The effects of the season good or bad?

[crzy_jkr@u]

This season has been hell. Hell that we've played some rather innocuous football, couple with the fact we've lost to some rather poor squads. Some will always argue the sacking of the manager, but we can do that all day, that matter still comes down to a matter of opinion. Another key issue in this all is the expectation from last's seasons promising display. We destroyed rather strong teams in the last set of games that culminated to praises we got, having most "pundits" tipping us for this season's title. Are we facing the effects of that season is an issue we'll never know. But what I'd like to know; with this current season being so horrendous, is this the season of hell before the glory? Was last season the calm in the storm, are we now to expect a ridiculous capitulation or are we going to learn from this and be better for it next season.

I know most will state the fact that we need the players and the players need the money. But I'd like to key it simple. With the current set of players we have, do we have enough? Does this squad need to play out of their skin for us to gain the Premiership? Were we over estimating given the unfamiliar feeling of actually challenging to the very end? Were we being realistic?

Another spanner I'd like to add to the mix...if we are to not make the Champions League this season, will that make next season's challenge for the title easier? Will not making 4th spot put us in good stead for next season’s triumphs? I think so, but it’s down to the players taking the initiative and not waiting on anyone, essentially making amends for the failures of this season. Last season Gerrard was out injured and we still played some good football and at times Torres too...we need to think about that, each player need to realise the onus is on them. Once this is realised, they'll be better performances. It's just a shame, Pepe has to keep goal for the passion of playing well and winning well is currently evading the team.

[Johncolf]

I feel the finishing a close second last year has affected us and not helped us , it must have been like reaching the summit of everest only to fall and end up back at basecamp , I think Rafa has to takesome of the blame for leaving us short in some positions I.e not enough cover for Torres , Insua has been thrown in at the deepend and had atorrid time when he needed taking outfor his own good , I would love Rafa to admit he s  fu**ed up as he would getmore respect . 

[bigvYNWA]

I would love Rafa to admit he s  fu**ed up as he would getmore respect . 

Only if Gerrard comes out as well as some others and says, "Ive been a lazy c**t for large parts of the season.." as well. Think theres a list of people who need to acknowledge their parts in this seasons f**k up.

I think this summer will be the big tell in what the effects of the season is. Will we lose players? I hope not, but that depends on what really is going behind the scenes.

My biggest hope is we'll see the changes we want in the running of the club.

[Adryan]

The prospect of Liverpool wanting to win the league after 21 years to add on to their 18 titles and the fact that we've been a major force in Europe are burdening the players of the club to succeed. Everyone is pointing to us to always succeed is because of our name, Liverpool FC.

If we do not make it to the Champions League, players like Torres and Gerrard may think twice and we won't be able to sign good players because we can't offer them European football. That's the downside. However, if our players do remain and we add a couple more and win the league, that's a real bonus.

There is just something wrong at the moment. We have the exact same players from last season, just Alonso and Arbeloa replaced by Aquilani and Johnson. Not only that, we've added Maxi Rodriguez into the team. Almost the same squad but totally different performances? Could it be the tactics or strategies?

What is weird is, no matter what a squad is told to do, shouldn't they be able to at least keep possession,move forward and take a shot at goal?

Before, we used to dominate games but not necessarily win. But that was okay because we can at least expect changes in the next game by taking the positives of the last game (dominance). However, this season, we've been really crap for our standards. We can't pass, we can't keep the ball, we can't defend. There are no many positives we can take anymore because almost every game is the same. I can't even recall our last "Great performance".

And because of the capabilities of the Liverpool of previous seasons, we are always expected to bounce back.

It's almost as though everyone (bar a few maybe) in the squad has had an argument with the boss and are not interested in playing for Liverpool anymore but the players can't take all the blame.

I really have nothing to say anymore because this looks like a gamely routine now.

[Henrik577]

the only good thing I see is that the fan-base is finally unified in protest at the owners (which was not the case last season - I got shouted down at the 4-4 Arsenal game for trying to voice my dis-pleasure)........other than that, it's pretty much been a train-wreck

[gareth g]

I would love Liverpool to win everything they played for, but at this time it's not a reality, is it the players or Rafa, or is it the Yanks. Personally I blame the owners for lack of investment, and I also blame the team, for lack of commitment, if you wear the shirt die for it.Also Rafa has to take some of the blame for his decisions. Its a team effort so lets stick together, SO FOR FUCK SAKE COME ON YOU REDS.

