liverpools title challenge is over

[captainfog]

people will never be satisfied.

We have had an excellent start to the season. FFS we are second to Arsenal who will fall away because their squad is **** and they are bound to get injuries. If we were 6 points behind Chelsea and Man U already then yes, I could understand some feelings of doom.

Come on chaps, we can't win every game. WE CAN stay unbeaten though for long periods and that will ensure we are in the mix at the end which is all anyone can ask for. I personally think we will win it this year. I haven't said that after 4 or 5 games into the season for a long long long time.

It's a great time to be a 'Pool supporter so don't winge, we ain't had it so good in the league for years

[justyafivetimes]

people will never be satisfied.

We have had an excellent start to the season. FFS we are second to Arsenal who will fall away because their squad is **** and they are bound to get injuries. If we were 6 points behind Chelsea and Man U already then yes, I could understand some feelings of doom.

Come on chaps, we can't win every game. WE CAN stay unbeaten though for long periods and that will ensure we are in the mix at the end which is all anyone can ask for. I personally think we will win it this year. I haven't said that after 4 or 5 games into the season for a long long long time.

It's a great time to be a 'Pool supporter so don't winge, we ain't had it so good in the league for years

2nd only to mine as post of the weekend

[anfieldanfield]

people will never be satisfied.

We have had an excellent start to the season. FFS we are second to Arsenal who will fall away because their squad is **** and they are bound to get injuries. If we were 6 points behind Chelsea and Man U already then yes, I could understand some feelings of doom.

Arsenal have an incredibly talented squad, well capable of challenging for the title.

I dont see how anyone can dispute that.

[poorscousertommy]

I'm not negative, i just say when Rafa gets it wrong.

We should be beating Pompey, if we have serious title aspirations.

Had we actually started with our best players, i've no doubt we would've won.

Torres & Gerrard did more in their respective cameos than everyone else put together. Had they played for an hour each, i'm convinced we'd have won.

You dont rotate for games away at Pompey, it's idiotic.

I agree with this. What is also annoying is the amount of people who come on here and have a go at people who express unhappiness at a decision or a performance.

Like the sensible people I don't see things through red tinted glasses. I am willing to discuss negative aspects of Liverpool FC aswell as the positives. For instanced, a positive aspect of yesterday is we were lucky to get a point considering they had 3 clear cut chances that our strikers would have buried.

Noone has said our title challenge is seriously over. People have just made the valid point that if we had played our strongest side we could have won yesterday. And that point is absolute fact.

We aren't doom and gloom merchants, just people making valid points. Yet when they do on here everyone ****ing moans.

If the Pompey strikers had been on form yesterday and had scored the three very good chances they had yesterday (compared to our zero clear cut chances) and we had lost 3-0 would you have been so happy with the result?

Do you know why Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd have dominated the league whilst we have fought for our Champions league lives? They play their best team every week.

You can't moan at people for being unhappy with a poor performance and pointing at the fact that our worst performance of the season happens when the team is completely changed and the players who have provided a lot of the positiveness to our great start are dropped.

[captainfog]

Arsenal have an incredibly talented squad, well capable of challenging for the title.

I dont see how anyone can dispute that.

They have some very talented players but I don't think the squad has depth, especially at the back

[Dan]

They have some very talented players but I don't think the squad has depth, especially at the back

[captainfog]

Oh and Manure didn't win at pompey. They are no pushovers. Harry has spent a lot of cash at that club. Tough away fixture. Yes, we could and should have played better, that I am not disputing, however, I don't think anyone should write of our title challenge because of one game we draw and don't concede in.

[justyafivetimes]

Arsenal have an incredibly talented squad, well capable of challenging for the title.

