Topic: Chasing the Title

[Jm55]

The one league loss following last year's trip to Dubai was against Swansea where we dominated play (72% possession) and had 21 shots (4 on target).

We didn’t play well in that game but I do think how bad we were is over stated.
From memory we actually started pretty well and Mo particularly missed a good chance to put us 1 up.

In those sorts of games it can often get away from you if you don’t make early dominance count. Plus Firmino, I think, missed an absolute sitter to level it right at the end.

[wige]

And yet we suffered our worst set of results following last years trip to Dubai - WLLWD.  Devils advocate would say it may not be as big a boost as you make it out to be if the alternative is City who continue to rotate their squad but remain in England playing competitive football.  We won our first game which was the thrilling 4-3 home game with City, but if I recall correctly we seemed to have heavy legs in the last 15 mins of the game when City penned us in and put 3 quick goals in our net.  Hopefully it was all just a mere coincidence. 

Specifically to the bolded part, if I'm right to read that as would we be better off doing what City are doing rather than having 11 days off training, recovering and freshening up in the sun - I don't think it's really a debate at all. Maybe it would be if we didn't have Trent, Gomez, Lovren & Gini out and Milner suspended. Also AOC & Brewster, with Lallana either close to return or always an injury doubt (depending on your view). Knock on means that the other players have many more minutes in their legs and accumulate more fatigue and increase their chances of inury. To be at home at this stage would mean FA cup football, meaning more games later in February, and less time to recover and prepare for the league game at Leicester and other forthcoming fixtures. Not to turn this into an FA cup debate, but after seeing our fixture list after the defeat to Wolves I was immediately less bothered about the result. I really don't see how that can be anything but positive for our league campaign.

[TheMightyReds]

Lots of good signs.
45pts left to play for, and realistically both of us will not get 40pts.

I know we shouldn't look too far ahead and Leicester is the most important game. But we have 8 home games and 7 away. Hopefully win all the home games and we are almost there. The 7 away's are against

1. WestHam
2. ManU
3. Everton
4. Fulham
5. Southampton
6. Cardiff
7. Newcastle

All games are tough and tricky at this stage, but in particular the first 3 away games seem to be. If we are still ahead (by 4-5pts) after the Everton game, then we would have a great chance. Let's just concentrate on ourselves, as ManC will be thinking the same thing. Start strong in every game, manage the games like we have done.

Note that ManC may have their league game against Everton moved to GW25, which would be midweek as they are in the League Cup Final in GW27 and that match is postponed.

[Caston]

Apparently we're coming back from Dubai today after only 3/4 days there.

[kaesarsosei]

The 7 away's are against

1. WestHam
2. ManU
3. Everton
4. Fulham
5. Southampton
6. Cardiff
7. Newcastle

I'm less confident. I can see a world where it's  possible to drop points in 4 of those games (1, 2, 3 & 5). Southampton are a new team after the manager change. Everton are Everton but you can never assume an away win in a Derby. Man United's bubble still hasn't burst under OGS and if they think they can stop us winning the league they will be hugely motivated.

[Alisson Wonderland]

That's precisely the problem. City have scored a fucking shit load of goals before the 20 minute mark this season. Most teams give up once that's happened. If you're 0-0 or even just the 1-0 at half time you've got a punt. I think Newcastle probably need to be 0-0. The next step is then around 70 minutes. If they aren't losing at the 70 minute mark, or if there's just a goal in it, then the doubts that did for city against leicester, chelsea and palace will kick in. I don't think it's likely that city drop points against newcastle, but I really don't think it's impossible.

City also lost against Palace and Leicester after taking an early lead so not every team will give up as soon as they are behind

[rawcusk8]

Apparently we're coming back from Dubai today after only 3/4 days there.

Did someone mess around so Jurgen cancelled the holiday?

