I am pleased that Chelsea is our FA cup final opponent,because honestly i think Tottenham is a way harder team to beat compared,and i want see torreh face when we beat them

true but based on form, Chelsea is producing much more better results recently. Spurs have been flat for the past 2 months.

Its gonna be a tough tough match. We reached the final partially because of Moyes timid tactics. Hopefully, the boy will produce those crisp passing and running during the final and instead of the balls hitting em goal posts, it will hit the net.

Yesss....everything about Roman is plastic-ky........no class

Shankly gates! hahaha!

You make your own assumption that you are one of the plastic when I was actually referring to those booing. If you wanna admit it so badly, why would I stop you.

Funny guy.

First with all these failed sarcasm...then comes the confession...

lebron james LFC theme edition

So, he wearing this to play basketball?

It's been some time we can honestly say we were going to challenge for the Premiership. In the past 20 years, I can only only think of a small handful of occasions we realistically had a chance at climbing to the summit, most recently under Rafa when we went second and before that when we also finished 2nd under Gerard Houllier. Those were the only times I can remember us every being in pole position if even for just awhile. The season before that we finished 3rd, and thereafter we went on a freefall as our over reliance on Michael Owen's pace meant that we became predictable and as injuries blighted our fleet footed forward, we were blunt and toothless. More often than not, our target has always been a top four finish which is now made harder by the resurgence of Spurs and Newcastle, and the massive inheritence Man City have received. If there is one issue with Liverpool fans having long memories and drawing inspiration on our past, it's that expectations are sometimes unrealistic. If you read some early season comments, you would have seen some posters genuinely believe we were going to ursurp the mancs after just one closed season.

Winning cups has always masked our failure to compete for the Premiership. More so now than in the 90's when we won next to nothing. Rafa's win in the Champions League for example helped cloaked the fact that our league form was poor as we finished behind Everton.

Is right. They also littered the entire stadium by discarding the flags thereafter.

I think it was disrespectful of Terry and Torres not to have worn black armbands, especially in the case of the latter. I've always scoffed at suggestions that we should once again welcome him with open arms as I felt he left us high and dry at the last minute despite citing that he had reasons we don't understand. Reasons by the way, that he hasn't yet given until today. I wished him the best when he left but never thought it apt that he should return after turning his back on us. Not a Liverpool type player in my books for all his ability. Loyalty and passion are more important to me. I have no idea why he didn't put on an armband, but it strengthen's my belief that he should never return to Anfield in red. The lack of loyalty and passion he showed towards the end of this career is the same reason I would not want Carlos Tevez in the side.

To be fair to Chelsea fans, it was only a small group who chanted during the minute's silence. Let's not generalise just as we don't like it when they generalise us over a few bad hats. Let's not be hypocritical. We lay claim to being the most knowledgeable fans do we not? Well let's play the part.

If Torres doesn't feel like wearing the bad, let him. I wouldn't someone to be forced to show respect to the 96 and yet have a plastic feeling for the club and history.

True. But our team loves playing against Chelsea. For some reason, we tend to up our game against them, much like how Spurs would normally up their against us. It's the human side of football that makes the game interesting and at times unpredictable.

you have a point there. Actually, it has been quite a while since we play a big team in a local cup final.. ..I think we struggled against Birmingham, Cardiff, West Ham.....

So it nice to go into the final as the non-favourite team

This post has been edited by nando: Apr 17 2012, 11:14 AM

I prefer us to meet Chelsea, I saw their remaining matches before the FA Cup final, all of them is tough. They can't rest their key player unless they want to give up either 4th spot or CL, which is their priority over FA Cup.

18/04 Chelsea V Barcelona

21/04 Arsenal V Chelsea

24/04 Barcelona V Chelsea

29/04 Chelsea V QPR

02/05 Chelsea V Newcastle

05/05 Chelsea V Liverpool (FA Cup Final)

08/05 Liverpool V Chelsea

Yes, it has been a very long time since Reds won the league.
This season, Reds can still called it a success by winning the FA Cup against Chelsea.
(Note: League Cup already won)
Next year target - the League and UCL.

I am not as gung-ho. It will be a miracle if we are suddenly fighting for the title week in and week out next season. The last time we challenged, it was a superb team with world class players. No one knew how to deal with Torres and Gerrard. We had Alonso, who is now the lynchpin of RM's assault of trophies. Then there is Monster Masch....recently an article describe him as a player that Pep rates very highly, due to his ability to switch to defense without any problems....
Carragher was reliable and not to mention Sami could still do the job when needed.

almost all these players are gone now. IT takes a lot to replace them and challenge for the title again.

This post has been edited by nando: Apr 17 2012, 11:23 AM

Targetting the league next year will in my opinion, be unrealistic. With 4 games to go, we are a massive 36 points away from the summit. The 13 point gap to 4th however is surmountable but we will face strong opposition from Newcastle, Spurs, Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal and Chelsea, all of whom will strengthen during the break, especially the first two who have reached soaring heights and can expect a windfall for finishing further up the table than expected. In comparison, we are rumoured to be given a mere $30 million pound warchest, $5 million less than what Andy Carroll cost by himself.

The focus from what I've been reading is to groom players from the academy. It will be some time before we can realistically challenge for the title. You don't close the gap from almost 40 points to nothing in a season without massive cash injection. It simply is not going to happen for us next season.

Agreed.
But I hope Reds dare to dream; that is why I put it that way.
If KD were to "blood" the academy players, it will be 2-3 years befoer Reds can see the fruits of their hard work.

Trust me,there will still be people like that after this summer window.
Next season is all about getting things right in the league.

Every squad that was built when we could almost keep pace but finished either 2 or 3 had a good first 11 but a so-so back up.

No team has been able to sustain a strong challenge long enough without a squad with depth.

It would be nice to do a double this year (Some may call it a minor success) but we still fall below the target of nicking or at least in contention for a CL spot. Ultimately we hope to improve. I don't think many fans are expecting us to challenge the league next year, hopefully some key reinforcement can be added. Even promoting the lfc youths or exposing them to he first 11 would change much. We are severely weak overall squad wise. No excuses.

Thread closed. Thank You!