KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum a hard fight for 4th

Yeah i just read gthat on the official site - its just what you want to hear - and probably do carragher a favour if he was thinking he would walkin to the team ( I don't think he expected to walkin to the team in any case) but for those who were worried that KD was a bit of a joker, that's just for the media and to deflect flack.

After a so-so start Adam has started to look the part - but he's never going to be as great as Alonso - and as somebody who regards Rafa better than a lot of others on this site, I think p*ssing him off was his biggest mistake durng his time here as Xabi was essential for the while team functioning

But Liverpool's best player during Rafa's reign was Steven Gerrard, and by some distance too

He was so good on a consistent basis that I simply can't agree with all those who say he's finished

Those players finished at 30 are usually those who soent there 20s drinking excessively and partying - look how many Brazilians fall into that bracket

obviously there are exceptions - Michael Owen probably being the best example - but that's injury based and should Gerrard recover, as someone who has generally looked after himself I think we have at least a couple of seasons left in him

It's almst as if he's been forgotten about

No one is forgetting about Stevie I assure you. Having him in the team makes us a better side no doubt about it, its his last international tourney so lets see him get through it and he is all ours. I can see him going to 35-36 in a red shirt and even if he changes his role at a later stage of his career, he will still be instrumental to the team.

Quite frankly the sooner Gerrard gives up on the idea that he can gain any glory whatsoever from the England side the better, both for his career and for LFC. While we are no longer weak without him, we are a lot stronger with him in the squad, not just for his threat to opposing teams but also for his leadership. Henderson would learn a lot faster too, for example, given that it appears he is the long-term replacement.

who ruled newcastle out ? well i would do that at your peril great result for them they might not finish 4th but will be in the shake up without a doubt .

I think we'll be better suited to judging their true strength once they've played the other top teams. 2 points from those 3 games isn't terrible, but it's hardly worth us becoming anxious over. Our task remains to defeat them, and then hope they continue to draw against Spurs and Chelsea.

i hope the beat both chelsea and spurs

Why? It's better for rivals to draw against one another, that way they only pick up 2 points between them rather than 3. If Newcastle draw every league game against Spurs, Chelsea, and Arsenal, each side essentially loses 2 points while Newcastle loses 6. If we do the double over Newcastle in the process, they are in a 12 point hole against us. Considering we've beaten both Chelsea and Arsenal away, we stand to have an 8 point advantage over them *as well* if we repeat the task at Anfield, though we should not fear a home draw since we'd still have a 5 point advantage.

If we can't do anything with that then we don't deserve to finish in the top 4, quite frankly. Newcastle taking only 1 extra point away from them is not really a big deal, but it gives them some opportunity to eat into that 12 point gap, so I'd prefer them to draw (just not with us, of course - we have to beat them to take advantage of the situation).

Having a club that can take points from one's rivals while gaining few of their own and losing to you is a massive advantage.

EDIT: I may not have explained that properly. I'll think a bit about it and post again in a bit.

Obiously top teams drawing will help us, I was hoping for Newcastle to hold on to draw yesterday and they did, neither won and thats what suits us at the moment as it gets congested. Of course we still have to win to take advantage of their slip ups.

I'm going to try that again.

Assume 2 draws between Newcastle and each of Chelsea, Spurs, and Arsenal. Each other side takes 2 points, with Newcastle taking 6 in total. That's 12 points from a maximum of 18 - a 6 point loss we should be able to take advantage of (but can only do so by beating Newcastle twice). LFC wins against the other 3 sides will only deepen the mire.

If Newcastle instead win those games, while we obviously gain tremendous advantage over the sides vanquished, Newcastle will have the morale of champions, likely reducing our ability to beat them. Which means that Newcastle will continue to stand in our way for a top 4 slot, with the Manchester clubs almost out of sight already. That leaves us with much less margin for error against the Fulhams and Blackburns of the world.