[Elzar]

City also lost against Palace and Leicester after taking an early lead so not every team will give up as soon as they are behind

I've noticed most teams seem to get a decent chance against City at 0-0 or 1-0. The ones that score that chance tend to go on and really trouble them, if not take points, the ones that fluff it (which is most) just cave in.

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Did someone mess around so Jurgen cancelled the holiday?

No, the plan was always to be there for a couple of days not the entire 11 days .

[Charlie Adams fried egg]

Apparently we're coming back from Dubai today after only 3/4 days there.

Which was always the plan iirc

[Caston]

Which was always the plan iirc

Fair enough.

Love how there have been no social media updates from anybody whilst out there, full focus 

[Ocean Red]

The way some of the media and pundits are talking, is that we will blow it, bottle it. Man City will over take us and win the league because of their experience of winning it and their squad quality and they can win every single game until end of the season blah blah. Like it will take a team from planet mars to take any more points off them again this season. The way i see it is let them write us off. Let us still be the underdogs in their eyes, we normally do well when we are the underdogs and some people write us off.

[lionel_messias]

The way some of the media and pundits are talking, is that we will blow it, bottle it. Man City will over take us and win the league because of their experience of winning it and their squad quality and they can will every single game until end of the season blah blah. Like it will take a team from planet mars to take any more points off them this season. The way i see it is let them write us off. Let us still be the underdogs in their eyes, we normally do well when we are the underdogs and some people write us off.

Let them all talk. Unless they are lacing boots up to play for Leicester City - they are irrelevant.

[woof]

All this postulating isn't going to get us anywhere but increase the supporters' anxiety. I say let's enjoy the ride. We've waited so long

[Son of Spion]

The way some of the media and pundits are talking, is that we will blow it, bottle it. Man City will over take us and win the league because of their experience of winning it and their squad quality and they can win every single game until end of the season blah blah. Like it will take a team from planet mars to take any more points off them again this season. The way i see it is let them write us off. Let us still be the underdogs in their eyes, we normally do well when we are the underdogs and some people write us off.

This is why I rarely listen to or read pundits. We may fall short, and we may not. City have infinite resources, so they might pull it off, but then again, they may not. At the end of the day they are human just like our own team. They are capable of being turned over. We know this because it's happened already. One thing is pretty much for sure, though. If we fall short it will not be a ''bottle job''. The entire league are playing with one hand (foot?) tied behind their backs because of City being financially doped up to the eyeballs. Facts are, they should win it over 38 games. If they don't, it will be due to a monumental effort from whoever does. If we run them close it will be an achievement in itself.

What we have to do is simply take one game at a time. Focus on the 90+ minutes and win as many games as we possibly can. That's all we can do. We should not give a monkeys what pundits have to say. It's in our own hands and we have to enjoy the ride for what it is. City had to learn how to win, and that's exactly what we are doing now. We are in that process. Sooner or later, all this knocking on the door will see it open for us. Pundits, the media, opposing fans? Who cares what they think or say. Most talk utter bollocks anyway. 

[mrantarctica]

This is why I rarely listen to or read pundits. We may fall short, and we may not. City have infinite resources, so they might pull it off, but then again, they may not. At the end of the day they are human just like our own team. They are capable of being turned over. We know this because it's happened already. One thing is pretty much for sure, though. If we fall short it will not be a ''bottle job''. The entire league are playing with one hand (foot?) tied behind their backs because of City being financially doped up to the eyeballs. Facts are, they should win it over 38 games. If they don't, it will be due to a monumental effort from whoever does. If we run them close it will be an achievement in itself.

What we have to do is simply take one game at a time. Focus on the 90+ minutes and win as many games as we possibly can. That's all we can do. We should not give a monkeys what pundits have to say. It's in our own hands and we have to enjoy the ride for what it is. City had to learn how to win, and that's exactly what we are doing now. We are in that process. Sooner or later, all this knocking on the door will see it open for us. Pundits, the media, opposing fans? Who cares what they think or say. Most talk utter bollocks anyway. 

