They all laugh at us
They all mock at us
They all say our days are numbered.
On the 16th of August BBC Sport published an article entitled ‘Premier League: BBC sport asks ‘who will be the champions?’’ – This being their annual addition to the unoriginal tradition of trying (and most often failing) at predicting how the upcoming season will unfold. Some of the supposedly brightest footballing brains in the country were asked to name what they thought the top 4 would look like come May. And this is what they came up with:
Not quite what I was expecting.
I couldn’t work it out. So Liverpool finish 2nd and are predicted to finish 5th while Dion Dublin and John Motson proclaim that Manchester United (a team that finished 7th – 22 points off the top) will miraculously take back what is, by birth right it seems, theirs?
Why? Because Louis Van Gaal apparently – That’s why.
No matter how bad David Moyes was/is, can a new manager really make that much of a difference?
Yes, alright, he’s won a lot of trophies. Something you might expect from someone managing top flight clubs like Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich for over 23 years.
He’s also a tactical genius apparently. Subbing a taller goalie on for a penalty shoot-out. Genius that. Playing 3-5-2 with the Netherlands. See, tactically flexible. Genius.
Okay so I may be being a little too harsh with my sarcasm. He may be a tactical genius. But tactics are just a small part contributing to the overall success of a team. A manager can only do so much. He can control transfers (to a certain extent), he can coach the players, he can lay the team out and he can make substitutions. But he can’t directly put the ball in the back of the net, he can’t make a goal line clearance and he can’t make a single tackle. The only people who can are the players. When the whistle blows it’s those 11 men who make the difference. If the 11 men aren’t good enough it doesn’t matter how good the manager is.
Now look at Manchester United’s line up vs Swansea. Is that a League winning side? I’m not sure their back-line is even worthy of 7th place, let alone first. Young, Blackett, Lingaard, Fellaini, Hernandez, Smalling all started. If anything United’s squad is weaker than last season. No experienced Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra or Nani. RVP and Rooney are both a year older and they have a manager who has only had one summer to make any changes he feels are necessary.
But Liverpool are finished. Absolutely done. They’ll be lucky if they get top 4 next season right? Why? Because Luis Suarez left. They’ll be helpless without him. It’s not like he’s had a long term ban twice in the last two seasons and Liverpool have been absolutely fine without him (if anything, results were better). And it’s not as like the same people who were calling Luis Suarez a flat-track bully are now saying he carried Liverpool throughout the whole of last season. And Liverpool were a one man team right. Right? Just like Spurs were a one man team with Bale. Because there’s such a small difference between finishing 5th and finishing 2nd. And Liverpool don’t have quality players like Sterling, Sturridge, Couthino, Lallana, Gerrard, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson and Skrtel. Oh no. Because Liverpool were such a one man team that they’ll drop all the way from 2nd to 5th just like Spurs dropped from 5th to… erm.. well 6th… without Bale. And just like Spurs spent their money appaulingly, Liverpool HAVE to do exactly the same.
The other thing I have an issue with is this:
“How on earth are Liverpool gonna replace the 31 goals of Suarez??”
Ok so let’s take this statement as what the speaker obviously assumed and assume that Liverpool MUST score EXACTLY the same amount of goals as last season to have any hope of finishing 2nd. Well first of all Liverpool don’t have to play with 10 men all season, they’ll have someone in the place of Suarez who will contribute in some way. Let’s say this is Adam Lallana. Adam Lallana could easily get 10 goals this season. It’s a reasonable expectation. I believe it’s also a reasonable expectation that both Phillipe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling get at least 5 goals more between them - both have come on leaps and bounds in the last 18 months. Daniel Sturridge, now being the main man, can also easily score 5 more goals without any lime-light being taken away from him. Finally Liverpool were officially the least active when it came to making changes during the match, mainly due to what was sitting on the bench. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of Iago Aspas’ corner versus Chelsea… 6 goals isn’t a big ask at all.
There you go. 31 goals.
HOWEVER Liverpool DON’T have to score EXACTLY the same amount of goals as last season. They could score just 37 league goals from this point and win the Premier League by some distance. You don’t win the league because of how many goals you score. You win the league by how many points you win. Liverpool may not be as able to score goals as freely as last season, but I’m certain they’re just as able to win matches (With or without Suarez.)
Brendan Rodgers had a dilemma last season. How does he fit Sturridge and Suarez into a system where both can be used to their full potential. This involved going against his preferred formation of 4-3-3 and going with a 4-4-2 diamond formation among others. Now? Well he can go back to what he would have liked to use in the first place and have Sturridge as the lone striker up front.
“How are you going to replace Suarez”
What do you think happened when Keegan, Dalglish, Rush, Owen and Torres left? Did Liverpool just crumble to bits? What about when Arsenal lost Nasri, Van Persie and Fabregas? What happened then? Did the club implode and drop down the league table? No. Because big players leave big clubs all the time. It’s something that happens in football. Why is Suarez leaving any different?
