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Will everything be okay next season?


El Rojo
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Can we recover when the heart of our team returns, or is what we're seeing now part of a bigger decline? Have we been found out tactically? Are we screwed psychologically now too as a result of all the new records we've been breaking in recent weeks?

 

Wijnaldum will surely be gone, and we won't have money to bring in anybody who'd make the first team due to a combination of not finishing in the top four and no team buying another's deadwood in the current climate. 

 

Can this team (with little or no quality left on the bench) compete for the title?

 

Alisson, TAA, Matip/Gomez, VVD, Robbo, Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago/Jones, Mane, Salah, Jota

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I think that team can win the title, however,  I would move Matip on and not sure Jones is good enough yet .

 

This season is the biggest hangover we have ever had, 30 years worth. I expect us to be on it again next year.

 

VVD is key, if he plays every game, we can do anything.

 

I still fancy a good run in the cl this year, our slow football should suit the comp!

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It completely depends on signings.  We need an out and out winger to help the full backs and stretch teams and we need a centre forward who will stay in the box and score goals from crosses.  We also need one or two centre backs.  Gomez and Matip will get mid to long term injuries again and it would be suicide to rely on big Virg to stay fit the whole season off the back of his horrific injury.

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We'll be a lot better. There's no way we turn in consistently shite performances like this season's in front of fans. 

 

Will we be good enough to win the title? I doubt it. City and Chelsea will continue to invest and have good managers. United will also continue to invest but don't. 

 

My guess at this stage: 3rd or 4th in the league.

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There isnt going to be a clear out of players unless Jurgen has a change of heart. I see players out as Gini, Shaq, Origi, Taki, Adrian with further possibles of Bobby, Milner, Matip and Davies leaving. Id be surprised if Kabak stays.

 

I just dont know how next season will go. With no fans, this season has seen the highest ever number of away wins. Will teams be able to carry that into next season when fans return, who knows?

 

Im not confident that just because we'll have Virgil, Joe, Hendo and Jota all fit, things will automatically be great again. We dont know whether Virgil will have the pace he had pre injury or doesnt start picking up other niggles as most players do after a major injury.

 

I fear something else is broken.

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The way this seasons panning out, we’re gonna need more than 3 players for the first team coming in. 
 

This current run is a major concern and we can’t keep glossing over it with excuses. Having stand in centre halves shouldn’t be a reason for averaging 1 shot on target every home game. 
 

Maybe refreshing the coaching staff and getting some new

ideas in would be a start.

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If we're not buying players which is likely, then this team in this formation challenges for honours IMO. If Firmino stays he swaps position with Thiago when rotating. Jones covers for any of Hendo/Jota/Thiago depending on the opposition setup. 

 

               Ali

TAA VVD Gomez Robbo

      Fabinho Hendo

Salah Thiago Jota

            Mane

 

But what the fuck do I know. 

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Virgil and crowds back will help. But Gomez, Maptip, Keita and co will all get injured again. Gini will be gone. Hendo is getting older, so without signings and investment we'll continue to decline.

 

I don't think we'll get the required level of signings and investment

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You know when we've won the champions league and looked back at at those moments where we almost lost it, Alisson vs Napoli for example and we thought 'what if that goes in?', that cup run doesn't happen and everything that came afterwards doesn't happen, all those trophies that hinged on that one save. 

 

If we crack the top 4 I reckon we will win number 7 and 20 next season, and afterwards we'll look back at this season relatively fondly, we've been shit and everything is going against us, making top 4 would be close to a miracle given the circumstances but none of that will matter because it will be seen as the prequel to something special. 

 

So if we can dig deep and get the job done the last day of the season qualifying for the champions league will be our latest sliding doors moment, then 2022 is going to be phenomenal. 

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Unlikely - especially if we don't secure a place in the European Cup and FSG decide as a result to further tighten spend.

 

We IMO have to ship out dead wood and permacrocks and bring in 2 centre halves, 2 midfielders and a versatile attacker.

 

To fund this and to improve squad depth and have reliable cover that is ready to contribute when needed and when we choose to rotate we need to bin bag Keita, Matip, Oxlade and Origi and see what we can raise for likes of Wilson, Grujic et al.....the way we have been unable to call on reliable cover this season has been a big, big reason why we are fucked - this has to change.

 

We have to learn lesson from this season that 3 senior centre halves is not enough and one of those being a permacrock is unacceptable....we have to stop trying to force square pegs into round holes as cover across the team and we need to develop a Plan B for when Plan A is not working....at present we simply do not have one.

 

We need to act like a big club in the summer even if we miss top 4, like a club who is on a one off temporary absence from top table, not like a skint, UEFA cup level club.

 

 

 

 

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I’m ever the optimist when it comes to us. But to me it feels a long way back. Yes, the injuries have totally derailed us and to be fair we were making a good fist of it up until the Palace 7-0.

 

But this malaise that has set in is extremely worrying, if you could guarantee we’d get 38 games out of Van Dijk and one of Gomez and Matip for next season that would be a great start. Having fans back should give us an enormous lift too, I really hate the game in its current form and I’m sure Klopp does too.

 

However, lots of issues remain. Firstly Gomez and Matip’s fitness records are horrendous so no gurantees there, Firmino is finished, Mane having his worst run of form since the spell after the derby in 2017 and question marks over Salah’s future will inevitably arise. Plus we’re losing Gini and Thiago has been a disaster so far.

 

A lot of work to do, I don’t know if FSG will facilitate that work though.

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It won't be as bad as this season, but I can't see us getting 95-100 points and beating City to the title. I would probably settle for 75-85 points, a CL place, and actually taking the domestic cups seriously (at least the FA cup, anyway). 

 

I'm not very confident it'll happen because I don't think we'll be ruthless enough in the summer, nor will the owners pony enough up money, nor will we budge on the slightly "in isolation" view we seem to often take on transfers. Not selling someone for £17m because we think he's worth £20m. Well, occasionally we get £20m in the next window. But often they don't get sold, they stink the place out if they do play, and they eventually fuck off on a free or considerably less anyway.

 

Every single sick note, not good enough, or never will be good enough, needs fucking off in the summer. If we get half what we think they're worth, so be it. We have to go in to next season with a squad of players that first and foremost can usually be relied upon to actually play. 

 

We also need more than one style of play and/or formation (and I don't mean moving one central midfielder back three metres making a 4-2-3-1 rather than a 4-3-3). We need a way of switching things up in bad runs of form. 

 

And we need to be cunts. We get zero benefit from playing nice guys. Zero. We still seemingly have a reputation for having players that dive all over the shop anyway. We have a reputation for getting more decisions for us than against us. So what the fuck are we getting out of trying to stay on our feet, not trying to get opponents sent off, not sticking the boot in. Nothing. We need some fight. We seem to have quite a few players that have the right mentality - VVD, Milner, Henderson, Robertson, Mane, Phillips, lots of them in fact. So the instructions must be coming from above. It's laudable, but it's limiting our success. We should be surrounding refs during games, and calling them out after games. 

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I think Salah will be gone because we won’t be in the CL so we’ll have @ £100m to spend. Who we get to replace him will be a big issue. With Jota and Mané we’ll be ok. I’d cut our losses on Thiago and get a midfielder who can run and tackle. If we get into the Europa we’ll do well to finish top 4 next year. If we miss Europe altogether we’ll have a shot at the league.

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No CL means there will not be s lot to spend (Not that having CL has made a difference there). But whats to say we don't get injuries like this again next season. We will still be going into next season with the same over used tired squad. 

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