Reply With QuoteIt's been a phenomanal first half of the season results (if not performance) wise.
Same again in the 2nd half of the season and we will win the league. We're not going to need 99pts+ to win it this year.
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I had always plan to do a quick little post at the half-way point this season, but it feels a tad odd with most sides have played 20 League games to our 19, due to a rescheduled fixture against Everton.
Reds would rather be reflecting after a thumping victory, but a 2-2 draw against Man United left a foul taste in the mouth. I shall reflect quickly on that then get to the main thread.
Man United aftermath
For Reds prone to fear, doubt, worry and negativity, yesterday wasn't helpful. I myself tend to be a very solution-driven, glass-half-full kind of person, but can agree with everyone that it is never good to drop points to Man United - this does not however mean we can't take silver linings, even from a crap performance and result -
- We did not lose. That's a poor, poor performance against a side who views us as a Cup Final right now and we didn't lose in the end.
- We weren't subjected to a Gary Neville weaselgasm after a winner from Harry f**king Maguire.
- The players (and Slot) will be fuming after that and we will take lesson from it.
- The crap result happened at a time when Chelsea and Arsenal also drew, so no "real" harm done when it comes to those two, though Nottingham Forest may win tonight.
Enough on that lot, how are we doing?
The departure of Klopp, the uncertainty of who to get, the flirtation with the idea of Alonso and the question of "Arne WHO?" from many supporters during the Summer, coupled with a relatively quiet transfer window will have fanned flames of doubt for those who naturally lean that way. I think many Reds felt "okay, let's nick 4th under the new guy while we watch Man City and Arsenal duke it out, bit of a transition spell ahead" and it was an understandable viewpoint.
But my GOD has Arne got off to one Hell of an excellent start this season. Ridiculous, really.
- Semi-finals of the League Cup, here we are. We have 10 League Cups to Man City's 8 and Man United's 6, with a very realistic shot of having 11 to our name. Happy days.
- First in a new-look Champion's League format that I wasn't too happy about, but so far so very good - we'll have knock-out football to look forward to in 2025 in Europe and I never take that for granted, ever.
- Top of the table, who would have called it, start of the season? Not many I would say.
- Not just top, but the best goal difference, a 6-point lead AND a game in hand. No matter the worry about those chasing us, that's a cushion title chasers dream of.
Let's remind ourselves about the League situation here -
- 14 wins
- 4 draws
- 1 loss
Bloody brilliant.
Collymore closing iiiiiiiin!!!
Well no, not Collymore - our rivals. That's always the minor grain of doubt in the back of the mind when we drop points, but in the spirit of "doubters to believers" that our previous manager was to keen to instill in us, the first question is "are they really?" and right now the answer is a comforting "no" which is very welcome.
Arsenal are seen by most as our biggest threat this season, having gone close in recent seasons and with them having a pretty good squad, not to mention being in second spot.
The last 5 games in the League we have won 3 and drawn 2 - Arsenal have done exactly the same. Five matches played (quarter of their League games) and they have gained zero ground on us - there's comfort to be had in that. Speaking further on Arsenal, it's 40 points after 20 games - I don't see a 90-pointer from them this season and that definitely helps our cause.
Chelsea on the other hand have won once, drawing 2 and losing 2 as well - they're drifting off us a little bit, indeed we have a 10-point lead now (4-game swing) and still that game in hand.
Nottingham Forest and Newcastle have won their last 5 League games, which is very impressive, but even if Forest win tonight, they'll be no closer to us than Arsenal and we still have a chance (very soon) to heal some wounds of Slot's favourite PTSD subject and perhaps get an away win there. A draw may not even be the worst result depending on how quickly we find rhythm again.
Players
Whilst there are a few concerns at the moment in injury to Gomez, contract situations, Darwin Núńez's struggles to take opportunies (and adjust to Slot-ball) and Trent's headspace, I'll mainly focus on positives.