Suarez was probably the greatest Liverpool player I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t have any proof that Liverpool will be better or worse than last season and neither do you. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens. But whatever happens. It’ll be completely unpredictable.
SO STOP TRYING TO PREDICT IT!
I couldn’t work it out. So Liverpool finish 2nd and are predicted to finish 5th while Dion Dublin and John Motson proclaim that Manchester United (a team that finished 7th – 22 points off the top) will miraculously take back what is, by birth right it seems, theirs?
Why? Because Louis Van Gaal apparently – That’s why.
No matter how bad David Moyes was/is, can a new manager really make that much of a difference?
Yes, alright, he’s won a lot of trophies. Something you might expect from someone managing top flight clubs like Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich for over 23 years.
He’s also a tactical genius apparently. Subbing a taller goalie on for a penalty shoot-out. Genius that. Playing 3-5-2 with the Netherlands. See, tactically flexible. Genius.
Okay so I may be being a little too harsh with my sarcasm. He may be a tactical genius. But tactics are just a small part contributing to the overall success of a team. A manager can only do so much. He can control transfers (to a certain extent), he can coach the players, he can lay the team out and he can make substitutions. But he can’t directly put the ball in the back of the net, he can’t make a goal line clearance and he can’t make a single tackle. The only people who can are the players. When the whistle blows it’s those 11 men who make the difference. If the 11 men aren’t good enough it doesn’t matter how good the manager is.
Now look at Manchester United’s line up vs Swansea. Is that a League winning side? I’m not sure their back-line is even worthy of 7th place, let alone first. Young, Blackett, Lingaard, Fellaini, Hernandez, Smalling all started. If anything United’s squad is weaker than last season. No experienced Vidic, Ferdinand, Evra or Nani. RVP and Rooney are both a year older and they have a manager who has only had one summer to make any changes he feels are necessary.
But Liverpool are finished. Absolutely done. They’ll be lucky if they get top 4 next season right? Why? Because Luis Suarez left. They’ll be helpless without him. It’s not like he’s had a long term ban twice in the last two seasons and Liverpool have been absolutely fine without him (if anything, results were better). And it’s not as like the same people who were calling Luis Suarez a flat-track bully are now saying he carried Liverpool throughout the whole of last season. And Liverpool were a one man team right. Right? Just like Spurs were a one man team with Bale. Because there’s such a small difference between finishing 5th and finishing 2nd. And Liverpool don’t have quality players like Sterling, Sturridge, Couthino, Lallana, Gerrard, Sakho, Moreno, Henderson and Skrtel. Oh no. Because Liverpool were such a one man team that they’ll drop all the way from 2nd to 5th just like Spurs dropped from 5th to… erm.. well 6th… without Bale. And just like Spurs spent their money appaulingly, Liverpool HAVE to do exactly the same.
The other thing I have an issue with is this:
“How on earth are Liverpool gonna replace the 31 goals of Suarez??”
Ok so let’s take this statement as what the speaker obviously assumed and assume that Liverpool MUST score EXACTLY the same amount of goals as last season to have any hope of finishing 2nd. Well first of all Liverpool don’t have to play with 10 men all season, they’ll have someone in the place of Suarez who will contribute in some way. Let’s say this is Adam Lallana. Adam Lallana could easily get 10 goals this season. It’s a reasonable expectation. I believe it’s also a reasonable expectation that both Phillipe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling get at least 5 goals more between them - both have come on leaps and bounds in the last 18 months. Daniel Sturridge, now being the main man, can also easily score 5 more goals without any lime-light being taken away from him. Finally Liverpool were officially the least active when it came to making changes during the match, mainly due to what was sitting on the bench. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of Iago Aspas’ corner versus Chelsea… 6 goals isn’t a big ask at all.
There you go. 31 goals.
HOWEVER Liverpool DON’T have to score EXACTLY the same amount of goals as last season. They could score just 37 league goals from this point and win the Premier League by some distance. You don’t win the league because of how many goals you score. You win the league by how many points you win. Liverpool may not be as able to score goals as freely as last season, but I’m certain they’re just as able to win matches (With or without Suarez.)
Brendan Rodgers had a dilemma last season. How does he fit Sturridge and Suarez into a system where both can be used to their full potential. This involved going against his preferred formation of 4-3-3 and going with a 4-4-2 diamond formation among others. Now? Well he can go back to what he would have liked to use in the first place and have Sturridge as the lone striker up front.
“How are you going to replace Suarez”
What do you think happened when Keegan, Dalglish, Rush, Owen and Torres left? Did Liverpool just crumble to bits? What about when Arsenal lost Nasri, Van Persie and Fabregas? What happened then? Did the club implode and drop down the league table? No. Because big players leave big clubs all the time. It’s something that happens in football. Why is Suarez leaving any different?
Suarez was probably the greatest Liverpool player I’ve ever seen with my own eyes. But it doesn’t matter. I don’t have any proof that Liverpool will be better or worse than last season and neither do you. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens. But whatever happens. It’ll be completely unpredictable.
SO STOP TRYING TO PREDICT IT!