Came across this article and thought it mirrors our current status a bit. After reading it, we would need some similar instances to happen aka Chelsea and City to slip up ( granted we have the chance to make them do that!). Also of note, how strong Rafa's teams were in the back and we even experienced that at times ( think we had a 10 game streak of no losses or no goals conceeded, something to that ilk). http://www.beinsports.tv/news/artic...n-from-valencias-la-liga-winning-side-of-2002 So whilst we are doing it with flair and pinache, could it be the backline and CM that is essentially the key to that elusive title? Or does this not hold the same weight in the prem where goals are king? For those who can remember super depor in the 90's, they had the ferocious attack led by Bebeto but could not break the top two in Barca and Madrid. We could be seeing an age where Chelsea and City pull further away so how can we keep up?
trouble is arent half the atletico team being targeted by better teams, so how they going to fair next season with half of them gone? i know we are a bigger club than them, but what if Atletico won the league same as us in this country by out doing the money teams, will we lose key players maybe as well, hope not, but can't say its a def no. what we need to start seeing in the game is loyalty ie like le Tiss etc or more local players for teams come through and have success, then teams can eventually outdo the money teams, trouble is a lot of players now days chase the money,which is why a lot of people keep saying about the wage cap.
You could say that no we wouldn't lose players but a player like Suarez WILL be targetted for sure. Could Agger, Skrtel, Sturridge, Coutinho, even Sterling be tempted? Could be, we will see. Also jenners we are talking about this season. Will our backline fraility be the fault of why we wouldn't win the league ( if things go well with Chelsea and City dropping points of course). What should be the primary look then going forward to break up the Chelsea/City - Barca/Madrid who can bring in basically whoever they want? Of course it is the team ethos, but do we have to have that staunch defense and strength in midfield? If you can remember and the article breaks it down a bit, that Valencia team were called the machine. fluid in attack and absolutely bossing teams in the back and those two holding players. Can we add that without taking away from our attack? We shall see. But I think we are now, depending on United and what they do, possibly looking at year in year out Chelsea-City for the title with the outsider ( Us, MUFC, Arsenal, Spurs, maybe an Everton) trying to break that up.
cant remember if this was something i watched or read, but i believe there was stats to backup we havent been as bad in defence as made out, think that had something to do with the way we play and obviously leave ourselves exposed more at the back, but we could just as easily point to the Toure error that cost us 3pts as we can a striker missing a perfect opportunity to get us 3pts. might be a silly thing to say, but we have to take the rough with the smooth ie how dodgy we are at the back because of tactics when it makes us so ruddy good to watch, and i am thoroughly enjoying this season, just hope it ends on the ultimate buzz i like the attitude of we will score one more than you, long may it continue.
Success will always bring its own problems with it. However, we have at least one ace in our hands. Laving Suarez aside for one moment, all of our stars (and developing stars) are young. They have tasted success this season and if we can attract even more players of better quality to come to the side there is every prospect that they can continue to be even more successful domestically and in Europe by staying with us. Therefore the tempting away problem is slightly ameliorated. The Suarez situation is slightly different. There are very very few clubs who could afford to buy him. Of those who could, FSG have made clear that they would not be prepared to sell to just anybody - so you can forget City, Chelsea, Arsenal or even United. But if he really did want away then we would be looking to spend the money on maybe 2 players to replace him. However, I actually believe that he too will be excited by the potential and possibilities that he now sees at Anfield so there are no forgone conclusions. Now we and the rest of the world know that we have to strengthen our defence. Whereas we previously looked at £9-12 million players, I believe that FSG would be considering £20+ priced players to keep the success going. Therefore I see us off-loading players that no longer fit the quality criteria rather than seeing our better players poached.
Super Depor and any comparisons you may see..... As we know, soon there were problems in the dressing room, money problems ( hopefully that is firmly behind us now), and then issues with being crap and not bringing through the talent.
Agree with Livtor on CHelsea and Atleti being similar in the back and center of the park but Atleti have Costa and Chelsea have Torres, Eto'o, and Ba........ lol. It is interesting the parallels with the top 3 in both leagues at the moment. WIll be a fun few months.
BCR, what's up with you today? We are in a very different position to any of the situations to the clubs that you highlighted.
Atleti is a bit more like us, just wanted to highlight how Super Depor had that combination of attacking style with homegrown talent and to break up the top four, top two. Atleti just don't have the same possession as we do but they close down, they have the guy up front getting a chunk of the goals, they press well and counter at pace like us. Odd one out in the title race but still there abouts. Basically Dave, can we meld those two, the bulldog approach with the fluid attacking style we have seen and then can we sustain it and continue to be in the top 4.
The style of play that we have found so effective demands a different type of player in defence to the majority of those that we currently have and this problem has to be addressed. It's not a question of following any other teams pattern it's truly about maximising the opportunities that exist for us. I do agree however that it has to be sustainable over the next 2/3 seasons.
When I said 'victory for football', I meant in terms of two teams who have broken the stranglehold in their respective leagues without resorting to billions.
