The Really Big Picture

[Guest Ant]

4 Wins 3 Draws in the League, 2 Goals Conceded from Penalties with a goal difference Only inferior to Arsenal by 2....

 

....And we are still unbeaten

 

4 Points off top with a game in hand over both Mancunian Clubs above us.

 

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Now going down to main details, as has been mentioned on this forum with the exception of the Birmingham game this has been a brilliant start for Liverpool.

 

A Draw away in the Champions League to boot with an impressive win at the Carling Cup.

 

It really hasn't been a bad start all things said and done, our draws came against two sides which although it would be brilliant to win, had it not been for a corrupt Ref v Chelsea we would have had 2 More Points under our belt.

 

A Draw against Pompey considering the Penalty save + How poor we were was an excellent result.

 

The Birmingham result was a poor game and we can only have ourselves to blame for that.

 

We are grinding our results like Champions Do, and I am happy....

 

Given our past history at the beginning of League Seasons, would you have taken this start?

[Benzo-13]

4 Wins 3 Draws in the League, 2 Goals Conceded from Penalties with a goal difference Only inferior to Arsenal by 2....

 

....And we are still unbeaten

 

4 Points off top with a game in hand over both Mancunian Clubs above us.

 

________________________________________________

 

Now going down to main details, as has been mentioned on this forum with the exception of the Birmingham game this has been a brilliant start for Liverpool.

 

A Draw away in the Champions League to boot with an impressive win at the Carling Cup.

 

It really hasn't been a bad start all things said and done, our draws came against two sides which although it would be brilliant to win, had it not been for a corrupt Ref v Chelsea we would have had 2 More Points under our belt.

 

A Draw against Pompey considering the Penalty save + How poor we were was an excellent result.

 

The Birmingham result was a poor game and we can only have ourselves to blame for that.

 

We are grinding our results like Champions Do, and I am happy....

 

Given our past history at the beginning of League Seasons, would you have taken this start?

 

Agree..

 

Also, there's a period in every season that we play bad as it's just the way football is.

If this is it then we're on a right flyer.

[Bootle Buck]

If we beat the Blues***e and then Arsenal at home we will be in really great shape and still not in full gear.

[Guest Lennon]

Next 3 games will show us where we're really at.

[Guest Snorky]

Next 3 games will show us where we're really at.

 

Hopefully we'll raise our game as today it looked to me like the players thought all they had to do was turn up.

[Tommy Cockles]

We have had a soft start and not really played anyone of any significance, CFC apart.

 

TBH I would have been disappointed with any fewer points from these fixtures than what we have.

 

Spurs, Everton, Arsenal and Blackburn away will show if this is a side of merit or just another bunch of pretenders.

 

Football wise its been a curates egg, some sublime, some OK & some crap.

 

IMO its way too early to draw any conclusions but its a decent start & we havent had one of those for a while.

[abc]

I still maintain that the team and Rafa's performances against the big clubs away from home will indicate whether we win the league this season.

 

Houllier in his 5 or so seasons had gone to Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd and come away with a win at least once. Rafa in his 3 so far has yet to come away with a point. And in all our performances in the last three season, I can only think of Chelsea last season and Man Utd the previous one where we played well enough to deserve anything.

 

Looking at the fixture list, we need to get a lot of points from the first half of the season because it seems like our traditionally difficult matches are going to be in the later part of the season - we're playing Chelsea, Man Utd, Bolton, City, Spurs and Arsenal away in the last 12 fixtures or so. Fulham seems to be a place where we haven't done too well in the past years too.

 

Last season the fixture list at the start was really tough, and a mixture of everything (confidence being a key factor) hampered our away form. This season, we've had a reasonable fixture list at the beginning of the season. And we really need to build confidence and momentum like Man Utd did last season, and also like Arsenal are seeming to do with this one...

[_00_deathscar]

Houllier in his 5 or so seasons had gone to Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd and come away with a win at least once. Rafa in his 3 so far has yet to come away with a point. And in all our performances in the last three season, I can only think of Chelsea last season and Man Utd the previous one where we played well enough to deserve anything.

 

We've generally played well enough at Stamford Bridge in the last three seasons.

[Cooldude]

We will finish stronger than any of the clubs, our stats the past two seasons or so have proven that we're great finishers of a season. As long as we keep up with pace with the top and not fallen behind too much.

 

Arsenal will drop off. They're probably favourites at this stage but I'm not convinced that they'll finish the season anywhere as strongly as they've started it. The biggest threat are the Manc s***s atm who are picking up 3 points while playing s***, sooner or later they'll click

[Raj]

IMO its way too early to draw any conclusions but its a decent start & we havent had one of those for a while.

 

This is true, and my gut feeling is that we will not have a better chance to win the league than this season.

We have a strong squad, possibly the strongest in the league, although I don't believe that we have the strongest 1st eleven.

 

Of our main title rivals, Chelsea seem to be falling by the wayside, and I can't see them turning it around with the their current manager and injury problems. Arsenal are cruising at the moment, but I'm not sure whether they have the strength in depth or grit to last the whole season. We are at least the equal of them. I still believe that the team who finishes above Man Utd, will win the league. They are the team to beat.

