Does anyone feel sorry for Liverpool? They get a lot of resentment from fans of other clubs but I think that's mainly because of the blatant bias from parts of the media esp MOTD...but thats not the ordinary fans fault. Yes, they go on about their history but lets be fair their history is nothing short of incredible (I know it was much easier to win the league and European cups in 70s and 80s).
I actually quite like Liverpool. I think they are a club who've done things the right way over the years and it's brought them a lot of success. They've got great fans who know how to get behind their team and they still do even when the chips are down. I think there has been quite a lot of mutual respect between scousers and gooners over the years, especially when Man Utd have been dominating and our teams have been challenging them. The last decade though has pretty much been a shambles though, with a change of owners, a string of managers and some hefty spending on average players . . . although they did win the champions league in that time.
Disagree with the statement about the league being easier to win in the 70s/80s, if anything it was probably harder because it was a more competitive league. Your main point - yes I too would like to see a strong Liverpool, though I wouldn't like to see the same top-4 every year. I would have liked to have seen Liverpool in the mix for the 3rd/4th place battle at least. Let's not forget though that in the early-mid 80s, United chased Liverpool close, then had a poor start in 86 and sacked Atkinson before appointing Fergie, and he faced a massive task but was given the chance. Liverpool as very definitley a sleeping giant, and will come back, sooner than people think. I just hope we can sneak a titke win in the meantime.
I don't hate or dislike Liverpool but I have had some sadistic pleasure from some of their results this season.
I liked Liverpool until this Suarez/racism thing and how Dalglish handled it - now I despise them. But if they get Martinez I will be torn because Martinez is my favourite manager As for the European Cup being easier to win in the 80s absolutely no way. When only the league winners qualified for the Cup - it was truly the cream of the crop that won it, not the also rans or nearlys.
Similar to this! I didn't really care about them beyond the fact they were rivals for a top four spot but the whole Suarez incident has left a nasty taste in the mouth, especially the appalling way it was handled by Suarez, Kenny, the club and then Liverpool fans. Even people I know and liked. Martinez seems such an affable lovely guy and makes his team play nice football. I don't want him to go there. I worry they'll treat him with disdain the first time he f*cks up like they did with Roy. "Oooh he was never ready for a club of our calibre".
The Suarez thing was dealt with very badly...T Shirts etc. I like to think that this was more of a reflection of the fact Kenny hadn't grasped the public mood...maybe a mindset stuck in the 80s...I certainly don't despise the club for it but give it the benefit of the doubt. Indeed, I'm sure his handling of this affair did factor in the dismissal...after all we are in the age of global brands and any damage could seriously hurt the bottom line. Re the European Cup before the Champions League era...a distinction needs to be made between entering and winning...though I concede the point that entering is the first part of winning. The are far more teams to beat and games to play and the financial stakes are much much higher. Those extra "also rans" are rarely that much poorer in terms of quality than the eventual champions...especially in competitive leagues such as ours.
This is not true - yes getting into it was harder because it was only the league winners who entered, but once there it was easier to win than the Carling Cup. take 76/77 as an example: Liverpool's run beat Crusaders 7-0 Trabzonspor 3-1 St Ettiene 3-2 Zurich 6-1 Monchengladbach 3-1
Gooner, I can almost forgive Kenny for his mindset. He's an old, partially senile man and stuck in the past. What I never understood was why the club didn't immediately nip it in the bud. They have PR and presumably skilled marketting people. Why weren't they jumping all over this from the word go? Meh, it was unsavoury from beginning, dragged out far too long and I always got the impression Liverpool never thought Suarez was in the wrong. Doesn't mean I hate them, I just hold them incontempt.
AGree with this 100%, had this view for many years now. In fact, it was always said that the UEFA Cup was the better quality and harder to win trophy back then, whereas the European CUp more or less gave the big teams an easier ride because of the seeding, though that really resulted in very few games between the big boys. Liverpool, Forest, Villa on very few occassions played the likes of MAdrid, Munich, Barcelona, Juve, whereas in the current format you will often see two bigs team in the groups, and the knock-out stages are nearly all big blockbuster games. So the CL, has it's detractors purely down to not all teams being champions, but in terms of quality and depth it is a far tougher competition than the old European Cup. We should also acknowledge that what was good about the UEFA Cup is now embedded within the CL because we have the top 3-4 from the strong leagues there. As for the league - definitely harder to win back then, which is why so many of our teams cames did well in Europe then aa well.
If they get Martinez I would laugh my ass off. He is a lovely bloke and all, but right now he is hot property because of Wigan's temporary run of good form that kept them in the league. People seem to ignore how every season he gets them into that situation. So if Liverpool buy into the hype then it will be hilarious. Maybe he could turn them into a club that battles to survive in the league.
I take your point Jayram, getting into the European cup was the difficult thing, but winning it not so. A team probably only had to play 2 decent teams to win it. As for Martinez, don't forget it was he that set the ball rolling with Swansea, hence him getting the Wigan job and everyone can see how good a manager he is. How many managers would be so tactically aware and bold as to play 3 at the back ? Look at the top teams they beat !! He's a quality manager.
