Topic: Half-term Report

[Paulie's Wallnuts]

The British experiment doesn't seem to be working thus far. Since lucas disappeared to his homeland we have been having at least 6 brits and 5 non-brits in almost all the games and Maxi and Kuyt appearing here and there. We normally end games on 7 and 4 with LS leaving the pitch or even Maxi.  Against MCFC for the 1st time I realised that this is an experiment which is going to end in tears for the owners considering the investment. The cheapest acquisition under kenny are the 3 foreigners and are currently our most precious asserts with Coates most agreeing he is for the future.. The 4 Brits and too inconsistent except Bellamy. I wish some one could give kenny the 35mil again and ask him to bolster his squard again so that I can understand his philosophy. I wonder if the british philosophy has created unexpected consequences. +4 from last year having spend over 100mil !!!

I didnt think we had much of a choice with a long term investment. We had to "buy british" to get enough home grown players i beleive. The player we got in the summer were the best we could attract IMO.

[1892tillforever]

We just aren't good enough any way you slice it. No sign that goals are coming whatsoever. We need Chelsea and Arsenal to continue being shit in order for us to get CL footy next season. Not likely IMO. Sooner or later, one of those two teams will string together a run of 4-5 wins (Arsenal already did earlier on). There is no indication that we are capable of such a run. We've not won more than 2 games in a row this season, not good enough. Adam has been shocking as of late and Downing has been pretty woeful. Some people were asking what Downing has done to get such criticism. The answer is nothing as in: He does nothing during games. Carroll doesn't get great service admittedly but I am very disappointed by his attitude. He is not busting a gut in games and he needs to get his head out of his arse.

[1892tillforever]

We're only three points of fourth, yet we could improve a lot.

The rest of our Premier League season basically contains four chapters.

The first thing we need to do is getting 9 points from the next three games at all cost. Bolton are out of sorts, Stoke at home is very doable and if we are to get fourth you gotta go to Molineux and get the points. Let's say we'll get seven from these.

Then the second chapter, it's crunch time! Monday 6th Feb will see Spurs entering Anfield and five days later we'll have to go to our beloved friends down the M62. Then there's another Cup week before we'll play either the Merseyside Derby or the Carling Cup Final.  To finish off the four big games Arsenal comes to Anfield, in between a North London Derby and a European battle. As we're game raisers, let's say it's gonna be eight from these.

The third part is a run-in of nine very doable games. That is actually the crucial part as our two London rivals are probably still involved in European action. If we manage to get at least 21 points out of these nine, we'll be fourth or at least somewhere near.

The last part is a tough finish. Chelsea coming to Anfield and us moving to Swansea in our last game. Tough, but we can get four from them.

That means another 40 points on the board and adds up to 74. Sixteen points more than last year and that'd be a good return regardless of where it brings us.

Good analysis. If we got 40 points from the last 18 games, we would definitely be 4th IMO. Tall order though as we've won 9 of 20 games and to get 40 more points, we'd need 12 wins from 18.

[DyingAtheist]

Where on earth has all the doom and gloom come from?
Okay it's not been perfect, but after such an overhaul of the team it was never going to be. Clearly action is needed in January, if nothing else just to find a player who'll put the ball in the back of the net.

But the key point here is...

We're 3 points off 4th.

That's nothing, that could go in a weekend. In 2 games me we could feasibly be 3 points ahead of 5th place. Both Chelsea and Arsenal have relatively tough games that they could at least draw in. Of course, there's every chance of us drawing as well, but damn guys it really is not time to come up with lines such as "we'll need to overachieve to reach the Champions League spots".

Did you see how far United were behind City? They caught up, why the hell shouldn't we?