How optimistic are you this season?

[Trav Le Bleu]

2 hours ago, Foxhateram said:

Before the season started. I thought top 6 was possible... Now... I'm not sure .. we've got the players, but we need to utilise them effectively, which the system we've played certainly doesn't do. 

 

We've got a lot of learning to do and Brendon has a lot of tweeking to do to find the correct balance. I think next season (assuming we keep everyone) could be special, but I think this year will be a year of learning and progressing. 

Before the season started. I thought top 6 was possible... Now that we're fourth and unbeaten in our first three games... I'm not so sure...

 

[foxfanazer]

4 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Before the season started. I thought top 6 was possible... Now that we're fourth and unbeaten in our first three games... I'm not so sure...

 

We all know football isn't that black and white

[Deeg67]

The thing is, I really don't believe we need to be at our best to finish even 5th.  Certainly not 6th or 7th.

 

Arsenal has enough - and Emery is good enough - that I think 4th should go there. But no one after that scares me.  Chelsea looks like a mid-table team.  ManU should finish 5th based on personnel but that thing could completely melt down at any time.  Who else?  Watford are a mess.  Wolves are dealing with Europe and seem disjointed.  Everton are chronic underachievers, and neither they or West Ham look good so far.  Who else?  Maybe somebody like Brighton or Burnely overachieves and makes a run, but you shouldn't be scared of the likes of them.

 

We don't need to draw an inside straight here.  Even if we're just pretty good, with the players we have we have enough to finish no worse than 7th, and should.

[Gerard]

3 hours ago, foxfanazer said:

Gonna sound like a right moaner here but I'm not impressed so far. We have good spells in games but I don't like how we're set up from the off. We have some very talented players in this squad but I feel they're being restricted by this narrow system BR has implemented. I really like Rodgers and hope he isn't too stubborn to change it up if we start to falter. I feel we've relied too much on individual brilliance rather than a winning system. I feel like Wolves and Chelsea were both there for the taking

 

Expecting dogs abuse for posting this but that's my thoughts

 

Much prefer the 4-1-4-1 that we played so well with last season than this diamond bollocks.

 

Maddison and Tielemans were superb as No 8's and it would allow us to get Barnes in the team and play with some width. 

[foxfanazer]

48 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

The thing is, I really don't believe we need to be at our best to finish even 5th.  Certainly not 6th or 7th.

 

Arsenal has enough - and Emery is good enough - that I think 4th should go there. But no one after that scares me.  Chelsea looks like a mid-table team.  ManU should finish 5th based on personnel but that thing could completely melt down at any time.  Who else?  Watford are a mess.  Wolves are dealing with Europe and seem disjointed.  Everton are chronic underachievers, and neither they or West Ham look good so far.  Who else?  Maybe somebody like Brighton or Burnely overachieves and makes a run, but you shouldn't be scared of the likes of them.

 

We don't need to draw an inside straight here.  Even if we're just pretty good, with the players we have we have enough to finish no worse than 7th, and should.

I get where you're coming from but I have to disagree. Even in times of apparent crisis clubs like Chelsea and United do enough to finish top 6 and usually comfortably. We'll have to have a very good season to break into it

[420Hashish]

2 hours ago, fuchsntf said:

Its not proven they have poorer Squads...again presumption,creates arrogant entitlement....Then nonsense posts.. "Games we should win"

We are still at the stage of proving our talent & potential. Plus we have to earn our points and right to be presumptious!!!!

 

 

 

Well would you rather have Crystal Palace's or Newcastle's squads over our current one?🤔

[Deeg67]

6 minutes ago, Gerard said:

 

Much prefer the 4-1-4-1 that we played so well with last season than this diamond bollocks.

 

Maddison and Tielemans were superb as No 8's and it would allow us to get Barnes in the team and play with some width. 

We have some definite formational challenges on the way.

 

So far, the diamond certainly hasn't worked very well, especially for the likes of Tielemans.  But the roster we have is arguably overloaded with midfielders and short on wingers,  As well, while Choudhury undeniably played great against Sheffield, there's a genuine problem it creates (albeit not the worst kind to have) - there's just too much overlap between he and N'didi's skill sets to use them together most of the time.

 

Rodgers may have in mind a certain way he wants to play - in fact, his track record reflects a lot of rigidity when it comes to formation.  But he may have to show more flexibility than he has to make this work.

[Jattdogg]

We're gunna win the league!

[Deeg67]

5 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

I get where you're coming from but I have to disagree. Even in times of apparent crisis clubs like Chelsea and United do enough to finish top 6 and usually comfortably. We'll have to have a very good season to break into it

The past isn't always a reliable predictor of the future.  And anyway, Chelsea finished 10th the year we won the league.

 

The point for me is that these are unusual circumstances for both Chelsea and ManU.  If you ask me if they're likely to average out top 6 over the next ten years - even five - I'd say sure.  But this year specifically (and maybe next) look like perfect storms of vulnerability, especially for Chelsea.

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, foxfanazer said:

I get where you're coming from but I have to disagree. Even in times of apparent crisis clubs like Chelsea and United do enough to finish top 6 and usually comfortably. We'll have to have a very good season to break into it

E.g. Man Utd were shit under Mourinho to begin with and ended the season with one of the worst runs of form in their history, and still finished 12 points ahead of us. There are plenty of reasons to be optimistic but I can't agree with people who think we'll have a straightforward ride to a European place. We lack depth in some important areas, Rodgers doesn't quite seem to have figured out the best setup yet and although we can expect an improvement over time as the signings settle and the team gets into gear, I think you can expect similar from Chelsea and United, as well as Everton, West Ham et al. We were as close to 18th as we were to 5th and I think it's a little fanciful to think that we're going to jump that chasm in one season, no matter how apparently weak some of those above us have become.

