A lot of players, coaches and people connected to our club have said we have moved forward this season. Daniel Agger joining the list with today .tv interview. But the table says the opposite. We are guaranteed to finish lower than last season, and could end up with our lower points tally in over 50 years. But at the same time we have ended our six year wait for a trophy, and got to another cup final to. So have we moved forwards? Lets way up the facts. Forward: -We ended our six year wait for a trophy. They always say the first is the hardest to win. So that's one mile stone out the way. -We got our longest FA cup run since 2006, reaching the final. In all the years in between the FA cup seems to have just passed us by. -Our bigger squad has meant we have dealt with player absences better. Apart from Lucas, and maybe Suarez, we have still managed to keep a fairly good team together, despite injuries. In recent years we have crumbled when they happen. -Since the new owners came in we have cleared all the major debt from the club. -We are back in Europe. All be it, with the Europa League. Its still good. -In the words of Alan Hansen 'we are playing well and loosing'. In the last couple seasons you cant really say we played well most of the time. -We have established a strong defense, with the second best defensive record in the league. -We have learnt what our weaknesses are. We have learnt some important lessons. -We have a good collection of young players that suggest a brighter future. -Andy Carroll really improved late in the season. Not Forward: -Despite winning a trophy we have dropped to a lower position in the league, and the league is where we need to improve most. -Towards the end, our players seemed to give up on the league, hoping an FA cup win would save our season. -Though our squad is biggest, we still struggled when ever one certain player (Lucas) was out. -We also spend a lot of money on this squad, but have still dropped down the table. -Though our depts are gone, that hasnt had much to do with our on the pitch form this season. If any thing, it should have made things easier. -We are not getting results when they are handed to us on a plate. -Our goal scoring stats are terrible. A great defense is being wasted by a severe lack of goals. You could say the deference has been our savior. So, add what you wish and discuss. Have we moved forward this season? I know I maybe should have saved this for next week when the season is literally over, but now is still a good time to reflect. Lets go for it in these last two games and make as strong a finish as we can ahead of a very important and busy summer. Come on you reds! You'll Never Walk Alone.
Off the field : Yes we have , we are financially secure. On the field : We have gone backwards , the cup is nice but its not the be all and end all its a cup that was won by a team that was relegated last season. The league is where you gauge your progress and we have gone backwards.
In the league no, but I think the squad has moved forward in terms of setting the foundations. If read a few times now that we have spent £100m for a Carling Cup win against a Championship side on penalties, I never realised we bought these players for this season only. For me it all depends on this summer, hopefully we will see the weak areas strengthened. Otherwise what are we moving forward to?
If City finish about United, Spurs finish above Arsenal and Everton above us, we will have one very interesting table.
We were 12th when Dalglish came in, if you don't remember. And he improved loads on that position because we got pretty lucky with the likes of Maxi, Kuyt and Spearing hitting freakishly good form. 6th was a false position in many ways, because a lot of our players were riding on the crest of a wave like Flanagan, Spearing, Maxi and Kuyt. They're not up to playing week in week out for a top 4 challenging side and needed to be replaced. Most of the replacements failed to do well (bar Adam when he was playing alongside Lucas) but a manager should be given time to recover from his mistakes. Otherwise we are going to be a club with 4 managers in 3 years, and we aren't, and don't want to be, Chelsea.
We've gone backwards the league table doesn't lie. The cup runs have masked a hugely disappointing season. Kenny's signings have simply not performed, and I hope the likes of Downing and Adam are sent packing this summer. When Di Matteo got the Liverpool teamsheet Saturday and saw Henderson in the middle with Spearing, with Suarez playing the lone strikers role i bet a smile came across his face.No creativity, no pace, no cutting edge. Liverpool defensively are good, in Suarez we have one of the best forwards in europe but aside from that its average. Carroll has started to come good, so why in god's name didn't he start Saturday, his ariel threat against Chelsea's back four would have created chances. Spearing was shown for what he is, average trying to punch above his weight. Henderson looks like a rabbit caught in he headlights and Downing is possibly the most ineffective wide man in English football. Enrique gets caught ball watching. Kenny's policy of buying British has been shown to be flawed, you could have got better for cheaper across Europe. And players like Adam,Henderson,Downing, Spearing and Bellamy would never get in one of the top four teams, let alone there squads. The minnium criteria set at the start was champion league qualification, we havn't just failed we've failed epically.
Biggest squad? What does that mean? We have been set at 25 for 3 seasons now. How is it bigger? You can have more kids but we don't play them.
We do not actually have 25 players registered in the squad, we have 19 I think. We've never had 25. Henderson, Kelly, Coates and Shelvey are all counted as under 21. Look at it this way. For a long time we had Torres, N'Gog and Kuyt as our only striker option. Now we have Suarez, Carroll, Bellamy and Kuyt. When we were strong a few years ago we didnt have many options under Mascerano and Alonso. Now we have Lucas, Adam, Henderson, Shelvey, Spearing. Who, with aother top quality midfielder signed, make fine understudies.
You forgot to add Joe Cole, meireles ( who shouldn't have been sold yet), Aqua to add to that. At the very least. J. Cole and Aqua. I would take Gerrard, Aqua, J. Cole in the FA cup final any day of the week over what we had or options to bring on.
So when you said our biggest squad what did you mean? It sounded like you meant we had more players when clearly we haven't.
Talking about the goals ratio... is that just not freakish bad luck? Can we consider that as a "going backwards" as if we have been doing something wrong? Looking at it from August to Feb, we were just useless, but March, April and May, we just appeared to be jinxed. Downing had started putting balls in, Carroll has started getting on the end of them, Johnston and Henderson, all making good intelligent chances, we just couldn't stick them in the onion bag, and I feel that was just bad luck. I think particularly since Adam was taken out of the team, the unit has been making great steps forward in unlocking the park the bus defences, but goalkeepers have been having the games of their lives, and the woodwork has served to infuriate us. For me confidence is the biggest issue, and one we need to bring in new faces to help sure up.
11 posts in a picking fights all over the park! Jesus kid, stop splitting hairs, we all know what he means, the backup was so piss poor, that we may just as well gone a man down rather than brining one of them on.
From the outside - it seems that you have gone backwards. I think you would have been a better team if you had given Roy Hodgson a real chance instead of moaning about him from the off. Surely you would have been challenging for 6th with Roy..... It seems none of the teams in the Premier League now have a fear of Liverpool... That's something I never thought I'd see.
It's hard to say if we have moved on, I'd say that the test will be next season. Will purchases like Downing, Adam, Carroll and Henderson improve? Will youngsters like Coates, Sterling, Robinson and Suso make the step up? If that happens and we buy the right players then there may be a big step forward.
