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Season Preview: Glass Half Full v Glass Overflowing


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The stats from last year are a little bit misleading. Stoke at home, Everton and Chelsea away, we got 2 points. Without a champions league semifinal we are getting 7 very easily. I don't doubt for a second we would have gotten those 7 points if we needed them. Klopp had a figure for 4th in mind that we achieved comfortably, my gut tells me he has a figure for first this time around and the cups and even champions league will be fucked off with this number in mind.

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Ok so, Numero...as promised....

 

Firstly I'll say that I openly admit to being pessimistic by nature - the glass generally for me is half empty, it is just the way I am.

 

I am a 46 year old life long Red who like many others on here is lucky enough to have been able to see us win things on a regular basis in the 80's albeit as a kid mostly and it does feel a long time ago since queuing up down Kemlyn Road to get into the Kop and just about squeezing in to see us presented with the championship trophy the last time against Derby back in 1990....Awful game not that it mattered settled by a Gary Gillespie goal and only really noteworthy for The King coming on for a cameo and The Kop serenading Kevin Francis with 'One Blackpool Tower, there's only one Blackpool Tower' and of course being presented with the trophy after we has sewn it up a few days earlier v QPR.....

 

If you had told me that night that nearly 30 years later we would still be waiting to win it again I would like most there that night I am sure have laughed at you and said "Yer wha'!"....

 

Anyway we all know the story since and it hasn't all been bad and we are a LOT luckier than most to be fortunate enough to follow a team who have not finished lower than 8th in the league for about 50 odd years and have won European Cups and everything else (except the League) even in what are seen as "lean" times.....

 

I love this football club - probably (like a lot of others) more than i should do. I moved down to London about 12 years ago and whilst I don't go every week now I go a fair bit and I spend a fortune doing so - today I lashed out over £100 on train fare to get the lad and me up here today for the game tomorrow (I am never organised enough to get on the Virgin site and get the cheap tickets in advance, dopey get I am).....Our seats in the main stand for tomorrow are £53 each adult/child are like goldust aren't they, so swallowed full price.....Of course loads of other people on here are same and I am no more special than them of course or anyone who maybe does not go either - I am just one of thousands and thousands/millions of people who love this club - I am lucky to have grown up in Liverpool and 'go the game' for years and I am lucky to be able to do it a good few times a season now.....this weekend is my lads first time, I have been a little misty eyed today showing him around town etc today and I reckon tomorrow I'll be worse when we rock up at ground (soft get me!)

 

Anyway - I digress.....I do honestly believe that we are improving, we are moving in the right direction and we are in the best state we have been for a good while - the football is at times a joy to watch, we have a forward line that is top drawer and we can give anyone a hiding on any given day.....

 

We are though in my view still a little short in squad depth, we have too many injury prone players and we have a giant monkey on our back in the form of being serial losers in recent years when push really comes to shove.

 

Now I have no desire to get into a ruck here but as much as you or anyone else feel like voicing your views (which of course is what discussion boards are all about) I like to voice mine too and I try to do so a reasonably as possible, as reasonably and intelligently as my limited vocabulary and intelligence allow.

 

I see things like this - Yes there is evidence of progress and yes I can see why there is a lot of positivity and hope (I hope to fuck we do well, like all Reds do) I can see why there is excitment and I can see why some people might have an 'issue' with what they perceive as 'negativity' or people not being excited and not being able to understand that....or not being able to correlate supporting a team and not being positive/excited/bullish etc.

 

I though think a lot gets lost in translation - again i think it is the nature of forums....expressing concern at squad depth, concern about our less than ideal record last season against the rest of the top 6 or our tendency to let leads slip or drop points to shite is in my book totally fair and totally reasonable things to discuss/be concerned about.

 

Maybe I and some others are a bit burned from previous setbacks...2014 hurt me and if I am honest changed me a fair bit...I genuinely thought we had cracked it, and to see it slip away the way it did left a mark, a big fucking horrible painful mark...we all know the story there.

 

I'm not gonna sit here and list all the other near misses, examples of bad luck etc and at times almost unbelievable ways fate has fucked us up the arse - you are a big red you know.

 

Maybe I have let stuff affect me too much, maybe I should be more positive, move on, look forward and so on but the doubts nag at me, they niggle away and then when Karius for example hands Madrid a goal in that final all the doubts are confirmed....and rinse and repeat.

