Our chances for the title

[Imy]

I think we will come 2nd, we still have not got enough creative consistency to break down a defence. The scum bags and to a point the Gooners and the Chavs will keep knocking at the door of an opposition until they get the goal, these teams totally overpower the opposition until they crack, wave upon wave of attack. This is how to win the Premiership and this is also the reason the Scum bags never do well in Europe where patience is the key.

[Rich]

Can we will the title? Yes we can. Will we win the title? Probably not.

Obviously there are a million and one factors in deciding the title -
can we finally get off to a good start in the league;
can we finally start converting chances to goals;
can we keep the luck that has seen some of our biggest players remain relatively injury free for the whole season;
can the Manager produce an away side which consistently causes teams problems;
can Gerrard find the goal-scoring form of two years ago;
can the new signings integrate themselves into the side quickly;
can Anfield and the Kop rise itself to scream the team on when it's Sunderland on a wet, cold Saturday lunchtime;
can our wide players start performing consistently;

And these have ignored external factors which greatly effect our chances, such as:

the high frequency of lunchtime kick-offs which LFC endure, in stark contrast to some of our rivals;
United adding extra fire-power to what already is the leagues finest attacking unit;
Chelsea adding extra depth to their defence, arguably one of the reasons why they didn't win the league last year;


To name a few...

[stevie_gerrard_8]

I think we will come 2nd, we still have not got enough creative consistency to break down a defence. The scum bags and to a point the Gooners and the Chavs will keep knocking at the door of an opposition until they get the goal, these teams totally overpower the opposition until they crack, wave upon wave of attack. This is how to win the Premiership and this is also the reason the Scum bags never do well in Europe where patience is the key.

Absolutely spot on. I dont think they'll ever win it but I can see us and Chelsea winning it. The Scum are too attacking in Europe and are tactically naive. If it works it looks great, like against Roma, but if it doesn't it backfires, like Benfica away and Milan at Old Toilet.

[dww]

Can we will the title? Yes we can. Will we win the title? Probably not.

Obviously there are a million and one factors in deciding the title -
can we finally get off to a good start in the league;
can we finally start converting chances to goals;
can we keep the luck that has seen some of our biggest players remain relatively injury free for the whole season;
can the Manager produce an away side which consistently causes teams problems;
can Gerrard find the goal-scoring form of two years ago;
can the new signings integrate themselves into the side quickly;
can Anfield and the Kop rise itself to scream the team on when it's Sunderland on a wet, cold Saturday lunchtime;
can our wide players start performing consistently;

And these have ignored external factors which greatly effect our chances, such as:

the high frequency of lunchtime kick-offs which LFC endure, in stark contrast to some of our rivals;
United adding extra fire-power to what already is the leagues finest attacking unit;
Chelsea adding extra depth to their defence, arguably one of the reasons why they didn't win the league last year;


To name a few...

We need to avoid sounding so bitter when discussing lunchtime kickoffs though. I think that we do however (like a lot of other teams) need to learn to deal with them better. Most early games tend to have soporific first halfs.

[fred_plasticine]

we created enough chances in most of the games we lost last season but we simply didn't take them. i don't think it's creativity we lack it's rather coolness in front of goal. most of the times it's enough to create one chance a game if you take it.
you don't need to destroy teams every week to win the league. boring 1-0 do the job as well.

[Red_Polo]

we created enough chances in most of the games we lost last season but we simply didn't take them. i don't think it's creativity we lack it's rather coolness in front of goal. most of the times it's enough to create one chance a game if you take it.
you don't need to destroy teams every week to win the league. boring 1-0 do the job as well.

Can't agree with that at all. There were so many games last season where we had decent possession but lacked any invention and were totally unable to produce clearcut chances, leaving us limited to set pieces and long range efforts. Granted we need to be more clinical, but lack of creativity was easily our biggest problem. Also, I think knowing as an individual you will get another good chance in the game goes a long way to helping a striker feel cool in front of goal.

[dww]

Can't agree with that at all. There were so many games last season where we had decent possession but lacked any invention and were totally unable to produce clearcut chances, leaving us limited to set pieces and long range efforts. Granted we need to be more clinical, but lack of creativity was easily our biggest problem. Also, I think knowing as an individual you will get another good chance in the game goes a long way to helping a striker feel cool in front of goal.

