Topic: Minimum requirement for the coming season?

[Joe Rogans Chin]

I'd say 6-9 points off top of the league come April.

Realisticlally this would mean a certain top 4 finish and also be in with a shot at the title during the last 6 or so games.

Reading between the lines, Rafa doesn't expect us to be top from September and then for the rest of the year, he just expects us to closer to to first place the longer the season goes on.

[Greg]

For me, the minimum requirement is 4th place.

But if we finished 5th, finishing a few points behind the team that finished 1st, and we won the Champions League, FA Cup and League Cup… then I would still put it down as an excellent season.

So it's not always black and white. What we all want to see is a major improvement. You can't say we need to finish x points behind the eventual winners because you can't control how much other teams spend.

I want Rafa to spend his money well this summer. I don't want us to start the season with a lack of quality in certain positions. We need a top class starting XI and then we also need 5 or 6 top class substitutes, all of who are versatile enough to play in a couple of different positions.

I want Rafa to have learnt from his 'experiences' of the last few seasons. I think he should rotate less for away games. He needs to decide on a formation in July and not go changing throughout the season depending on the opposition. Maybe it's ok to tweak it against a great side, but otherwise, let our opposition worry about us.

The players have to realise that they can't fuck about. If they get dropped, then they need to stay dropped rather than getting their place back simply due to being rotated back in due to somebody else getting a rest.

G&H either need to fuck off or settle down and behave like owners who care. I'm not gonna spend another season obsessed about them. If they are staying for the foreseeable future then they have to play their parts. Starting by building the stadium and giving Rafa some money to spend. And staying out of the papers.

The reserves and academy need to carry as they have been, and I would love to see some of them getting a chance in the odd home games.

[abhred]

From 11 points, I'd like us to improve upon that, and be atleast 5-6 points within the eventual winners. And be in the title race till March/early April. A win over the Mancs. And at least one trophy.

[Aldridge 8]

1st is first
2nd is nothing

Win the lot or you fail.

(isnt that how it used to be?)

well that is right , but a majority seem to put up with mediocrity , no league for near on 20 years so which ever manager is in charge it is failure .

[Degs]

Hope Rafa and the players have higher expectations

What my minimum requirement and my expectations are, are entirely different.

I turn up and expect us to win every game.
My minimum requirement is that we're still in the hunt when that shiny new calendar comes out.

[Cusamano]

I don't expect the title this season.

But it would be nice to finish within touching distance of the winners.

A European Cup wouldn't hurt as well.

[Brentieke]

Challenge for the title. Simple as that. It will be Rafa's 5th season and if he still hasn't produced a title challenge after next season then he somthing is wrong.

I'd be happy with almost exactly the same season Arsenal had this year. Still be in the race with 4 games left, final of a domestic cup and QF of CL. I'd rather we make the Semis of the CL and win a domestic cup, but I'd happily trade that in for a real title challenge.

[redmark]

Im going to say a challenge to the Prem again. Like everyone said last July, but a mixture of the whole G&H crap and our CL run covered the smell of the carcass of what was our league season. We cant keep disguising it

Rafas had 4 seasons now and you would expect to have seen progress to be honest. I remember Chelsea coming up on everyone slowly. You knew they were getting better and stronger. We just seem to do the same thing every year. No better, no worse

We were still in a pretty strong postion in the league when Marseille came to Anfield. One of the worst Liverpool performances Ive ever witnessed and we were rightly beaten

The point is weve got to start looking like challengers and not be arguing amongst ourselves over Rafa's management domestically by January.

Thats what I want.

Agreed. Defined by still being in the title race into at least late March/April; I'd rather finish 4th and 5 points behind than 2nd and 10 points behind.

Or as I asked for last season, 87 points. Which was enough to win the title for United.

[thredworm]

I think it's a case of being closer come the new year. Every season we seem to finish strongly and hardly lose a game from March to May. I think Rafa will still rotate, because the idea is to just be closer to the top every time we come into the run-in.

I would like to see a genuine title challenge, although I'm not expecting us to win it.
I would also like to see us get to a cup final and at least the semi's in the Champions League.

I'd also like to actually enjoy the spoils of a win over the fucking mancs. Getting sick of them scraping wins at Anfield for a start.

[DangerScouse]

well that is right , but a majority seem to put up with mediocrity , no league for near on 20 years so which ever manager is in charge it is failure .

That's horseshit! The majority don't put up with mediocrity. People are realistic to know that we don't have the funds to compete with the top 2 in the transfer market so this makes winning the league more difficult. It has fucking killed most fans to see both the mancs and chelsea winning the league for the last 4 seasons. We have no divine rite to win the league. Maybe we did 20 years ago but times have changed for the worse unfortunatley and your expectations would want to change accordingly.

