Next 5 Fixtures

On paper the teams can be beaten, but we must not be too confident, Rafa must put more urgency on the tactics and start playing attacking football right from the start of the whistle and not only start to do so when a goal down. If we do that we are doomed, particularly against Blackburn as they would close shop and we don't, not yet, have the players to break down tight defences. So i reckon, we should score a couple of early goals and then close shop.

At the moment SG is playing some superb football and he's regaining his form, but we need the rest to play with the same fire and 15 points is not impossible but lots of hard work lies ahead.

ive gone a bit further and looked at our next ten games and realistically believe we can pick up 21 to 26 of the next 30 points. We will lift our game for utd no doubt after that I believe rovers on Sat is the toughest game we have and wouldn't be too down about only getting a point and in december the trip to man city could be tough with a draw not being terrible

41 TO 46 points on new years day wouldnt be too bad now would it! 

3 away games & 2 at home....hmm...think that the games at Blackburn & Newcastle will be the toughest to get all 3 points from but Newcastle are leaking goals. Reading are very unpredictable atm.

I can see 12 points being a fair return.

Newcastle let in 4 this weekend and it could be a very good month to play them at home!

Newcastle let in 4 this weekend and it could be a very good month to play them at home!

Well most people have suggested that 13 out of 15 would be decent. 

I think next weekend's game against Fulham is nearing the stage where it is a must-win game to ease the pressure on our side.

My thinking now is that the draw against Blackburn really should be the only points dropped...Reading look like a poor team of late but I subscribe to the feeling that the two home games against Fulham & Bolton are games that need to be won.

I think next weekend's game against Fulham is nearing the stage where it is a must-win game to ease the pressure on our side.

I agree.At least Torres might/hopefully be back.Gerrard can't do it every week and only he and Torres pose genuine goal threat.Crouch could chip in but never gets a chance to.

Newcastle let in 4 this weekend and it could be a very good month to play them at home!

I watched that game, Holy Crap...... did they look bad
it was 3-0 after 11 minutes....with some absolutley sensational goals....
bring them on..!!!

I doubt Torres will be back for next weekend.  Crouch has had enough opportunities to score for us but he lacks any sort of finishing skills at the moment.

One of the front three needs to up their game and develop a streak of ruthfulness right now.

Crouch has had enough opportunities to score for us but he lacks any sort of finishing skills at the moment.

When has he got the opportunites this season?

When has he got the opportunites this season?

I think he has taken part in 9 games this season.

Taken part the majority as a sub ( the last 10/15mins) and created havoc when called upon.Could he be any worse than the others?

You can see us hammering Fulham and then... the dreaded international break again..!

We have played 11 games,we have 21 points got, to win the league we'll need around 90 points,which means 23 wins(69) points out of 27 games.

Nothing less than maximum points is acceptable,our home form is whats letting us down,too many draws,lets start by handing Fulham a footballing lesson on Saturday evening.

We have played 11 games,we have 21 points got, to win the league we'll need around 90 points,which means 23 wins(69) points out of 27 games.

Not necessarily.  United won it with 75 points 10 seasons ago.

I don't know what the points target should be but to be in with a serious chance you need to be averaging around 2 points a game and hopefully a win against Fulham will put us right bang up to that level.

I would imagine we need to be aiming for around 20 wins out of our last 27.  And although every game is 3 points, taking 12 points off our remaining 4 games against the other 'top 3' would be extremely important.

Crouch has had enough opportunities to score for us but he lacks any sort of finishing skills at the moment.

One of the front three needs to up their game and develop a streak of ruthfulness right now.

He's played for an average of 15 minutes each time he's played. that is hardly enough to settle into the game.

He hasn't been doing it from the start in recent games off the bench he has done very well. 

He's played for an average of 15 minutes each time he's played. that is hardly enough to settle into the game.

Give Crouch a very hard chance in front of goal and he'll probably score. A simple header or a tap in and he'll probably miss. He's a one off striker that can confuse and frustrate the living daylights out of you or have you smiling like a chesire cat! And he can do all this in 15 minutes. Which is probably why he's got some big fans (no pun, honestly) and some fans who just don't like his style of play.

Personally, I'd like to see him take part in the next four league games, whether that be sub or starts. It's not really happening up front lately and he can't be too much to blame for it if he's been warming the bench. I just worry about the long ball factor when he's playing and I wonder if Rafa thinks about that too.

Give Crouch a very hard chance in front of goal and he'll probably score. A simple header or a tap in and he'll probably miss. He's a one off striker that can confuse and frustrate the living daylights out of you or have you smiling like a chesire cat! And he can do all this in 15 minutes. Which is probably why he's got some big fans (no pun, honestly) and some fans who just don't like his style of play.

Personally, I'd like to see him take part in the next four league games, whether that be sub or starts. It's not really happening up front lately and he can't be too much to blame for it if he's been warming the bench. I just worry about the long ball factor when he's playing and I wonder if Rafa thinks about that too.

Interestingly, he has very good ball control and also good first touches, he doesn't really need all those long balls to show his skills and goal scoring abilities, he can comfortably play in the classics Liverpool play styles. The manager has to educate the team about this.

Interestingly, he has very good ball control and also good first touches, he doesn't really need all those long balls to show his skills and goal scoring abilities, he can comfortably play in the classics Liverpool play styles. The manager has to educate the team about this.

Yes, yes, you are absolutely right, Rafa only remembers that Crouch has the height and pumped those high balls for him (maybe trying to climb too high to win those balls in the air has got an effect on him scoring from the ground)  but Rafa  forgot that Crouch has got legs as well which are more lethal (tight ball control), and he has proven that by winning us a penalty against Fulham. But Rafa needs to park Crouch near the penalty box to do the damage, and don't ask Crouch to start way off the penalty box and try to create something out of nothing as he does not have the speed to do that.

3 away games & 2 at home....hmm...think that the games at Blackburn & Newcastle will be the toughest to get all 3 points from but Newcastle are leaking goals. Reading are very unpredictable atm.

I can see 12 points being a fair return.

4 pts from 6 so far so good. I knew Blackburn would be a tough fixture...looking at the next 3 fixtures should = 9 more points on paper at least to make 13...where I got 12 from I don't know!

As i said before its a couple of hard fixtures, but from here we need 9 points from the last of these fives games. Newcastle are next, they're a tough team home or away. But if we can keep this style of play which we have shown againest Besiktas and Fulham then it should be a good win, how long will Alonso be out for.......If he plays at all make sure you're there telling him to shoot from half-way.

As I said before its a couple of hard fixtures, but from here we need 9 points from the last of these fives games. Newcastle are next, they're a tough team home or away. But if we can keep this style of play which we have shown againest Besiktas and Fulham then it should be a good win, how long will Alonso be out for.......If he plays at all make sure you're there telling him to shoot from half-way.

I wouldn't class Newcastle as a tough team just at the moment...Portsmouth put 3 past them at st James' Park & Newcastle only managed 1 goal against Wigan recently.