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We win it easy, maximum points from our remaining games
We win it handily enough
We win it in a slugfest - 1 point clear or similar
We win it if we add 1 signing in January - say a cb
We win it if we add 2 signings in January
We win it if we add 3 signings in January - centreback midfield attacker
We aint winning it - top 4
We aint winning it - EL Spot
We aint winning it - Top Half finish
We aint winning it - Bottom half finish
I dunno what it is id be well happy to see the season get voided now it would be beautiful !
I hate it without fans have done for ages now and I still feel we have been robbed of seeing the team win the league with fans and a parade.
Lockdown has affected everyone and maybe my negative tone has been affected a touch by it.
Going to focus on this bit. Particularly bearing in mind that our hyper-successful side (and look at the points we have brought in for 3 or 4 seasons now, it IS hyper-successful, despite this malaise) is built upon a finely-tuned system.
- We have missed our first choice centre-backs, which is huge.
- We have missed what these centre-backs bring in terms of distribution and a well-timed offside trap
- We have had multiple centre-back pairings, meaning the chemistry/rhythm has taken a knock.
- We had ten players injured simultaneously.
- We have had players contract Covid, with none of us "really" knowing how much that took out of individual players.
- We have missed the raw hunger. No matter how competitive you are, it's easier to chase a title than defend one.
- We have missed the fluidity of a consistent "three" in midfield as we wean Thiago into things.
- We have missed the threat our best centre-backs pose from set pieces.
- We have missed the "rub of the green" with the referees and VAR to the point where some discuss corruption.
- We have missed the "luck" when it comes to second balls / deflections in the box that tend to lead to "nailed on" goal-scoring opportunities.
- We have missed the threat posed by an in-form Trent who has been off the boil.
- We have (recently) missed having Trent slightly further forward due to the visible caution he is showing when Henderson isn't covering due to being used at centre-back.
- We have missed Firmino being a threat of sorts when finishing, as he has been poorer than his best for a while now in that department.
- We have missed someone else "stepping up" in those rare times where Salah and Mane are both off the boil in finishing terms, which they are now.
- We have missed the Kop in full-voice dragging this team over the line in tight games (though let's be fair, all clubs will be missing fans)
- We have missed Milner's best performances as he is in the Winter of his career.
- We have missed getting opportunities on the counter-attack as teams now sit in against us to nullify that side of our game.
That is a LOT to cope with. Yet it would only take one match, ONE win to leave us just 4 points off top.
This season can go either way. I can empathise with people fearing that we will drop out of the Top Four, as it is a bloody exceptional season and seemingly anything can happen. But (incoming Sid will Sid) I look around us and think "only takes a purple patch and we're right there" - which is true!
The wheels COULD come off and if they do, we will dissect it all Summer - but surely, SURELY after everything we have witnessed with Liverpool over these last few years, we can collectively believe we're capable of solving this creative/attacking conundrum and squeezing out some results, then building from there?
Injuries and VAR have levelled the playing field this year.
It's the middle of January and the window is still open. Upto the club to dip into the transfer market if it's not happy with what it's got.
Otherwise the goals remain the same surely ?
Missing out on top4 via the league and not winning the champions league would be a big setback for the club
Without Virgil alone, winning the title and/or champions league would naturally be more challenging.
We have a berth at centre back to fill though, Lovren essentially.
Our first 3 centre backs are out injured or in Matips case returning from injury again.
Our current only top level reliable centre back is a lad who has played DM loads, can play in a 2 in 4231 and can also play right back, adding another centre back to our ranks would be smart and expected business. This hole needs filling.
This would have been an issue the moment VVD was out. Compounded by Gomez and Matip.
Missing out on top4 would I believe have impacts on sponsorships, a return to the sid cup or no income from European football at all.
We should be looking to bring in top players, CL football is a key component as is the probability of winning titles when signing players up.
Nike's increase in revenue expected, should offset most of the losses from gate receipts.
It's an amusing set of statements, fsg run the club on a sound financial footing and they couldn't expect to keep spending like they have done before.
If it's a case as you present of the owners winging it, hoping for top4 and a debrief session in the summer to chat about the catastrophe if it occurs, well that's a terribly risky strategy imo
Comes up every January, do we want to invest ahead of time to strengthen the team or wait till next season ?
I still think we are in a title race, where few are much better so far than a traditional top4 place or fourth place finish in the league. 2 ppg
They HAVEN'T 'spent' lots of money, never mind 'repeatedly' spent lots of money. We have a net spend over the last five years of LESS than £20m per season, which is the FOURTEENTH highest in the PL alone, never mind in Europe, and that's despite being the FIFTH richest club in the WORLD, and that's BEFORE the Nike deal has kicked in.
They have banked on Klopp being able to continue working miracles on a 'shoestring budget', but the problem with trying to balance more and more plates on ever increasingly shaky poles is that eventually the inevitable is going to happen.
The problem is Klopp knows if he wants to buy players the money will go into debt on the club..We have to sell to sustain. The pandemic will make it in possible for us to sign players for 40/50 million without selling other players.
I doubt Jurgen is the kind of man who wants to put debt on the club..hes a great guy that way. The owners have to come out and make it clear Klopp can sign who he wants and we will deal with the debt some other legit way.
Cleaning up the Scots since the 13th century
We do not have to sell to buy. Why are so many people buying into this bs narrative that is being spun by FSG and their 'fans'?
Unless every other club except those above us in the wealth league are also having to sell to buy, or buy nobody during this window, it shows/will show that this 'we need to sell to buy' narrative is nothing but a load of spin/excuses that are being used to justify trying to continually do things on the cheap, which is something that just will not work long term when it comes to top level football and competing for the big prizes on a consistent basis.
Klopp will do what the owners want him to do. He was/is in a position to say to the owners "back me, or I'm gone", but the very fact he hasn't been backed (hence why we have a thin squad and have only bought 'big' off of the back of the third most expensive transfer in football history) shows me that he's not putting any pressure on them to back him as there is absolutely no way he can be happy with the state of our squad, never mind that he had similar issues at Dortmund.
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