Salah, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Van Dijk Konate are playing either very well or out of their skins most weeks, which is so very welcome. Our main midfielders that play most often (Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones and Mac Allister) are all of the right sort of age to help carry this evolving side forward, so should act as a stable platform to help any transfer-related changes in defence and attack. We cannot stand still, but we have created a very good platform upon which to continue growing, thanks to unreal work from Klopp and excellent little tweaks under new man Arne, who is doing a great job.
How successful can we be this season?
A League win looks very possible, it really does. It would be ludicrous to call it "won" at this stage, absolutely ludicrous, but if we zone in on one rival - in this case Arsenal - as arguably our main challenger, I would ABSOLUTELY take playing in an 18-game League competition against a side where we get a 19th game and begin with a 6-point head-start, who wouldn't? So let's not lose stock - this is a genuine chance we have.
The League Cup is close. We may win, we may not, but 3 matches from greatness and with the nature of the two-legged semi-final, it could be argued that one excellent performance and one "decent" one may be enough. Also, what a time to have the fixture - for anyone worrying about Tottenham, you should always flip the script - who would want to play a pissed off Liverpool side that want to bounce back from points dropped against Man United?
The Champion's League is a different Beast - maybe we will, maybe we won't - we know that Man City and Real Madrid can look much better in the second half of seasons and both are very capable of reaching the quarter-finals and beyond if they squeak the right results, which they can. That said, we must be deemed one of the favourites and that alone gives great encouragement. Keep injuries relatively contained, keep rhythm via playing in multiple comps, manage a few more minutes of key players.....who knows?
We get to pause for breath after yesterday's kick-in-the-dick. We get to bounce back with two Cup games on the spin before returning to League worries on Tuesday 14th against Forest. Whilst legs will get tired, I think the psychological boost of a change of scenery can absolutely spur us on again.
Don't doubt, believe. This is a massively exciting time to be a Red. The game yesterday felt awful precisely because the stakes are high again - and being involved in the high-stake matches that can be the difference between winning and losing trophies is surely the place we want to be?
Breathe it in. Enjoy it.
Your hobbies are rollerblading and you're also a bit of a rat-hound? Steel Wool
Sid knows he's crazy and he likes it. Balinkay
Master Tactician
It's been a phenomanal first half of the season results (if not performance) wise.
Same again in the 2nd half of the season and we will win the league. We're not going to need 99pts+ to win it this year.
Something, Something, Something, Dark Side
First Team
Yep, let’s just prey we don’t lose VVD or Salah in the 2nd half.
League and one of the Cups would be a massive season for Slots first year in charge (without any new players).
Fingers crossed 🤞
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I think 85 points is probably enough, unless Arsenal go on a serious run.Originally Posted by jozza800
They have 40 points after 20 matches and we have 46 after 19 played - I don't think we will match our first half of the season (we'd get 92 points) with how heavy the schedule will get, but remain quietly confident that we'll be consistent.
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Even if we fail. theres always next season or the season after Insidious
Cleaning up the Scots since the 13th century
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I'm always a bit more pessimistic and I can't help but look at last season. We were in a very similar position to right now (game in hand this year with 1 more point compared to last year). Arsenal have the same points as this time last year. We ended up 7 behind them. I just can't get too excited just yet. We have had too many nearly seasons.
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Every reason to be optimistic. It's been an unreal run this season and incredible to watch. Outside of major injuries there's no reason we can't continue until the end of the season.
VOTE JOCKY tae fix this fiasco.
Squad N0 1
The next league game is huge. 2019 Leicester away vibes. Win there and that will give us a real boost after what was easily our worst performance of the season.
Lose and we will likely find ourselves back in the pack by Valentines Day
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Did we have many major injuries last season? I'm curious, because we were in the same position then as we are now but tailed off. I remember losing jota for a bit, but nothing new there.
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Apparently we did, which saw the emergence of so many of "Klopp's kids".
Although I think his leaving had a lot to do with us running out of steam, after the initial 'do it for Klopp' boost
BBC: Through the course of the 2023-24 Premier League season, the Reds recorded 35 separate injuries that affected 21 of their 26-man squad.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cg3392q22xzo#:~:text=Through%20the%20course%20of%2 0the,of%20their%2026%2Dman%20squad.
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