Will we finish in the top four?

[Numero Veinticinco]

The gap to Chelsea helps a lot. Seven points. Let’s imagine a bad scenario and we lose to Man Utd and Chelsea, but continue to match Chelsea in all other results. We have a bit of breathing room. It’s not there yet, and we must keep going, but it’s looking positive.

 

Hopefully we beat the Mancs and keep it going and finish second.

Yeah, that seven point gap is huge. They still have Spurs to play, too. So if they win that, the gap becomes wider between us and Spurs, if they don't then the gap widens again.

 

I need to phrase that differently.

[Pureblood]

If we throw it away from here we don't deserve it.  Losing a seven point lead plus goal difference would be full on Henman choke. 

[The Guest]

Two successive top four finishes is a hell of an achievement given the financial muscle of our rivals. The only thing I feel we are behind them in, footballing wise, is squad depth but that is improving too and will continue to do so with Klopp in charge.

Even more so when you consider the clubs starting position when he took over. It’s absolutely astonishing what he’s turned us into. Yet people still behave in this odd manner. I’m not talking about people having complaints constructive or otherwise about performances or decisions. That’s the nature of the beast and what makes football what it is. I’m talking about the certain type of fan that is just negative about everything and anything. It honestly baffles me.

[Strontium]

Just having a read thru this thread, if this season is a success, there’s some on here that really don’t deserve it, the hysterical fannies. Funnnee being one. Just fuck off and support Spurs you bad bell

Are posts like this really necessary? It ignores the fact that folk had much to be pessimistic about at the end of yet another profitable transfer window. And but for being very lucky with injuries, things could be very different.

[magicrat]

We lose on Saturday and Chelsea win then its going to be a big blow, 

[Lee909]

We lose on Saturday and Chelsea win then its going to be a big blow, 

 

It won't be great but we will still have a 4pt gap and they still have to play Spurs and us

Chelsea will need to win both games and hope everyone else drops other points and they dont

[magicrat]

It won't be great but we will still have a 4pt gap and they still have to play Spurs and us

Chelsea will need to win both games and hope everyone else drops other points and they dont

 

I am not saying defeat on Saturday will stop us getting top 4 . It would be a momentum killer and probably leave us scrapping with Spurs and Chelsea for 3rd and 4th.  A win Saturday would make top 4 very likely, 

[liverpoolsno9]

Are posts like this really necessary? It ignores the fact that folk had much to be pessimistic about at the end of yet another profitable transfer window. And but for being very lucky with injuries, things could be very different.

Yes they are! I can understand a bit of negativity, a bit of criticism now and again. it’s the constant negativity from the same posters and the OTT criticism of Klopp that get under my skin. When we lost for the 1st time in 12 or 13 games recently the same old cry arses were on here like it was the end of the fucking World. There’s only about 3 or 4 posters that fall into that category. Funnneee, Eeyore and Creator Supreme are the worst. They seem to enjoy it when we play shit so they can give it the ‘i Told you so’ routine. When we lost to Swansea recently, Funnnee actually said he was glad we lost!!!! Wtf? That’s the type of ‘fan’ I mentioned, that doesn’t deserve it if we have some success.

[Jairzinho]

Being annoyed by Funnneeeee is like being annoyed by someone on EastEnders.

[Numero Veinticinco]

Are posts like this really necessary? It ignores the fact that folk had much to be pessimistic about at the end of yet another profitable transfer window. And but for being very lucky with injuries, things could be very different.

Yes, I think they are absolutely necessary. The ‘realism’ being pushed by some has been shown, so far, to be a mixture of piss poor judgement and needless negativity. The proof of the pudding is in the eating and right now the eating is good. Maybe it was premature to set fire to the kitchen if the disgusting flavour of the pudding before anybody has tried it.

 

I'm feeling like I've stretched that metaphor as far as it'll go. Also, I want apple pie and custard. But seriously, it wasn't the fair concerns about the wisdom of selling coutinho that the person you quoted had an issue with. It's the brash, condescending, egotistical rush to negativity and insults from a bunch of preemptive know-it-all twats calling the manager all sorts that some of us have an issue with, especially as it looks to have been poor judgment in their part.

[dockers_strike]

Not sure where to post this but here seems as good as anywhere without starting a new thread. There are a couple of charts and tables that do not copy over in the original article.

 

If ever there was a precedent for key players departing a football club just when it seems they are at their most important, it is Liverpool. Predictably enough, all the evidence prior to Philippe Coutinho leaving in early January suggested they would suffer losing him.

Xabi Alonso, Fernando Torres and Luis Suarez all spring to mind, having each left Liverpool at the peak of their respective careers. In each case Liverpol's fortunes fell off a cliff.

