Search the Community

In our system with two attacking wide players, how many goals should be the minimum expected during a PL season from those two positions and how many assists should we expect? I could have posted this in the "Goals where are they coming from" thread but there is a specific direction I want to go with this thread so its best suited with its own thread I think. Sterling and Suso/Borini have started most PL games in these two positions this season with 17 out of 18 possible starts between them while Downing is recorded with the last one, so far its resulted in 1 goal and 0 assists from 273 of our front three. I guess we can all agree its not good enough compared to anything really, but still some of the players in these positions have got a lot of credit for their performances so far this season even if they are not really delievering to the standards required at a club like ours. Do we have a mismatch between the standard we demand from the team compared to those we demand from our players or what exactly is going on? Yes we have young players, but should young players not be asked to deliever? If we set a lower standard for them just because they are young are they really ready? And most importantly for this thread, do you think these players will be even close to deliever what you think is a minimum requirement from these positions when it comes to goals and assists?

Last season we reached the finals in the two cups we compteeted in and even if our league season was disappointing, this is how it looks like if we look at the games between the top 8 teams. Table between the top 8: 1. Man City 14 10 1 3 31p 2. Man Utd 14 7 4 3 25p 3. Arsenal 14 7 2 5 23p 4. Liverpool 14 6 3 5 21p ------------------------------ 5. Spurs 14 4 4 6 16p 6. Newcastle 14 4 3 7 15p 7. Chelsea 14 3 4 7 13p 7. Everton 14 4 1 9 13p Still people keep talking about how bad our season was last year and how far behind the top 4 teams we are. Are we really? Did we really need an overhaul of the squad or did we actually only need to get in an attacking player or two to complete it or just fine tweakings like Dalglish said earlier in the summer?

Zenit are in the middle of their windet break, that should work in our favour, the first part of the season ended 10/12-12 and it will start again 09/03-12, we will not find a better time to play them than this. Premier Liga 12/13: 1. CSKA Moskva 19 14 1 4 33-17 +16 43p 2. Anzhi 19 12 5 2 34-18 +16 41p 3. Zenit St Petersburg 19 11 5 3 36-18 +18 38p 4. Kuban 19 10 2 7 32-21 +11 32p 5. Spartak Moskva 19 10 2 7 35-30 +5 32p 6. Terek Grozny 19 10 2 7 23-27 -4 32p 7. Rubin Kazan 19 10 1 8 26-19 +7 31p 8. Lokomotiv Moskva 19 9 4 6 27-21 +6 31p 9. Dinamo Moskva 19 10 0 9 26-25 +1 30p 10. FC Krasnodar 19 8 4 7 33-27 +6 28p 11. FK Rostov 19 5 5 9 20-25 -5 20p 12. Amkar 19 5 4 10 19-31 -12 19p 13. Volga Nizhny Novgorod 19 4 5 10 19-30 -11 17p -------------------------------------------------------- 14. Krylya Sovetov 19 4 4 11 18-36 -18 16p ------------------------------------------------- 15. Alania Vladikavkaz 19 2 5 12 18-31 -13 11p 16. Mordovya 19 2 3 14 18-41 -23 9p We played Anzhi while their season was ongoing and while giving a few fringe players at home a chance we beat them 1-0 and only lost 1-0 away with almost a reserve team. Liverpool-Azhi 1-0 Anzhi-Liverpool 1-0 And if we look at the table we can see Anzhi is above Zenit, so with a winter break in Russia and a full strenght team I fancy our chances to get a good result in this game- We can also look at the results Zenit had in the Champions League before dropping to the Europa League in what I'd say is one of the weaker groups considering the current state of Milan and Malaga. 18/09 20:45 Málaga - Zenit St Petersburg 3-0 03/10 18:00 Zenit St Petersburg - Milan 2-3 24/10 18:00 Zenit St Petersburg - Anderlecht 1-0 06/11 20:45 Anderlecht - Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 21/11 18:00 Zenit St Petersburg - Málaga 2-2 04/12 20:45 Milan - Zenit St Petersburg 0-1 Champions League group C: 1. Málaga 6 3 3 0 12-5 12p 2. Milan 6 2 2 2 7-6 8p ----------------------------- 3. Zenit St Petersburg 6 2 1 3 6-9 7p 4. Anderlecht 6 1 2 3 4-9 5p I know football is not maths, but based on this I think we should be favourites and I will be bitterly disappointed if we dont go through overall and get a good result away in Russia.