 

When I go the game, or watch on TV or in pub etc I am always hopeful (cautiously!) and I for those 90 mins always try and forget the negatives and just support the redmen - but as much as there is progress, there is much to be excited about there is still IMO a lot of weakness and sadly I can't help but worry and see it being exposed/costing us.

 

The front 3 are boss, totally.....Shaiqiri is a useful addition to add cover and depth and help rotate....but I just can't believe Sturridge is going to get off his arse and buck a 4 year trend and suddenly be what we need...I don't see a player of the level we need in Solanke....

 

I look at our centre halves and yes VVD is terrific - the rest are a collection of the mediocre, the injury prone and the unproven - it is a big worry to me.

 

The midfield is arguably not much stronger depth wise than it was last season and it was stretched to fuck at the end of the season as the games mounted up and the injuries mounted up.....AOC and Can are out Keita and Fabinho are in....yes Keita should be an upgrade on Can - Fabinho I am not sure about yet...AOC being out for the season is a blow as he really won me round and was looking great and really fitted how we set up and was doing the business....Lallana for example coming in and having as much impact is in my view very unlikely.....

 

At times last season when we needed to freshen it up we looked to bench and had nowhere near enough....the same concern is there for me going into this season...in the 3 game weeks or when players are being fucked by international travel demands etc have we got enough to change/rest/rotate and not see the huge drop off that led to dropping points like v the bitters at home? To me it is a fair question?

 

Have we got the mental toughness to grind it out whem under strength or not quite at best? Or will we see the high number of draws we had last season do for us again?....Again for me it is a fair question.

 

The keeper situation is one where there is definite and clear reason to say we have improved and we should expect to see the benefits...you are right to say that with VVD and Robbo in side last season we improved and having them from start it is reasonable to expect better than the first half of last.....Clyne being fit and TAA being a year wiser is good news too.

 

End of the day (as this post must have become fucking boring ages ago, hello anyone still there!) I probably could do with looking at the positives more than looking at possible negatives or worries and you know what I will try and do that...

 

We are gonna need to be fucking near perfect to challenge City - they are immense and the rest of the top 6 all have eyes on being at it too of course, the 6 sides are all full of quality are head and shoulders above rest of league and i bet the other 5's fans (maybe City aside) have the same hopes and fears that we all share on here.

 

I want number 19 desperately, I don't expect it this year, but I believe we are closer to having a proper crack at it than we have been in a good while....I'll be as made up as the rest of us if we do nail it of course - a trophy would be a good thing to get the monkey off our backs and show ourselves and the rest that we can get over the line...another year of dining at Europes top table too of course (and I think we will secure that) is the other big aim.

 

Bring it on, come on you mighty redmen.

 

The mood is good it has to be said... The manager is still universally backed. The club has been doing its best to narrow the gap and build bridges between itself and its fans. Things can always be improved and done better but it feels more right than wrong right now and there have been plenty of times we haven't been able to say that.

 

Jürgen Klopp has built a side that is capable of beating anyone on it's day and fucks up less when it shouldn't fuck up than it did (although still work needed here) and is capable of scoring goals anywhere, anytime. From front to back the first 11 boasts proven quality that clubs would be queuing up for if the for sale signs went up. Would Alisson, Van Dijk, Keita and Salah walk into pretty much any team in the world right now? Of course they would.

 

So yeah - I am hopeful, but the doubts do nag away, and that is way it is.

 

Apologies for any spelling errors...typed all this on phone.

 

 

Got something in my eye reading that. Repped

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The stats from last year are a little bit misleading. Stoke at home, Everton and Chelsea away, we got 2 points. Without a champions league semifinal we are getting 7 very easily. I don't doubt for a second we would have gotten those 7 points if we needed them. Klopp had a figure for 4th in mind that we achieved comfortably, my gut tells me he has a figure for first this time around and the cups and even champions league will be fucked off with this number in mind.

 

Agree in the main with the earlier bits but can't see that Jurgen or FSG would relegate CL success and all that goes with it to a sideline to win the league.