I dont see how anyone can dispute that.

i bet ya any money ya like they dont finish top 3

[captainfog]

i bet ya any money ya like they dont finish top 3

grammatically that is all wrong, however, I concur with the sentiment

[justyafivetimes]

grammatically that is all wrong, however, I concur with the sentiment

there,s no one quite like grammar

[Dhav]

I don't see anything wrong with what DJS is saying here. How is he being negative by criticising Rafa's foolish team selection? It's all well and good rotating but Rafa over does it and most people here, if they're honest with themselves, know it. Ferguson and Mourinho don't rotate 3-4 players per game and they certainly don't 'rest' their best players for difficult games like Portsmouth away. Why not rest Gerrard and Torres against Birmingham at home instead? Are we expected to believe that Gerrard and Torres wouldn't be able to have coped with playing yesterday as well as the CL game? Well, I don't buy it.

Essentially, drawing away at Portsmouth isn't a bad result but it's not a great result either and after watching the game yesterday, the frustrating thing is that had Rafa not gone over the top with his obsession with rotation then we would be top of the league right now.

I love Rafa but he's not immune from criticism and that's just the way it should be. He's not a god and if the likes of Carra and Gerrard can get criticised on here then so can Rafa.

It's still a good (not great) start to the season but we won't win the league unless Rafa gets a little smarter with his rotation policy.

Cruxt of the matter is right here in DS' post IMO, and what DJS alluded to earlier.

We have a strong squad and with the indifferent start Man U and Chelsea have made, plus their desperation to succeed in Europe, and Arsenal's young squad probably not ready to challenge yet, I have no doubts this is a golden opportunity for us to win the league. It's already so tight at the top of the table - no team will run away with it, and every point will count this season. 3 points away at the likes of Portsmouth as opposed to 1 could make the difference between #19 and 17 years of hurt becoming 18.

With the words coming out of Anfield, I honestly thought Rafa was prioritising the league this year, and it is about time. With all the success we've had in Europe the last 3 years, it's league success we really crave.

Yet when we have a tricky away league game at Portsmouth just before a Champions League game, and Rafa leaves out Gerrard and Torres, it does make you question where his priorities truly lie. It seems like the same old story, resting key players for league games so they are ready for Europe. The way I see it, Porto is not a key game, we could probably afford to lose still win all our home games plus another away to top the group.

To be honest, I do not understand his logic in the team selection yesterday. Gerrard - ok, he's played two games in quick succession after being injured, so may not be in peak fitness. Otherwise, if he's fit he should play every game, especially away from home. Rest him for Derby, Birmingham at home, but not Portsmouth away. If he's not 100%, play him against Portsmouth then rest him against Porto, and Birmingam if necessary. Same with Torres, he's played two internationals, but he's fit and it's early in the season. There should be no issue of fatigue and if it's the case that he's trying to get them at peak fitness for the latter stages of the season then rest him on Tues or next Sat. Like jockey Hansen said last night on MOTD you dont rotate key players in tricky away games, you rest them in the easier home fixtures (the way fergie and Mourinho do).

This post is a lot longer than I thought, for which I apologise, but it's because I am so baffled by his selection yesterday. There is no legislating for some of the poor performances of the likes of Alonso, Crouch, Momo and perhaps that team should have been good enough to win regardless, but why not pick the strongest team to give us a better chance of getting the 3 points? Every point will count this season and we can't afford to sabotage our title hopes by playing a considerably weaker team at difficult away fixtures.

I love Rafa too, but sometimes I just think he tries to be too clever for his own good.

[poorscousertommy]

I don't think anyone should write of our title challenge because of one game we draw and don't concede in

NOONE HAS CONCEDED THE TITLE CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!

[Dan]

NOONE HAS CONCEDED THE TITLE CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!

I can confirm that Rafa has thrown in the towel and would now like to concentrate on the Carling Cup. Questions on a postcard to Shaggy

[justyafivetimes]

NOONE HAS CONCEDED THE TITLE CHALLENGE!!!!!!!!!!

thought you had.....

[Morph]

*yawn*

RCDNW brigade...

You don't half come over as friggin pompous sometimes, i agreed with you in the other thread that rafa did make a **** up and that's the way i see it as well, however this thread has got nothing to do with RCDNW the lad is just highlighting the positives so far