*Official* English Football Season 2009-2010

[duffer]

Bloody hell Theo....

 

[Jarquis]

Theo

 

[Scaly piscine]

Please, it was too low and getting into hypotheticals of this nature is begging to outlaw tackling altogether. There was very little chance of Masch's tackle ending anyone's career. Straight reds have been given for malicious/reckless tackles but not for Masch's type today.

You're clutching at straws. The guy being tackled saw it coming (thankfully for him), knocked the ball on and stopped - but still seemed like he got hit around the shin area. If he doesn't see it coming he would plant his foot more firmly and take a heavier impact higher up.

 

[sledger]

Well, that completes a decent day of results.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

Bloody hell Theo....

Theo

What happened?

 

[sledger]

What happened?

Fairly simple one on one with the keeper squandered.

 

[Jarquis]

Well, that completes a decent day of results.

Just need Chelsea to drop points now, would be epic.

 

[roseboy64]

That was awful.

 

[Jarquis]

I know it isn't all that likely to happen but if Chelsea lose tomorrow and we win our game in hand we'll be 2 points off top with 1 game to go until the half way point. Although our game in hand isn't played until January so it'll all be different then anyway.

Worth noting that we don't play a top 4 side after February 10th? So Chelsea, United and Liverpool (maybe not) will all be taking points off each other during the run in to the end of the season. Though in the space of 10 days (Jan 31 - Feb 10) we have United (H), Chelsea (A) and Liverpool (H) consecutively.

Such a long way to go in the season but looks like it's going to be close.

 

[GIMH]

We're now 22nd in the table folks, and by the start of 2010 we could even be above skd's Oldham in the table, and we're only a goal off not having the outright worst goal difference in the division. These are good times, long live Les Parry.

I never saw much of the Liverpool game because I was watching the cricket but they are turning into self-parody. I am afraid to ring my old man of late because the conversation always comes round to football and I fear I may tip him over the edge!

Just something that might interest you though, of the Liverpool fans I know, the ones who follow them properly (i.e. many people in Liverpool claim to be reds but will stand there on a fruit machine whilst they are on the big screen in the pub), or go the game, etc, generally want Benitez to stay. Not too sure of all the reasons but it's quite interesting. They aren't calling for his head, for whatever reason.

 

[BoyBrumby]

We're now 22nd in the table folks, and by the start of 2010 we could even be above skd's Oldham in the table, and we're only a goal off not having the outright worst goal difference in the division. These are good times, long live Les Parry.

I never saw much of the Liverpool game because I was watching the cricket but they are turning into self-parody. I am afraid to ring my old man of late because the conversation always comes round to football and I fear I may tip him over the edge!

Just something that might interest you though, of the Liverpool fans I know, the ones who follow them properly (i.e. many people in Liverpool claim to be reds but will stand there on a fruit machine whilst they are on the big screen in the pub), or go the game, etc, generally want Benitez to stay. Not too sure of all the reasons but it's quite interesting. They aren't calling for his head, for whatever reason.

Couple of possibilities, IMHO. Firstly Benitez did win the Champions League which probably gives him some credit in the goodwill bank still & secondly the potless yanks have clearly been Glazers by stealth and, as such, are easier to blame.

 

[Jarquis]

Couple of possibilities, IMHO. Firstly Benitez did win the Champions League which probably gives him some credit in the goodwill bank still & secondly the potless yanks have clearly been Glazers by stealth and, as such, are easier to blame.

Largely Houillier's squad though?

 

[GIMH]

Don't see that that doesn't deserve credit, though. If anything, taking that squad to the Champions League final and then winning it deserves as much credit as building your own team to conquer Europe. Djimi Traore FFS!

 

[Jarquis]

Don't see that that doesn't deserve credit, though. If anything, taking that squad to the Champions League final and then winning it deserves as much credit as building your own team to conquer Europe. Djimi Traore FFS!

Haha, yeah that could be argued. Just since then Benitez hasn't built a squad and the majority of his transfers have been huge flops. How much he's had to do with the transfers of certain players is another point.
Just personally, I wouldn't classify him as the top manager that some 'Pool fans do.

 

[GIMH]

He did build a squad, think I argued this a few weeks back, there is no argument that he didn;t improve them from what he took over in 2004 to his team last season, which finished second. However, much like Houllier he now appears to be stagnating and unable to take them any further.

I think they might keep hold of him; Liverpool have only sacked one manager in the last forty years or so (though that was Houllier) and they know if they change the man in the hotseat then they are going to have to rebuild all over again, and will be looking at a Man Uesque 26 years between titles (if not more) - bit of a vicious circle though because as an outsider it's hard to see Benitez ever getting them there.

