It's their year...

Pogue Mahone

Next year, that is.

Lots of twists and turns in this transfer window yet but I reckon that, as it stands, Liverpool are better placed to win the league next season than at any time in the history of the Premier League.

They've just racked up their highest points total ever. They will have Agger (their best defender) to shore things up at the back, alongside the ever-improving Skirtel. Barry is a top player who will score goals, provide excellent delivery from free-kicks and has clicked with Gerrard every time they've played alongside each other for England. Up front, Torres should be even more effective in his second season and Kuyt might put all his personal problems behind him and blossom into a footballer (ok, so this bit is pushing things a wee bit).

What really makes me think they're in with a shout is when I look at their rivals.

Arsenal
For all the gooners bluster about trusting in Wenger, Hleb and Flamini performed (along with Sagna and Clichy) at a consistently higher level than all their team-mates throughout last season. You can't lose two lynch-pins of your side (from the spine of the team) without suffering major problems. Wenger may well wave his magic wand and sign equally competent replacements but there's not a hope in hell of both newbies slotting into the team seamlessly.

Chelsea
They are in turmoil. If/when they finally find a new manager they might have already missed out on their main targets and/or had vital players poached by the special needs one. No matter how much wedge they flood into this summers transfer market, their new man will need a while to impose himself and forge a bunch of new players into a team. I'm writing them off for next season.


Manchester United
If Ronaldo does join Real Madrid (that's a very big if, by the way) we're losing the best player in the world and someone who scored 42 goals last season. Which leaves a fecking large hole in our squad. The transfer muppets would have us believe that any funds raised will be used to sign Messi, Benzema and Kaka but the harsh financial realities of life under Glazer means that none of us know exactly how much money will be made available to SAF. Also worth bearing in mind that even if he gets every penny to spend on transfers, the fact that Ronaldo is playing in the euros combined the fact that both clubs are starting the season with such diametrically opposed opinions, means that the whole SNAFU could drag on all fecking summer, until the final few days of the transfer window, leaving it all far too late for us to sign our own targets.

So, to sum up. Next season might well be Liverpool's year. Or, to put it another way, if Benitez doesn't come up with the goods next season he never will.

surf

You haven't taken into account that Pennant may be leaving, a bigger loss than Ronaldo.

brophs

No, I don't see it. Maybe if things are as bad at Arsenal as certain reports would have you believe they may get third spot, but I just don't see it. Looking at their squad, they just seem to have a few too many weaknesses. Unless Benitez brings in players in a few key positions, namely left back(apparently Dossena is the man coming in-anyone seen much of him?), right wing, and a striker, I don't see any significant improvement.

Added to that if Alonso leaves, they will likely get Barry. He's a good player, but is he any real sort of improvement on Alonso? Not for me. Kuyt as ever will work hard, and little else. One of their most potent attacking threats(Crouch), will either be sold or left to rot on the bench. The Gerrard-Torres partnership IS formidable, no one could question that, but what if one/both of them gets injured? They rely massively on those two(much like we do on Ronaldo). At the back end of the season, Liverpool showed title winning form, no coincidence that it coincided with their picking a settled team for the first time. Could they cope in the way we did with Rooney if they had Torres injured for a couple of months? I would have my doubts.

A lot depends on whether Liverpool can pull a few good signings out of the fire, or whether Benitez goes and buys himself a couple more Jermaine Pennant's. If it is the case the Benitez wants to play wingers, then he has to abandon the idea of playing Kuyt there. Most every Liverpool fan I know says the same thing; playing a defensive striker at right wing sets the wrong tone from the off, and means endeavour will always be the order of the day, which makes little sense when you are talking about one of your three or four attacking players on the pitch.

My Prediction for Liverpool: 4th

CnutOfAllCnuts

With or without Ronaldo, United's team and squad is better than Liverpool's.

So is Chelsea's.

yaka8

So is Barnsley's

Pogue Mahone

I think Barry is a super player, one of the most - if not the most - under-rated central midfielders in the league (which is bizarre, seeing as he's English)

Alonso looked decent in his debut season but got found out, physically, last season. Barry is a significant upgrade, IMO.

CnutOfAllCnuts

Good point

CnutOfAllCnuts

Barry is no better than what Liverpool has.

Actually, he is probably worse.

FranklyVulgar

Alonso is still a class above Barry, totally lost his way due to injuries, confidence and form.

Barry is typically over-rated, a busy player who pitches in with goals and good delivery but i don't believe the hype and think he will be found out at Liverpool.

gaffs

Hes much better than Alonso.

charleysurf

Surprisingly kee-jerk post by Pogue. Ronaldos leaving so therefore the worst nightmare of the scousers winning a title must come rue.

I still reckon Ronaldo will be at United next season, but even if not we are still going to be bloody strong.

Chelsea will be weakened a bit if they lose Drogba and need to find a new system. But if they keep making top signings like Boswinga then I will always back them to compete for the league right to the end.

And I bet my life that ARsenal will finish ahead of Liverpool. Indeed I'm thinking of investing a few quid on them winning the title. Nasri > Hleb. Vela is a great addition. Eduardo will be fit for the start of the season. All they need is a Flamini replacement which should be easy to find.
If Sagna had stayed fit last season then they would have won the league.

