LFCMike Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 "To me the Liverpool fans seem to be bottling it, not the players and Klopp," said Sutton. "Can't we just say that Liverpool and Manchester City are two great teams - it's a brilliant title race. This will go to the wire. "When Manchester City lost earlier in the season to Palace and Leicester and Newcastle, did we say Manchester City are bottling it?" "Is drawing at Manchester United bottling it?" "Everton, their rivals, seemed to really up their game - their best moment of the season may be stopping Liverpool win a title. "It's ludicrous to suggest that Liverpool are bottling it. They are absolutely not. The players are just focused on the next game." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47449256 He's not wrong. Seems like a lot of our fans have thrown the towel in after Sunday.
Rick Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 2 hours ago, LFCMike said: "To me the Liverpool fans seem to be bottling it, not the players and Klopp," said Sutton. "Can't we just say that Liverpool and Manchester City are two great teams - it's a brilliant title race. This will go to the wire. "When Manchester City lost earlier in the season to Palace and Leicester and Newcastle, did we say Manchester City are bottling it?" "Is drawing at Manchester United bottling it?" "Everton, their rivals, seemed to really up their game - their best moment of the season may be stopping Liverpool win a title. "It's ludicrous to suggest that Liverpool are bottling it. They are absolutely not. The players are just focused on the next game." https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47449256 He's not wrong. Seems like a lot of our fans have thrown the towel in after Sunday. He's right. After all these years I've got pessimism running through my veins. I don't think that we have bottled it though. In fact, I think we have be excellent this season. I need to be more positive, there is a lot of football to be played and I personally took my reaction on Sunday to the extreme.
Lucas Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 There will be at least one or two 'shock results' in the run in. And by that, I mean the 'gimmie' wins that seem to have been granted City or Liverpool's way. Always happens. Whether its a team fighting to stay up or one quite relaxed with no pressure, a big decision that goes the opposition's way or just meeting City or Liverpool at the ideal time, there will be a surprise somewhere.
Subscriber RandoEFC+ Posted March 5, 2019 Subscriber Posted March 5, 2019 I don't get the obsession with bottling it. While I like to joke and take the piss out of Liverpool, my definition of bottling it is "You should have won it". Liverpool shouldn't win this title because City should be in a league of their own. The 2013ish season Liverpool bottled it because they were several points clear with only a few games left. Likewise if City get 4 points ahead and suddenly lose their nerve with a few games left then they'll have bottled it.
Subscriber JoshBRFC+ Posted March 5, 2019 Subscriber Posted March 5, 2019 I hope it's Liverpool. Just to fuck off the massive bandwagon against them. Seeing shite on FB like a poll of - Let Shamina Begum in or Liverpool win the league. And all the comments are laughing crying faces and people tagging each other. Just Fuckofffffffffffffffffffff
Burning Gold Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 2 minutes ago, RandoEFC said: I don't get the obsession with bottling it. While I like to joke and take the piss out of Liverpool, my definition of bottling it is "You should have won it". Liverpool shouldn't win this title because City should be in a league of their own. The 2013ish season Liverpool bottled it because they were several points clear with only a few games left. Likewise if City get 4 points ahead and suddenly lose their nerve with a few games left then they'll have bottled it. I'm not sure I agree with this. It was only once we beat City that the title was out of their hands (they had 2 games in hand for most of the run in) and even then we still had Chelsea on the horizon. The less said about the circumstances of that loss the better, but on paper I don't think there's any shame in us losing to Chelsea, so it's hard to say at any point that we "should" have won it. Depending on how strongly we finish this season (regardless of whether we win it), I'm hesitant to call it a bottle job given the pace we would've had to maintain, but it's more of one than that season for me.
Subscriber RandoEFC+ Posted March 5, 2019 Subscriber Posted March 5, 2019 1 minute ago, Burning Gold said: I'm not sure I agree with this. It was only once we beat City that the title was out of their hands (they had 2 games in hand for most of the run in) and even then we still had Chelsea on the horizon. The less said about the circumstances of that loss the better, but on paper I don't think there's any shame in us losing to Chelsea, so it's hard to say at any point that we "should" have won it. Depending on how strongly we finish this season (regardless of whether we win it), I'm hesitant to call it a bottle job given the pace we would've had to maintain, but it's more of one than that season for me. Nah, the Chelsea game combined with the three goal capitulation at Palace was a big fat bottle job in my book. The Chelsea game alone fair enough, anyone can get Mourinhoed like that but pissing the 3-0 lead over Palace was purely between the ears.