The vast majority of these pundits have no idea what they are on about most of the time. Leicester, West Ham and Bournemouth are all very winnable games and in the same sequence Man City play Newcastle, Arsenal and Chelsea. Its very conceivable that they will drop points in that group of fixtures and we'll find ourselves even further ahead. But we need to do our part and keep winning. I think our team has a lot of character and I don't think we're the type of team that will "bottle it".  This is a side that has come quite far in 2-3 years and I'm sure the lads will be desperate to finally clinch some silverware, having come so close in recent seasons.

[Jm55]

There’s a decent article from Mel Reddy on our transition from beaten finalists in Kiev to our current plight. I won’t post it, as it’s massive, but it can be found here -

https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/from-tears-in-kiev-to-title-challengers-how-liverpool-turned-their-champions-league-misfortune-into-motivation-216742

It’s a bit of a feel good article, and you can tell she’s getting her info from the club as Klopp is painted to be the second coming of Christ  but it does offer some decent insight, especially around the aftermath of the defeat in Kiev and how we moved on from that.

[LFCEmpire]

Fair enough.

Love how there have been no social media updates from anybody whilst out there, full focus 

Agreed! I have been searching facebook, instagram, google for some pictures from that Dubai trip. Nothing to find except that video of Ox training. Full focus like you said 

[FlashGordon]

Both Van Dijk and Sturridge had stories up on Instagram 

[LFCEmpire]

Both Van Dijk and Sturridge had stories up on Instagram 

 Oh shoot, completely missed it! 

[Mighty_Red]

And yet we suffered our worst set of results following last years trip to Dubai - WLLWD.  Devils advocate would say it may not be as big a boost as you make it out to be if the alternative is City who continue to rotate their squad but remain in England playing competitive football.  We won our first game which was the thrilling 4-3 home game with City, but if I recall correctly we seemed to have heavy legs in the last 15 mins of the game when City penned us in and put 3 quick goals in our net.  Hopefully it was all just a mere coincidence. 

Just to counteract the "being fresh" vs "playing games" argument, Leicester will also have a 10 day break since they are out of the cup as well so if there is any reduction in match sharpness, it will affect both sides. If we consider our schedule, the injury situation and the mental side of it - the break will benefit us more.

Of course, it only helps if we go on and win the game. An away match might've been trickier but it should help being at home for this one.

City will drop points when we least expect it, none of us foresaw the 3 defeats in December and we expected them to get 6/7 points out of them, not zero. Leave that as a nice surprise and let's enjoy our games.

[the_red_pill]

It's just a lazy opinion.. but I've always felt that we go off-road immediately when we go out for a training camp in Jan. I can remember basically everytime this happens. Stats may proof otherwise and maybe I'm selective with my memory, but I cannot remember any good having come from it before.
We're always slow, disjointed in our first 2/3 matches following a training camp.

Personally- I'd have preferred we stay in England and get a "rest" there, but yeah..
Let's hope it works out this time (*gulp*)

[Crosby Nick]

It's just a lazy opinion.. but I've always felt that we go off-road immediately when we go out for a training camp in Jan. I can remember basically everytime this happens. Stats may proof otherwise and maybe I'm selective with my memory, but I cannot remember any good having come from it before.
We're always slow, disjointed in our first 2/3 matches following a training camp.

Personally- I'd have preferred we stay in England and get a "rest" there, but yeah..
Let's hope it works out this time (*gulp*)

What about that incident fee trip to La Manga with Rafa? Came back and beat Barca away in our next game I think.

[Cheesehead]

The way some of the media and pundits are talking, is that we will blow it, bottle it. Man City will over take us and win the league because of their experience of winning it and their squad quality and they can win every single game until end of the season blah blah. Like it will take a team from planet mars to take any more points off them again this season. The way i see it is let them write us off. Let us still be the underdogs in their eyes, we normally do well when we are the underdogs and some people write us off.

