Liverpool Discussion

[The Artful Dodger]

Football players get tested regularly, don’t see why they would have to isolate if they don’t have it.

[Burning Gold]

38 minutes ago, Lucas said:

All this talk that Liverpool won't win the league now or it'll be a joke if no one else does, I mean come on guys, how old are we?  

If you had to lay £500 of your own money on the table now that they wouldn't do it would you? I doubt it.

They were so far in front of everyone last year, all that's really happened is the playing field has evened. Every other contender has enough flaws currently not to make them a clear favourite.

They have been ridiculously unlucky with injuries no doubt. But they still have a bloody great chance considering they will still play a huge majority of games with Alisson, Trent, Robertson, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Jota, Firmino, Mane and Salah in the team.

I'd love to agree with you, but had we gone into the season with one (injury prone) senior centre back, you wouldn't have bet on us to win it again. We'd be being written off in all parts because it's a ludicrous position to be in, and yet that's the position we now find ourselves in.

I think it's a bit much to say we'd be doing well to get top 4, but by rights City and Chelsea should both be very disappointed if they don't pull clear of us

[Dr. Gonzo]

11 minutes ago, Lucas said:

I consider a lot of us fairly sensible fans with sound football knowledge on here and I am pretty sure most of us could agree City had more problems than just losing Laporte last year.

I can see why you are going down that road if you've heard those excuses from elsewhere but for me, that's just sour grapes from the people that have said that in spite of you winning. City have Laporte now and still look a way off   You walked it because you were far superior.

Bottom line here for me is that whilst it's a pretty big spanner in the works, Liverpool have enough quality in their ranks to make it work. And having seen that City game on Sunday, that's not made me rethink that in the slightest.

Fabinho when fit will be a decent replacement with Matip and regardless of that, Liverpool have enough of the ball in games to dominate and score more than the opposition anyway.

There isn't one team out of the challengers that look that well oiled to take over and dominate this league anyway. The only thing that might happen is we actually get a decent title race involving more than a couple teams for once.

Yeah, I'd want to agree with you - but I don't think it's realistic tbh. And even if Fabinho's a good fill in CB (at times, he still hasn't played there regularly enough for me to say that with great confidence tbh) ... we do lose him in the midfield, which does make our midfield a bit weaker. It'd be an easier pill to swallow with Thiago... but he's also injury prone and has hardly played this season due to COVID + getting his knee fucked by Richarlison.

If we win the league with kids + just one injury prone senior CB (who I rate highly, I have to add... but again, injury prone as fuck)... I'll be pretty surprised we managed to pull it off.

[Stan]

1 minute ago, Burning Gold said:

I'd love to agree with you, but had we gone into the season with one (injury prone) senior centre back, you wouldn't have bet on us to win it again. We'd be being written off in all parts because it's a ludicrous position to be in, and yet that's the position we now find ourselves in.

I think it's a bit much to say we'd be doing well to get top 4, but by rights City and Chelsea should both be very disappointed if they don't pull clear of us

I'm not so sure. I'd have bet on you to win it. You were so clear last season it takes a monumental effort to overturn that.

I still think you'll get top 2. In fact I think you'll still win the league.

Yes your defence has been obliterated but let's not act like the goals have gone out of the team as well - Jota, Firmino, Mane, Salah is still a formidable (at the very least) attack.

City & Chelsea will be your closest challengers come end of the season given the squad depth they have. But who knows, maybe they'll suffer an injury crisis too at some point?

[Burning Gold]

7 minutes ago, The Artful Dodger said:

Football players get tested regularly, don’t see why they would have to isolate if they don’t have it.

I don't think they do, but obviously this increases the chances of them getting it

[Dr. Gonzo]

3 minutes ago, Stan said:

I'm not so sure. I'd have bet on you to win it. You were so clear last season it takes a monumental effort to overturn that.

But a lot of why we were so far ahead of the pack is because our defense was pretty reliable. I don't think we'll come anywhere near our points total from last season, it's pretty unrealistic to expect that from the same attack but a much less reliable and consistent defense.

[Stan]

1 minute ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

But a lot of why we were so far ahead of the pack is because our defense was pretty reliable. I don't think we'll come anywhere near our points total from last season, it's pretty unrealistic to expect that from the same attack but a much less reliable and consistent defense.

I agree it won't be the same amount of points but you could still fathom 70-80 points and win the league

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, Stan said:

I agree it won't be the same amount of points but you could still fathom 70-80 points and win the league

I just can't see us really contending this year. I think we can still make top 4, but I think we'll be relying on Phillips and Williams too much for how ready they are to truly contend.

[Lucas]

@Burning Gold and @Dr. Gonzo

I can see where your both coming from, I personally do think you'll still be the team to beat but when it is your own team, you are naturally more sceptical and If I was in your shoes with Leeds, I'd arguably say the same. Anyway, time will soon tell. You need to try and see off these double game weeks with the Champions League soon as possible.

I just wonder whether we will see you go back to the team that used to cut loose a few seasons ago and attack like mad. Yeah, you may lose that solidarity you had the last couple seasons that made you such a well oiled machine, but given the state of defending anyway, I don't think it's something that is as majorly concerning as normal.

What will be interesting though is game management now with the other competitions. The league is always the bread and butter so I would expect the likes of Salah and Mane especially to face protection in the Champions League where possible.