Burning Gold Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 10 minutes ago, RandoEFC said: Nah, the Chelsea game combined with the three goal capitulation at Palace was a big fat bottle job in my book. The Chelsea game alone fair enough, anyone can get Mourinhoed like that but pissing the 3-0 lead over Palace was purely between the ears. No argument from me (obviously) that we blew that game big time, but it didn't affect the league table. Even if we'd won that 3-0 we would've finished 11 goals behind City, so it would've taken a rugby score to get us back in the driver's seat.
Subscriber RandoEFC+ Posted March 5, 2019 Subscriber Posted March 5, 2019 Just now, Burning Gold said: No argument from me (obviously) that we blew that game big time, but it didn't affect the league table. Even if we'd won that 3-0 we would've finished 11 goals behind City, so it would've taken a rugby score to get us back in the driver's seat. Fair enough, now you mention that I do remember that was the case. Thought the two games between them cost you the league but actually the Palace draw only took the pressure off City.
LFCMike Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 39 minutes ago, Burning Gold said: I'm not sure I agree with this. It was only once we beat City that the title was out of their hands (they had 2 games in hand for most of the run in) and even then we still had Chelsea on the horizon. The less said about the circumstances of that loss the better, but on paper I don't think there's any shame in us losing to Chelsea, so it's hard to say at any point that we "should" have won it. Depending on how strongly we finish this season (regardless of whether we win it), I'm hesitant to call it a bottle job given the pace we would've had to maintain, but it's more of one than that season for me. Yep, and Liverpool had to win 11 games in a row just to get into that position.
Burning Gold Posted March 5, 2019 Posted March 5, 2019 10 minutes ago, LFCMike said: Yep, and Liverpool had to win 11 games in a row just to get into that position. With Mignolet in net
Harry Posted March 6, 2019 Posted March 6, 2019 4 hours ago, RandoEFC said: Fair enough, now you mention that I do remember that was the case. Thought the two games between them cost you the league but actually the Palace draw only took the pressure off City. That's right but I think that was still worthy of being called a bottle job result. Bottom line is we lacked maturity and mentsl toughness in the home stretch. We were the nerdy guy that got asked to go out with the prom queen (after the city game) but the moment we saw her smile at someone else (Chelsea game) we thought all was lost so went and burnt her house to the ground. If we'd beaten palace I suspect city would have caved.
Harry Posted March 6, 2019 Posted March 6, 2019 Really though the bottlers title comes from being the team expected to win. The odds on favorite. That season I was overjoyed that we even qualified for the champions league let alone nearly won the title.
Azeem Posted March 6, 2019 Posted March 6, 2019 Liverpool has more squad depth this time than 2013, will be a bigger dissapoinment if they don't win it this time
IgnisExcubitor Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 Part of the frustration also comes from knowing that we haven't regularly been in title chases in the recent past. (And I am speaking as someone who started supporting this club since 98, imagine what it must be for the fans who started before) Also, another thought that I want to add. I completely trust Klopp, but speaking from sour experiences we know how we have disintegrated as a team after those challenges (with combination of a departure of a key player, bad replacement and injuries). We are better as a squad now and not heavily reliant on individuals, but just putting this out there to add to this discussion.
LFCMike Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 2 hours ago, IgnisExcubitor said: Part of the frustration also comes from knowing that we haven't regularly been in title chases in the recent past. (And I am speaking as someone who started supporting this club since 98, imagine what it must be for the fans who started before) Also, another thought that I want to add. I completely trust Klopp, but speaking from sour experiences we know how we have disintegrated as a team after those challenges (with combination of a departure of a key player, bad replacement and injuries). We are better as a squad now and not heavily reliant on individuals, but just putting this out there to add to this discussion. Is it fair to say that we've never been better placed at this point of the season when challenging? I'm going to try and find the tables later today but from memory, at this point we've always been chasing from at least a few points behind. I was too young to remember the finer details of Evans and Houllier's a title challenges but 2009 under Rafa I seem to remember us beating Man United mid-March but we still needed them to lose a couple more to over take them. 2014 I think we were chasing from some way back around the start of March and needed a long winning run to get ourselves in the picture. With regards to what happens to us after we've finished second, this is something I always think about too. It happened to Houllier, Benitez and Rodgers. I do feel this is different though. Rodgers' title challenge wasn't built on solid foundations like this one. Rafa obviously lost Alonso in the summer after his and it was at this point money from player sales started going to the banks to pay H&G's debts rather than being reinvested in the squad. I think we're in a better place now than we were back then with regards to the ownership and everyone at the club being on the same page.
