I've never been one to be overly afraid of putting something out there on forums, something which will be quoted back to you in months and years ahead when it goes spectacularly wrong. Sometimes I've been hopelessly wide of the mark, others not so. I'm pretty confident on this one though, and it's not a case of just being silly in order to get a reaction. Here's why......
Firstly and formostly we have IMHO the best player in the league by a distance in Luis Suarez. Further, we have a Suarez who is fizzing ready to pop in terms of motivation and desire (primarily IMHO because he wants a move at the end of the season to either Barca, Madrid or Bayern). The other thing is with Suarez, he has seen from Messi and Ronaldo that in order to be considered right up there with the Worlds best you have to score an utterly ridiculous amount of goals. Football has changed in this sense, much like cricket has changed forever since the advent of 20/20. Just like you don't see Geoff Boycotts anymore trundling along all day to get 100, these days superstars don't score goals at the rate of one every other game they bang them in EVERY game, left right and centre. I started a thread about Suarez at the beginning of last season asking whether he was about to embark on this type of scoring spree, and he has. This season it seems even more the case, and against Fulham he got three but it could easily have been six. So potent is he, that a potential goal happens for him every ten minutes or even less. It maybe that a little through ball gets blocked before it gets to him, a little flick doesn't quite come off which stops him, but ultimately he is trying to score in every minute of every game. He is becoming in my opinion the best player that has ever worn the shirt (yes I know) and I think before the seasons end most will agree. Against poor teams he is practically unstoppable, and against good sides he is hard to handle. Despite us being outplayed against Arsenal, he hit the post and ought to have passed for Sturridge for another, and that's just from memory which is a case in point. Because of Suarez, we will win many points that we otherwise wouldn't.
That's not it either. We have the classic "spine" of a good side in that we have a top goalkeeper, good centre halves (and here I personally think Sakho will by the seasons end be talked about as being one of the best centre halves in the league), a top central midfielder and also Sturridge to compliment Suarez. Throw in a monster right back going forward, a wonderfully gifted little number 10 and we have the makings of a bloody good side. Our "make up the numbers" players ain't too shabby either, Lucas, Enrique, Allen, Skrtel etc are good players, as is Kolo. As far as the squad is concerned, we do need a bit of luck with Mignolet, Johnson, Gerrard, Suarez, Enrique and Coutinho, but arguably we could cope with anyone else being out for a bit. So team wise we are strong, and squad wise another left back in Jan as well as a defensive midfielder should see us able to cope with most eventualities.
So is that it? Well, no it isn't. We must also look at the opposition, who else can win it? Well fortunately the team with the best squad by a distance (Man City) are being managed by someone who at the moment doesn't understand the league he is operating in. He's not the first, only Mourinho managed to come in and get it straight away, but Pelligrini is still in this "we can take it easy against the lower teams in selection and tempo" mode, and hopefully he takes until Christmas to work out his folly. If he does, we might just have a decent enough lead to hold them off. Chelsea aren't convincing and need a striker, the Mancs are dragging themselves back into it but surely can't win it with this team and no Ferguson, which leaves only Arsenal. Now I'm hoping that them being outmuscled by the Mancs again on Sunday will have planted the old seeds of doubt once again, and they've a couple of dodgy games coming up. They won't in it I don't think, but someone has to and I think if it isn't us we might just go bloody close. The other massive factor in our favour is WE AREN'T IN EUROPE. This IMHo is a huge advantage, and will become more so when the Champions League knockout stages kick in, I'm praying that Arsenal qualify.
So what do we need to make a real challenge? Obviously we need our key players to stay fit, need a bit of rub of the green (some of the rub of the green Chelsea have already had with the Villa handball not being given and Ramirez penalty decision against WBA wouldn't go amiss) and we need one other thing IMHO. We need our supporters to cotton onto what's happening and get some belief, and sharpish. Anfield on Saturday was a bit of a morgue at times, and that can't happen. We need every fan at the games to properly get behind the team and manager, to carry them over the line in difficult games, to sneak a point when we're beaten. No groans for a misplaced pass, no frustration when it gets blasted over, just support from the first minute to the last.
So there you have it, I think we are going to properly challenge for the title. By "properly challenge" I mean that all the pundits are going to at some point concede that we might win it, all the other managers will be talking about us as potential Champions. I don't expect our manager and players to talk about us being potential Champions, but hopefully our fans aren't the last to catch on that that is exactly what we are.
"Properly challenge"? I think we'll be in a group of two or three who pull away, and with half a dozen games to go we'll be within 3-4 points of the top. This is where you heard it first.
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