[Mohammad Abdullah]

Well I think Alonso & Arbeloa are way much better than the replacements we bought, Aquilani, Maxi & Johnson. Some may argue that these players played well last year but under Rafa's leadership they've turned into amateurs. I sincerely don't know cause I've never watched them play for their teams before...
Another problem was that Lucas was out-of-place, at the beginning of the season he was IMO an empty chain and very poor launching counter attacks or providing balls for the attacking players, his tackling also had been poor. Some may argue that he has improved but the fact that we cannot afford to do that while we lose games rather deserves to be thought of..
The same strategy; Manchester Utd (I'm NOT praising for God's sake) lost Ronaldo & Teves so Ferguson had to change his strategy and he did very well for now he is competing for the title while we stuck to our same strategy of the wholy duo Torres-Gerrard which didn't work this season as the norm..
I no longer know what's right from wrong, I will continue to support Liverpool for the rest of my life but I'm not satisfied with everything right now. IMO a change is needed whatever it is. One thing I know is that the owners are destroying the club but they also are not players, they can't score goals or defend or give tactical advices....
Hope this is gonna end very soon.

[Henrik577]

Well I think Alonso & Arbeloa are way much better than the replacements we bought, Aquilani, Maxi & Johnson. Some may argue that these players played well last year but under Rafa's leadership they've turned into amateurs. I sincerely don't know cause I've never watched them play for their teams before...
Another problem was that Lucas was out-of-place, at the beginning of the season he was IMO an empty chain and very poor launching counter attacks or providing balls for the attacking players, his tackling also had been poor. Some may argue that he has improved but the fact that we cannot afford to do that while we lose games rather deserves to be thought of..
The same strategy; Manchester Utd (I'm NOT praising for God's sake) lost Ronaldo & Teves so Ferguson had to change his strategy and he did very well for now he is competing for the title while we stuck to our same strategy of the wholy duo Torres-Gerrard which didn't work this season as the norm..
I no longer know what's right from wrong, I will continue to support Liverpool for the rest of my life but I'm not satisfied with everything right now. IMO a change is needed whatever it is. One thing I know is that the owners are destroying the club but they also are not players, they can't score goals or defend or give tactical advices....
Hope this is gonna end very soon.

fair post - although you do know that anything which could be interpreted as praise of Ferguson is a hanging offense on this forum

[Mohammad Abdullah]

fair post - although you do know that anything which could be interpreted as praise of Ferguson is a hanging offense on this forum

Thanks mate and surely I've learned some stuff here 

[Ally-LFC]

As much as the team has been dire I've also been disappointed at the fans.

I strongly believe that it's more important how you act when your team are in the sh*t, than when they're flying high.
And this season, the fans have given up way too easily. Once again I know the team have been shocking and I'll be demanding more next season.

But too many fans haven't shown any ability to support the team when things are looking down. They've adopted an attitude of "who can I blame today for our team's shortcomings" rather than "what can we do to get out of this shitty situation".

Show some grit and determination for f**k's sake.

[crzy_jkr@u]

Point well taken Ally, but I feel this team has short changed us in many ways this season. All we ask for is some passion; we cannot blame them if they play well or play with a certain determination that represents the ethos of the club even if it means them falling short of a victory.

I am frustrated at the persistence of playing inadequate players such of likes of Kuyt. He has always been poor, we bought him to score goals and realised he couldn't handle the mantle so we use him as a right winger as we have no solution there. Thinks like that will always irk me but I can see the thoughts of a trying manager who has little resources to work with. Still I do not pardon the inadequacies of the player. Nevertheless, there are many other places that could easily fit into the Kuyt bracket. One of the most astute buys from Benitez was the purchasing of Yossi Benayoun. Quite simply, Yossi is class and I've always said this...and he does fit the pricing bill as a budget signing. If we are to sign more of these players, are we still to expect world class performances? Well, I believe so, especially if they are anything like Yossi.

That being said, money aside and our current failings in the Premiership, would it be seen as a step forward to miss out on Champions League in order to revamp and bolster next season? Having our focus on one premier trophy that we've missed for so long. They thoughts of Istanbul still lingers, but the grasp of the Premiership has evaded us. Can we rebuild having a one burner engine? Focusing solely on the Premiership, will that be too little for us to support? I can say that we'd definitely have much more of a concerted support, much more real fans attending the matches and no doubt much more spirited performances.

The effects of this season's poor performances give the players the "What not to do scenario" not that they can do anything about getting injured. But they can certainly learn to play with a passion that does not mean scoring a goal and sitting back on your laurels. From this season; we'll either take a step for the better next season, or we'll continue on a similar path...either way many factors will determine that outcome. I for one suggest we keep Benitez and give him some money. But with current situation, that seems difficult.  So hopefully he can build on what we have and remove the tactic of using overly exposed tactics. Surely then we'd see a better performance hopefully by then the World Cup will be long pass everyone and our hopes higher than ever.