1)2 derby victories
2)At least 3 points from the mancs
3)If we're still in the running in the league come March
i'll be delighted as we have the easiest run in.
4)Semi-final of the CL.

[Dr Cornwallis]

Minimum requirements IF we get the money to spend on new targets is close the gap.  We can't finish anymore than 6 points off the champions IF we get the money.  I'd like to see some silverware at the end of the season as well, and I don't mind if it's a day out at Wembley.

Minimum requirements if we don't get the money.  Stay in touch with the leaders, no more than 11 points adrift by the end of the season, and a cheeky cup-run with the youngsters.

I don't expect Rafa to win the league next season, Ferguson has a strong squad who are young, same with Wenger, and Scolari is going to spend, spend spend.

[c0burn]

To beat the Mancs home and away.

[the_prodigal_s0n]

A few people seem to be saying that the masses generally accept mediocrity. I can understand where they're coming from but I disagree. The fact is that the current climate is a totally different one to the 60s through to the 80s. I remember when we went top last season under Rafa and everyone said it was the first time we were top since around 2002. Rafa is of course partly culpable for this but we are not as good as we used to be and that is not Rafa's fault. He's building towards the title (and many others) but to compare us to teams of other generations is totally unfair IMO. We need to get used to the fact that until Rafa has finished rebuilding we have no right to expect a title as we fell away too much before him. When he arrived we were competing with Newcastle FFS. They're an extreme case, but I believe that had we not gotten as talented a manager as Rafa we may well have ended up in their position.

[anfieldpurch]

Top 3 and a trophy

Would love Premier League Title and Fa Cup but top 3 and a trophy will do me.

[richmond-red]

1) Still in with a (realistic) shout of the title in March.

2) Beat United at least once.

3) Knockout stages of CL

4) Domestic Cup Final would be nice.

[seanficko but really I'm wicklofc]

The Quadruple.

[fowlermagic]

Watch a league game in April having still some hope for the title.

Oh and the ability to change requirement by December.

[fattony]

To go through the league campaign winning points on a consistent basis eg 15 points out of every 18 available - no dry spells.

[the_prodigal_s0n]

To go through the league campaign winning points on a consistent basis eg 15 points out of every 18 available - no dry spells.

I agree with you, but those numbers are a bit high. That would work out at a 95 point average!

[Greg]

I'm quite shocked to see how many people have mentioned that beating Man U at least once next season is part of their minimum expectations.

Are we the new bitters?

[sumdumguy]

for me a minimum top 3 finish, less than 9 points behind the leaders.
a solid cl run, a domestic trophy.

we need that player to come through to fill in for nando and SG when they have their inevitable dips or injuries. For me its got to be Ryan Babel, can he come in and consistently score and create? If he can get 15 goals we may be in with a shout.

[Greg]

for me a minimum top 3 finish, less than 9 points behind the leaders.
a solid cl run, a domestic trophy.

we need that player to come through to fill in for nando and SG when they have their inevitable dips or injuries. For me its got to be Ryan Babel, can he come in and consistently score and create? If he can get 15 goals we may be in with a shout.

To me, it's not about points, it's about a realistic challenge. If we can't win the league with a few games to go, Rafa might sacrifice points and rest players if we're in the CL semis. So at the end of the day - it's not about points.

As for a domestic trophy - is that really a minimum requirement?

[12Kings]

Minimum requirements for me this coming season would be new ownership. For me that be like winning a trophy in its own right.

[DangerScouse]

I'm quite shocked to see how many people have mentioned that beating Man U at least once next season is part of their minimum expectations.

Are we the new bitters?

No, not at all. If you beat your main rivals as opposed to them beating you there is a 6 point differential. Common sense really.

[love the reds]

minimum for liverpool should be one major trophy.
genuinely anticipating better than 4th this time. i'd take 2nd and the mancs not winning tho.

[Garstonite]

To limit walshy_mullets posting during the post-game threads.

[Greg]

No, not at all. If you beat your main rivals as opposed to them beating you there is a 6 point differential. Common sense really.

We all love beating the c*nts but it's not a minimum requirement. When it does become one, we will be the new bitters.

And what happens if the minimum requirement is not met? Does that mean that we all accept that Rafa has to be sacked?

[KurtVerbose]

It's a stupid argument, and one used by most unsuccessful chairmen.

Firstly, by setting performance requirements like that you're marking out a manager's sacking criteria, which is normally a self full filing prophecy.

Secondly, most people think Rafa is a very good manager, one of the very best in the world. Are you saying that if we have a bad season he is suddenly a bad manager?

