The Daily ITK Discussion Thread - 4th July 2014

[CowInAComa]

6th is the best we can hope for and the sooner people get comfortable with it the better. We are not finishing above Chelsea or City. We all know that. Arsenal are close to being a really top side and a couple of shrewd signings like Sanchez will see them out of reach for us. Liverpool will have a tougher season this year i think. More matches, no Suarez……but some good signings. They know where they are going and what Rodgers want and I think will be too good for us. Then we have Utd, the hardest to call. But i seems them bouncing back with a top 4 finish.

So that leaves us and Everton battling for 6th

pathetic

 

[Nanky_1988]

We have a new manager (again!!) I think top 4 is a reasonable target if we make good signings! But I for one am not going to kid myself that we'll be challenging for the title ect!

Liverpool will sell suarez but build a stronger squad and I think unfortunately they will be in the top 4!!

 

[Bus-Conductor]

we don't actually need any players. we have 2/3 keepers, 2 rbs, 4 cbs, 2/3 lbs, a gajillion centre mids, 4/5 wide options and 3 strikers. i wouldn't actually be averse to poch just getting used to this lot of players first and seeing if he can get more out of them than avb/tim before replacing/adding more. save our money for a rainy day.

thanks for replying(unlike the rest of the sc red cross pussy brigade). personally i don't see how it's unbalanced, i even outlined the rough numbers and there's no position that we actually need a player in. it's not like we have zero left backs, we actually have two dedicated left backs and two who can cover if needed. this is the same squad that just 10 months ago was being proclaimed title challengers or at worst top four finishers by most on here, now we need more signings, you say the squad is close but this squad is permanently close ... even if we sign five more players, we're only going to be saying the same this time next year. we basically spin players of similar quality and can't understand why we don't improve. daniel levy should stop spending money to finish between 5th and 7th, unless we go nuts we're not finishing any higher and no matter what we do we're not finishing any lower than 7th as the rest of the league is a big step off in quality.

the top teams will improve, they will improve at a greater rate than us too. the teams 8 through 20 may well improve but never enough to have a squad as good as the one we currently have so all in all i see us stuck in that awkward position of do we invest and more than likely not really move anywhere as a result or do we just stick with what we have(a talented squad that hasn't been given a chance yet) and at worst drop one place as a result. i'm pretty sure that if the window shut now we would finish 6th or possibly higher, if we sign the players we're supposedly interested in i'm pretty sure we'll finish 6th or possibly higher.

Again (as per the other day), I like some of what you say but not all. We have proved twice in the last 4 years that we can hit top 4.

The trading of players serves a dual purpose. You benefit in football and you benefit in financial terms when you purchase/sell well.

For me, the problem is not spending money, it's spending money badly in conjunction with not making better use of resources already available including the development investment (time and money).

One of the reasons we hit top 4 was the acquisition of players. Nearly all the players that played major roles in getting us there were purchased. Purchasing is not the problem per se.

That said, I agree with much of what you are saying about us having a decent squad now for the most part, you omitted to mention some very promising development players as well.

I disagree however about your assessment of us not needing anyone. We very much do need a decent CB. Doesn't have to be the finished article but we need one that can defend, isn't slow, isn't dopey and can be arsed every week. And we desperately need a full back than can actually use his brain, on at least one side.

But as for the rest of the squad, I'm more than happy for what we've got being given a chance, including the development group.

The caveat being that I'm always happy for us to buy players that will immediately clearly improve the first team, or young players at reasonable prices with bags of recognised potential.

 

[Gedson100]

Suarez is a bigger loss than Bale, totally unreplacable.
Plus they need to reconcile their defence & combine Europe.
Pool have a lot to prove next year.

Chelsea & City are the only top 4 locks for me, the rest of us just need to catch a break or beat each other & we've all got a shot at it.

 

[Indisguise]

All I want is a CB and an LB. I'm usually gagging for a signing at this time of year but I'm strangely calm about it all. Now that all of last year's new players have had a year to bed in, I'm excited to see what they can do next season. In particular, I'm hoping that Lamela and Soldado will have something to prove.

I can't see Poch making the same mistakes as our last two managers so I'm all for giving him the time to assess exactly what it is he needs.

 

[dirtyh]

sorry if it's only me, I just don't give a flying fuck about Liverpool. I think lamela is going to destroy the prem next season.

 

[CJMurray]

Suarez is a bigger loss than Bale, totally unreplacable.
Plus they need to reconcile their defence & combine Europe.
Pool have a lot to prove next year.

Chelsea & City are the only top 4 locks for me, the rest of us just need to catch a break or beat each other & we've all got a shot at it.

Liverpool are nowhere near as reliant on Suarez as we were with Bale though. They were doing fine during his ban early on in the season and were pretty free scoring. Where as we needed last minute Bale worldies to get us through games.

