We're 3 points out of the top four with "mediocre British signings" and still have to vs Spurs, Arsenal and Chelsea at home. Don't have to vs City anymore (in the league), so our only real "test" is United at OT where we reasonably do well. Rest of the games are winnable. Don't read that wrong. I'm not saying we're going to win every game, but there's a good chance we can come out with a result from our remaining games. Our biggest concern is our lack of good results at Anfield though. Way too many draws. >.>"

But then again, I suppose we always turn it on in the second half of the season. Keep in there.

Oh, and we've played half the season without our best player...

But yeah. Top four. Still a good chance. Heads up high.

I'm not saying that Champions League place is out of our reach. But Spurs, Chelsea & Arsenal are ahead of us and are getting better results than us as well.

So not only we HAVE to churn-in wins week-in week-out, we have to depend on all THREE of fellow contenders to hit a bad patch.

I think Champions League place is still possible, though very hard. But to do that some of the players (Carroll, Downing & Adam) HAVE to hit form IMMEDIATELY.

A Champions League place is no certainty, but what I believe YNWA was saying is that we are not out of the hunt. We have had a large number of signings somewhat under perform for the club since joining. A prime example is Carroll. While he looked like a world beater at Newcastle last year, he has not been able to regain that form since returning from injury. Downing is another example. He was a major contributor to Aston Villa's efforts last year, but has failed to score in any matches for LFC and has only had a few games where he has had a strong impact. Moreover, we have been without our captain and talisman. The team is completely different with Gerrard on the pitch. The Newcastle match was a wonderful example of the impact he can have on the squad. Even in the match against Man City, Gerrard's entrance in the 2nd half boosted the team prior to the 3rd goal from Skrtel's penalty.

The point of this is that the club has established a platform from which it can improve upon in the second half of the season. Moreover, it has done this with mediocre performances and the absence of some critical players. Should these players (especially Carroll) begin hitting form, the team becomes far more dangerous.

Let's not get to demoralized by the loss to Man City. It's an easy time for a knee-jerk reaction, as a 3-0 loss is never easy to take. However, don't forget that barring a few unfortunate moments, it could've easily been 3-2 or even 2-2. I know that's a lot of speculation, but even so, a loss to City is not what is plaguing us this season. The concerning thing is the points dropped to lower sides due to poor performances and failing to put games away. If we finish games off and beat the sides we "should beat" our fortunes will turn for the better.

^ Great post.

I honestly think we need some major work in terms of tactics. Our performances as far as creating chances have been decent. However, we aren't creative enough in the final third. Our movement besides Suarez and Bellamy is generally pretty crappy.

And that damned 4-4-2 needs to stop. Perhaps not the formation, but we need to have a third central player.

I was hoping at the start of the season we would line-up something like this:


Players can change within the formation, but that just seems to be my preferred formation for us.

I hope Carroll comes good for the second half of the season because as it stands, it's been a year and he has barely done anything. (Injuries, support play, some of the reasons)

I want us to stop changing our game to to headers only whenever he is on the pitch. If Torres was here, the kind of service to him would be completely different.

Oh well, let's hope for the best. I still think we can manage a top 4 finish, but I think that will rely a lot on how some of the average performers improve.

+1 on donttreadthered

I think that's why we've been linked up with Bent pool. Suarez was brought in to play with Torres, but he well... you know.

Bent will not reach Torres' level of play while he was here for us, but they play similiar to each other. He will fit into our play, and score... which would be great for other players in our squad as it relieves the burder for Suarez etc.

That XI you put there would be great, but we're still yet to have a fully fit squad. And I'd much rather Bellamy than Downing.