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Liverpool FC appreciation thread

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artetas_biggest_fan said:
Of all the records I’ve seen bandied about today, this one stands out for me:

Taken 100 points from the last 102 available.

It’s a surreal figure. It’s FIFA (or even better PES) cheat mode.

And the team doing it are on the verge of being champions of England, Europe and the world. They will have held the lot. There’s no “but they didn’t win such and such”. They are doing this having finished runners up with 97 points last season, and won the CL having got to the final the year before. They keep coming again and again.

Others have watched them plenty more than me (just twice live all season) and would be able to give better judgement, but from what i have seen they have perfect balance of attack and defence. Solid in goal, central defence, holding midfield, ultra attacking in the full back positions, press the life out of teams in midfield, and a front three that run riot (two fast wide players who also score for fun, and a creative maverick figure in between who also links the attack with the midfield). The sole thing they are lacking over other great sides is a world class attacking midfielder...but even then, Coutinho was that for them, but the balance was too attacking with him in the team, so they conceded more.

Flaws in other teams considered great are far more glaring.

The City team under Pep can be flaky (the only coach with a better head to head record over Pep, Klopp’s teams have always caused his problems). Pep focuses heavily on ball retention as his best form of defence. An opponent that presses his teams gets the most joy by exposing that soft underbelly, which Klopp’s teams have consistently done. His Barca side (the best club team ever IMO), their defence was never a great one. Mascherano...a midget holding midfielder playing central defence, Valdes in nets, decent, but far from top class, Dani Alves...amazing in attack, but playing so high up often left space in behind, but just wasn’t exploited. Even Pique could look like Bambi on ice against a quick forward. In Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets Barca (and Spain) had arguably the greatest central midfield ever assembled...certainly the best at playing keep ball, meaning the backline was rarely called upon. Without that midfield though, a Pep team can be exposed (his Bayern side getting mauled in the CL, his Man City side losing 5-1 over two legs in the CL to the RS). As I said, Pep’s teams, never great defensively. No CL final appearance in almost a decade for him since Xavi and Iniesta took him there.

The Arsenal “invincibles” with their 12 draws and Pires diving for one of those. Again, similar to Pep, emphasis on attack. Soft underbelly. Routinely dumped out of the CL at the last 16 stage. Wenger inherited George Graham’s well drilled defence, which allied with his great attacking nous gave him the foundation for his first two league titles. For the defensive bedrock of the third and last one, Sol Campbell on a free came gift wrapped. He got away with a midfielder in Lauren playing in defence, not in the CL though. For the next 15 years he showed himself incapable of creating a solid defensive unit.

None of the United teams of the 90s I’d put in the same class of this Liverpool team, Pep’s City or ‘04 Arsenal, certainly not the early ones when the PL was largely just made up of domestic players and managers unlike today. Winning the league with 78 points where your challengers were the tactical might of Roy Evans, “I’d love it’ Keegan, big fat Ron, Howard Wilkinson etc. No wonder Fergie pissed it, during which time he got schooled by Cruyff (4-0 hiding stands out), Lippi, Hitzfeld and Capello in the CL. Fergie vs Klopp, Pep and co is a different ball game to Evans, Keegan, Fat Ron et al. The best United side was 2008, but it would need to be combined with the late 90s midfield to get Fergie’s best XI.

Statistics and trophies say this RS side is the best from these isles (certainly in the PL era). Mentioned before but they have so many similarities with AC Milan of the early 90s, RS last three seasons, 1.CL Finalists, 2.CL winners (PL 97 pts), 3.25 PL games unbeaten 24 wins. They haven’t lost a 2 legged European tie in 4 years, and are unbeaten at home in the league since April 2017. Home, abroad, they do it. It’s the same machine like characteristic of that Milan side.
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How is RAWK these days?
 