[Adryan]

But I guess this is what being a fan is all about - sticking to the team no matter what!

[Ross]

Simply:

End of season. Hold your head up high. Hope for the best next season.

I do agree with comments about fans though - it's unbelievably how prepared some people have been to make such sweeping statements without having the proper knowledge.

It's also noticable there has been a lack of 'Liverpool key values' held amongst a collection of fans too.

Hopefully these issues will sort themselves out however.

At the end of the day - yes, we're all going to be extremely disappointed about a poor league finish and no CL but it's just 1 season and we should be more concerned about the long term events surrounding the club.

Onwards and upwards and the Liverpool we know and love will be back.

[bartman49]

We started the season well considering we were robbed of a draw by the ref, (sign of things to come) then over the next 6 games we scored over 20 odd goals and although we again missed loads of chances against Villa and lost another game, still we were playing well, after that a succession of injuries showed up the lack of funding by the owners and later on a loss of form and confidence, led us to this, and like a lot of you I cannot wait for the season to finish.

Now we wait and see where these owners go at seasons end, their are a few questions to be answered, the biggest is  will Rafa stay. There maybe one thing that keeps him here and that's the fans, how much support he will receive from the fans, if it's very little I don't think he will stay even with funding, the man is true to his word and how many times has he said it's because of the fans that he's here, take that away and no money in the world will keep him here.

[Ross]

Can't believe how long ago the start of the season seems.

Usually it seems to fly by. Just shows.

[xxLiverPrinc3ssxx]

Simply:

End of season. Hold your head up high. Hope for the best next season.

I do agree with comments about fans though - it's unbelievably how prepared some people have been to make such sweeping statements without having the proper knowledge.

It's also noticable there has been a lack of 'Liverpool key values' held amongst a collection of fans too.

Hopefully these issues will sort themselves out however.

At the end of the day - yes, we're all going to be extremely disappointed about a poor league finish and no CL but it's just 1 season and we should be more concerned about the long term events surrounding the club.

Onwards and upwards and the Liverpool we know and love will be back.

Well said Ross. I completely agree.

[lefty1896]

As much as the team has been dire I've also been disappointed at the fans.

I strongly believe that it's more important how you act when your team are in the sh*t, than when they're flying high.
And this season, the fans have given up way too easily. Once again I know the team have been shocking and I'll be demanding more next season.

But too many fans haven't shown any ability to support the team when things are looking down. They've adopted an attitude of "who can I blame today for our team's shortcomings" rather than "what can we do to get out of this shitty situation".

Show some grit and determination for f**k's sake.

very well put mate

[Joey B]

When they play YNWA at my funeral,thats when I will have stopped being a RED.HOWEVER at this present time the feeling of depression (only in football terms)comes to mind.The way the season has panned out till now leaves me actually NOT looking forward to the game tomorrow,just incase we lose.FFS all the years of support these feelings are just so alien.Am I alone?.
If anyone had told me at the start of the season that Stevie G would be getting slated on here,I would have called for the men in white coats.Saying that I think he is playing like his hearts not in it at the mo.Anyway good people just wanted to get that off me chest & really hope a top/thrilling display awaits us tomorrow.

                    COME ON YOU REDMEN.

[leeboy30]

I think the fans are frustrated and cant see why the players are equaly frustrated. But from the players point of view understand this..

With the selling of Alonso the club has demonstrated that we are a top club historically but not financially. We'll sell everytime if the price is right. We have a sell to buy policy at our club. No new competition has been brought in to fight for places. Theres no immediate prospect of other world class players coming here..

As a player this has a damaging effect. Imagine how Stevie G feels after 10 years of service only to see lower and lower quality players playing alongside him when only a season ago it looked like there would be better quality coming through. The guys 30 and at the moment has no prospect of winning the league with Liverpool after turning down big moves to clubs that have had success recently. Torres - he knows hes the only top class striker at the club. Hes had injuries galore yet without him we're half the side.. every match his getting some of the worst service ive seen in recent years. He had alonso distributing balls to him last year now he has long balls from insua or crappy sidewards ball from Lucas.

Could go on for days about why the players should be disheartened.. professionals or not the game is played with heart and the heart has been ripped out of the club. To be constantly reducing the quality of players in the club has set us back big time. These guys can all get more money at other clubs. A lot of them are here for the club because of love and passion. The club needs an adrenaline injection of cash to stabilise the rumours and bring in 4-5 new players as Torres has already said.

Im depressed but I feel for the players aswell. We've already seen last year their up for it and want success for the club thats been proven. Lets prove our support for them and get this investment we need. Then next year can be a whole different story.