I don't see that. It's possible we'll beat them at home and that will catalyse some sort of implosion of their league form, but I doubt it! They're looking strong and I think it'll be a three horse title race all the way until the end of the season. I'd like one of the top 3 to drop down and have the battle for top four be more competitive but seems unlikely currently.
that is fair but i have to say.... as i've said consistently.. reina improved dramatically from january to may. he was back form IMO
Doubt it, but it depends on how they deal with their inevitable slump. I personally think they will push on to challenge Man City and Cheslea before securing third with ease.
Didn't think this warranted a new thread and the discussion on here was close enough: OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) tweeted at 3:05 pm on Sun, Feb 02, 2014: 29 - Liverpool have made more defensive errors leading to a goal/attempt than any other team in the PL this season. Problem. Since we've conceded 32 goals in all comps this season this is actually a welcoming stat in my opinion. I put it down to an unsettled back 4. Get that and this stat would come down quite a bit. Of course it's also lacking a definition of what constitutes a "defensive error" ..... Some would say all goals conceded are down to defensive errors......
i think beleive arsenal are coming back to 4th is too hopeful. they have 8 points on us so unless they lose giroud and focal point plus lose to us and utd i can't see it. I think they won't win it but can't get lower than 3rd. I predict the 3 clubs will fight for 4 and the winner will have 73 points min.
Anyone suggesting Arsenal could be sucked into the top four fight should also say that Man Utd are still involved since the points gap is smaller for them.
I agree with this. I've seen that stat too and agree it's a touch worrying. Hopefully we can only improve. That true but only if being uber pedantic, and such pedantry would inevitably lead all conversations into being circular. #pointless
I guess they mean unforced errors, like Toure's horrendous back pass, or giving the ball away cheaply when there was other options. I do hold my breath when (a) we are trying to play it out from the back and (b) a cross comes in and (c) we leave wide open spaces in front of the back four.......
I was going to mention this and I'm going to start a new article once I have all the stats. These are unforced errors due to poor passing, lazy touches which lead to being dispossessed. Compare this to Rodgers when he managed Swansea - that team only made 7 errors all season. Now, is this a problem with the system or the personnel?
Well from that perspective lets look at what our manager wants the defence to do and then what he had and what he bought. Wants a defence (I assume including keeper and DM) that can play with ball at feet, bring it out, overlap FB wise but get back into a cohesive unit to defend Keeper Reina. Suited perfectly Sent packing for whatever version you believe Mig: good defensively, rough technically with ball at feet. FB: Johnson in his Prime was BR's type of full back. This year been lazy or injured and as a result, stayed up field too much, gave ball way, not defended even when back. Enrique: MIA, but again loosely fits what BR wants but gives the ball away too much. Doesn't pass effectively enough in up field areas to warrant his absence at the back, where I think he's ok, Flanno: better passer than those two but less pace. Kelly: progression destroyed by injury. Looks less of a player now than 2 years ago. Brought in: Cissoko............ CB, Skerts: not naturally BR type, but...I believe he's grown under BR though and attempts to play the ball around and out and has learnt to cover the space left by his FB very well. Liability when ball is crossed into box. Agger: might be BR's type, we'll never know since he's always injured. Bought: Illori.......who knows, be nice and say, one for future Coates......failure. Toure, looks like skertl on the ball when BR told him to start passing it last year...failure (but not bought for anything but cover imo) gave false hope with opening performances Sakho...Looks like what BR wanted..injuries though... So half the originals aren't perfect technically, and the other half that are, are injury prone.. Half as can expected of the brought in players look like duds...the others have been injured.... And DM, existing has been injured, his back up is older and relearning the role and no additions have been bought. Can anyone remember the following all playing together fully fit and performing to their level. ..............................Migs.......................... Johnson......Sakho....Agger.........Enrique... ............ .........Lucas........................ (I know depending on your view swap skrts with Agger...But you see what I'm getting at). The above has not been the norm this year. The back ups have played more or if believed injured players played. Think that all explains the high level of defensive errors. Question, is there anyone in that first choice you believe just simply will not be able to play the way Rodgers wants and will therefore continue to cause a high amount of uncertainty leading to said errors?
Lucas and Johnson are the type of players who will sh*t themselves once they're pressed. Enrique is a funny one in that he has the balls at least to try and keep it, and has the body strength to keep it. But he think he's better than he is and that will lead to mistakes. Skrtel is pretty good at passing .. when he isn't pressed. I know it sounds harsh but I feel there a few players in our team that should be upgraded.
This would be my starting back four tbh so all good points. We need to get the liabilities away from the club asap. Even at my lowly level of Sunday league football, nothing worse than having a liability playing next to you!! It really affects your game.
When you're at the top, it's easier to drop back places than it is to move up. Most teams constantly win at the top, so 1 or 2 defeats and you can quickly drop back. However United have to hope that 3 teams above them all lose 2 or 3 games to get back into it. Don't get me wrong, I'm refusing to rule United out of top 4 until it's mathematically possible, but it's not as simple as same points difference = same chance.
True, imploding is certainly easy then catching up, but then its quite easy for us, Everton and Spurs to drop back too. unlikely, but the point still stands and I think it is the same. For Arsenal to get dragged into a top four fight, four teams have to catch them. Granted, Man City and Chelsea are two of them. For Man Utd to get top four, they need three teams to do worse than them.
