Seven games from contention?
GERARD Houllier once claimed that his Liverpool side were ‘ten games from greatness’. Less enthralling, but just as significantly, Brendan Rodgers’ Liverpool are now seven games from contention.
More possession kept, more spirit shown, more chances created, more chances wasted and depressingly, more dropped points.
A familiar pattern played out for the Reds at White Hart Lane in their 2-1 defeat.
Losing away at Spurs shouldn’t be seen as a disaster, especially given the resilient nature of the performance after a terrible opening ten minutes, but the defeat now places extra significance on Liverpool’s next seven league games between December 1st and January 2nd.
Southampton, Aston Villa, Fulham and Sunderland visit Anfield in that time. Away from home West Ham, Stoke and QPR lie in wait. All are games that Liverpool can and will be expected to win. 21 vital points are available in total over the next 33 days and it is the perfect opportunity to for Liverpool to start climbing the table.
The problematic start thus far has been (rightly, in my opinion ) excused to some extent given the paucity of depth in the squad, the difficult fixture list and the fact that high performance levels have failed to be rewarded in the form of points on several occasions.
Now though, Brendan Rodgers has seven league games where, on each occasion, he will be in charge of the stronger team. He isn’t facing the might of City, United or Chelsea. He isn’t taking on the much more evolved and settled squads of Everton, Spurs or Arsenal and this period of back to back Premier League games will give fans, owners and players alike a clear picture of what Liverpool can achieve this season.
Despite only three league wins thus far, the potential for relative success (4th place isn’t good enough, but it is all we can hope for at the moment) still remains. Currently 10 points off 4th placed West Brom and only 4 points above the drop zone, December looks like being the measuring stick for Liverpool. Come the final whistle on January 2nd when Sunderland visit L4, Liverpool will have played 21 league games and their position in the table will be more telling than it is at present.
It is crucial then, that when the players in red make their way back to the Anfield dressing room that day, they do so in significantly better shape than at present. Excuses will be harder to come by after this batch of winnable fixtures and if the players can squeeze out a good points total (17 points or more) then the season’s aims will be being reassessed in a more positive manner.
Amazingly, if Rodgers can guide his team through this period while accumulating the requisite amount of points expected, then his side will probably be placed well enough to make an assault on 4th place. It is unlikely, of course, given that stringing just two wins back to back has been impossible for Liverpool this season, but on paper, it is eminently possible.
Every team the Reds face over the next four weeks are weaker and should be vanquished. The woeful home record will need to be finally eradicated and consistency must be found during this period. Drawing at home to Newcastle and Man City is bearable when the performances are good. Losing to Spurs and Manchester United after being the better team in both fixtures can be put into context and digested easily enough.
That will not be the case if results against the likes of QPR, Villa and Sunderland are not favourable. Promise has been shown this season, but now is the time for delivery.
Seven games to get back in contention. Seven games for Brendan Rodgers to haul his side back up the league table and if that is achieved then Liverpool will likely be within touching distance of the Champions League place that they desire. If anything would persuade FSG to loosen their purse strings significantly in January then surely it would be the potential of a quicker than expected return to Europe’s premier money spinning competition.
Fourth place is, unfortunately, the most that fans can dream for Liverpool right now and despite an underwhelming opening to this season, the lack of consistency exhibited by rival teams fighting for this coveted spot means that, incredibly, a good December is all it would take for the Reds to be genuine contenders for the position again. Then it would be over to FSG to show us how serious they really are about making this club a force again.
‘Greatness’ is a long way off but come the New Year, fourth place shouldn’t be.
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December 3rd, 2012
now i know why i dont bother debating/ arguing with you tim , your totally biased and unrational , its impossible to have a constructive argument with you .
you ignore my points that you cant argue about , you pick on other points and twist them , you only see your side ( the biased “everything is great ” side ) .
for example FSG have spent damn all net , i can email you the facts if you wish , and liverpool have NEVER been mid table before rodgers , NEVER !
7th place under rafa but we were a contender for 4th , even after the hodgson mess , kenny roared us up the table to 6th , then a poor end to season saw us finish 8th – NONE of that is mid table mediocrity ,but this season is .
you can keep your imaginary happy future ,ill stay honest . as for the other point . there is no gray , only black and white . FSG are bad ,rodgers is bad ! no shades , no grey , nothing ! you can see imaginary shades if you like but its black and white to most people
December 4th, 2012
I don’t know why you get so angry Bob just because you are challenged. Biased and unrationale? How? Because I don’t swallow your unsupported opinion? Because I have my own interpretations that I’m prepared to support without throwing m toys out of he pram? I remain level headed in discussion but you think it’s impossible to have a constructive conversation with me? Yikes! I still remain unsure where you come to the conclusion that I think everything is fine, but hey suggesting you actually read any of my points woul be irrational.
So you move the goalposts to net spend, fair enough. It still doesn’t take away from the money re-invested though, something H&G never did. What you must be arguing is that the owners don’t put enough of their own money in yeah? As opposed to what Liverpool owner ever? Presumably the facts you hold cover the entire financial state of Liverpool football club yes? So incoming, outoing, wages, transfer fees, tax, policing ad so on? Unless you hold all of that information (including the state of the club when thy bought it) it is extremely short sighted to judge ‘a net transfer’ spend, espcially in a word of undisclosed fees, unknown wages and unknown bonuses and agn spend. Bu hey you have ‘facts’, who ami to doubt. Challenge to you Bob, if you hold facts that continually go on about, why not write a piece for this site presenting them?
7th and 8th are not mid table no? What you have done there Bob is given Liverpool finishes over a season, we have only just entered December and technically could finish first with the amounts of points lef available. How long is a manager given???
It must be so pleasant in your world Bob seeing things so simply. This is yes this is no, this is black this is white. The sport today is a complex beast with uncountable factors to be considered daily, but not in your world eh, just the ‘soccer’ for you
Before I sign this off, let me reiterate for what it’s worth, this isn’t a fully fledged support of FSG or Rodgers, it’s taking a rational response to your hysteria. Now, if as you say, you have proof, then I say show it…..
December 5th, 2012
i really cant be bothered , its like talking to a door . you make irrational arguments and i cant argue with someone who doesnt embrace reality
December 5th, 2012
You don’t argue a all Bob, you never actually raise a point that is supported by either you full opinion or these elusive ‘facts’ you bang on about. Your replies remain limited to slating other people.
If my argument is irrational at least tell me why before comparing me to a door! But hey life would be much poorer if we didn’t have doors so I will tak it as a compliment
By your continued avoidance of the challenge I tak it you are not interested in writing a piece based on your ‘facts’ or even merely explaining your point?
December 3rd, 2012
Lets sack the muppet , then we might be 7 games from contention