It's ok if you didn't watched any Liverpool games last season, but to say luck didn't come into it at all simply isn't true. Poor finishing and Carroll's form played a part, but we had a ridiculous amount of fantastic play that ended in hitting the woodwork. Didn't Henderson for example place a beauty of a shot from the edge of the box against you lot for it to hit the crossbar and post simultaneously? The amount of goalkeepers that were man of the match against us at Anfield also was ridiculous. Vorm in particular - we could have beaten Swansea 4-0 if it wasn't for him. The problem is, when you don't score, no matter how dominant you are, it puts pressure on you. Time and time the opposition scored from their only real chance against us. Hard to put in words how frustrating it was, never seen a season play out like that. We got all our luck in one game (against Brighton, the 5-1).
Spirit of Djimi Traoré Did you realise that Fulham came second in teams hitting the woodwork 26 times, only six behind Liverpool who hit it 32. But Fulham came 3rd in the most accurate shots on goal just behind Arsenal and Man Utd , meaning goalkeepers had good games against us too. It's only if you are a small team like us that you curse your luck, but a big team like Liverpool can only blame the players and manager for not doing better.
Took the words right out of my mouth. Spurs have a history of buying a lesser team's best players, then benching them. Look at Kranjcar, Pienaar et al. Spurs don't need Demps!
Goalkeepers are there to save shots, strikers are there to score them. If the goalkeeper comes out on top then that means the striker is not doing his job. I watched plenty of Liverpool games last season, including the two against us. I have to say that when we beat you at Anfield you were woeful all game. I don't buy the 'rested' team theory, as you only rested the likes of Gerrard and Suarez, so even a team without those two should easily beat Fulham at home, as we have an awful away record. Downing recently was asked about the fact that for a winger he had no goals and no assists this season. He replied, it wasn't my fault, the strikers just weren't putting away the chances. Your lowly position was due to poor strikers up front who couldn't hit a barn door. Even Downing admits it.
Understandable and I was quite annoyed that Kranjcar didn't get more game time. Hopefully whoever comes in to replace him won't suffer the same fate.
What do you expect Downing to say? Yeh, the Fulham home game was terrible... you could tell by the last 5 or 6 games of the season that we'd given up really. Other teams by contrast must have thought it was a bloody great time to beat Liverpool. Like I said, the striking problem was partly wasteful finishing, Carroll's torrid early form, Suarez's ban but also ridiculous fortune. Furthermore, no-one in the team really had a run of form that could have dragged the other players out of their poor performances. Look at what the form of Ba did for Newcastle at the start of the season, it drove everyone forward and allowed other players to hit form as well, creating momentum. There are games in football when you think 'nothing is going to go for us today'. That was our season!
I'd like to throw in, and I'm surprised you haven't mentioned it, the injury to Lucas, which came just before we beat you at CC I think as you replaced him with Spearing who was sent off. I was impressed with Lucas as he has been dire in the past and think the injury to him upset your team hugely.
Good point Bandit. I work with a Liverpool fan and he pointed to that injury as a pivotal point in their season.
I think Dempsey would fit in well at Liverpool. I can't see him going to CL team unless he moves abroad... Chelsea, UTD and City aren't interested. I could see Arsenal being interested but they are not going to pay more than a couple of mill as he is 30 and at his peak now so will have little sell on value and will soon be a player in decline. Had he been 2-3 years younger I could see him slotting in at Arsenal. Also I couldn't see him playing week in week out at Arsenal I think Liverpool would be happy to pay the money MAF would be happy with and could see him fitting in there. I see people mentioning £10+mil and would love to get that for him but would be absolutely amazed if we did. A player knocking on 30 with year left on him contract is going to get £4mil max I would say. He is a quality player who shines at Fulham and is a very good player but being 100% honest he isn't world class. Personally I hope he stays regardless of signing a new deal or not. Personally I hope he stays and pens a new deal with us. Alternatively I'd be happy for him to see out his contract as he will offer us a lot next season.
I didn't want to play the injury card haha but yes that was a huge moment, especially when our best defender, Agger, got injured straight after. Lucas was key to the tight, pressing game we played in defence and also key to the quick passing game we played in attack. Before his injury we had statistically the best defence in the league and were still within 4th place. He allowed Enrique to bomb forward and Adam to roam. After his injury, Adam became a liability, Enrique seemed to plummet in form and Carra, who was in for Agger, couldn't cover for the huge gaps. This was compounded by Adam getting injured, Johnson being constantly out and as I said, Agger. On Lucas, he's been great for the past two years, it's taken him a while to adapt to the defensive role, which was alien to him when Rafa signed him (as the Brazilian POTY). He topped the tackle chart last season and was top until his injury this season. Very accomplished passer of the ball now also.
Let's not forget United had Vidic, their best defender and captain, out for the majority of the season and only lost the league on goal difference. You either cope with injuries or you don't, sadly.
