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Post by retired1 on May 31, 2015 21:42:14 GMT
Nope. We wont be a top 6 team. Some are getting a tad carried away. We are too inconsistent. Too many home matches lost against weaker teams which cost us at least 2 places in the table. Need to have a better defense and a top goal scorer to make those two places up. Great season that could have been even better. Lets not get carried away cos a couple of bad defeats and we suddenly attack every player who makes a basic error and panic sets in. Lets have an even better season but lets be realistic cos some of the other teams are going to shell out big time.
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Post by iplayinthehole on May 31, 2015 22:05:50 GMT
Not a chance for me.
Liverpool have gone the vast majority of this season without a proper/decent striker. I cannot see them making that mistake again.
I'd love it, but a bit of realism is needed.
Of course, having said all of this, in football, anything can happen.
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Post by discokaraoke on May 31, 2015 22:10:16 GMT
We could, but I don't think we will. I know they're not always right, but Bet365 have us down as 40/1 to finish in the top 4 next season, whilst Liverpool are at a meager 11/4. There's still a gulf of class between the two sides in spite of the result the other week. Even if we managed to become as good a team as Liverpool, the psychology and fan base behind their club relative to ours would give them that additional edge. In order to be in with a shout of competing in those upper echelons, a good start is imperative as it gives you something to cling on to. If we can get that next season then you never know. We essentially need to make up around 10 points though on this season's tally to do that, which is no mean feat. You could point to games like Burnley, Leicester and Aston Villa at home as being 9 points there if we got them right, but it's not as simple as that. For every Villa there's a Man City away and for every Burnley there's a Tottenham or Everton away. Bob on. |
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Post by muglump on May 31, 2015 22:12:05 GMT
Yes, but I doubt it. It depends on us being consistent and them being shit. Possible, but I think they will have a new manager before long and it might all be different next year
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Post by sheriff on May 31, 2015 22:38:01 GMT
The spine of our team arguably would not look out of place in a top 4 team, let alone Liverpool: Bego, Shawcross, nzonsi, Bojan and quite frankly is better than Liverpool's. If Arnie turns up from the start next year we arguably, again, have a player as good as they have. If we can add some real quality and everybody stays fit and each player can hit form, then we could be the surprise package next year. The stars do have to align though and they rarely do for Stoke and being one of our most pesimistic supporters I have to say, we could also end up selling some of our best players, adding no real quality and Bojan could pick up a secondary injury and end not playing at his peak for most of the season. Hughes is worrying me defensively also Calm down. That's a pretty deluded post. The only player in your team who would definitely improve Liverpool is Nzonzi - because their other options are Lucas and Allen. Begovic has had his share of dodginess this season but unlike Mignolet, the press have no need to get on his back. He won't escape the slaughter at a big club. Shawcross is not better than Skrtel or Sakho who have top international pedigree. He would probably do a Lovren if he made the step-up to Liverpool. Bojan couldn't even establish himself in Ajax or a struggling Milan or Roma and got sold to you for a pack of crisps. As the Southampton exports proved, the pressures of punching at smaller teams and replicating it at bigger teams is very different. Moses who has looked one of your brightest players when fit this season looked a fish out of water at Liverpool. The atmosphere of pressure and expectation takes its toll on many who make the step-up. To say your spine is better than Liverpool is ridiculous. You're getting carried away by a freak result against a very dishevelled team. |
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Post by bmstoke on May 31, 2015 23:02:12 GMT
The spine of our team arguably would not look out of place in a top 4 team, let alone Liverpool: Bego, Shawcross, nzonsi, Bojan and quite frankly is better than Liverpool's. If Arnie turns up from the start next year we arguably, again, have a player as good as they have. If we can add some real quality and everybody stays fit and each player can hit form, then we could be the surprise package next year. The stars do have to align though and they rarely do for Stoke and being one of our most pesimistic supporters I have to say, we could also end up selling some of our best players, adding no real quality and Bojan could pick up a secondary injury and end not playing at his peak for most of the season. Hughes is worrying me defensively also Calm down. That's a pretty deluded post. The only player in your team who would definitely improve Liverpool is Nzonzi - because their other options are Lucas and Allen. Begovic has had his share of dodginess this season but unlike Mignolet, the press have no need to get on his back. He won't escape the slaughter at a big club. Shawcross is not better than Skrtel or Sakho who have top international pedigree. He would probably do a Lovren if he made the step-up to Liverpool. Bojan couldn't even establish himself in Ajax or a struggling Milan or Roma and got sold to you for a pack of crisps. As the Southampton exports proved, the pressures of punching at smaller teams and replicating it at bigger teams is very different. Moses who has looked one of your brightest players when fit this season looked a fish out of water at Liverpool. The atmosphere of pressure and expectation takes its toll on many who make the step-up. To say your spine is better than Liverpool is ridiculous. You're getting carried away by a freak result against a very dishevelled team. I'm sorry, Shawcross is not better than Sakho? My mum's better than Sakho. |
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Post by Gods on May 31, 2015 23:10:06 GMT
No, definitely not, not an earthly.
