http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/149155-no-we-re-not-ahead-of-schedule John Achterberg claims Liverpool are not ahead of schedule in the Barclays Premier League so far this season, insisting they were always confident of making a good start. please log in to view this image Brendan Rodgers' side currently sit second in the top flight and just two points off the summit after an excellent opening to the campaign. Achterberg believes there is still a lot of hard work to be done, however, to ensure the Reds remain in the hunt for the top places for the rest of 2013-14. "I don't think we are ahead of schedule because we want to win every game," the goalkeeping coach told Liverpoolfc.com. "If we won a few more we could have been on top but we just have to be focused and ready every time a game is coming up, and use the same attitude and focus to win every game." Last Saturday's impressive 4-0 win over Fulham was the first time in seven games that Liverpool had kept a clean sheet. After keeping three top-flight shut-outs in a row at the start of the season, the Dutchman explained why he was happy to see the Reds record another clean sheet. Achterberg added: "It's always important to get a clean sheet because if you have a clean sheet there's always a good chance you'll get a good result. "Unfortunately we hadn't had a clean sheet for a few weeks but at least we got one again and hopefully we can have a few more in the coming weeks. "We always work on tactical things, defensive and attacking play, but every time we play we want to keep a clean sheet. Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn't. Hopefully it will come much more often now."
was sort of expected with our fixture list, haven't really been tested yet, but we got the points whether they was easier games or not, that's all that matters, so we are heading in the right direction at least. points equals prizes, lets hope its the title lol. keeping clean sheet was important though, long may it continue.
I'm just glad that in general we are winning the games that we usually struggle with. If we can turn over some of the top teams then we'll be in a good positon at the end of the season.
Thank you for posting a LFC related thread! Lol. We have had a very nice fixture list but the key thing is that we took advantage of it. We now have established a 'winning mentality' somewhat - i.e. we go into matches knowing that we have the ability and grit to get the win. Wins = Confidence = Consistency
Well we had a 12 point gap to make up assuming the 4th place team finishes on around the same number of points. I would guess compared to the corresponding fixtures last season we've probably made up most of those 12 points already, taking into account the fixtures against last years relegated teams being replaced with the promoted ones. So I would say we are well ahead of scheduele
We played United at the right time, wasn't the toughest of games. Our real test was Arsenal, away game to the league leaders and in form team in the league... and we failed. Also, can add Southampton in there. I think they're catching teams by surprise, we didn't know how to deal with them and they came and played good stuff. We failed. But we have a very good record in all of the other games which is more than could be said for previous years.
Thing is, we could have been better off too but for a couple of poor performances / results. Newcastle away and Southampton at home being the two I mean.
After taking the lead against Swansea, we should have taken full advantage then as well. I just hope we can keep this up until December - or least be in the top 4, but we can then use our position to attract better players. It's the best we can do without actually having CL football. And CL is even more vital considering the new BT deal ...
Points wise - yes. However, the gulf in between the two teams in terms of performance was big IMO. That was the biggest disappointment.
Unfortunately for us, he didn't and we struggled to create anything else and grab a hold on the game.
I can't recall too many chances - Suarez shot just wide in the second half? Other than that and Hendo scuffed shot, we just didn't sustain a prolonged period of dominance and aggression. I just remember thinking that Arsenal could have scored 3-4. A lot of the Arsenal fans I spoke to said that it was an easy game and they expected a lot more from us.
But our performance wasn't that disappointing, they were just better than us. Plus, the thread is about the points
Think the start has been good regardless of our fixtures - last year at the start we wouldn't have beaten those sides, or in the manner we beat them re Fulham and West Brom. We dominated United but didn't win - this year we did. If we can keep the form going there's no reason we can't give City, Chelsea or Spurs a good game - none are playing particularly well. Obviously we're still underdogs. What we need is to provide a good platform for January - then another good signing to propel us forward again.
I agree Arsenal were better than us. I just expected more of a fight, get in their faces, rough them up and be aggressive. We did that for the first 20 mins until they scored and we just couldn't recover. But I digress - compared to the same fixtures last season, we're definitely better of (will try and dig around for the exact comparison).
The players performed fine, the manager was the one that ****ed up by playing three at the back. It was clear for all to see that we were going to get gang raped with that system. At least BR recognised it during the game and changed it, hopefully with him sticking with a back four for the Fulham game the three is now out his system (pun not intended).
Would we have performed had we started with 4-4-2? Possibly. But we did look better once Coutinho came on - but you could argue that Arsenal had taken their foot off the gas. And I agree - I think Rodgers will now stick to the 4-3-3 / 4-2-3-1 or whatever it is.