Pogue Mahone

Eduardo will be "fit" for the start of next season like Smith was "fit" the season before last. He may never be the same player again and won't be properly fit until Christmas. God only knows the psychological battle he will also have to go through, to get back to his best.

Hleb>>>>>>Nasri, by the way. Nasri will potentially become a great player but that's all he has, potential. He had a mediocre season in France, is recovering from mono, is physically lightweight and is a million miles short of being able to replace a Premiership-hardened, seasoned pro like Hleb. One for the future maybe but not one for next season.

As for a Flaminin-replacement being easy to find, you're kidding yourself. He covered greater distances than anyone else in the Arsenal team, made more tackesl, made more passes and passed more accurately. He even waded in with a few goals. Make no mistake, Flamini was (along with Hleb) at the centre of everything that Arsenal did well last season.

And Sagna? Any team whose title challenge is reliant on the fitness of a full-back, has got serious flaws in it's squad.

[Hellboy]17

Liverpoo's addition : Degen, Dossenna, Milner or Riera. Pathetic signings yet again.

Even without Ronnie we'd finish above them.

Jiggs'Hamstring

Ok, Hleb had a good season last year, but 'Premiership-hardened'? He's still a fanny

UnitedRoadRed

Benitez hasn't learned and has gone scattergun approach with his transfers. Fergie did it in 2003/4:
David Bellion
Eric Djemba-Djemba
Tim Howard
Kleberson
Cristiano Ronaldo
Dong
About as hit and miss as you can get really and proof that one or two quality players beats persevering with crap.

Frosty

Pogue, has Benitez got incriminating photos of you?

That's the only reason I can fathom for this.

Chelsea play Monopoly with Monopoly money. They will win the league next year after spending £100m+ this summer.

surf

1. They haven't just racked up their highest points total ever. That was 2 years ago. This season there were 3 clubs all at least 7 points ahead. That's some gap to close.

2. I agree Barry will be more effective for them in the premier league than Alonso.

3. We have yet to see what the top 2 will do in the transfer market. I'd expect Ronaldo to stay and United to get stronger.

4. Your analysis was only about players and didn't take into account Ferguson vs. Benitez.

5. Experience matters and the Liverpool players and manager have no experience of challenging for the premier league. The top 2 would therefore be heavy favourites in a close race against them.

6. Liverpool's odds are long at the moment so they could be worth a bet. But they are unlikely to win.

Pogue Mahone

He is a fanny. But fanny's like him definitely benefit from a year gettting used to the rough stuff, hence his massive improvement this season.

Chances are, Nasri is a fanny too.

Pogue Mahone

No matter how much money Chelsea spend, it takes more than a single season for a team to gel, especially if the rumours of a mass exodus are true.

As for LFC, I'll admit the whole "it's their year" thing is being a wee bit provocative and I'll admit that I'm certainly not gonna put any money on them winning the league but I do think next season might be their best chance in ages.

Besides, if this (deliberately controversial) thread serves to distract from the soul-destroying nightmare that is Ronaldogate - even for a couple of hours - then my job here is done

charleysurf

Flamini was almost sold the season before last. He's a good player but ARsenal shoul dbe able to find a better midfielder of that type that was more than a converted fullback.

Sagna is a great player. Would we not have missed Evra or Brown last season? The biggest problem was not so much Sagna being injured though, it's that Wenger ended up moving Toure and playing Senderos. Obviously that was a bad move. I'm sure that Wenger will be getting someone like Richard Dunne and avoiding that next season.

All in all, Arsenal are better than Liverpool and will prove it next season.

Brwned

Judge him on last season's performances. Last season he was one of the most effective midfielders in the league.

When Senderos played they kept 6 clean sheets in 7 games, hardly a bad move. And we were without our first choice right back for the whole season, we still won the league.



Doubtful.

golden_blunder

At this time, I still dont believe that Liverpools squad is good enough to substain a title challenge. This summer will be interesting to see who they sign.

KeyserSoze

I agree with most of that apart from the Sagna being fit would have won them the league part. Arsenal will do well with or without Hleb, i just cant see Liverpool making a sustained challenge... they may do better but just not enough to bridge the gap between us and Chelsea even if we lose Ronaldo and Drogba respectively.

Bilbo

Liverpool need to do two things to have a big shot at the league title next season. They need to buy a top-drawer winger, and at least one (but preferably two) top-drawer full-backs. Then they have a chance, although even if that occured I will still have to put them behind United and Chelsea, and probably Arsenal.

Exchanging Alonso for Barry would be a largely pointless exercise. No improvement there. Torres needs to make sure he doesn't suffer from 'second season syndrome', which is certainly possible. He'd score 20 goals in his sleep, but will have to go some to match this season.

Most importantly though, Benitez needs to realise that his way of rotating is not a successful one. Will he? Probably not.

FlawlessThaw

Well we did end up missing Gary Neville for the entire season

Pogue Mahone

And Vidic missed as many games as Sagna, IIRC.

peterstorey

That's about right. For England against decent opposition he looks out of his depth.

mosesfromtala