It's over

[redpablo]

agreed Craig, good obejctivity. Also it is positive that we were even in the race, hopefully the players will be hurt bad from being close, closer than we've been in years and it will spur them on. 2nd is a terrible place, but a place where lessons can be learned. i still cant stomach this perennial 'next year' chat, its doing my head in cos they're right, we've said it too many times and they've just gone and done it. i do think we are v much contenders now for sure. the squad is getting better. a few ship outs and tweaks coupled with a more urgent attack focused home approach will see us right.
through the whole day I have been saying the words to 'You'll Never Walk Alone' like a prayer or mantra and daft as it sounds, it has helped me through a pissy day. This is a storm, its dark and blustery, sure but I so know that the lark will be singing soon (just dont say next year or I'll strangle my own self)

[squaddie]

agreed Craig, good obejctivity. Also it is positive that we were even in the race, hopefully the players will be hurt bad from being close, closer than we've been in years and it will spur them on. 2nd is a terrible place, but a place where lessons can be learned. i still cant stomach this perennial 'next year' chat, its doing my head in cos they're right, we've said it too many times and they've just gone and done it. i do think we are v much contenders now for sure. the squad is getting better. a few ship outs and tweaks coupled with a more urgent attack focused home approach will see us right.
through the whole day I have been saying the words to 'You'll Never Walk Alone' like a prayer or mantra and daft as it sounds, it has helped me through a pissy day. This is a storm, its dark and blustery, sure but I so know that the lark will be singing soon (just dont say next year or I'll strangle my own self)

So would you agree 'next season' is the season we can show what we can do, or more to the point win it?

[Shanks]

Every time he speaks about the battle with Man Utd, he talks about the money they've spent and correctly identifies that it's enabled them to be in a position where they have four matchwinners, compared to our two.

It's not how much money you have, It's how you spend it that counts..

Rafa has bought some duds in his time.

Yes Spain have some excellent players but we don't need to purchase half the country.

[Craig_H]

It's not how much money you have, It's how you spend it that counts..

Rafa has bought some duds in his time.

Yes Spain have some excellent players but we don't need to purchase half the country.

He has bought some duds and i've been very vocally critical of how he's spent.

However, i would also say that it's easy to spend well when you know that a £20m balls up can be rectified with another £20m signing.

[wiw]

No way will they ever be ahead of us now that they are level. Not a ****ing chance

[Darth Marty]

They had a 26 year wait so we still have a few years left in the bank. Anyway, without a great rival this game wouldnt be the same, so as much as I hate them I am glad that they are still here for us to bitch at.

[Morv2en77]

Thank You Liverpool FC

Gutted, that the mancs won the title....

But a huge thank you to the TEAM for giving me the best season I have ever had as a REDS fan. Tho we did not win our elusive title this year, we pushed them all the way, and only "certain results" that did not go our way let us down. This season, we did not give it to them mancs, we made them sweat for the title almost to the very last day of the season.

They can boast that they have equaled our 18th league titles, but it will be just that..No 19 is ours next year, and not the mancs.

Yeap, the best team won. But they were the best team in terms of results and points only. We were definitely the better team on the pitch for most part of the season. That having been said, I guess we should have better handled those teams that came to anfield and parked their bus there. We did not, and we are now the "2nd best team" instead of lifting the title.

Next season, I believe we would learn from our experience this season and move forward. Its gonna be exciting to see how the Mancs, chelski and arse handle that.

Once again, thank you LIVERPOOL. We can once again BELIEVE !! Onward to 2009/2010 !!!!

[Shanks]

Nice post mate.

but it could have gone in the thread below....

[mooha]

we can't keep saying next year.

people take the piss.
we've become well known for saying next year

How about next year and the next ten after that?

.

[LiousRed]

Rafa is the right man for the job and I firmly believe that as long as we financially do what he asks, we will be winning titles for the foreseeable future

With that said, he should feel some heat if we end next season without a title

[squaddie]

How about next year and the next ten after that?

.

My sentiments exactly.

[Woobus]

Few things...

Firstly, all this 'they are finished, they are ageing, they are on a downward spiral' etc etc is very wishful thinking. But we've been saying it annually, for around a decade. Ferguson has built four different teams in his time and he keeps winning the title.

I think a lot will depend on who leaves United this summer. If they loss Giggs, Scholes, Tevez and Ronaldo then it might take the team a while to gell next season.

[barnes10]

All this talk of them being a spent force, is nonsense IMO.

Yes, they havent been the United side people have got used to, but they were still better than us. Tables dont lie after 38 games and they'll still finish top even after we did the double over them, which is effectively worth 12 points.

ok the competing with villa thing was tongue in cheek. my real point is that i cant see them getting much better. reasons being a fair number of dodgy signings recently and the loss of those local leaders such as giggs and scholes and neville. they arent made of the same stuff anymore.

they are SO reliant on ronaldo turning up its untrue. and tevez has made the difference to their attack a lot whilst he's been there. lose them and its a bigger hole than many think. and 70 mill isnt necessarily going to fill that.

