After last season it’s no wonder some reds are thinking big. Pace, directness, free-flowing football, goals and a second placed finish despite a seemingly lapse attitude towards defending, it was a joy to behold.
With this in mind, many fans must surely be looking at the big one this term, the long awaited Premier League crown. Perhaps we’ll do it…
However, I feel that we need to be realistic. The club lost their prize asset this summer: the genius-like Luis Suárez. The powers that be have decided to use the money raised from this sale to invest in much needed squad depth.
It would have been an impossibility to find a like-for-like replacement for Suárez and it was unanimously agreed that the added workload of Champions League football would require greater numbers.
Those numbers have certainly been boosted. Javier Manquillo recently became summer arrival number seven with Brendan Rodgers quickly stating that there was still work to do. Alberto Moreno, should the club ever reach an agreement with Sevilla, will likely follow suit to add quality at the back.
The sheer numbers brought into the club usually means one thing: a transitional stage. It’s still rare to find players that will hit the ground running at a new club, let alone seven or more.
Therefore, next season may well be a transitional one but that does not mean all of last year’s good work will be undone. I’ve no doubt that our aims for this season will be the same as for last: a top four finish and qualification for the Champions League.
Should we cement this place next season then I really believe that the club will be in a position to build strongly for the future. We must also remember that last season was a major over-achievement. It really should never have been possible to so very nearly win the league with a squad like ours. A squad including Aly Cissokho, Iago Aspas and Victor Moses that is.
All in all, us Liverpool fans should aim not to get carried away but to remember how far we’ve come so quickly and that because of an increased workload, our rivals clearly improving (including a possibly resurgent Manchester United, they can’t be much worse than last year) and losing Suárez, a top four this season would be a fantastic achievement. Oh and piece of silverware, that’d be nice too!
What are your views? Should a top four premier league finish be the aim or do you believe the club can replicate or improve on the 2013/14 campaign?
totally agree, top four and maybe the FA cup as a bonus
Hope we make top 4 but seems very unlikely to me. The gulf in class between us and City was painfully obvious in the US, and the same surely goes for Chelsea. A poor United breezed past us and Arsenal will be there or thereabouts again. In signing Lukaku Everton have signed a player defenders fear, we’ve bought nobody of similar ilk. Spurs may or may not get their act together and I think we’ll be competing with them for 6th/7th.
That’s unduly pessimistic in my view. The US results can pretty much be discounted given that we have no idea as yet who will be on the pitch come the start of the Prem. I’d like to think that we’ll be gunning for a top-four slot again, and will be disappointed if we don’t get there.
Cant count the friendly results as a marker. Chelsea lost 3-0 to Werder Bremen. You say gulf in class between us and City was obvious yet we won, on penalties but lets say it was 90 minutes we’d have got a draw.
What we’ve done is got more options, more quality, better squad depth. Not relying in someone like Aspas off the bench. United so far have signed Herrera and Shaw. Vidic and Rio gone so their cb’s are Evans,Smalling and Jones. Not world class. I’m not particularly overjoyed with City’s signings. None of them stand out as world beaters. Chelsea have Costa and Fabregas. To win the league they need to keep them 2 fit. Can’t rely on Torres and I’m not sure if Drogba still has “it” at 35-36 but we’ll soon see.
Arsenal have Sanchez so far of major note, who went there just cos his wife wanted to shop in London. He doesn’t sound like a guy with good leadership skills if he’s letting his wife spend his money and telling him where to play his football. It’s going to be close again but we’ve got the potential to be up there for sure.
W cn stil stand a chance if we get quality striker n a defensive midfielder cs if Gerrard is injured dn Hendo suspendd its a Gap opend