TeaMen Tom

Granted I'm somewhat new to the dance here but I haven't really seen anyone suggest that maybe the squad was just too thin last season to handle the CL and the EPL. More than anything this seems to me to be what happened. They focused on the CL and had a very successful run - but asking for that and a top half finish in the league was probably beyond the overall talent level. It seemed like a lot of the breakdowns in league matches the first half anyway were the result of lack of focus and fatigue. But other than maybe Slimani, which other 'bench' players offered anything? Granted maybe some blame should go to Claudio for that since Gray & Chilwell were on the roster but after the starters and those 3 there wasn't much Premier league talent available to give minutes to.

I thought that first goal was a result of them just being caught off guard by the way Newcastle came at them early. They came out on fire with the crowd behind them and it took a few minutes to grow into the game. Unfortunately they gave one up before that could happen. 2nd..was a real bad one to give up because they had all the momentum and let Newcastle back into the match with the one half chance they were able to generate in the entire 2nd half up to that point.

I think ownership expects a 7th place finish - otherwise why throw the money around that they've tossed spent trying to improve the squad? You can still wind up mid table by not overpaying for the likes of Slimani, Iheanacho, etc. I'd shoot for 7th and hope Liverpool falls apart late in the season again and maybe edge up to 6th. Granted the squad is thin so a significant absence by one or more of the key guys knocks you back a few more spots. But if Puel can extract a little more consistency this is a good club.

Call me a bandwagon jumper...I'm in the USA, have followed the EPL for the past several years but have always adopted one team at the start of a season and stuck with them. I didn't start out following the Foxes during their title season, but thst's when they became my team. I root for the underdog - and I consider what they did the equivalent of the USA Olympic Hockey Team's 'Miracle on Ice' or baseball's 1969 Miracle Mets (look them up...lol). I'm fascinated that with the deck stacked to heavily in favor of the big teams this team found a way during one historic season, so naturally I was drawn to 'what happens next'. I'm not expecting a repeat any tine soon, but I'm a big fan of several of the players, love the fan support and enjoy their counter-attacking style. Really want to get to a match at the King Power sometime soon.