Five Games that must bring hope rather than despair

When the fixtures were announced for the 2010/2011 Barclays Premier League campaign the first thing Liverpool fans would have noticed, aside from the traditional look for the Derby and Manchester United fixtures, would have been the difficult start that Liverpool have been handed. Within the first five games of the season the Reds will have to face Arsenal at Anfield and two trips to Manchester to play United and City. Crammed in between our two journeys down the M62 are a tricky away fixture at Birmingham City and a tough home fixture against newly-promoted West Bromwich Albion. To say that the beginning of Roy Hodgson’s first domestic season in charge of the club is a testing one would be a massive understatement. The team must hit the ground running and play at their highest possible level if they are going to collect an acceptable amount of points from those five games. It could be that, after those five games, people are already talking about yet another season of domestic failure for Liverpool, however, on the other hand, after we have played those five games people, and let’s hope this is the case, may be talking up a serious Liverpool title challenge. I have full faith in the team that the latter will be the scenario that occurs.

In order for Liverpool to maintain a challenge for the top four, or possibly even the top of the table, a good start to the season is crucial. For the Reds to be able to do this they are going to have to keep their key players in perfect condition. The likes of Steven Gerrard, Joe Cole and more importantly, the injury-prone Fernando Torres must stay 100% fit so that the club can start the season with a bang. It would be silly for any fan to expect that all three of these players will be fit all season, however, with a bit of luck, these three quality players will stay off the injury table during the most important periods of the season. And the first five games are most certainly one of the most substantial periods of football the Reds will face all season.

During the first few months of the season, sandwiched in between our Premier League games, will be the early rounds of both the Europa League and the Carling Cup. It is clear to see that this season, especially since we are not participating in the Champions League, the Premier League will be the number one priority by a country mile. Therefore, in both the early rounds of the Europa League and for the majority of both the Carling Cup and the FA Cup, I feel as though we should utilise the squad we have to use different players from what would usually be our starting Premier League eleven. This allows our more important players to regain full fitness to continue with a challenge for either the top four or the Premier League title. Hopefully these thoughts have crossed the mind of Roy Hodgson and gives him more of an incentive to splash out on cheaper players who would make up a stronger squad.

Hopefully, if we can kick-off our season with a win against our London rivals Arsenal on Sunday, then it will kickstart a season that Liverpool fans can enjoy and relish rather than have to live with constant setbacks and poor performances that were all too familiar last season.

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