A lot of our movement off the ball in the final third was very predicatble last year which left us with very few clear cut opportunities compared to United say.

[fred_plasticine]

A lot of our movement off the ball in the final third was very predicatble last year which left us with very few clear cut opportunities compared to United say.

i'd say united are predictable as well it's just that one giggs or ronaldo will always get past their oponents...

i'm quite positive that pennant/kewel/babel/benayoun will provide enough creativity when needed this season.

[Rich]

True, it helps enormously when you have a player that can beat a man, the opposition defence has to suddenly reorganise and that inevitably leads to more space to exploit. We didn't do it enough last year...

[dww]

i'd say united are predictable as well it's just that one giggs or ronaldo will always get past their oponents...

i'm quite positive that pennant/kewel/babel/benayoun will provide enough creativity when needed this season.

I think you are right that we have the potential to do it in our squad.

I think you are wrong about United though. Giggs, Ronaldo and even Park are capable of going inside or outside a player and all make runs both behind and infront of the opponents defence and a variety of players popped up in the box from deeper. We tended to have only forwards and maybe Gerrard ever getting in there.

[Joe Le Toff]

If we get off to a flyer at the beginning of the season and not our usual sluggish start, if our new players settle quickly and we maintain a settled first eleven, if we stop ****ing about with formations away from home, and if we put our chances away more often than we did last season, then throw in a bit of luck that all championship winning sides need throughout the season, then anything is possible.
Realistically though, i dont think we can win it, my minimum expectations this year are to break into the top 2.

[redblood]

Are you a child? Your blind optimism is embarrassing.

We are quite clearly not good enough to win the league this year.

There is nothing quite clear about it, last year was a blip due to many new players not fitting in and also a lot of our old players not performing to their levels.
If you take our form in 05/06 and we can and should be able to replicate and improve on that because we have improved our first team and squad.
The Mancs may have bought big but there are no guarantees those players will settle in also Giggs and Scholes are unlikely to reproduce the form they showed last year, don't get me wrong they'll still be in with a shout, but last year they were particurlarly lucky.
As for the Chavs they'll be strong and you would expect Sheva to perform a little better this season but they will be missing Drogba and Essien for a large and important part of the league.
Then we have to look at a couple of key factors for us, last year our big players never stepped up and we were very unlucky in a lot of games where we dominated but got beat instead of winning,Chelski away Blackburn away Mancs home to name but a few.
Added to that we really took our foot off the gas in the last 3 or 4 league games which made the points total look worse than what it should have been.
It's only the start of August don't dare write us off without having kicked a ball in anger yet. We are in with a shout as much as the Manc the Chavs and the Arse and it will only not be possible when the maths won't allow it.

[fred_plasticine]

Then we have to look at a couple of key factors for us, last year our big players never stepped up and we were very unlucky in a lot of games where we dominated but got beat instead of winning,Chelski away Blackburn away Mancs home to name but a few.

i can't agree with that. if you create chance after chance but simply waste them whereas your opponents take the one chance they get then it's hardly down to bad luck.

[redblood]

BOLLOCKS!!!!
I hate the ******s with a passion but you have got to hand it them, they were brilliant from start to finish last season, some great individual performers such as Ronaldo, Vidic and Giggs but as a team they were quite superb from back to front throughout the entire campaign.
They've set the benchmark in the Premiership for the best part of 15 years now and there's no getting away from that fact. It's hard to take but that's the sad reality of it.
LFC should be doing a whole lot better, we've been an absolute disgrace when it's come to challenging for the title ever since the premiership was introduced.
Not good enough and it ought to change and quick.

Sorry Marky but I think that some of your reply is Bollocks yes United were good last year but there were plenty of games where they went unpunished when they were playing ****e and still won.
They overperformed last year they were lucky Giggs and Scholes lasted the pace I really don't expect them to repeat their form from last year.

[redblood]

i can't agree with that. if you create chance after chance but simply waste them whereas your opponents take the one chance they get then it's hardly down to bad luck.

Of course it's bad luck they score from one chance which is freakish in itself.
As for us some of our chances are down to bad finishing some down to bad luck so I wouldn't they are simply wasted.