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Post by bmstoke on May 31, 2015 23:11:37 GMT
Yes she fucking is.
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Post by skip on May 31, 2015 23:12:42 GMT
Regardless of whether the idea of Stoke being better than Liverpool has potential or is a pipe dream, the fact it is being written about is still a bit mental to me.
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Post by Kewstokie on May 31, 2015 23:44:12 GMT
Calm down. That's a pretty deluded post. Shawcross is not better than Skrtel or Sakho who have top international pedigree. He would probably do a Lovren if he made the step-up to Liverpool. It was a well thought out reasoned argument until this point…..Skrtel and Sakho ffs. They make Jones and Smalling look like world beaters |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2015 0:10:56 GMT
I really think that bettering the scousers depends on them having another very poor season. We pretty much know where we will be, but there is a lot of uncertainty at Anfield.... but...  on balance I think not. Let's not get ahead of our selves, we need to eclipse Southampton and Swansea first. |
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Post by NassauDave on Jun 1, 2015 0:16:41 GMT
Let's be real....
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2015 2:32:40 GMT
I'd be shocked if Liverpool stick with Rodgers, he seemed to base his entire plan for this season on Lambert and Lallana playing together as well as they did for Spurs. Then changes his mind within days and decided Balotelli was his answer.
By the end of September he had given up on both those ideas and decided to pick his team by throwing darts at the squad list, after first removing the strikers names.
If they decide to keep him and give him another load of money to spend then there could be a record low finish (as all records now seem to have started in 1992) for Liverpool.
Even if they give him the transfer kitty this summer, you'd imagine they would have someone else in before January to try and save the season though. You'd think 8th would be a very worst case scenario, even Manure managed 7th when they were getting thrashed regularly at the end of the season.
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Post by davejohnno1 on Jun 1, 2015 5:50:34 GMT
Nope. We wont be a top 6 team. Some are getting a tad carried away. We are too inconsistent. Too many home matches lost against weaker teams which cost us at least 2 places in the table. Need to have a better defense and a top goal scorer to make those two places up. Great season that could have been even better. Lets not get carried away cos a couple of bad defeats and we suddenly attack every player who makes a basic error and panic sets in. Lets have an even better season but lets be realistic cos some of the other teams are going to shell out big time. Nor will Liverpool. If we finish 8th, we'd stand a very good chance of being ahead of them |
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Post by JoeinOz on Jun 1, 2015 5:55:48 GMT
Depends who Liverpool's manager is.  |
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Post by mtrstudent on Jun 1, 2015 5:57:07 GMT
Lets be careful, expectations are on the rise and the ultimate aim for next season is to get in to Europe (by whatever method) but just seeing us continually being underestimated and chinning some of the traditional big sides and a mid table finish is still tremendous fun and perfectly acceptable to me. This. We're going to have some shit games where everyone on here soggies their panties again, but as long as we throw out some performance like this season, make a good go of top half and mess up some of the bigger boys then I'll be chuffed. |
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Post by nott1 on Jun 1, 2015 7:17:20 GMT
Depends who Liverpool's manager is. Whoever it is he'll need at least 6 new players of quality to be above Stoke next term! |
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Post by dutchstokie on Jun 1, 2015 7:30:40 GMT
" Slowly but surely they are becoming a team that are feared by almost every other one in the league. Not because they are stronger, not because of their ferocious home atmosphere, but because they are good, very good and they may very well gate crash the European places next year. Watching Stoke dismantle Liverpool, there was only one club that looked capable of mixing it with Europe’s best and it certainly wasn’t the one that spent nearly £100m last summer. " Quote just made me gush...... i love Stoke City Where was this from....? Leslie needs to print that out as reminder to the players as to what they're capable of.... |
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Post by ohbottom on Jun 1, 2015 8:51:40 GMT
Just to inject a touch of realism:
We've just had our best ever season, while Liverpool have had a really poor one by their standards, yet they still finished 8 pts ahead of us.
For us to get 60pts next season would be (almost) beyond my wildest dreams, while even with Brenda in charge below 60pts would be pretty disastrous for Liverpool.
We've done fantastically well to be where we are, but that's a heck of a big leap for us
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Jun 1, 2015 8:59:37 GMT
If Liverpool are not careful they are going to run into problems with both the UEFA and the Premier League FFP rules. They mde some big mistakes in their buying spree last summer of which Balotelli was the most obvious. They can rectify many of these problems if they sell Sterling. But, if they don't and yet still need to offload some of their surplus players at fire sale prices, then they could fall foul of FFP. If that happens then finishing above them might be a possibility. You could summarise by saying that if this season is a low point for them we have no chance of overtaking them. If this season is just one step on a downward ladder then we have every chance of finishing above them.
