The Donkey

[neildo]

I believe everyone’s fear is coming from the fact no one else has come 2nd more than us after being top at Christmas. We clearly needed another Midfielder and Center back in the summer. That’s without even getting into everyone and their dog knowing Darwin needed replacing. Now we’re in January, and the team has looked tired in the last 2 games, and we all know zero replacements are coming in. Now it could be a blip, or once again, we’re trying to win every competition with a depleted squad, and we’re starting to see the effects.

Hopefully Slots style of football will mean we have more in the tank down the road. Or once again we’ve made the same mistakes we’ve been making for years. But I can see why people would be nervy, I know I am.

 

[Brizzle]

I believe everyone’s fear is coming from the fact no one else has come 2nd more than us after being top at Christmas. We clearly needed another Midfielder and Center back in the summer. That’s without even getting into everyone and their dog knowing Darwin needed replacing. Now we’re in January, and the team has looked tired in the last 2 games, and we all know zero replacements are coming in. Now it could be a blip, or once again, we’re trying to win every competition with a depleted squad, and we’re starting to see the effects.

Hopefully Slots style of football will mean we have more in the tank down the road. Or once again we’ve made the small mistakes we’ve been making for years. But I can see why people would be nervy, I know I am.

Exactly. The last 5 years have shown that we are supreme at coming second, whether in the league or in CL finals.

We were top at Christmas last season and if all fizzled out. We added one player to that squad who has played about 10 mins this season. Of course we all fear the same burn out will happen again.

Whilst results have been good, performances haven’t been convincing and we’ve relied on moments of magic very frequently. We have a chance to give this squad a great chance to win the league but are too busy letting our stars do press interviews saying they’re leaving.

It feels like the wheels could be on the brink of falling off. At times like this we need our leaders to step up, but our leaders are not putting in great performances be it Robertson or Trent or Alisson.

I hope Slot is going to get us back on track, but there’s many good reasons to fear that once again we will fumble the opportunity.

 

[localny]

Love Klopp, but Slots HATES losing more than Klopp. Which means we may be less likely to come second. Slot will take the steps necessary to get us there.

 

[juniormember]

Love Klopp, but Slots HATES losing more than Klopp. Which means we may be less likely to come second. Slot will take the steps necessary to get us there.

You're talking about Klopp, the most miserable sarcastic spiteful fucker whenever we'd lose. How on earth did you come to that conclusion?
Klopp's also won quite a few more medals than Slot. We wouldn't have come second in any of those seasons if Oil FC didn't exist, or were as shite as this season.

 

[Frogfish]

Where is the meltdown? I'm not sure what you're referring to.

If you are referring to the concern over our recent performances, I'll just leave this here:

I really hate 'historical' stats because they are meaningless in the context of the current team and manager. Now if it were the same team/manager then they have some worth. But that one (1 win from 6 times leading at Xmas SINCE 1992!!!) has zero relevance.

 

[Frogfish]

Do you really, truly expect us to win every game? To be poetry in motion every week?

Of course we'd not 'rather wait for the wheels to fall off', than win... That's a ridiculous thing to pretend you believe. Look at things with a certain perspective, can't you..? Our dropped points this season are hardly panic inducing - Forest are 2nd. Arsenal are 3rd,

WDL for PL winners since 2010 (this is painful reading)

LFC current (halfway) : 14-4-1 (worth bearing in mind no-one in the PL this season is close to the City/LFC teams of the past 6 seasons)

City : 28-7-3 (by 2 pts)
City : 28-5-5 (by 5 pts)
City : 29-6-3 (by 1 pts)
City : 27-5-6 (by 12 pts)
LFC. : 32-3-3 (what a fucking year) ! (by 17 pts)
City : 32-2-4 (by 1 pts)
City : 32-4-2 (by 19 pts)

Going back to the last non-City team to win (bar us, obvs.):

2016/17 : Chelsea 30-3-5 (by 7 pts)
2015/16 : Leicester 23-12-3 (by 10 pts)
2014/15 : Chelsea 26-9-3 (by 8 pts)

Worth noting that a few more losses than we have to date didn't really cost the title winning teams and runners up were (excepting the special years where we went head to head with City) all in the 71 to 86 points range.
We are on course for 92 pts so probably can afford to lose an extra 6 points in the second half of the season compared to the first (so for e.g. 10-6-3) to still win it with 85 points as it's unlikely, not impossible of course, that any team this season will get more than that. We are better than that and I'd expect something like a worst case scenario of 11-5-3 (87 points by winning just over 50% of the remaining games) with the extra pressure of the CL.

How many points someone is behind us at the moment (and saying we can afford to lose 3-4 games) is to an extent irrelevant because they are not going to win every game either and will certainly be unlikely (this season) to better our 14-4-1 from the 1st half of the season. 15-3-1 is what they'd need to catch us if we went 11-5-3.

 

[Frogfish]

... since City started dominating the league it's pretty much required to get at least 90 points to win the league.

I'm not sure that 6 points and a game in hand is going to cut it.

See above. I'd be SHOCKED if 90 points (or even 87 points) were required to win it this season.

 

[Frogfish]

Man C rubbing their hands. 12 points? Challenge accepted.

You mean this abortion of a City team?

 

[tombrown]

Did anyone think to trim his hooves?


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RhUClRK8TU