Liverpool finished second in Alonso's final season at Anfield, four points off the title; one season later, Alonso-less, they finished seventh. In the 2010/11 season in which Torres departed midway through, Liverpool came sixth; they dropped to eighth a year later. In Suarez's last season, Liverpool pushed City close for the title. Without Suarez in the next campaign they came sixth. 

That is why Jurgen Klopp fought tooth and nail to keep Coutinho despite Barcelona's unrelenting interest. £142m is what can only be described as 'crazy money', but even at that price few at Liverpool would have wanted to see the back of him.

And yet two months on from his move, Liverpool are safely through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League and up from fourth in the Premier League (when Coutinho left) to third, hot on the tails of Manchester United in second. Maybe everything will be alright after all...

Jurgen Klopp did everything to try and keep Coutinho Credit: Getty images

But what's the reason behind Liverpool's ability, this time around, to contend with a key player's departure?

 

Klopp said recently he believes his team is less predictablenow that Coutinho has gone, and there is certainly some truth in that: when Coutinho was available, all play went through him, and often he was the source of that moment of magic needed to break an opponent down.

"On a good day it makes you more unpredictable if you don't have this dominant player but on another day you miss a player like that,” Klopp said.

“Phil Coutinho was a very dominant player in our game and when we were not at our best it was always a good idea to give him the ball, maybe he has an idea. But it was always clear when Phil didn't play we had to do the job differently, to put responsibility on different shoulders and spread it between the players."

And that is exactly what Liverpool have done. After only half a season together, the 'Fab Four' have been disbanded, their work now shared among three. And everyone has stepped up.

 

Since Coutinho's departure, Mohamed Salah has nine goals and three assists in nine starts. Sadio Mane has six goals in five. Roberto Firmino has taken on greater all-round responsibility in his wonderfully unique gegenpressing 'false nine' role, with more tackles than any other attack-minded player in the Premier League in that time, his 17 enough to rank in the overall top 20, as well as racking up six goals and four assists in just 10 appearances. Indeed, Liverpool have become more of a team since Coutinho left.

 

Despite playing only 14 times in the league this season, Coutinho still ranks third for shots attempted in Liverpool's squad. He accounts for just 3.9 per cent of Liverpool's minutes played this season, but 10.7 per cent of their attempts on goal.

 

His 39 shots from outside the penalty area is 16 more than anyone else in the squad and makes up 20 per cent of their overall total.

Pot shots from distance are rarer these days, and Liverpool are having fewer shots in total in the post-Coutinho era, with 11.4 per Premier League game - down from 13.1, but they are scoring more goals, their conversion rate having improved markedly.

The players are attempting to dribble less often. They are making more interceptions and far more tackles. Chance creation is up, too.

 

There is a real sense that everyone needed to step up in Coutinho's absence, and they have delivered. They are winning more, having seen off teams like Manchester City and Porto, falling seconds short of beating Tottenham, too. The defeats to Swansea and West Brom feel like a blip that has now been overcome.

Goals are still being conceded, but in games other than the West Brom defeat and the 4-3 win over City, Liverpool have shipped just four goals in eight games since Coutinho left.

 

Virgil van Dijk's presence has helped steady things, while Andrew Robertson has been a revelation at left-back and Trent Alexander-Arnold is still improving on the other side.

Coutinho was a significant loss, particularly mid-season, but without actually buying anybody to replace him, Liverpool have dealt with his departure remarkably well. The burden has been shared and even though it is still early days, it looks like there will be no post-Coutinho collapse that many had quite reasonably predicted. Instead, Klopp's team are going from strength to strength.

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2018/03/09/liverpool-have-improved-since-selling-philippe-coutinho/

[Creator Supreme]

Still a no from me, 6th if we're lucky!

[Grinch]

Klopp looks set to prove me wrong for the second year running.  You'd have to be bitterly disappointed if we lost it from here.

 

When you look at the fixtures and how many points Chelsea would need to put on the board, it really hits home.  Last eight of the champions league and doing what we're doing in the league is fantastic and well above what our spending deserves.

 

The thought of what the man could do properly backed in the transfer market.  He may even be able to build that team with time and patience but will he get it?  Knifes have come out in both the last two seasons, seasons that have exceeded many expectations.

[TheHowieLama]

We beat Chelsea at theirs in May and we are in - simple as that. Other results are seondary (barring a total collapse) 

[mgw100]

We beat Chelsea at theirs in May and we are in - simple as that. Other results are seondary (barring a total collapse)

Let's hope we make that game irrelevant in the CL race

[Jennings]

Just fucking win. Then I wont have to do any maths.