Posts Tagged ‘Champions League’

5 Reasons why Liverpool WILL qualify for the Champions League

Posted: August 14, 2012 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , , , ,
3
  1. Rodger’s himself – calm, assertive, tactically and strategically savvy
  2. We’ll win a higher percentage of the games against the none top-four teams
  3. Suarez & Borini partnership will result in a higher number of goals
  4. The defence unit will get stronger & Pepe’s form will improve
  5. Man United, Arsenal & Spurs will have it tougher this season

Ok so there it is. That’s my top five reasons why Liverpool will qualify for the Champions League this season. Blinkered, wearing rose-tinted glasses, unrealistically biased I hear you say. Well I’m probably guilty of all of the above but, as you would expect let’s do a brief assessment of each one and then you have your say.

1. Rodger’s has done nothing but impress since his appointment at Liverpool. He has a clear vision the direction he wants to take the team and the style of play he want to implement . He seems to have a real sense of who in the current squad is able to fulfill this vision and who is not. He’s bringing in quality players such as Allen and Borini and will give them very specific roles plus he’s already worked with them both and knows their strengths and weaknesses. Rodgers has gone about his business in calm yet assertive way and already has the team behind him. We’ve had the best pre-season in years and he understands what an important club Liverpool is and has sworn to do his utmost to get us back to the top. I believe him. (more…)

English Premier League: The fight for fourth. Liverpool FC need 70 points to seal it.

Posted: March 31, 2010 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , , , ,
2

The race for 4th will go down to the wire

As we all know there are four teams chasing that all important 4th place in this years English Premier League and along with it a coveted Champions League spot. With only 6-7 games remaining it could go down to the wire and the last game of season before it’s finally decided.

So what do the fixtures of the four competing teams look like? Here’s the fixture list for each and the predicted results and points total. (more…)

A must see for all Liverpool FC fans: Fifteen Minutes that Shook The World – the untold story of Istanbul

Posted: January 12, 2010 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0
Fifteen Minutes That Shook The World - the untold story of Istanbul

A hilarious comedy about what really happened at half-time in Istanbul

I’m sure most Liverpool supporters have heard or even seen this DVD already but a good mate of mine just sent me a copy of ‘Fifteen Minutes that Shook The World – the untold story of Istanbul’ which sets out to ‘unravel the truth behind the historical 2005 Champions League final fight back in Istanbul’.

The reality is this is a brilliant football comedy that stars the real Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Didi Hamann plus a cast of the Champions League winning squad made up of look alikes (they did a great casting job) and a brilliant portrayal of Rafa Benitez by actor Neil Fitzmaurice. Actor Andrew Schofield is the narrator in the film who plays a TV journalist and gives an outstanding performance.

(more…)

A winter of discontent is upon us: time for Liverpool Football Club to rebuild

Posted: November 22, 2009 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , , ,
0

No matter which way you slice it, Liverpool are having a dreadful season. How many false dawns can one team experience in a season only to see them dashed on the rocks by a poor performance the following week. Showing ‘character’ and looking for the positives in a loss or a draw simply isn’t good enough.

The startling statistic is that Liverpool have only won 1 game in the last 10 and who knows if that’s the end of our current decline. A Fiorentina win on Tuesday will be the end of our European season, no matter what our result at Debrecen, and then it’s off to Everton who will be more than happy to compound our misery.

The problem I’m having is finding any positives from this season. In fact the list of reasons for Liverpool’s dreadful campaign is so long, and has been debated endlessly on websites such as this one, that I really don’t have to write any of them down as you know them as well as I do.

So let’s face facts, the season is over. The clubs Executives have to start laying out their strategy for next season, and beyond, and begin the rebuilding process as of the January transfer window. I would rather the club announce they accept responsibility for doing a bad job in building on the momentum from last season and get on with it. That will mean getting rid of players who are not committed to the club, who don’t have the required talent and ultimately reconsider the tactical approaches that have led us to this unacceptable position. If that happened, I would have a great deal more respect for those running the club.