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Ok so, Numero...as promised....

an tha, thanks for taking the time to reply. You've got a few years on me (10), so was old enough to see even more of our period of extreme dominance, although I'm not in a totally different position to you. Like you, I can't believe it's been this long; the suggestion of such a long break for Liverpool - which is no longer a synonym of 'team that wins the league every year' - would have sent me howling. Like you, I did my stint of 7 years as a regular, then moved away. And actually, although not miserable I've not been one to shout 'we're going to win it'. Actually, I'm sure Paul will back me up when I say that down the years I've often disagreed with his sunny disposition. I've certainly given him a hard time for his mockering.

 

Even during our title challenges over the last 20 years, we've been a team chasing, we've started out as 'hope we get top four' and then over perform our way to 'if ithandbinferusbeingabitshit'. This year is different. It. Is. Different. Objectively, look at the side we've got, look at the business we've done in the last 12 months. Look at the gaps we've filled and the weaknesses we've strengthened. We're not perfect, we'd still have to overperform to win, but not as dramatically as we had to over perform to get second some seasons. For the first time in a long time, we're genuine title contenders. We start on 0 points, not -25 points. It'll be tough, but we can't think the same old negativity is realism when it's not based on the reality of the squad we have, the manager we have, the team spirit of the squad, and the improvements we've made, but rather different players in a time gone by or false dawns that have gone. I understand not wanted to big us up, for fear of disappointment, but we shouldn't pretend we're not fucking excellent and capable of achieving excellent things.

 

I hope you had a great day out and I hope you have a save trip home.

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an tha, thanks for taking the time to reply. You've got a few years on me (10), so was old enough to see even more of our period of extreme dominance, although I'm not in a totally different position to you. Like you, I can't believe it's been this long; the suggestion of such a long break for Liverpool - which is no longer a synonym of 'team that wins the league every year' - would have sent me howling. Like you, I did my stint of 7 years as a regular, then moved away. And actually, although not miserable I've not been one to shout 'we're going to win it'. Actually, I'm sure Paul will back me up when I say that down the years I've often disagreed with his sunny disposition. I've certainly given him a hard time for his mockering.

 

Even during our title challenges over the last 20 years, we've been a team chasing, we've started out as 'hope we get top four' and then over perform our way to 'if ithandbinferusbeingabitshit'. This year is different. It. Is. Different. Objectively, look at the side we've got, look at the business we've done in the last 12 months. Look at the gaps we've filled and the weaknesses we've strengthened. We're not perfect, we'd still have to overperform to win, but not as dramatically as we had to over perform to get second some seasons. For the first time in a long time, we're genuine title contenders. We start on 0 points, not -25 points. It'll be tough, but we can't think the same old negativity is realism when it's not based on the reality of the squad we have, the manager we have, the team spirit of the squad, and the improvements we've made, but rather different players in a time gone by or false dawns that have gone. I understand not wanted to big us up, for fear of disappointment, but we shouldn't pretend we're not fucking excellent and capable of achieving excellent things.

 

I hope you had a great day out and I hope you have a save trip home.

Nice one, cheers.

 

Just got back...cracking weekend - lad loved it...soft as shite me had a tear or two very close to falling watching him take it all in!

 

Great result.

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Nice one, cheers.

Just got back...cracking weekend - lad loved it...soft as shite me had a tear or two very close to falling watching him take it all in!

Great result.

What a great match for you to take him to! He’ll never forget it

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Put him to bed about ten mims ago and went to check on him just and he was just laying there eyes wide open and i asked him 'what you thinking about, son' he replied 'i was just thinking about how many stairs we had to go up to get into the football today'.....(we were in top of main stand)

 

Made me laugh....never mind the 4-0 win etc...it is all about the stair climb...which nearly killed me by way!

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Nice one, cheers.

 

Just got back...cracking weekend - lad loved it...soft as shite me had a tear or two very close to falling watching him take it all in!

 

Great result.

Nice one, an tha.

West Ham at home was the first match my dad took me too as well. We won that one 6-0 though, so My Dad > You.

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No one has gone back-to-back in the League since Ferguson.

 

That's how difficult it is at the top these days.

 

If we finish in front of the other 36, then maybe finishing in front of City is not beyond us either.

 

We have the quality in the the first XI.

 

Now, we must pray for that little bit of luck that is always needed.

 

And then, who knows.

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