http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/latest-news/gerrard-we-can-challenge-for-fourth Steven Gerrard is confident Liverpool are still in a position to challenge for the top four this season. Draws at Arsenal and Manchester City last week have left the Reds nine points adrift of Tottenham, who currently occupy the fourth Champions League spot. However, Liverpool do not have to travel to a top 10 side in their remaining 13 games - and rivals Everton, Chelsea and Tottenham must all visit Anfield. Gerrard is hopeful. "We can take a lot of belief from the way we've performed against Arsenal and Manchester City," said the 32-year-old, who claimed his ninth league assist and sixth goal during Sunday's 2-2 at the Etihad. "City are a good side and to go away to the champions and get a point is a good result, but after the way we played we're disappointed not to get the win. "We need to build on this and I'm feeling really confident about our ability to move up the table. "We might not have got the results we wanted against the top sides but every time we have certainly matched them if not bettered them in games. "No disrespect to the sides we've got coming up but if we keep playing like that then we can certainly put in a challenge for fourth place. "If we perform like that we will pick up a lot of points between now and the end of the season. "The team is looking really strong at the moment. Before the transfer window we were lacking a bit up front as Luis Suarez was almost having to do two jobs. "But now Daniel Sturridge has come in and given us more options going forward. Daniel has done brilliantly for us so far. ---------------------------------------------------------- I can't see it myself but he's right to be positive and look up.
He needs to have a word with Reina, or maybe Reina needs a word with him. But his positivity will be viewed as delusion by all the usual suspects.
One game at a time. I made a thread early December, talking about a crucial 5 game period, the next game we lost at home to Villa. Look, no matter how unlikely a top four finish is, as long as their's a chance football can throw up unlikely results. Unfortunately we're not just competing with one team, both Arsenal (5 points behind) and Everton (6 points behind) are in with a shout too. So for the coming 12 games, we should focus solely on ourselves, and get a respectful points haul to at least be in the mix come the last game of the season (I believe it'll go down to the wire).
I think looking at where we are now just finishing above 7th will good for us this season, that would still mean a pretty strong finish to the season and a real chance to hit the ground running for 2013-2014 season. 4th would take a small miracle now and I can't see it happening but you never know.
True, but 5 games in to the season with 1 point out of 5, would you of took having a shout of getting in to the top four early February then? We seem to go from strength to strength, it's individual error's that are costing us right now, something I'm hoping that the experienced heads of the clubs can iron out. I think MITO has got it spot on, the next 4 games could shape our season. And as long as it's mathematically possible, we should give it a good crack at the very least.
But what else is he supposed to say, 'erm sorry guys I think we might just sneak seventh this season, and we should count ourselves lucky as well'. I'd be worried about the team's mentality if our most talismanic player didn't aim for the highest possible finish and have belief we could finish there (even if we all know it will be difficult).
We need to aim to win every game. I think 4th is unlikely... (I think 6th is unlikely)... however... aim to win each game... We can't target a place in the table, we have to target winning our games. We need three teams to implode to get 4th.
of course 4th is unlikely.. the spuds just need to match us game for game then draw with us and crusie the rest of the year but they look ropey now without a forward and reliant on bale totally. They should already be out of sight as we've dropped 4 point sin the last two games we OUGHT TO HAVE TAKEN! anyway... i do think next 4 will decide it largely. gap is big but its not impossible. this is even though the team failed to meet what i thought they could do form the last 4 so 12/12 points is a must but realsitically 10/12 is highly possible. gerrard can see it jsut like anyone else but does say a lot doesn't he cos before christmas he was saying the opposite. I think 6th is our most likely position but we could do it if everyone stays fit and downing gets dropped
He's right to say it of course but as always it's the talking on the pitch that's most important. We look like we're playing football capable of getting it but we have no chance while players keep making stupid mistakes. I'm just glad we're playing better, quicker build up play. I was worried confidence could sap away after the Oldham game but to be fair Rodgers has sent them out to really have a go at both Arsenal and City. If we keep doing that this team will get results and that at least we'rs still in with a chance however remote. Just keep up the good work is all we ask wherever we end up
Saw a fair point that we'd need atleast 10 wins out of our last 13 games to be in with a chance of top 4. Pretty unlikely to be fair, but seeing as Spurs only striker for a bit will be the out of form Adebayor and the fact that Arsenal/Everton aren't picking up wins that regularly then we've got a chance. We needed to take advantage of Arsenal/Everton/Spurs dropping points over the last week though and we didn't do that, so it might've cost us.
You've averaged 1.4 points per game so far this season, history says that you'll probably need a minimum of 66 points to get 4th, so you'll have to up that average to 2.3 points per game for the remainder of the season. Only United have exceeded that level of point scoring so far this season. You'll need Spurs, Arsenal & Everton to all implode for you to have any realistic chance.
It's all about the belief. I still think top 4 is a possibility. Arsenal's been inconsistent, Everton will be facing all the top 7 teams in the 2nd half. Spuds are without a striker and have been a little shaky lately. So we could only hope our rivals drop some points. The only difficult games left for us are Chelsea and Spurs. We've got the momentum, if the defense get sorted out, We could just about win every other game(optimistic, i know). Sturridge coming in has been a big boost and if Coutinho could also settle in quickly, we could probably do a "$City$"
What else do you expect Gerrard to say? More importantly he's right. 4th spot is still possible and should remain our objective until such times as it is mathematically impossible to achieve. Some of you look at Arsenal, Spurs and Everton - well don't! Let them take care of themselves as they all have their own problem and more than enough matches to play in which to make mistakes. I'll go with splitting the rest of the season into bands of 4 matches and concentrate my attention on how we perform in each band and each match. How we perform is as important as the result as we need to go into next season with the confidence that we can compete on all levels. So let's look to ourselves and let the rest go to the Devil!
What he says is essentially right, if you consistently play very well for the rest of the season you would find you're challenging for 4th. The trouble is you haven't been consistent enough in your performances so far and have barely put together a winning streak all season, which is what you'll need to do if you're going to take advantage of those above you dropping points. It's a huge task though and I think you'd do really well to pick up about 62 points(2 points a game), I'd still expect that to be short of 4th, which I'd be surprised if it went to anyone below 65 points, although if you finished with in 5/6 points off 4th I guess you could say you'd still challenged for 4th.
The interviewer knew when he asked the question that Gerrard had to answer and had to give a positive answer, of course Gerrard knows we wont get 4th but he should have done a Fergie and chosen the questions he was prepared to answer before the interview took place.
Why should he have ducked the question? He gave the company line but it's not impossible and not yet even the time to start believing that it is.
