, 'woe is us for being good when the league is unwinnable, how unlucky we are'. Its fucking October! Even last night against a pretty woeful Spurs side, they gave up plenty of opportunities. They've already dropped points against Wolves.

No-one has any idea what it'll take to win the title, not in October anyway.

I never said the league was unwinnable.  I said we've been here before.

And whilst I do indeed have no idea what it'll take to win the title, I can hazard a pretty good guess because we share the league with Man City.

In my opinion, we cannot afford to put a foot wrong,  because we have to assume City will just keep rolling on.  We make that assumption in the absence of knowing the future but knowing the past.

Trying to be better than City when they are at their best is nigh on impossible; but being better than City when they make a couple of mistakes is doable - but we will have to be at are very absolute best in order to capitalise on that.
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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #149 on: October 30, 2018, 11:30:18 am »
Sorry I know this is the 'one game at a time.. live the dream' thread but there's luck in sport and over 20 years its got really fucking dull that every time we hit the point in our cycle where we're legitimately good there's some super team that wins 63 games in a row..........
Doesn't mean I'm not 'enjoying the journey' or watching us dominate almost every team we play but our 'big picture' situation in the league is unbelievably frustrating

I don't really buy into this mate. We had our chance in 13/14. That City team was a juggernaut at home with a few world-class players, but they weren't a Premier League great team in my eyes. They posted 86 points; a very good total, but not an unbeatable one, and they were far from being an unbeatable side. They lost at Cardiff, Sunderland and Aston Villa that season - three sides which didn't even hit 40 points. Chelsea did the double over them. And when we beat them in April, we were in the driving seat, especially when they dropped another two points at home to Sunderland a few days later.

We did remarkably well to win 11 games in a row to put ourselves in that position, but the truth is, we should have got over the line. We can bemoan bad luck all we want but Killer Heels is right, unlike in 13/14, we are building a team here capable of sustained success; one which I would trust to get over the line should we find ourselves in a similar position to that campaign. Just keep doing what we're doing and a title will come under Klopp, whether it's this season, next season, or the one after.
« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 11:31:51 am by LallanaInPyjamas »

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #150 on: October 30, 2018, 11:31:02 am »
People seem to be forgetting that we also went to Wembley and outplayed Tottenham.

We did it without giving up three clear cut chances as well.
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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #151 on: October 30, 2018, 11:37:13 am »
My fear is that Klopp’s contract runs out before we finally take the title. I don’t think he’s going to extend his contract further and will look for one final challenge before riding off into the sunset.
I think he is the key to everything.

Just need him to outlast Guardiola!

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #152 on: October 30, 2018, 12:03:05 pm »
Man City are relentless so that’s what we have to be. So far we are matching them stride for stride. Ten games in, so not statistically insignificant, we both have eight wins and two draws. We’ve both had a few tough games too, arguably slightly tougher for us.

Man City started faster in terms of form, and have looked a bit easier on the eye, but on our end we’ve grown a new strength, as our defence has been a rock so far. Now we are seeing some signs that the attack is coming to join the party with two four-goal displays back to back, and seven of the eight goals being scored by the main three, with the promise of plenty more to come.

Man City are the bench mark. They have the best squad and the most money, but we are doing well ourselves and giving it a real go. They are favourites but we are in the race, no doubt about that. We have to keep going, and have a mentality that we can’t afford slip ups as the margin for error is so small. So far that’s what it looks like we are doing to me.

Come on! Game on.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #153 on: October 30, 2018, 01:30:43 pm »
Defense.

That is all. It may seem half impossible to challenge City(I don't see Chelsea as a competitor at this stage yet) when you allow the amount of goals they score to blind you, but all we need is an extremely good defense and that we certainly do! Our pressing combined with our actual back-5 will see us through.

Klopp has done this before with Pep- overhauled a seemingly unstoppable and almighty Bayern who scored record hauls of goals and achieved a points-record with a much less illustrious competitor and he not only managed this once- he managed to win the league- ON THE DOUBLE!


It's perfectly possible and within our reach- with a good defense. When the going gets tough, we can grind out a whole 2 months worth of 1-0's and we'll still be in the title race - regardless of goals scored or how "flamboyantly" we go about our work!
« Last Edit: October 30, 2018, 01:39:03 pm by the_red_pill »
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In such a sumptuous festival of shite, I wouldn't be so quick to pick a winner..

But he'd make the shortlist

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #154 on: October 30, 2018, 01:47:51 pm »
I don't really buy into this mate. We had our chance in 13/14. That City team was a juggernaut at home with a few world-class players, but they weren't a Premier League great team in my eyes. They posted 86 points; a very good total, but not an unbeatable one, and they were far from being an unbeatable side. They lost at Cardiff, Sunderland and Aston Villa that season - three sides which didn't even hit 40 points. Chelsea did the double over them. And when we beat them in April, we were in the driving seat, especially when they dropped another two points at home to Sunderland a few days later.