And you never know, a couple seasons ago, Trent emerged during an injury crisis and played well enough not be dropped. Fingers crossed, we might well see the emergence of another great talent in your time of need.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Lucas

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, Lucas said:

@Burning Gold and @Dr. Gonzo

I can see where your both coming from, I personally do think you'll still be the team to beat but when it is your own team, you are naturally more sceptical and If I was in your shoes with Leeds, I'd arguably say the same.

I just wonder whether we will see you go back to the team that used to cut loose a few seasons ago and attack like mad. Yeah, you may lose that solidarity you had the last couple seasons that made you such a well oiled machine, but given the state of defending anyway, I don't think it's something that is as majorly concerning as normal.

What will be interesting though is game management now with the other competitions. The league is always the bread and butter so I would expect the likes of Salah and Mane especially to face protection in the Champions League where possible.

And you never know, a couple seasons ago, Trent emerged during an injury crisis and played well enough not be dropped. We might well see the emergence of another great talent.

The thing is, I think teams will think we're still the team to beat... and our defense will make it easier for sides to beat us. I just hope our quality in attack can match other sides determination to get 3 points off us, knowing we're massively weaker at the back.

I don't normally like when we bin off the domestic cups, but I hope we get out of the FA Cup as soon as possible. Like you say, the league is the bread and butter... and I always want us to do well in Europe. But I think any "extra" matches aren't worth the effort for us.

[LFCMike]

5 minutes ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I just can't see us really contending this year. I think we can still make top 4, but I think we'll be relying on Phillips and Williams too much for how ready they are to truly contend.

I think you're mad if you think we won't at the very least be contenders

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 minute ago, LFCMike said:

I think you're mad if you think we won't at the very least be contenders

I hope you're right, but I just can't see it

[Lucas]

5 minutes ago, LFCMike said:

I think you're mad if you think we won't at the very least be contenders

I completely agree. But it's natural to fear the worst when it is your own team. I'd be like that I think.

Then again, I'd also say you above all the Liverpool fans on here generally appear to have the most confidence in your team ability wise.

Edited November 12, 2020 by Lucas

[Mel81x+]

Xmas is around the corner. Corona time amplified, so come Jan a lot of teams will be missing players is my assumption as horrible as it sounds. 

[LFCMike]

11 minutes ago, Lucas said:

I completely agree. But it's natural to fear the worst when it is your own team. I'd be like that I think.

Then again, I'd also say you above all the Liverpool fans on here generally appear to have the most confidence in your team ability wise.

I think the goalkeeper is a massive factor. I'd be concerned with this defence and an Adrian, Mignolet or Karius behind them

[Rick]

Once Thiago and Fabinho are back it won’t seem half as bad as it does right now. The team that finish above us will claim the title. 

[LFCMadLad]

I still think we will win it. Even without a defence I think we will still win it. I might be biased but I honestly think we have the best team in the league, and the best manager. 

Get Fabinho, Thiago, Trent, Gomez, Vvd, all fit and firing again and I'd put us against any team in the world. 

 

 

[Stan]

16 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

I still think we will win it. Even without a defence I think we will still win it. I might be biased but I honestly think we have the best team in the league, and the best manager. 

Get Fabinho, Thiago, Trent, Gomez, Vvd, all fit and firing again and I'd put us against any team in the world. 

Not that he needs to prove himself any more but this is a great test for him. Past 2 seasons he's had a very consistent squad which he perfected to his credit and now is a chance for him to show his worth even more. 

[LFCMadLad]

8 minutes ago, Stan said:

Not that he needs to prove himself any more but this is a great test for him. Past 2 seasons he's had a very consistent squad which he perfected to his credit and now is a chance for him to show his worth even more. 

I think he already proved himself when he was at Dortmund, having his best players consistently sold to Pep's Munich, whilst still winning consecutive league titles and getting to back to back Champions League Finals to be honest. 

He has nothing to prove if we are honest. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by LFCMadLad

[Stan]

Just now, LFCMadLad said:

I think he already proved himself when he was at Dortmund, having his best players consistently sold to Pep's Munich, whilst still winning consecutive league titles and getting to back to back Champions League Finals to be honest. 

I'm hoping you read the first 9 words of my post  

[The Artful Dodger]

Thiago will certainly be a huge boost, gives you another dimension.

[LFCMadLad]

37 minutes ago, Stan said:

I'm hoping you read the first 9 words of my post  

So we are to totally ignore the rest of it? 

No probs  

[Cicero]

2 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

So we are to totally ignore the rest of it? 

No probs  

Stan literally wrote Klopp has nothing to prove? Just that winning the league title in these current conditions would be a test. 

Edited November 12, 2020 by Cicero

[Stan]

5 minutes ago, LFCMadLad said:

So we are to totally ignore the rest of it? 

No probs  

No but put some context on it ffs  

Can 100% guarantee if I didn't write that first bit you'd straight away be like 'he has nothing to prove any more...'

[LFCMadLad]

27 minutes ago, Cicero said:

Stan literally wrote Klopp has nothing to prove? Just that winning the league title in these current conditions would be a test. 

Stan literally said Klopp has nothing to prove but could prove himself even more ... all in one sentence 

I mean, how many times does he have to prove himself? 

Edited November 12, 2020 by LFCMadLad