 

[SpurSince57]

Again (as per the other day), I like some of what you say but not all. We have proved twice in the last 4 years that we can hit top 4.

The trading of players serves a dual purpose. You benefit in football and you benefit in financial terms when you purchase/sell well.

For me, the problem is not spending money, it's spending money badly in conjunction with not making better use of resources already available including the development investment (time and money).

One of the reasons we hit top 4 was the acquisition of players. Nearly all the players that played major roles in getting us there were purchased. Purchasing is not the problem per se.

That said, I agree with much of what you are saying about us having a decent squad now for the most part, you omitted to mention some very promising development players as well.

I disagree however about your assessment of us not needing anyone. We very much do need a decent CB. Doesn't have to be the finished article but we need one that can defend, isn't slow, isn't dopey and can be arsed every week. And we desperately need a full back than can actually use his brain, on at least one side.

But as for the rest of the squad, I'm more than happy for what we've got being given a chance, including the development group.

The caveat being that I'm always happy for us to buy players that will immediately clearly improve the first team, or young players at reasonable prices with bags of recognised potential.

But let's be honest, a much bigger one was that Liverpool, Chelsea and City fell well below par.

 

[Mr Pink]

Liverpool are nowhere near as reliant on Suarez as we were with Bale though. They were doing fine during his ban early on in the season and were pretty free scoring. Where as we needed last minute Bale worldies to get us through games.

Nowhere near? The guy scored 31 goals...he contributed more to them than Bale did for us at the end of the day. You only have to look at the amount of goals he scored or created for them. The numbers are insane.

You can say we might of been more reliant on Bale but Suarez leaving them is going to hurt them massively.

 

[yankspurs]

Liverpool are nowhere near as reliant on Suarez as we were with Bale though. They were doing fine during his ban early on in the season and were pretty free scoring. Where as we needed last minute Bale worldies to get us through games.

30+ goals. 20+ assists. Guy had a role in 50+ goals last season. Come. On.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

But let's be honest, a much bigger one was that Liverpool, Chelsea and City fell well below par.

No, not much bigger, just factors. Having world class players in our midst (all purchased at various stages and prices) at one time in conjunction with a supporting squad of very good players was another.

 

[Dirty Ewok]

FIFA have bottled it...reduced Suarez's ban big time

Reduced it to less than punishment was when he bit Ivanovich no less...

 

[0-Tibsy-0]

Reduced it to less than punishment was when he bit Ivanovich no less...

That will be some Barca influence then...

 

[branchie]

No one posting Ali Z's latest musings? He's suggesting we may go (back) in for Caulker!

 

[spurs9]

Liverpool are nowhere near as reliant on Suarez as we were with Bale though. They were doing fine during his ban early on in the season and were pretty free scoring. Where as we needed last minute Bale worldies to get us through games.

Not true, he missed the first 5 games, they had 3 x 1-0 wins (Villa, Stoke & Man Utd), 1 x 2-2 draw (Swansea) and a 1-0 loss (Southampton). That is an average of 1 goal per game, so not free scoring. In the same period, we won 4 of 5 ave 1 goal per game.

The main reasons Liverpool did well is because they had no European football & Suarez's form previous to that. Between 08th Feb to 20th April, when the other teams around them were showing fatigue form European commitments (we were only 3 points behind, despite a change of management) they had 11 wins in 11 games, prior to that, there were only 3 games Suarez didn't score or assist in and they lost all 3.

 

[Mr Pink]

Not true, he missed the first 5 games, they had 3 x 1-0 wins (Villa, Stoke & Man Utd), 1 x 2-2 draw (Swansea) and a 1-0 loss (Southampton). That is an average of 1 goal per game, so not free scoring. In the same period, we won 4 of 5 ave 1 goal per game.

The main reasons Liverpool did well is because they had no European football & Suarez's form previous to that. Between 08th Feb to 20th April, when the other teams around them were showing fatigue form European commitments (we were only 3 points behind, despite a change of management) they had 11 wins in 11 games, prior to that, there were only 3 games Suarez didn't score or assist in and they lost all 3.

Spot on.

 

[absolute bobbins]

Where on earth is all this coming from?

 

[SpurSince57]

No, not much bigger, just factors. Having world class players in our midst (all purchased at various stages and prices) at one time in conjunction with a supporting squad of very good players was another.

Well, it enabled us to be in pole position to take advantage if someone loused up. As it happened, in 2009-10 Liverpool were 23 points down on the previous season and City's windfall only bought them a 17-point improvement, and in 2011-12 Chelsea had a slump whilst Liverpool were still floundering. In terms of points, we did better in 2012-13, whilst last season equalled 2011-12 while Sherwood's PPG would have got us 73 points over a season (which might beg a question or two).

 

[Indisguise]

Where on earth is all this coming from?

The internet?

 

[absolute bobbins]

The internet?

About Suarez ban being reduced? That seems to have come from thin air