We did remarkably well to win 11 games in a row to put ourselves in that position, but the truth is, we should have got over the line. We can bemoan bad luck all we want but Killer Heels is right, unlike in 13/14, we are building a team here capable of sustained success; one which I would trust to get over the line should we find ourselves in a similar position to that campaign. Just keep doing what we're doing and a title will come under Klopp, whether it's this season, next season, or the one after.

I agree 13/14 City absolutely elite although both teams were from an attacking point of view  - they were the better team across the entire season (unpopular opinion I'm sure)
I 100% think there's a gulf of difference between our side then and now and our prospects going forward - mostly down to a significant change in the level of transfer and wage bill investment - so we will have chances in future seasons.
However I was really referring to the totality of the 'premier league era' when things haven't gone our way - partly our fault of course

I'm just salty that we almost certainly have our best team in 20 years and we're faced with the best premier league team ever to beat... of course that's the way it is and there's plenty to be thankful for and enjoy... but this team playing at its current level would win the league in a lot of seasons and its unlikely too in this (not impossible of course) ... and today that's getting on my tit end...... I'll be over it when we beat the frauds at the Emirates 3-0

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #155 on: October 30, 2018, 01:57:22 pm »
Defense.

That is all. It may seem half impossible to challenge City(I don't see Chelsea as a competitor at this stage yet) when you allow the amount of goals they score to blind you, but all we need is an extremely good defense and that we certainly do! Our pressing combined with our actual back-5 will see us through.

Klopp has done this before with Pep- overhauled a seemingly unstoppable and almighty Bayern who scored record hauls of goals and achieved a points-record with a much less illustrious competitor and he not only managed this once- he managed to win the league- ON THE DOUBLE!


It's perfectly possible and within our reach- with a good defense. When the going gets tough, we can grind out a whole 2 months worth of 1-0's and we'll still be in the title race - regardless of goals scored or how "flamboyantly" we go about our work!

Good points but Pep wasn't manager when Dortmund won the title [twice]


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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #156 on: October 30, 2018, 02:00:07 pm »
I agree 13/14 City absolutely elite although both teams were from an attacking point of view  - they were the better team across the entire season (unpopular opinion I'm sure)
I 100% think there's a gulf of difference between our side then and now and our prospects going forward - mostly down to a significant change in the level of transfer and wage bill investment - so we will have chances in future seasons.
However I was really referring to the totality of the 'premier league era' when things haven't gone our way - partly our fault of course

I'm just salty that we almost certainly have our best team in 20 years and we're faced with the best premier league team ever to beat... of course that's the way it is and there's plenty to be thankful for and enjoy... but this team playing at its current level would win the league in a lot of seasons and its unlikely too in this (not impossible of course) ... and today that's getting on my tit end...... I'll be over it when we beat the frauds at the Emirates 3-0

This side we currently have is a lot better than the 13/14 side we had, at new years day I didn't think we would be challenging for the title, it didn't even cross my mind, but the 11 straight matches we won put us into that position. We are much more balanced side by miles, in most positions and even though Suarez and Sturridge were fantastic, I wouldn't trade them for the current front 3 we have and how they compliment our strengths.

We also didn't have Europe to worry about and we didn't have quality in depth like we do now.

Yaya Toure and Dzeko were exceptional for them that year, had we not dropped some silly points prior to that 11 match winning run [i.e. Soton at home, Newcastle away] we wouldn't have needed to beat Chelsea.

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #157 on: October 30, 2018, 02:11:29 pm »
I think he might leave if we don't beat Arsenal

why wait after arsenal? i think he can already hear the cash registers ringing at Madrid.

the only issue is that should we go after the chosen one or fat sam? ;D

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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #158 on: October 30, 2018, 02:43:44 pm »
Good points but Pep wasn't manager when Dortmund won the title [twice]

Fuck pep the little baldy twat. He's already shown we can wreck his head, and that if there's enough pressure on we can crack him. He was shitting it about our forwards, he worked himself up that much in the second leg he got sent off, then there's when he lost his head at wigan last year  and the various times he's been chatting absolute wham to journalists post match when he's stressed.

Thing is we've got to rely on other clubs - in many cases our rivals - to give us a chink of light and start turning the screw. But if we get ahead he won't like it. If he starts getting asked questions he won't like it.
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Re: Chasing the Title, Chasing Manchester City
« Reply #159 on: October 30, 2018, 02:49:23 pm »
With Chelsea and Man City doing so well, my first reaction was to think "Crap, why couldn't they have shit years for once while we are good?!". But I've realised that this is the worst attitude to have. I think that if we want to win the title, we've got to beat the best and if that means beating City and Chelsea, then let's do that.

 exactly. would much rather beat a prime city with guardiola at the helm to the title than a leicester that finishes second.