 

If the players show the correct aptitude and desire there is no reason why we should not be at least challenging come May.

[Will]

Stattoes will love to learn that we have now reached 400 away points in the Premier League

 

And that this is our best defensive start to the season for 30 years

 

[Gunga Din]

i'm still far from convinced with the start. i dont think we are playing that well, and we should have had a few more points from that run of fixtures. i think we are possibly 2 points shy of where we should have been from that run of games, and although it might not seem like much, and may indeed seem like spliting hairs, it could be the difference between winning the thing and not.if people are going to be content with a top 3 finish, then its an excellent start, if people really want us to win the league, then i think they will be slightly disappointed with the return. we will need upwards of 85 points to be champions. at the minute, we arent at that level

[Knoxy]

It's a decent start, but lopsided in terms of performances. We were very good before the international break, and have struggled since. Crucial few weeks ahead now, and we'll need improved performances to keep momentum going. We'll be playing teams who'll come at us, and we now have the ability to use the space this will give us to hurt them

[Guest Lennon]

Arsenal aside, none of the credible challengers are at the top of the game at the minute. We often have a surge of consistency throughout November and December. Add that to our pretty good start and I think we'll be right in the mix.

[Gunga Din]

Arsenal aside, none of the credible challengers are at the top of the game at the minute. We often have a surge of consistency throughout November and December. Add that to our pretty good start and I think we'll be right in the mix.

i think that makes it worse that we dropped silly points, not better. saying its ok to drop points because our rivals have dropped points shouldnt be the benchmark.

[Guest RedIsMyColour]

We have had a piss easy start to be fair and haven't performed too great.

 

October is a massive month for us, if we step up and win the games, then I will start believing.

[_00_deathscar]

i'm still far from convinced with the start. i dont think we are playing that well, and we should have had a few more points from that run of fixtures. i think we are possibly 2 points shy of where we should have been from that run of games, and although it might not seem like much, and may indeed seem like spliting hairs, it could be the difference between winning the thing and not.if people are going to be content with a top 3 finish, then its an excellent start, if people really want us to win the league, then i think they will be slightly disappointed with the return. we will need upwards of 85 points to be champions. at the minute, we arent at that level

 

Games since the start of the Premier League suggest it won't take a humongous points total, as in the last few years, to win the title this year.

[Sion]

We have had a piss easy start to be fair

 

Chelsea

Portsmouth away

Villa away

 

all hard games.

 

Arsenal in contrast have had a very easy start. Looking at their fixtures, come Novemeber/December they have a very tough run of games.

[Lee W]

i'm still far from convinced with the start. i dont think we are playing that well, and we should have had a few more points from that run of fixtures. i think we are possibly 2 points shy of where we should have been from that run of games, and although it might not seem like much, and may indeed seem like spliting hairs, it could be the difference between winning the thing and not.if people are going to be content with a top 3 finish, then its an excellent start, if people really want us to win the league, then i think they will be slightly disappointed with the return. we will need upwards of 85 points to be champions. at the minute, we arent at that level

 

The main positive at the moment is that we're not playing that well but still keeping clean sheets and not losing, therefore maintaining a semblance of confidence. Hopefully, we'll start clicking and playing the free-flowing football generally required to win the League.

 

i think that makes it worse that we dropped silly points, not better. saying its ok to drop points because our rivals have dropped points shouldnt be the benchmark.

 

Spot on.

[RP]

We often have a surge of consistency throughout November and December.

 

 

I'd honestly say the opposite - November has historically often been a sh*te month for us, hasn' it??

[George Costanza]

I'd honestly say the opposite - November has historically often been a sh*te month for us, hasn' it??

 

yep.

 

Its been a reasonably decent start but its going to get much tougher next month. Another International break to overcome aswell.

[Guest Lennon]

i think that makes it worse that we dropped silly points, not better. saying its ok to drop points because our rivals have dropped points shouldnt be the benchmark.

 

Who said it was ok to drop points or that it was the benchmark?

 

I'm just telling you what the reality is, we've dropped those points, they're history, we didn't do in on purpose, but we're still right in it and it's a decent start, our best since Rafa has been here.

 

So we can either be like you and give up because we're not perfect in every way imaginable, or get on with. No one said winning the league would be easy.

[The_Adder]

I'd honestly say the opposite - November has historically often been a sh*te month for us, hasn' it??

 

I dread November every season.

[Guest Lennon]

I'd honestly say the opposite - November has historically often been a sh*te month for us, hasn' it??

 

Think that was before Benitez's time.

 

Haven't got the stats to hand, but the 10 match winning streak we went on two seasons ago was around November/December time. And last season we had a similar surge after a poor start to the season. That's when we seem to peak physcially and start getting more consistent.

[Lee W]

Who said it was ok to drop points or that it was the benchmark?

 

I'm just telling you what the reality is, we've dropped those points, they're history, we didn't do in on purpose, but we're still right in it and it's a decent start, our best since Rafa has been here.

 

So we can either be like you and give up because we're not perfect in every way imaginable, or get on with. No one said winning the league would be easy.

 

Quite a few actually to be fair.