The "as I said all along" stakes, hows it looking?

i knew milner to LB would be a fine decision. klopp is a genius and milner is the perfect kind of guy to do something like that with. he performed unbelievably in henderson's absence last season and now that hendo's back, what a perfect way to keep that senior protection in the team, what a way to put a solid worker at full back when we needed one so bad.

Will have to hold my hands up and say I got it spectacularly wrong over Milner  didn't even want him now he's one of the first on the sheet , think that goes down to an epic fail by me .

Will have to hold my hands up and say I got it spectacularly wrong over Milner  didn't even want him now he's one of the first on the sheet , think that goes down to an epic fail by me .

At the start of the season I think most thought that Milner would be just a squad player.He has done well at full back though.

I think I said top 4, possibly 3rd place at the start of the season. I now think we'll be in the top2 and with a bit of luck we have every chance of winning the league but there's a long long way to go yet.

At the start of the season I think most thought that Milner would be just a squad player.He has done well at full back though.

He's done more than well and given that Moreno's failings were still apparent the other night (even if he did have a decent-ish game), showing a lack of game intelligence. This, more than anything, is Milner's strength and hopefully he's still first choice. Henderson is also relishing the 'DM' role when so many of us wanted a dedicated DM brought in. As for finishes, it's still a long way to go and I have no desire to jinx things

Its so similar to the 2014 season, you score 1 well score 2 you score 2 well score 4! Great craic when you get the 3 points but to win a title you need a solid back 5. Now Jürgen can claim there's no issues there and people can say there's isn't because Jürgen said there's not, but clearly there is. Is it 1 clean sheet so far?

We were always told by top Liverpool men that success was built from the back. Our Achilles is still there, crosses. A keeper who looks like he doesn't know if or when he should come off his line to take them (crosses). A defence that though its better then previous is still capable of giving away goals from balls into the box, should McArthur be beating Lovern in the air? If Benteke gets on the end of it you say fair enough that's his big strength but McArthur! And when we knew they'd be looking at getting balls in the box why allow the space out wide, why are the full backs so slow at closing space? All over the pitch were pressing and closing except the one area we most need to do it, granted Moreno played Saturday and the boy just has no sense of defending   

so to answer the hows it looking, I think were sorting out dealing with crosses away from going for the title here, and a keeper with a better then 50% save rate which is roughly were I think our 2 lads are give or take a % or 2.

1. I was very critical of our business in the summer and thought that our squad was too weak to mount any sort of challenge. In particular, I thought we wasted millions (as usual) on Wijnaldum and Mane.

So far this season, I've been very impressed with both of them. They work extremely hard and offer us a lot of pace and energy - they fit into Jurgens team well. They have definitely improved us as a team.

2. Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana.  Up until this season I was probably their biggest critics and I wanted both of them sold.

Jordan has taken more responsibility this season though. He is playing in a deeper role, which I think suits his game better. He hasn't got the quality to play further up the pitch. I said it in the Palace thread but he will never be a young Steven Gerrard or a Coutinho type of player. What he is good at doing though is covering ground, letting the better players play the football and doing the dirty/donkey work for them. We're seeing this and its bringing the best out of our other players LIKE coutinho but more importantly, bringing the best out of Jordan.

Lallana is also playing in a deeper role which also suits his game better.  Jordan doesn't have the quality to place further up the pitch and I think Adam lacks the pace to play further up the pitch. He is getting on the ball a lot more now and his work rate and stamina fits in well alongside Jordan and Wijnaldum meaning the opposition midfield don't get any time on the ball.

3. Karius. I read great things about him and couldn't wait to have a decent goalie at Liverpool.

Although it's VERY early days, he has looked like a little boy in between the sticks. I think it says a lot when the majority of us it seems would prefer Mignolet in goal at the moment.  By no means am I writing him off, but he has been a little bit disappointing which I think is a fair comment. Lets take Karius out, get him in the gym and beef him up and then put him back in next season.

4. Sturridge. I thought he would start every week for us, score every week for us and I even put a bet on at the start of the season that he would get the golden boot. Although Klopp made many hints last season by choosing Origi over him for example, it really does seem that he doesn't Sturridge and he has no future here. It saddens me a bit, because I really like Danny and think that on his day, you're going to struggle to find a better striker.

4. Like the OP states I thought Utd would be contenders this season. At the moment, it looks like they won't finish top 4.  A lot can happen in a season and its early days yet but I'm very surprised at their poor start.

I'm also surprised by Arsenal too. They always start strongly and then fade as the season comes to an end but there is something different about them this season, they look a lot stronger with the addition of mustafi.  I think they are serious contenders this season.

5. Our results/performances.  I thought it would be a battle for top four this season (it still might be) and didn't expect us to be sitting joint top after 10 games.

We've gotten some very difficult games out of the way now and our next half a dozen or so games SHOULD be wins while we watch he other big boys play each other. By Christmas, we could easily be sitting top of the league and then we have most of our rivals to come to Anfield in the new year.  I don't want to get carried away, but its very difficult not to, Jürgen and the lads have put themselves in a very strong position and I didn't see it coming if im honest.