 

[Scaly piscine]

The Champions League was a fluke. 3-0 down, Milan collapsed and allowed them to get back to 3-3, at which point Liverpool decided to play for penalties (pathetic) and won the shootout.

Before that it was basically the defence, Gerrard (from what I can remember) and luck that got them through. A defence and luck are the main parts needed to win the CL, only if you've got a lot of special players can you win without one of those two elements.

 

[sledger]

He did build a squad, think I argued this a few weeks back, there is no argument that he didn;t improve them from what he took over in 2004 to his team last season, which finished second. However, much like Houllier he now appears to be stagnating and unable to take them any further.

I think they might keep hold of him; Liverpool have only sacked one manager in the last forty years or so (though that was Houllier) and they know if they change the man in the hotseat then they are going to have to rebuild all over again, and will be looking at a Man Uesque 26 years between titles (if not more) - bit of a vicious circle though because as an outsider it's hard to see Benitez ever getting them there.

Yeah, in firm agreement with all of this. Wonder how long this will drag on for though, Houllier went for ages with the fans calling for his head before he finally went. That said, as you already mentioned, Rafa seems to have the fans on his side far more than Houllier did whilst going through a similar sticky patch. I think Rafa is a reasonable manager, tactically seems to be quite astute in Europe and Cup competitions, but doesn't seem to make the cut in the league, and his transfer record on the whole has been somewhat unspectacular to poor. Furthermore he is easily good enough to keep Liverpool a top four side or thereabouts, but this is obviously not acceptable to the majority of fans, and I don't think he is capable of taking them a great deal further.

 

[sledger]

He did build a squad, think I argued this a few weeks back, there is no argument that he didn;t improve them from what he took over in 2004 to his team last season, which finished second..

This is true, but have the results really reflected this? Liverpool finished second in 2002 as well let's not forget.

 

[GIMH]

The Champions League was a fluke. 3-0 down, Milan collapsed and allowed them to get back to 3-3, at which point Liverpool decided to play for penalties (pathetic) and won the shootout.

Before that it was basically the defence, Gerrard (from what I can remember) and luck that got them through. A defence and luck are the main parts needed to win the CL, only if you've got a lot of special players can you win without one of those two elements.

In a game like football you kind of make your own luck. I mean, Liverpool were no way good enough to win the CL that season, they were not good enough to win the UEFA Cup and in fact never even finished in the top four in England - but I couldn't honestly dismiss the whole thing as a fluke, because aside from the Garcia ghost goal they were genuinely deserved winners in each of their knockout ties.

Yeah, in firm agreement with all of this. Wonder how long this will drag on for though, Houllier went for ages with the fans calling for his head before he finally went. That said, as you already mentioned, Rafa seems to have the fans on his side far more than Houllier did whilst going through a similar sticky patch. I think Rafa is a reasonable manager, tactically seems to be quite astute in Europe and Cup competitions, but doesn't seem to make the cut in the league, and his transfer record on the whole has been somewhat unspectacular to poor. Furthermore he is easily good enough to keep Liverpool a top four side or thereabouts, but this is obviously not acceptable to the majority of fans, and I don't think he is capable of taking them a great deal further.

This is true, but have the results really reflected this? Liverpool finished second in 2002 as well let's not forget.

Why quote my post twice for two different replies you weirdo

Anyhow, they did indeed finish second in 2002 which is why I draw the comparison with Houllier and the stagnation - after that season everyone expected Liverpool to push on and really challenge (because as Brumby has pointed out to me a couple of times relatively recently - they weren't really challengers that season and just happened to overtake Man U at the end) but instead GH had the bright idea of signing Salif Diao and El Hadj Diouf.

In the second half of last season Liverpool were probably the best side in the Prem, went to OT and stuffed United, and although they obviously fell short (thanks to being hopelessly inept at winning 'easy' games) again there was a similar air of expectation amongst the reds that they were finally there. The 'it's our year' thing has become a running joke but they did seem ready to mount a serious challenge with United being weakened in the summer - alas, they let Alonso go, and you could argue that Benitez has only himself to blame for that one (although I think that's a discussion myself and Ikki have already had so I don't want to retread old ground there). With Alonso gone they seem to have fallen to pieces. Everyone talks about Gerrard and Torres but Alonso was probably their best player last season - it's what I reckon from the games I saw and people who go to every game tend to agree.

Worth noting that Roy Evans never finished outside of the top four

 

[sledger]

Haha, oops, for some reason I thought I was quoting too seperate posts there, failure at basic comprehension skills on my part.

But yeah, signing Diouf rather than Anelka has got to be one of the daftest moves Houllier made, very perculiar decisions there. But yeah, I think the absence of Alonso is fairly evident, but like you I cba to go down that route again.