Tbf you can’t blame them for thinking that way as city have done it before. We haven’t. Plus they’re an amazing side, one of the best ever. It’ll take an unbelievable effort to finish above them, that’s why for me if we win it, it’ll be our best ever title win.

[Rush 82]

There’s a decent article from Mel Reddy on our transition from beaten finalists in Kiev to our current plight. I won’t post it, as it’s massive, but it can be found here -

https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/from-tears-in-kiev-to-title-challengers-how-liverpool-turned-their-champions-league-misfortune-into-motivation-216742

It’s a bit of a feel good article, and you can tell she’s getting her info from the club as Klopp is painted to be the second coming of Christ  but it does offer some decent insight, especially around the aftermath of the defeat in Kiev and how we moved on from that.

Ta.

Enjoyed that.

[relahni]

I think we are in an almost perfect position. The media are making City favourites. They have a lot more games to play. Potential tired legs in the run in. We have the advantage and certainly have the fight to win scrappy games. I'm enjoying us being a proper team again. Although the nerves kicked in v Palace

We are good enough to win the league. 

[Jon2lfc]

All this postulating isn't going to get us anywhere but increase the supporters' anxiety. I say let's enjoy the ride. We've waited so long

Very true.

Also this thread won't contain any significantly different conversations until maybe the last 3 games of the season. Until then, it's the same old woe, anxiety and speculation just rehashed with different wording.
Look at our last 2 serious title challenges in 08/09 and 13/14.

In 08/09 we were chasing Man Utd for pretty much the last few months of the season. We kept on winning, but so did they - to maintain their 4 point gap until the end.
In 13/14 we were never truly in front of Man City because they had games in hand. We kept on winning, they kept on winning. We just slipped up at the end and they won by 2 points.

It's probably gonna be the same this season. We'll be together until the last 3 games.

[El Lobo]

It’ll be done by then 

[redraf]

There’s a decent article from Mel Reddy on our transition from beaten finalists in Kiev to our current plight. I won’t post it, as it’s massive, but it can be found here -

https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/from-tears-in-kiev-to-title-challengers-how-liverpool-turned-their-champions-league-misfortune-into-motivation-216742

It’s a bit of a feel good article, and you can tell she’s getting her info from the club as Klopp is painted to be the second coming of Christ  but it does offer some decent insight, especially around the aftermath of the defeat in Kiev and how we moved on from that.

Great read.  I didn't realise that Henderson had any influence on our signing VVD.

[dai_bonehead]

There’s a decent article from Mel Reddy on our transition from beaten finalists in Kiev to our current plight. I won’t post it, as it’s massive, but it can be found here -

https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/from-tears-in-kiev-to-title-challengers-how-liverpool-turned-their-champions-league-misfortune-into-motivation-216742

It’s a bit of a feel good article, and you can tell she’s getting her info from the club as Klopp is painted to be the second coming of Christ  but it does offer some decent insight, especially around the aftermath of the defeat in Kiev and how we moved on from that.

Nice read.

[JackWard33]

That Reddy article reads like a press release
She writes without critical facility
Fun if you want a pick me up - but has to be taken with a pinch of salt

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Liverpool will step up their preparations for next week's visit from Leicester on Friday after their return from Dubai this week.

The Reds flew out to the UAE after Saturday's 4-3 triumph over Crystal Palace as Jurgen Klopp made the most of a rare gap in the fixture list.

The players were given some time off around a light training schedule as Klopp sought to give his team a chance to recharge their batteries after a gruelling couple of months of action.

The Liverpool squad returned to Merseyside on Wednesday and were given the day off on Thursday before reconvening at Melwood on Friday.

Friday's return to work signals the start of serious preparations for Wednesday's visit from Claude Puel's Foxes, with Klopp hopeful that his injury-hit squad will be refreshed.

ames Milner will sit out the game at Anfield after picking up two bookings in Saturday's win over Palace, although Fabinho's injury is reportedly not as serious as first thought.

