Pinch Me (5)

[localny]

It's easy to take the good times for granted. Many of us have experienced enough good times and bad in the last 2 decades, to enjoy good times when they come. We might not win anything this year, but we are performing so well, currently.

Here's my starter list of things to appreciate, for the Arne era.


Most departing managers don't care how they left the place
Most departing managers don't create chants for the new incoming manager
Most departing managers don't plan to leave 7 months beforehand, allowing for succession planning
Most former sporting directors don't return and again, hire ANOTHER seemingly excellent manager
Most teams dip when they lose a once in a generation manager
Most teams struggle to adapt to all the new "behind the scenes" coaching staff
Most clubs don't hire amazing managers so well (twice in a row) without being supported by bazillionaires.
Most clubs will buy a few new players for the new manager and waste money/make mistakes in process.
Most players take a season or two to adapt to a new managers ways

And now..
New manager is a tactical whiz.
New Manager gets the club
Players taking to him well (not a given, after Jurgen)
Improved our defense
Improved our attacking players
World class Goalkeepers coming out our arses
Blessed with so many leaders (Danke Jurgen)
We beat the Champions of Spain
We beat the Champions of Germany
We beat the Champions of England
We beat the Champions of Europe
We've lost 1 game out of 20.
We are top of the Champions League
We are top of the Premier league (by 9 points)
Winning every game
Great Owners (yes, they are)
Players dying to STAY (even the ones out of contract)
Being one of Europe's best
Expecting to win games
Total preparedness
Expecting signings to be great
Seeing youth players coming through
Lots of unity and a lack of politics
Total respect from our opponents.
Terrific rotation...
Great squad...
No more being dependent on just two players (like Torres and Gerrard)...
High performance rebooted midfield.
Sensational reinvention of a #6.
Top managers in the mix for the Liverpool job
Top performances from the overall squad who step up
EVEN more youth coming through....
Players want to be here.
New players will want to come here.
(add your own)

Who knows what will happen... but it's a great ride again this year (Ride, Sally Ride).

 

[Dreambeliever]

The good times can only be celebrated if we get over the line.

But yes a start I don’t even Arne or the squads biggest fans could have dreamt of.

We just have to keep going.

 

[dogboy]

The good times can only be celebrated if we get over the line.

But yes a start I don’t even Arne or the squads biggest fans could have dreamt of.

We just have to keep going.

So we can only enjoy this when we've mathematically won the league? That's a bit of a nonsense, if you can't enjoy this time at this moment then what's the point in watching football at all.

 

[StevieM]

So we can only enjoy this when we've mathematically won the league? That's a bit of a nonsense, if you can't enjoy this time at this moment then what's the point in watching football at all.

Remember… this is the guy who said the best football we played in 50 years was under BRodgers… which is odd because we won fuck all, so was he enjoying the moment then, or was it just pointless because we didn’t get over the line.

Maybe we’ll get an answer to that and whether BRodgers had us playing better football than Shankly or Klopp????

 

[moron]

But we lost to Nottingham Forest !!!!
We have not played anyone - and if we have we are playing them when they are not at their best.
We are a terrible team just hanging on by luck.

 

[Stevesquash]

Im not complaining at all, but didnt enjoy that match as much as previous wins v City, because it felt so inevitable and expected.

We were so dominant it was lovely.
Ive got a warm glow...

 

[bluebell]

If we win the league I am going to put down to the kit - the yellow stripes.
I am not going to get ahead of my self. The fixtures have been friendly to ourselves in that the tough games were mainly at home, we have Spurs Newcastle and Everton away. 3 tricky fixtures, 3 banana skins

 

[dogboy]

If we win the league I am going to put down to the kit - the yellow stripes.
I am not going to get ahead of my self. The fixtures have been friendly to ourselves in that the tough games were mainly at home, we have Spurs Newcastle and Everton away. 3 tricky fixtures, 3 banana skins

Fuck the lot of them.

 

[Modo]

If we win the league I am going to put down to the kit - the yellow stripes.
I am not going to get ahead of my self. The fixtures have been friendly to ourselves in that the tough games were mainly at home, we have Spurs Newcastle and Everton away. 3 tricky fixtures, 3 banana skins

oi , that's mine!

 

[LMG]

I don't know how to post pics, but I've got us needing 35 from 51 available in my notes on my phone. I recalibrated to 85pts from 90 so games ago

 

[Hyena]

Amen.

I fancy myself young but I'm old enough to remember when we were the banana skins.

 

[DHSC]

oi , that's mine!