With the possibility of no Champions League money coming in the door this will be a tremendously difficult task. But wait, don’t we have two millionaire owners? Time to put your hand in your pockets George & Tom. But of course if this were the only option they’d sell in a second. Perhaps the first positive step in developing a new strategy to rebuild the club is to say goodbye to these two dead weights.

Liverpool FC: would elimination from the CL be such a bad thing?

Posted: November 8, 2009 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , , ,
1

premier league trophy

Of course I want Liverpool not only to qualify for the Champions League knock out stages, but for them to go on and win it for the sixth time. It would be glorious. But after the Lyon draw the chances of us doing so are looking more and more remote and so like everyone else I’m praying for a miracle. But if the unthinkable happens and we don’t qualify what would that mean for the rest of the season? Would it all be bad?

Some might believe it would be all over and that being 9 points behind Chelsea in the Premiership would be beyond us. But I’m not so sure. What if the Premiership was the only prize we were competing for? Would that create a clarity of purpose for Rafa and the team? We all have a sense that it’s the CL that Rafa really craves, and has excelled, and because of this it has been a huge distraction during league games prior to a Tuesday or Wednesday European game.

It’s the Premiership title most Liverpool supporters want in the trophy cabinet next May so without the CL distraction the sole purpose for the next 6 months would be catching the leaders. There would be no more pulling off the best players when the league match still needs to be won. No more resting players for important league games, plus players would have a full week to recover from any injuries.

One of my main concerns this season is that we don’t have the depth in the squad to compete in both the Premiership and the CL and this seems to be the case. But by only having the Premiership to focus on this might prove a different story.

So if a disaster does happen and we don’t go any further at such an early stage of the CL perhaps it might not turn out to be a such a bad thing.

A Special Piece of Liverpool FC’s History: A photo gallery of European Programmes from the 1960′s

Posted: October 3, 2009 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , , , ,
0

LFCvInter4may65

Like all Liverpool FC supporters I have a deep respect for the clubs unique and special history. It’s what sets the club apart from any other team in the world.

A small part of that history includes the match day programmes. I’ve been fortunate to have collected quite a few over the years, especially from the 1960′s & 70′s. In those days  programmes were much simpler, cost only 4D (4 pennies in old money), and were used mainly to welcome the visiting team to Anfield, announce the starting 11 for both teams in the centre spread (hard to believe in this day and age they could be printed in advance), and keep you up to date with the league tables, previous results and future fixtures.

Team Sheet Liverpol v Inter Milan

Team Sheet Liverpol vs Inter Milan 1965

The advertising in the programmes is fascinating too. In the 1st December 1965 programme against Standard Liege, British Rail are advertising return fare from Lime Street for the Chelsea v. Liverpool game for 53 shillings! Quite the coincidence! Another proudly displays the slogan “Up with the Reds! Down with Higsons!” from the Liverpool Brewery.

I consider the programmes mini-works of art, especially those with the illustrated covers. If you look carefully at the 1964/65 programme covers, you’ll see the background is a photograph of the old main stand with the illustrated player over the top.

Gallery – to view the programmes click HERE
Above is a link to a simple web gallery which show the covers of 23 European programmes from the 1960′s, including the first game Liverpool ever played in Europe against Reykjavik in Iceland.

I hope you enjoy the programmes.

Support the campaign to move the Champions League Final from Stab City!

Posted: April 4, 2009 in Football Rants
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

I encourage every football fan to join the Times Newspapers campaign to force Uefa to move the Champions League final from Rome! (more…)

Magnificent Liverpool score 8 against Real Madrid & Man Utd!

Posted: March 14, 2009 in LFC Posts
Tags: , , , ,
0

Many football pundits were describing this as Liverpool’s defining “make or break”  week in both the Champions League and the Premiership and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that the London journalists couldn’t wait for Liverpool to fail. (more…)