This season however, I think the table does lie. they have massively shown the form of champions (winning games playing sh1t) whilst we've shown naivety at times.

if you talk about being the better team, i think about dominating the game and having most chances on target - that kind of thing. the games we've drawn were all about us not being clinical enough. in pretty much all of those, we dominated the play. so to keep it simple, im not worried about us as long as we get more clinical. we are the best team tactically.

we are also gelling and they are the ones talking about rebuilding with potentially losing established players and their number one of the last 2 years. their future looks more unsettled than ours.

if we don't revert to the defensive 'a draw is enough' mentality and we do improve our taking of chances (i believe its torres and gerrard's fitness that cost us here) then we're going to be the team to beat. because of that, im quitely confident that the mantle is in the process being passed. fergie's focus on us the latter part of this season and particularly since we spanked them, tells me he fears this too. his age means that they may even pass us in the next few years, but over the next 10-15, its definitely us that have more chance of a ruling dynasty than them. Rafa could be here for 15 years. fergie will be gone within 3 or 4 seasons.

interesting season next time round. as i said originally, at least we're up there, something key seems to have clicked recently and we and going to be considered favourites by a good few. what more can we realistically ask before any season?

oh and signing tevez would be a brilliant way boost our attacking strength and symbolise the transition of us 'taking over' from them. if they lose the 4 mentioned above and tevez leaves them for us. that would be the best summer for a long while.

[Vermilion]

When the pressure was on and they looked like faltering up popped the ref to help them out, and at a crucial time of the season, the business end, all the work we did to apply this pressure was undone by scandalous decisions that came at just the right time for them....jammy jammy *******s.

Bollocks to it.

[Craig_H]

ok the competing with villa thing was tongue in cheek. my real point is that i cant see them getting much better. reasons being a fair number of dodgy signings recently and the loss of those local leaders such as giggs and scholes and neville. they arent made of the same stuff anymore.

they are SO reliant on ronaldo turning up its untrue. and tevez has made the difference to their attack a lot whilst he's been there. lose them and its a bigger hole than many think. and 70 mill isnt necessarily going to fill that.

This season however, I think the table does lie. they have massively shown the form of champions (winning games playing sh1t) whilst we've shown naivety at times.

if you talk about being the better team, i think about dominating the game and having most chances on target - that kind of thing. the games we've drawn were all about us not being clinical enough. in pretty much all of those, we dominated the play. so to keep it simple, im not worried about us as long as we get more clinical. we are the best team tactically.

we are also gelling and they are the ones talking about rebuilding with potentially losing established players and their number one of the last 2 years. their future looks more unsettled than ours.

if we don't revert to the defensive 'a draw is enough' mentality and we do improve our taking of chances (i believe its torres and gerrard's fitness that cost us here) then we're going to be the team to beat. because of that, im quitely confident that the mantle is in the process being passed. fergie's focus on us the latter part of this season and particularly since we spanked them, tells me he fears this too. his age means that they may even pass us in the next few years, but over the next 10-15, its definitely us that have more chance of a ruling dynasty than them. Rafa could be here for 15 years. fergie will be gone within 3 or 4 seasons.

interesting season next time round. as i said originally, at least we're up there, something key seems to have clicked recently and we and going to be considered favourites by a good few. what more can we realistically ask before any season?

oh and signing tevez would be a brilliant way boost our attacking strength and symbolise the transition of us 'taking over' from them. if they lose the 4 mentioned above and tevez leaves them for us. that would be the best summer for a long while.

I dont think Giggs, Scholes and Neville are quite finished yet. Neville might be actually, due to injury, but Giggs and Scholes will still be there next year, perhaps playing a little less often. But their experience is massive, you cant buy that kind of influence. They may not be made of the same stuff, but they still bring a valuable commodity.

You're right about how much they rely on Ronaldo, i think they relied on him more last season actually, in terms of his actual level of output, but yeah, he's a big part of their success. If he goes and if Tevez leaves, then it does indeed leave a big gap, you're right. It's a big if though. And if it does happen, ferguson isnt going to just sit by and stare at the gap, he'll replace them, just as he replaced Cantona, Beckham, Yorke, Cole, Stam, Schmeichel (eventually) etc etc. Of course much will depend on whether he finds the right replacements, but he hasnt often got that wrong enough to damage his title bid. Let's not forget, in the 17 years of the PL, the lowest they've ever finished is 3rd and they've only finished outside the top two ONCE. Unfortunately, that's not by luck.

I agree about us showing naivety and them showing the sign of champions - it's precisely why i dont think the table lies.

In our draws at home to Fulham and West Ham, we dominated possession, but the same age old problem was trying to get through packed defences, we couldnt carve them open and create enough chances - this puts enormous pressure on us to take one or two of the half chances we create, which is difficult. We peppered Stoke and should've won. City was pretty dire and Everton was too. Against Hull, we got back to 2-2 and went all cautious again, while the Arsenal game was just a freak result.

The way i see it, the best team over the whole season wins the title.

I wouldnt rule us out, certainly not. But it could do either way, i dont think it's a given that we're going to do everything right and continue playing like we have been, going into next season.

I also dont think ferguson will sit by and watch top players leave United without replacing them. If Ronaldo goes, they'll go all out to sign Ribery. Likewise if they lose Tevez, they'll get someone in.

We need to put ourselves in the position whereby we have at least one more player we can turn to, who can win us a game, like Gerrard and Torres.

If we do that, and a few other things are done properly, we'll have as good a chance as any. I'm not dismissing our chances, but i dont think it's sensible to dismiss United's so easily. We've done this so many times over the past 10-15 years and it's proven to be a mistake time and time again.