It means the Brazil international could feature as a right-back with Trent Alexander-Arnold's fitness still uncertain after his setback in the 1-0 win against Brighton on January 12.

-ECHO

[Qston]

That Reddy article reads like a press release
She writes without critical facility
Fun if you want a pick me up - but has to be taken with a pinch of salt

Yeah but it's good to read positive stuff and all indications are that what she is saying in there is true. I personally thought it was a good read.

[AndyMuller]

There’s a decent article from Mel Reddy on our transition from beaten finalists in Kiev to our current plight. I won’t post it, as it’s massive, but it can be found here -

https://www.joe.co.uk/sport/from-tears-in-kiev-to-title-challengers-how-liverpool-turned-their-champions-league-misfortune-into-motivation-216742

It’s a bit of a feel good article, and you can tell she’s getting her info from the club as Klopp is painted to be the second coming of Christ  but it does offer some decent insight, especially around the aftermath of the defeat in Kiev and how we moved on from that.

Excellent read that, thanks.

[iamnant]

That Reddy article reads like a press release
She writes without critical facility
Fun if you want a pick me up - but has to be taken with a pinch of salt

I know this might get me hated on here as she seems to be highly regarded, but I can never make it through any of her articles.

[spider-neil]

That Reddy article reads like a press release
She writes without critical facility
Fun if you want a pick me up - but has to be taken with a pinch of salt

There's a million articles taking sly digs at Liverpool so I have no problem with an overly positive Liverpool article is for no other reason than to address the balance.

[Peabee]

It's just a lazy opinion.. but I've always felt that we go off-road immediately when we go out for a training camp in Jan. I can remember basically everytime this happens. Stats may proof otherwise and maybe I'm selective with my memory, but I cannot remember any good having come from it before.
We're always slow, disjointed in our first 2/3 matches following a training camp.

Personally- I'd have preferred we stay in England and get a "rest" there, but yeah..
Let's hope it works out this time (*gulp*)

After the Spanish training camp last Feb, we beat Newcastle 4-1 and West Ham 2-0, then drew 0-0 in the second leg with Porto (we were already up 5-0 on aggregate).

[Peabee]

Tbf you can’t blame them for thinking that way as city have done it before. We haven’t. Plus they’re an amazing side, one of the best ever. It’ll take an unbelievable effort to finish above them, that’s why for me if we win it, it’ll be our best ever title win.

Definitely. Especially during this era, where there’s real quality in the top 6. There’s been large periods of the PL where only 2 teams have stood out, and one team has dominated, whereas the last 3 titles have been won by 3 different clubs. If we win it, then it will be 4. It’s a tougher challenge, then along come City to win the league with 100 points last season with arguably the best side to win the league. United used to regularly win the league with 90 or fewer points, they even won it with 75 points one season, and only went over 90 points in two seasons. It looks like we may have to get near the record of 100 or maybe match it to win.

[Yevgeny]

Yep, beating a financially doped Pep Guardiola team over a league season would be an amazing achievement, and probably the greatest title win of the PL era (bar Leicester). I'm pretty sure that no other team in the world right now would have a hope of beating them to a league title. It's been a great effort by the lads so far. I think the next points swing will be crucial. If we get back to a 6 or 7 point lead with same games played, we will be in a formidable position. If City reduce the gap to 1 point, the pressure will be on. Great to be involved in a title race like this though. Every game is so important that watching them is like being waterboarded unless we're cruising to victory.

[Lone Star Red]

Some parts of Reddy's articles read a bit like club-fed propaganda, but I find them to be thoroughly enjoyable reads and I think she's a much better writer than the vast majority of UK-based football writers, most of whom I find incredibly underwhelming (to put it kindly) compared to their American sports counterparts.