Yeah right.

That's mine.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Absolutely still dreamland stuff but much like 13/14, more pain than happiness looking back it now. It’s all about getting over the line.

 

[Hyena]

True. Pity there isn't a cash out option for the league so we can avoid final day disappointment.

 

[Frogfish]

Absolutely still dreamland stuff but much like 13/14, more pain than happiness looking back it now. It’s all about getting over the line.

That is clearly your dearth of mental fortitude kicking in !

How can there be more pain that if we were say level on points at the top (or behind) and every draw would be a mini-disaster?
How can there be more pain than knowing we've already qualified for the Last 16 of the CL with 2 games to spare (yes we have, no matter what is theoretically possible)?
Or being safely through to the next round of the FAC with a good draw?
Or being one home win against Spurs away from another LC final?

If that is more pain than happiness you should give up watching football because you will never be happy!

I've noticed on SCM it's those with a tendency to defeatism, and a pessimistic attitude to everything, that are constantly miserable and see negativity everywhere. Whereas those of us with a far more sanguine attitude to life in general (except when wound up!) and an enthusiastic outlook on the club and personnel, that are loving the ride!

 

[Dreambeliever]

True. Pity there isn't a cash out option for the league so we can avoid final day disappointment.

10 steps ahead.

If we don’t win the league it’ll fall into the same category as my road to Wembley 96, road to Athens 07, and the CL run in 17/18. Great enjoyment on the way but ultimately a painful memory of not winning.

 

[Dreambeliever]

That is clearly your dearth of mental fortitude kicking in !

How can there be more pain that if we were say level on points at the top (or behind) and every draw would be a mini-disaster?
How can there be more pain than knowing we've already qualified for the Last 16 of the CL with 2 games to spare (yes we have, no matter what is theoretically possible)?
Or being safely through to the next round of the FAC with a good draw?
Or being one home win against Spurs away from another LC final?

If that is more pain than happiness you should give up watching football because you will never be happy!

I've noticed on SCM it's those with a tendency to defeatism, and a pessimistic attitude to everything, that are constantly miserable and see negativity everywhere. Whereas those of us with a far more sanguine attitude to life in general (except when wound up!) and an enthusiastic outlook on the club and personnel, that are loving the ride!

I mean when the season is over it’ll be more painful to look back at a season where we were in a dominating position and didn’t get over the line compared to season where we didn’t.
Of course I’m loving things at the moment.

 

[Hyena]

Babe all we have in life is now

 

[dogboy]

10 steps ahead.

If we don’t win the league it’ll fall into the same category as my road to Wembley 96, road to Athens 07, and the CL run in 17/18. Great enjoyment on the way but ultimately a painful memory of not winning.

That's the spirit!

 

[Squiggles]

I believe we should have more faith in Alisson, Van Dijk, Robertson, Trent, Salah, and the rest of the team. They have enough leadership and experience to ensure we don’t falter. If we were slightly behind Arsenal, I’d trust our players to overtake them by the end of the season. By the same logic, I fully expect them to extend the current lead.

For the Arsenal players, the highlight of their careers is finishing second or winning the Community Shield. For us, it’s winning the Premier League, the Champions League, or the World Cup. There are significant levels of experience in play, and their players will know it and feel it.

Moreover, Slot is a pragmatic, straight-talking manager who keeps the players on their toes. Trent has mentioned that he knows Slot’s critiques come from a place of wanting him to become the best right-back in the world. The players understand it’s not personal and comes from a desire to help them improve. I believe this approach will keep the team focused on their game. While I’ve sometimes felt Slot could use more inclusive language and tone when addressing bench players when those same players come on and help turn a draw into a win, it’s hard to criticise. It seems to have had no negative effect—if anything, the opposite may be true.

Do I think we can compete directly with a City side at their absolute best as Klopp had to? No, not by some margin. But thankfully, we don’t need to. We’re approaching the end of Pep’s era at City, so in time, we’ll likely need to recalibrate what it takes to be a league champion. We may not see two teams as strong as Klopp’s Liverpool and Pep’s City for another decade—or even longer.

In the mean time, as you say, there's a huge amount to be grateful for, most notably the clubs ability and agility to manage the transition, but also be grateful for the sizeable downfall of title rival(s). To date, both have put us on course to hopefully a very happy summer.

 

[Whaddapie]

Our magic number is 14 wins / losses by Arsenal. That's the only number that I'm concentrating on now.

 

[bluebell]

Why has this post been bumped up, we got a whole spate of bad results after this post? Why don't we ever learn?