So if Leeds United won promotion this coming season, in there first season back would there target or focus be to get back where they should be as in Champions League footie or do you think they would target consolodation as in trying to stay in the Premeier League. This is the point I am making regarding what we should be looking at as a football Club, we are currently on a slide form wise this shows by our league form from January, we are also on a slide into mid table mediocrity as a Club as our League standing over the last 3 seasons prove, these are facts, not just me saying it, this is why I cant understand people on here talking about 4th place, we need to stabilise the whole Club and stop the slide first and foremost before anything else, then talk about climbing.
I'd agree we are on a slide were that true. Sadly for you it isn't. Having played 19 matches of last season, Liverpool were 6th in the league, 2 back of Arsenal in 4th and behind Chelsea on goal difference alone. This is not "mid-table". This is not "ooh, we just got promoted let's think hard about winning the title". Try to make appropriate comparisons.
Try also to remember that at that stage, Dalglish had been manager for exactly one year (though only 37 league games in charge), and formwise we were in the top 4 for the entire period.
The second half of the season was something of a collapse in the league. Dalglish chose to focus on the cups (as did Benitez in his first season, since you bring his name up), and perhaps as a direct result (and because we'd lost Lucas and Suarez was only halfway through his ban) we failed to make an impression on our league rivals during the period (losing to City, United, Arsenal and drawing with Spurs, all before March got going - and the less said about Bolton the better). Suddenly 4th was off, but we were already in the Europa League - what was left to play for in the league other than pride? Now yes, pride is very important to Liverpool, and that's probably why we put so much energy into the FA Cup instead. I think people read too much into us finishing 8th, when 5th would have served us no better.
Just one question to people who claim we have a chance of 4th place, can you tell me how you base this considering 3 seasons ago we had a better team, so called better manager, better players, a few bob to spend and there were only three big clubs in the league really in United, Chelsea and Arsenal and four places up for grabbs, Manchester City were not even on the scene, yet we were still not good enough to get fourth place, fast forward three seasons we now have a big four because Manchester City are here along with United, Arsenal and Chelsea, we have a worse team, new unproven manager, worse players, no real money to buy players or to pay decent wages, weaker squad, slipped further behind the fifth best Club which is Spurs and have sunk below not just Newcastle United but also our neighbours Everton please can somebody tell me why they think fourth place is on, taking into consideration all these things as I simly dont get it.
While I'm not a believer that we will achieve 4th, I am a believer that we should still try to reach it. My reasoning is not based on the results of our past 6 months so much, but on the football we are capable of producing (as demonstrated on countless occasions even under a manager as tactically muddled as Dalglish). Are we a stronger squad than 09/10? Hard to say, as of the influential players only Torres has left (and he did leave a gaping hole at no 9), while we've gained Suarez, Lucas has been immense, Kelly has come through, and Skrtel showed he's got something. My feeling is that we are roughly the same strength individually as then (a side that did not finish in the top 4), but are free of the off-the-pitch debacle involving the owners and the manager. I'm hoping we can avoid such things this season, as they've hurt us 3 seasons in a row - the same 3 seasons you'd prefer to blame the squad or manager.
Is Rodgers better a better manager than Dalglish? Hard to say, but his tactical approach is clearly far superior, having dragged the club with the least monetary value in the league to 1 goal short of the top half of the table last season. Dalglish wanted 4th (at least until the end of January), so why shouldn't Rodgers try achieve the same with teh same squad, a squad that should get some of its mojo back with a return to a high pressing zonal marking system (the one that served us so well under Benitez prior to AlonsoGate)?