Moomin said:
100 points from 102, this will go down as the greatest team ever.
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They will be in the mix when it comes down to the argument no doubt, but honestly they have no standout opposition. To be the best you have to have a rival and city without Kompany have dropped points against crap teams. Add that to no decent Chelsea, utd, Arse, Spurs teams this year, then yes they are the greatest points accumulating team ever (presumably) but they have had a good slice of help being the only team that hasn't gone weak at the knees.
 
dandydan said:
How is RAWK these days?
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Because of what I wrote you came up with that?

This season (you can add last season too), I’d be 99.9% certain I have seen Liverpool play live less than anyone on here. I actively go out of my way to avoid watching them. If you watched one minute of them in last years CL final (the one before that too) that’s one minute more than me.

As I mentioned above, others have seen them more than me (wouldn’t be hard) and could give a better judgement, I’m going on results, on records, on domestic and international success. Comparing them with other great sides from here, based on what I’ve said, I rank them higher. They have the trophies and the records to back it up. Not having Arsenal ‘04 with their 12 draws and their annual gubbing in the last 16 of the CL. To be a great side you have to do it at home and abroad, only this Liverpool side and the United ones of late 90s and 2008 did that, and I explained why I’d have them above those United sides. In the 90s Fergie got it easier being up against tactically clueless domestic managers than he would against the ilk of Klopp and Pep (as he often found out when United went into Europe), those same managers (Roy Evans, Keegan, big Ron, Wilkinson) they’d be championship/lower half PL managers today.
 

trophies matter not indivudual seasons if they back up there title this year with either another league or ECL then they can have dicussions as of now there honour roll shows CL 2019 PL 2019/20 City/United/Chelsea have had more success the past decade
 
Alan Whittle said:
1. That they are offended by everything and embarrassed by nothing?
2. That they flout the rules and conventions of domestic cup competitions and still loudly and repeatedly claim they are the victims?
3. That the media is dominated by their drooling acolytes inflating their one good PL season into something resembling the Second Coming?
4. All of the above?
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Alan's gone native!

Nurse your hatred, my pretty... hold it close, feed it, let it grow and become strong
 
Pilks said:
Ah, here we go! Ready with the 'we're more invincible even if we do get beaten' excuse.

I thought that wouldn't take long. :coffee:
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Note I put the invincible tag in quote marks. I’m playing down that side not bigging them up. It’s a ridiculous label for a team that routinely get gubbed in Europe, the last 16 being their favourite point of exit, and in the league amassed twelve draws one of which was Pires diving for a pen to steal a draw vs Portsmouth. What City did reaching 100 points was more impressive.

They were my favourite English side to watch though, with Henry the best player to have graced to the PL, but under Wenger they had a flakiness to them that was often exposed when up against quality.
 
Disgruntledgoat said:
Alan's gone native!

Nurse your hatred, my pretty... hold it close, feed it, let it grow and become strong
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No hatred, just utter contempt at the one eyed, disengenuous, distorted morality of it all. There are plenty of clubs ( very many sadly) who have won more than us that I respect, and even like. They in turn respect the game, understand and accept it's triumphs and disappointments. Not these. 30 years of whiny entitlement coming to a classless crescendo. The Pied Piper Hamlein is in town, and all the rats are in red.
Ps. "my pretty"? :red:
 

Alan Whittle said:
No hatred, just utter contempt at the one eyed, disengenuous, distorted morality of it all. There are plenty of clubs ( very many sadly) who have won more than us that I respect, and even like. They in turn respect the game, understand and accept it's triumphs and disappointments. Not these. 30 years of whiny entitlement coming to a classless crescendo. The Pied Piper Hamlein is in town, and all the rats are in red.
Ps. "my pretty"? :red:
Click to expand...

Yes... let it build... Become one of usssssss.

Seriously, I like to imagine that the universal distaste for "everybody's second team" is what brings a lot of supporters of other clubs to this place. They are worst people in the world, classless morons to a man.
 
They are not a great team. They are a good team in a pizz poor premiership.

They have continued making progress while all the usual competition has gone backwards or in transition.
They can only beat what is in front of them. And it isn't a lot.
 

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