KopTalk.com Forums Football Liverpool FC Forum Season's Targets

Been thinking about the lack of transfer business by the club in bringing in high-quality cover for mane, robbo and an AM. A number of posters have commented on FSG not releasing cash.

I wonder if all of this points to the club only prioritising the league this year? When you look at our rivals, I would expect that FSG and Klopp see this as the best chance of winning the league for years.

In looking at the top six:
Man City have so much money and so much depth in their squad, they will probably expect a run at all competitions. However, given a choice between winning the Champions league and the EPL, I'd say they would want the CL now. I'm not saying that they won't compete in the EPL. Of course they will but it' clear that they really want the CL now.

Chelsea are in a period of rebuild. They have a transfer ban and lost their best player and have an inexperienced manager trying to guide them in the EPL and CL. I don't expect they will win either.

Man U have spent alot and are really only concerned with breaking the top 4. I don't expect them to be much better than that.

Arsenal have made some good signings but they are so unpredictable, I don't expect them to the win the league

Spurs are probably a couple of signings off making another league challenge.

When you balance all of those things up, it points to a really good opportunity to win the league. I wonder if FSG and Klopp have had a conversation and decided that we should try to win the other competitions but the league is the absolute priority? and therefore and managing the fitness of the first 11, over the course of the season, towards this goal is what klopp has in his head?

I don't buy the common theory that because City want the CL, they'll ease up on the league.

I don't think it will make any difference in reality. They'll want to win everything and last season they were a VAR decision from progressing in the CL in place of Spurs.

Fair post Drome.

I am concerned about injuries etc. but we have a squad so together and content that it was able to pull the rabbit out of the hat on more than one occasion last season. I am sure it will do so again.

I think we will be competitive in all competitions and we will find out a lot more about Ox Shaqiri and Keita and these 3 will be key to our squad this season.

I also don't buy the theory with City. They will be fierce rivals but if cup draws keep pairing them with the likes of Swansea, Burton, Rotherham and Oxford then the experience of depth comes into play. Very different if they have injuries when due to play top opposition. Their squad had a charmed life last season.

Of the other 4 they had 41 league defeats between them to our one. Top 4 for all of them is the aim with maybe a cup win.

CL will not be a distraction for City as they have the players to play 2 games a week. Let's not forget they missed their best player for most of last season and also had David Silva and Aguero out quite a bit. They suffered when Fernandinho was out but they have spent some 65m for that not to repeat. That said, injuries will harm them, though, their risks will be mitigated given their squad depth.

I don't think City will ease up on the league, I just don't think it's easy to maintain the same standard in one competition for that long.

I hope we win the league, but I realize it will be difficult to oust this City team.

How I see targets:

League and/or CL title: A+, dream season

Challenge for league, respectable showing in Europe (Semis or quarters), win a cup trophy A-. Very good, definite sustained improvement.

Second without a major trophy, decent cup run, out of group stage but no further, Supercup or CWC consolation trophy, B-. Not great, but nothing to be ashamed of.

Second without any trophy at all, poor cup run, poor showing in Europe, disappointing C-.

Champions league places, no showing in Europe, no cup run, no title challenge. D- Barely bare minimum acceptable, disappointing season. This is us holding on by the skin of our teeth.

Out of cl places, disaster. F

That thought also crossed my mind, that Klopp might prioritise the league, but a preseason decision to get out of most if not all other comp's is a rather drastic way of saving money on signing backup, when it's available and you have the dosh. It's also a very risky strategy, given that for financial reasons the suits would want to go as far as possible in the CL. In addition Klopp would still have to use his weak backup on quite a few league games, given the likely fatigue/injury potential this season, and that would likely result in potentially dropping points, putting his strategy at risk of ending the season with nothing.
I think they've looked at the gap difference, from last season, including some of the other factors you mention, and decided the cost benefit factor in competing for the league against City isn't financially justifiable. I think they've calculated that we're strong enough as we stand, to compete in a number of comp's, and still manage top four, as that's where the money is.

I think a lot of our season will rest on Ox and Keita. If one of them can really start firing we'd have a link between midfield and the front 3 we've missed since Couts left/Ox got injured. Klopp was willing to wait for Keita and he's rarely let us down before. Hate to bang the 'like a new signing' drum, but...

Gomez is fit too.

Our target should be to win the league but IMO, he haven't done enough in the transfer window to win it. I can't remember a team not reinforcing to win when it was so close. I remember Ferguson signing RVP just to win the league, I remember him buying Cantona from Leeds who had just beat them to the title to dominate the EPL for years, I remember him buying Rooney to make sure United would stay there. Klopp or FSG think there is another way, I can't see this happening, but we'll see.

There’s more than one way to skin a cat.

Yes like Leicester have shown, but it is not sustainable as proven.