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Post by cousindupree on Jun 1, 2015 9:26:15 GMT
Its unlikely to happen.Having said that Liverpool are a shambles on the pitch and need a major overhaul.To play with no striker and lots of square pegs in round holes smacks of a team in trouble.The rebuilding may take a couple of seasons and next season might be merely consolidation for them.But in the longer term sadly they will be back and the top 6 will continue to be as predictable as ever
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Post by cheekymatt71 on Jun 1, 2015 9:42:23 GMT
Its easy to get carried away by our potential next season BUT
> we wont get teams playing 4 centre-halves to combat our long-ball style any longer as Pochettino mistakenly tried (although im sure Pulis will do)
> We are not the only stable team looking to push on next season. Swansea/Southampton if they keep players and manager then theres no reason they cant build further.
The Premier League has lacked some quality the past couple of years and yet we have only managed 9th place. I do think next season the quality will be higher in general thanks to more stability and managers bedding in, plus the additional cash injection from the TV rights.
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Post by Northy on Jun 1, 2015 9:55:55 GMT
I'd be shocked if Liverpool stick with Rodgers, he seemed to base his entire plan for this season on Lambert and Lallana playing together as well as they did for Spurs. Then changes his mind within days and decided Balotelli was his answer. By the end of September he had given up on both those ideas and decided to pick his team by throwing darts at the squad list, after first removing the strikers names. If they decide to keep him and give him another load of money to spend then there could be a record low finish (as all records now seem to have started in 1992) for Liverpool. Even if they give him the transfer kitty this summer, you'd imagine they would have someone else in before January to try and save the season though. You'd think 8th would be a very worst case scenario, even Manure managed 7th when they were getting thrashed regularly at the end of the season. Playing for Spurs, when did that happen, did I oversleep by a season ? |
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Post by Northy on Jun 1, 2015 9:56:58 GMT
Liverpool are ahead of us at the moment, we can get the odd result against them but 8 out of ten tims we would narrowly lose.
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Post by robwahlmann on Jun 1, 2015 9:57:56 GMT
Next season's goal = 55 points! If we can do that I will be thrilled! Throw in a good cup run as well and being a Stoke supporter will be wonderful!  |
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Post by britsabroad on Jun 1, 2015 10:45:46 GMT
Just to inject a touch of realism: We've just had our best ever season, while Liverpool have had a really poor one by their standards, yet they still finished 8 pts ahead of us. For us to get 60pts next season would be (almost) beyond my wildest dreams, while even with Brenda in charge below 60pts would be pretty disastrous for Liverpool. We've done fantastically well to be where we are, but that's a heck of a big leap for us This is a strange myth, that Liverpool have had a bad season by their standards. Last year was the one off. With the exception of that this season is the best theyve done in the last 6 years. Theyve been an upper mid table outfit for 25 years now. If Stoke can break 60 points they have a very good chance of finishing above them. |
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Post by Lakeland Potter on Jun 1, 2015 10:59:01 GMT
Liverpool are ahead of us at the moment, we can get the odd result against them but 8 out of ten tims we would narrowly lose. That isn't actually true is it? Haven't they only beaten us once at the Brit since promotion? If so then we don't lose 80% of games against them. |
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Post by sheikhmomo on Jun 1, 2015 11:09:38 GMT
Liverpool are ahead of us at the moment, we can get the odd result against them but 8 out of ten tims we would narrowly lose. That isn't actually true is it? Haven't they only beaten us once at the Brit since promotion? If so then we don't lose 80% of games against them. In their one victory they had a bit of a helping hand as well.......pun absolutely intended. |
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Post by Davef on Jun 1, 2015 11:26:32 GMT
Since Mark Hughes was appointed, Liverpool have beaten us three times in four matches...but we've scored more goals!
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Post by ohbottom on Jun 1, 2015 11:52:07 GMT
Just to inject a touch of realism: We've just had our best ever season, while Liverpool have had a really poor one by their standards, yet they still finished 8 pts ahead of us. For us to get 60pts next season would be (almost) beyond my wildest dreams, while even with Brenda in charge below 60pts would be pretty disastrous for Liverpool. We've done fantastically well to be where we are, but that's a heck of a big leap for us This is a strange myth, that Liverpool have had a bad season by their standards. Last year was the one off. With the exception of that this season is the best theyve done in the last 6 years. Theyve been an upper mid table outfit for 25 years now. If Stoke can break 60 points they have a very good chance of finishing above them. Fair comment up to a point, I concede I've overstated their quality. They only got 52 pts a few years ago, 58 the year before, but that is the only 2 times they managed less than 60pts since before we were promoted. I'd still say 60pts would be an amazing season for us but a poor one for them. Not saying it won't happen, just not expecting it! |
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on balance I think not. Let's not get ahead of our selves, we need to eclipse Southampton and Swansea first.