Thirdly, if he suddenly becomes a 'bad manager', who could we get who is better?

Let's be honest, if we'd have had Agger for the season, and if there wasn't all the disruption with the owners, we'd have been very close to the top two last season and maybe challenged. That's a remarkable achievement considering the gulf in spending and the fact that Rafa's only been here 4 years and inherited a poor team.

Liverpool aren't a sacking club. Houlier left after two bad seasons, not one.

[DangerScouse]

We all love beating the c*nts but it's not a minimum requirement. When it does become one, we will be the new bitters.

And what happens if the minimum requirement is not met? Does that mean that we all accept that Rafa has to be sacked?

Your right it's nota minimum requirement. Think a few people in here including myself have put in their hopes for the season as opposed to their demands/requirements.

[nutmeg94]

what is the reported transfer kitty then?

Low, about 10-15m.  Again, that's just what I've heard from reports.

[Onward Liverpudlian]

Minimum requirement is one helluva title challenge plus a trophy. I'm not saying we have to win the league.

Surely this is not too much to ask in Rafa's FIFTH season as manager?

No trophies and faffing about for 3rd/4th/5th and i'm afraid it should be time for a change next summer.

[the_prodigal_s0n]

No trophies and faffing about for 3rd/4th/5th and i'm afraid it should be time for a change next summer.

The last time we were struggling for 5th was in Rafa's first season. Last year we always had the upper hand over Everton and as far as I'm concerned our CL place was never in any doubt. We might not challenge, but we'll definitely get a CL place next year.

[anfield]

Sort out the new stadium

G&H gone

Top four in the league

SF in the CL

[Greg]

Can people stop saying a trophy is a minimum requirement?

A trophy is a nice to have. We could finish second in the league, and be losing finalists in all of the other cup finals and that would be a hell of a good season in terms of improvement?

Winning a cup relies on a certain amount of luck - e.g. the cup draws, refereeing decisions, injuries, one off bad days. You can hardly measure progress on thre result of a cup competition.

[anfieldpurch]

Can people stop saying a trophy is a minimum requirement?

A trophy is a nice to have. We could finish second in the league, and be losing finalists in all of the other cup finals and that would be a hell of a good season in terms of improvement?

Winning a cup relies on a certain amount of luck - e.g. the cup draws, refereeing decisions, injuries, one off bad days. You can hardly measure progress on thre result of a cup competition.

Next season we this seasons Chelsea?

[stjohns]

No injuries to the spine...of the team.

[cox3100]

id reluctantley settle for 4th if we stuff the mancs home and away

[Anthony]

My standards are the same every season -

Minimum 70 points, preferably at least 75.
Qualification for the Knockout Stages of the CL (especially given we'll be one of the top seeds)
If we have to go out of the Knockout Competitions then it should be going down to a top side fighting and not a minnow with a whimper.

Be very careful about aiming for top 4 though, the CL Qualification changes next season with the top 3 qualifying automatically and the 4th side entering a very tricky qualifier from a top 15 country.

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/news-template.html?071130a
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kassiesa/bert/uefa/access2009.html

Basically (assuming England remains ranked 1-3), The top 3 in the League will Qualify directly. 4th will go into a pot with 4 other non-champions from Countries ranked 1-5 plus 5 qualifiers from a previous round of non-champions from Countries 6-15. Only 5 Group slots are available! (NCQ Rounds)

UEFA have put the Champions from Countries 13 downwards in a separate tournament for 5 slots of their own. (CHQ Rounds). This means that there will be more Champions in the Champions League at the expense of the "poorest" qualifiers from countries 1-15.

In summary the gap between finishing 3rd & 4th becomes highly significant - not only does finishing 3rd now mean direct qualification for the Group Stages but the opponents that the 4th place team will face will be significantly harder.

For example, if the system were in place this year, the qualifiers would be as follows.

R1 Seeded
Steua Bucharest
Panathinaikos
Rangers
Fenerbahce
Anderlecht

R1 Unseeded
Twente (Netherlands)
Vittoria Guimares
Dinamo Kiev
Sparta Praha
Spartak Moscow


(Assuming the seeded teams win)

R2 Seeded
Liverpool
Schalke
Marseille
Steua Bucharest
Panathinaikos

R2 Unseeded (Our possible opponents!)
Rangers
Fenerbahce
Anderlecht
Fiorentina
Atletico Madrid

[Meako1977]

1> Stilll involved in a league challenge at Easter.

2> A domestic trophy in the bag by end of season.

3> Visiting the Pope whilst on the way to victory number three in the Eternal City!!

[fowlermagic]

I want to win a cup at least, ie you have the same hopes as a Spurs, Everton & Co basically as you are already acknowledging a title is beyond us.