[Dan]

4 hours ago, foxfanazer said:

Gonna sound like a right moaner here but I'm not impressed so far. We have good spells in games but I don't like how we're set up from the off. We have some very talented players in this squad but I feel they're being restricted by this narrow system BR has implemented. I really like Rodgers and hope he isn't too stubborn to change it up if we start to falter. I feel we've relied too much on individual brilliance rather than a winning system. I feel like Wolves and Chelsea were both there for the taking

 

Expecting dogs abuse for posting this but that's my thoughts

That's pretty much my thoughts to be honest. You can't argue with the results but I'm not convinced they'll be sustained. I don't really 'get' our objectives with this system. We won at the weekend because of two pieces of absolute class from Maddison and Barnes.

 

I feel like we're restricting ourselves and just turning games into a bit of a congested mess. Tielemans hasn't gotten into the games at all for example.

 

We've started well for results but I'm a bit baffled to be honest. Can't suss us at all.

[Dan]

4 hours ago, Mickyblueeyes said:

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable even though I differ in opinion in terms of our start. 

 

I think we have  gone for a cautious approach and it probably hasn’t allowed our more creative players to shine as yet.

 

However, I do think there is a method behind as to why Rodgers has taken this approach at the start. We had two very difficult games to start off with and, in my opinion ( not meaning any disrespect to Sheff U) a potential banana skin. Losing any of them with a young squad could really have hampered the confidence of what is a young and because of that youthfulness, potentially fragile squad. 

 

In addition, even though it was somewhat expected, we lost our starting CB a week before the first game. This in turn led to a young (and very talented) CB being entrusted into the limelight where any mistake would’ve been magnified. 

 

All in all, this is why I think Rodgers has taken a cautious approach. 

 

I expect us to get better and more adventurous as the season progresses. I can’t see Barnes not starting for too long and I expect Tielemans to go up two or three gears. 

This is what I want to be the case.

[fuchsntf]

4 hours ago, DrezZone said:

Well would you rather have Crystal Palace's or Newcastle's squads over our current one?🤔

I am a Leicester supporter,I would rather have our squad,than L'pool,Man.city,etc etc....Think about it..!!

[Nicolo Barella]

I have no aspirations of beating Chelsea or Manchester Utd to 6th. But I think it's very possible to finish 7th.

[Deeg67]

I don't know why anyone wouldn't have aspirations to finish ahead of Chelsea after we went into their place with a bad setup, played a terrible first half and still should have ended up winning the match.  They're pedestrian.

[fuchsntf]

8 minutes ago, Deeg67 said:

I don't know why anyone wouldn't have aspirations to finish ahead of Chelsea after we went into their place with a bad setup, played a terrible first half and still should have ended up winning the match.  They're pedestrian.

One game isn't the season...

[CosbehFox]

I’m normally reigning myself in but I’m optimistic. 

 

The bigger clubs are still dropping points. Chelsea particularly look weak. We are getting results without particularly clicking - much the same vein Liverpool were early doors last season. 

 

Difficulty with any modern pre season is due to the multiple international tournaments, it’s only until late August you can start fine tuning things. Get a result next week in the league and hopefully nick a result at Newcastle. Then we have the international break to get two or three back fit, players like Pérez can have their issues ironed out, and be ready for huge next four games 

[st albans fox]

You can forget game 1 as it’d always a bit of a lottery.  Was chilly fully fit then ? 

 

until he comes back and we have strong overlapping full backs both sides, we won’t be able to properly judge where we are. CF is a very able deputy but he simply can’t get up and down like chilly and doesn’t have his pace. 

 

I think brendans preferred set up is so strongly reliant on the two full backs being pseudo wingers that it’s tough to judge us yet. 

[LestaAl]

Will be happy with 7th/ 8th- anything better is optimistic 

[shailen]

Real opportunity here I think this season and we are still undefeated after 3 games which is positive.

 

I do feel that we have bridged the gap to the top 6 from last season and even man city or liverpool look a little bit less imperious from last season although its early days. 

 

One thing that encourages me the most is that we don't seem to ever get completely outplayed in many games including against the top teams. It clearly shows how good we are and the level we should be competing at.

[Legend_in_blue]

Rodgers definitely has us set up with a cautious, defensive approach.  Go out there and don't lose the game, no matter what else, do not lose ground early on and therefore grind out the results.  It's only a matter of time before we up the ante and start attacking with more purpose at the start of games.  

 

5 points from these first 3 fixtures is an excellent return - it's the results more than performances that count for a lot at this stage of the season.

[urban fox]

We have 'pool, spurs and man utd after the break. 4 points from those games and I believe we are in with a shout of top 6. Yes we will drop some points against "lesser" teams along the way but these games will be the real test of our progress.

[norwichfox]

On performances so far....not very optimistic for Europe, but we'll stay up.

[lgfualol]

Really not a fan of the system, however we are not losing so that is good. No Maguire hasn't had much of an effect. We just played a lot better when we had the 4141 system, Tielemans looks to be the most affected. 

 

I am optimistic for a top 10 finish and improvement on last season's points tally. 

[Happy Fox]

Definitely think we are capable of finishing 4th, but still early days, in terms of performances I would give us a solid 6.5-7/10 not quite at our best yet, in terms of results it's still early days. Rodgers alluded to our passing and intensity post Sheffield United, and we need to be more on it, but there is time on our hand.