So in a possible scenario where we beat Zenit to qualify for the next round of the Europa League and then advances from ther alst 16 to the quarter final, what should be our priority, the Europa League since we actually can win something or the PL we cant win?

Puts into perspective how hard it would be to finish 4th from where we are now: source: oh you beauty Infographic – Forecasting the Finish We've been hearing an awful lot about fourth place lately. Not necessarily because of Liverpool's improvement – and there has been improvement – but more because the Ministry of Truth the official site seemingly wants us all to always look on the bright side of life. So, is it feasible? I admit that the "best case scenario" is wildly optimistic. Wildly. And I do not expect that it will happen. But it is "possible." It projects wins against West Brom (h), Wigan (a), Southampton (a), Villa (a), West Ham (h), Reading (a), Everton (h), Fulham (a), and QPR (h); draws against Swansea (h), Tottenham (h), and Newcastle (a); and a loss to Chelsea (h). The three matches against sides above Liverpool in the table are all at Anfield, the six away matches are all against sides currently placed between 13th and 19th. Regardless, I will be incredibly surprised if Liverpool managed 9W-3D-1L during this stretch, no matter the opposition. Liverpool's points per game over the first 25 matches is a meager 1.44, better than last season's total (1.37) or the dismal 1.25 earned under Hodgson, but still nowhere good enough. Were Liverpool to finish the season with the same points-per-game average, they'd end on 55 points. Since the league switched to three points for a win, Liverpool have finished with a worse total just twice: 54 points in 1998-99 (Houllier's first season) and 52 in last year's campaign. However, if you ignore the opening five matches of the season, where Liverpool took just two points, the points-per-game average rises to 1.70. Which, incidentally, is also Liverpool's points per game average in the last ten matches. Were Liverpool to continue that form, they'd finish with 58 points – the same number as in Benitez's first season, as well as 2010-11. Liverpool have bettered that points-per-game average in the last six matches, despite traveling to the 1st, 2nd, and 6th-placed sides. By averaging 1.83 points per game for the rest of the season, Liverpool would finish with 60 points. Which actually borders on respectable. But 60 points has gotten fourth place just once in the last ten years: 2003-04. That was actually Liverpool's total in Houllier's final season. But chances are, 60 points won't do it this season; Tottenham already have 45, Everton 42, and Arsenal 41. And if you go by Liverpool's results in equivalent fixtures last season, they'd reach 56 points: wins over Southampton (replacing Blackburn), Villa, West Ham (replacing Wolves), Chelsea, Everton, and QPR; draws against Swansea and Wigan; and losses to West Brom, Tottenham, Reading (replacing Bolton), Newcastle, and Fulham. If you do the same for the four teams directly above Liverpool, Arsenal and Everton actually have worse comparable results in last season's fixtures. Arsenal won five, drew one, and lost seven; Everton won three, drew three, and lost seven. That'd give Arsenal 57 points and Everton 54 points, both catchable even with mediocre Liverpool results over the next 13 matches. But both Tottenham and Chelsea decimated their comparable fixtures last season – Chelsea's record was 8W-2D-3L, Tottenham's 9W-2D-2L, which would give Chelsea 72 points and Tottenham 74. Over the last 10 seasons, the average number of points needed for fourth place is 67.8. Tottenham would need 1.77 points per game – say, 6W-5D-2L or 7W-2D-4L – to reach that mark. Liverpool would need 10W-2D-1L, two points more than the above "best case scenario." Liverpool aren't reaching 68 points. And Liverpool probably won't reach 4th, no matter how many interviews with players they post on the official site. But Liverpool will almost certainly better last season's point total, while playing better football. And, honestly, after the last few seasons, discernible, continued progress remains all we can really hope for.

SHIT STAT ANALYSIS This is a bit tricky as West Ham are currently joint 10th but lets not let that get in the way of the stat all the media love to point out. We are currently on zero if you exclude that West Ham result. But they could be in the Top Ten come May, so you have to to gauge that as well in your vote. I'd appreciate if Code could provide how many of the Top Ten teams we have beaten for each of the last three seasons as well. At the end of the season we will comeback and compare (just to see how shit this stat really is), however it is worth pointing out that we have had victories over West Ham, Fulham, Sunderland and Norwich who are all only a few points from the Top Ten - so at the end of the season we - even if we don't win another game - could finish with beating some of the final Top Ten anyway. Remaining Fixtures: West Brom Home Swansea Home Wigan Away Spurs Home Southampton Away Aston Villa Away West Ham Home Reading Away Chelsea Home Newcastle Away Everton Home Fulham Away QPR Home