IgnisExcubitor Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 The seasons we finished second Under Houlier : We were top in Feb end or March, but Arsenal had two games in hand. Under Rafa : We were trailing United by 5—7 points, and United had a game in hand. Under Rodgers : We actually had it in our hands after the victory against City. (Anyone can correct me if I am wrong here) So, you are right, @LFCMike. Apart from the season under Rodgers we have never really been this well placed in the title race.
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted March 7, 2019 Subscriber Posted March 7, 2019 4 hours ago, LFCMike said: Is it fair to say that we've never been better placed at this point of the season when challenging? Yes we are in a very good position. All isn't lost and there are still a lot of games to play. It all really depends on how well the team copes with injuries and I think the amount of home games also plays a huge part in the final push. If we go to the end and drag them to the last day and lose I don't think it will be all that bad. We played some fantastic football last season and got punished for being too attack-minded, now we are far more controlled at the back and have a defender who is truly world-class and a partner (Gomez) who is injured but will turn into a good defender over the long run too. This month will play a crucial role in deciding how everything pans out in the end and while I still have this nagging feeling that Man City will churn out better results but they will slip up and all we have to do is just keep winning games. If we get to the end without losing a game I think we'll be looking back at all this in May as a fantastic run to the finish line.
Harry Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 On 06/03/2019 at 15:42, Azeem said: Liverpool has more squad depth this time than 2013, will be a bigger dissapoinment if they don't win it this time City are much better than they were though.
LFCMike Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 1 hour ago, IgnisExcubitor said: The seasons we finished second Under Houlier : We were top in Feb end or March, but Arsenal had two games in hand. Under Rafa : We were trailing United by 5—7 points, and United had a game in hand. Under Rodgers : We actually had it in our hands after the victory against City. (Anyone can correct me if I am wrong here) So, you are right, @LFCMike. Apart from the season under Rodgers we have never really been this well placed in the title race. Yeah I knew we had it in our hands after the Man City win under Rodgers but that was mid-April with a few games to go. Just checked this site - https://www.footstats.co.uk/index.cfm?task=league_full . We were four points behind Chelsea after 29 games. Chelsea had played 30, so we had a game in hand. City were 6 points behind Chelsea at that point but had 3 games in hand on them. Liverpool went top at the end of March but City had two games in hand on us (four points behind us). So this season could pan out similar in terms of them having games in hand, potentially two come the second week in April. Just got to make the games we'll have on them count.
Happy Blue Posted March 7, 2019 Posted March 7, 2019 Manchester City injury crisis with De Bruyne, Stones, Fernandinho, Mendy missing for Watford clash Manchester City's injury list is piling up with four players set to miss Saturday's clash with Watford. Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones are both missing after limping off in Saturday's 1-0 win over Bournemouth, which saw them move back to the top of the table and are not expected back until after the international break. The pair join Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, who is expected to be out for a similar length of time after injuring his hamstring in the victory over Chelsea. Benjamin Mendy, who has played just 27 minutes in the past four months after a knee injury, is also not yet back with the first team but is in individual training.
Subscriber Mel81x+ Posted March 8, 2019 Subscriber Posted March 8, 2019 11 hours ago, Happy Blue said: Manchester City injury crisis with De Bruyne, Stones, Fernandinho, Mendy missing for Watford clash Manchester City's injury list is piling up with four players set to miss Saturday's clash with Watford. Kevin De Bruyne and John Stones are both missing after limping off in Saturday's 1-0 win over Bournemouth, which saw them move back to the top of the table and are not expected back until after the international break. The pair join Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, who is expected to be out for a similar length of time after injuring his hamstring in the victory over Chelsea. Benjamin Mendy, who has played just 27 minutes in the past four months after a knee injury, is also not yet back with the first team but is in individual training. How seriously do you think thats going to affect the title run considering you'll have CL action next week as well?
Inverted Posted March 8, 2019 Posted March 8, 2019 I agree but Liverpool have better depth, but ultimately they only really have options in midfield, in the sense of being able to put out totally different but equally good midfield threes. In defence, the drop-off after their two starting FBs and Van Dijk is dramatic - Gomez giving way to Matip/Lovren is the only change that isn't massively disruptive. In attack, they can only change things positively up by bringing in Shaqiri, which means either taking off Salah, or totally changing the whole system.
Happy Blue Posted March 8, 2019 Posted March 8, 2019 5 hours ago, Mel81x said: How seriously do you think thats going to affect the title run considering you'll have CL action next week as well? It should be fine, we will miss Fernandinho's energy in the middle againts Watford but we have 3 away goals to defend in the CL game against a team that's struggling so should see 6 or 7 rested in that game
Cicero Posted March 8, 2019 Posted March 8, 2019 Mendy won the League and World Cup in a hospital bed
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