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Joined: Jan 2010
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Originally Posted By Pickles
Originally Posted By Stanley Park
The reason we have to think of the premiership years is because that's the question


You can't, not incorporate what went before because of the feats achieved prior were all the more standout.

Pep's Man City are great on the eye to watch however I'd put their 100 point last season down to the fact that they had no serious competition - Man Utd where struggling through the Mourinho last phase, Wenger's Arsenal where on their last lap downward spiral, Conte's Chelsea where facing the player tantrums and we where waiting for Klopp's layaway's!

Would last season's Man City be able to face a 42 game domestic league season, along with FA, League and European Competitions, travelling in much slower, lesser quality transport to much more inhospitable places? I don't think so!

Then you have Wenger's Invincibles and The Fergie years and Mourinho's infrequent 2 to 3 year stints at Chelsea...none in my mind would have ever been able to cope with the demands of what Liverpool achieved.

Liverpool achieved a Domestic League and European Cup Double twice in 1977 and 1984 at a time technology and travel was horrible. It took far longer to get anywhere or get information...there was no internet, no sky TV to be able to see in glorious 4k what the next opponent was doing. All information about the next opponent was via our scouts.

If Liverpool did the same double this year it would be great but it wouldn't be anywhere near as an achievement against 1977 and 1984.



It was the same for all clubs then, so everybody suffered from it, even opponents of LFC. That said, City hasn't won the 4 cups yet, not even 3, not even the double with the CL, so we'll have to wait. What they did is 100 pts in the league, I don't remember any team will it with such a margin.

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Originally Posted By Pickles
Originally Posted By Stanley Park
The reason we have to think of the premiership years is because that's the question


You can't, not incorporate what went before because of the feats achieved prior were all the more standout.

Pep's Man City are great on the eye to watch however I'd put their 100 point last season down to the fact that they had no serious competition - Man Utd where struggling through the Mourinho last phase, Wenger's Arsenal where on their last lap downward spiral, Conte's Chelsea where facing the player tantrums and we where waiting for Klopp's layaway's!

Would last season's Man City be able to face a 42 game domestic league season, along with FA, League and European Competitions, travelling in much slower, lesser quality transport to much more inhospitable places? I don't think so!

Then you have Wenger's Invincibles and The Fergie years and Mourinho's infrequent 2 to 3 year stints at Chelsea...none in my mind would have ever been able to cope with the demands of what Liverpool achieved.

Liverpool achieved a Domestic League and European Cup Double twice in 1977 and 1984 at a time technology and travel was horrible. It took far longer to get anywhere or get information...there was no internet, no sky TV to be able to see in glorious 4k what the next opponent was doing. All information about the next opponent was via our scouts.

If Liverpool did the same double this year it would be great but it wouldn't be anywhere near as an achievement against 1977 and 1984.



You're making several leaps of logic here. As for the technology and advances, that is a tide that has raised all ships. The standard of play has increased because of it, and all teams, not just Liverpool and City are better prepared for it, so it makes things no easier for this Liverpool to gain an advantage over any other team than Liverpool in the 70s or 80s.

Clubs lower down the table (and the leagues) have far more resources now than they did previously. The standard of opposition in much greater.

In the 70s and 80s the standard of play was lower, the distance covered in a match was less, the players were less fit, and the standard of professionalism was much lower. Players would show up to games hung over, be out partying all the time the night before matches and getting drunk, and smoking cigarettes. Even great players like Cruyff who were among the best in the world at the time were smoking cigarettes. You could just as easily say that guys like Souness or Cruyff would struggle in this era.

As for a 42 game season, that is a fair point, but the Champions league itself is much longer than the original european cup, and the group stage alone makes up those 4 games easily. Footballers play more football now than in any other era, with the CL and Europa league having more games, as well as International Fixtures being much more numerous.

If you prefer football form the 70s or 80s because that was your era, that's fine, but it's completely subjective.

To me, United's Treble, and Wenger's Invincibles are unique achievements in the English game, and they have not been matched by any English team to date. Clough and Paisley retaining the European cup with Forest and LFC are also unique among English teams, and no English team has matched or surpassed that feat, so that has to be noted. Similar is Peps' 100 point total, which is a unique achievement. Even Liverpool's most impressive league haul in 78-79 (68 points) scaled up to give 3 points for a win instead of 2 would only be 98 points with an extra 4 games played to Pep's City. Even though they played 4 games fewer, they still won 2 more games (32) than Paisley's Liverpool (30).

Whether this Liverpool (were they to win a double) would measure up against the previous doubles is subjective. But going a season unbeaten; winning a league, FA Cup, and European Cup treble; or winning a record 32 league games with 100 points: these are truly noteworthy achievements that have never been replicated by an English team.

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red is correct in the old first division there were some games that were easy and the standard way below Liverpool. Not the case now and there are no easy games now anyone can beat anyone.


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Only this site could turn a simple question into comparing the quality of transport for away games.

--------------------------------------------------------
City 17/18:

Ederson
Walker Otamendi Kompany Delph
Fernandinho
Silva De Bruyne
Sane Agureo Sterling

----------------------------------------------------------
United 07/08

Van Der Sar
Evra Ferdinand Vidic Brown
Giggs Carrick Scholes
Rooney Ronaldo Tevez

----------------------------------------------------------
Chelsea 04/05

Cech
Gallas Carvalho Terry Ferreira
Makalele
Robben Lampard Duff
Drogba Gudjohnsen

-----------------------------------------------------------
United 93/94

Schmeical
Irwin Bruce Pallister Parker
Giggs Keane Ince Kanchelskis
Cantona Hughes

-----------------------------------------------------------
Arsenal 03/04 (Invincibles)

Lehman
Cole Campbell Toure Lauren
Pires Silva Veira Ljunberg
Bergkamp Henry

----------------------------------------------------------
United 98/99

Schmeical
Irwin Stam Johnsen Neville
Giggs Keane Scholes Beckham
Cole Yorke

----------------------------------------------------------
Liverpool 08/09

Reina
Arbeloa Hyppia Carragher Auerlio
Mascherano Alonso
Kuyt Gerrard Babbel
Torres

----------------------------------------------------------

A little better squad depth and the 08/09 team would've won the league. As good as Masch, Gerrard and Alonso were, Kuyt or Babbel brings it down slightly and under probably the best midfield in PL history for me, Giggs, Keane, Scholes and Backham. It feels like our options off the bench always let us down, whereas Fergie made sure he had players like Berbatov, Sheringham and Solsjaear to bring on.

Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez is a hell of a front 3, epecially when at their peak.

You could make a good case for any of those teams. I'd lean towards Citys last season and United's 07/08 or 98/99.

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Originally Posted By TheMightyLFC
None of them.... It's between Klopp & Rafa's LFC sides for me.


Rafa's side was a bloody good team, but they were second best in England, and crashed out of the CL. Fergie bettered that team in the League and CL that year. To say that they were the greatest of all time is strange.

If Klopp pulls of a CL league double, this team enters the conversation, but it's not right now.

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