Former Liverpool player Mark Lawrenson is often criticised by fans for his outspoken views on the club, and when asked about Liverpool's top 4 chances a earlier today, the European Cup winning defender was in typically honest form.
Speaking on Football Focus, Lawrenson argued:
"To make the top 4: City, obviously; United, Tottenham, and I'm going with Chelsea.
"Liverpool are not good enough yet"
Is Lawro right?
The league table doesn't lie. Liverpool are 7th after 15 games, and only 45% the club's league games have been wins.
We can talk till the cows come home about missed chances, hitting the post and bad luck, but at the end of the season, none of that matters; all that matters is points on the board, and at this stage, Liverpool don't have enough.
The current points-per-game average is 1.6, and if that continues, Liverpool will end the season on 60 points, which has only ever been enough for 4th place once in the last 15 years.
Lawro also believes that Tottenham are a better team than Liverpool, as he stated recently:
"Liverpool are getting there slowly but it’s just going to take some time. They can’t finish in the top four positions...I think Tottenham are a better side in all honesty, and unless they have massive injury problems, I think they’ll make 4th".
Lawro is entitled to his opinion, but as I argued earlier in the week, I personally believe Liverpool have every chance of making the top four.
Jaimie Kanwar
Speaking on Football Focus, Lawrenson argued:
"To make the top 4: City, obviously; United, Tottenham, and I'm going with Chelsea.
"Liverpool are not good enough yet"
Is Lawro right?
The league table doesn't lie. Liverpool are 7th after 15 games, and only 45% the club's league games have been wins.
We can talk till the cows come home about missed chances, hitting the post and bad luck, but at the end of the season, none of that matters; all that matters is points on the board, and at this stage, Liverpool don't have enough.
The current points-per-game average is 1.6, and if that continues, Liverpool will end the season on 60 points, which has only ever been enough for 4th place once in the last 15 years.
Lawro also believes that Tottenham are a better team than Liverpool, as he stated recently:
"Liverpool are getting there slowly but it’s just going to take some time. They can’t finish in the top four positions...I think Tottenham are a better side in all honesty, and unless they have massive injury problems, I think they’ll make 4th".
Lawro is entitled to his opinion, but as I argued earlier in the week, I personally believe Liverpool have every chance of making the top four.
Jaimie Kanwar
of course he is right.
ReplyDeleteliverpool are so far off the pace. lets face it to talk about 4th spot or anything related is nonsense. I grew up with Liverpool winning everything. I dont want a chat about 4th spot, not only that, the media seem obsessed with 4th spot as opposed to winning, its pathetic. AND LFC are so far away. The signings have been rubbish, downing is dire, carroll is dire, henderson.. the reality is the Brit media build these guys up when they are crap.... LFC paid through the nose for crap. I dont blame the media. I blame Daglish and Comolli because they are supposed to be experts. We are a laughing stock. Pathetic.
Agreed on most stuff. At the moment we aren't good enough. Simple as that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you said, I was never happy with the signings of the British players this summer and Carroll back in January. I always knew that we would struggle this season.
ReplyDeleteMr Lawrenson, a failed ex-manager, who couldn't cut it in the lower divisions with Peterborough and Oxford Utd. Mr Lawrenson, an over opinionated whore who prostitutes himself to the media. Some expert!
ReplyDeleteYou're a fucking fraud Kanwar you cowardly lying cunt.
ReplyDeleteI think it's ok for Lawro and some other Liverpool-related pundits to say that. It's much better to come as an underdog than being under a weight of high expectations. Lawro sometimes gets on my nerves with his 'unbiased' views. But I know, deep down he is just being cheeky and trying to ease the burden of expectations and criticism.
ReplyDeleteLets see the table at the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteNo point talking when we are not only even half way there.
One thing for sure is Spurs is focused on getting the top 4 such that they abandoned the Europa.
Struggle this season???? Semi final of the micky mouse cup and after JUST 15 games this season a win off 5th and only 3pts off chelsea in 3rd!!, any of you clowns who thought we would be winning the title this year need help, my god, get a grip, no team has the right to win the title. Its not even crimbo yet and you people are crying like the glory hunting fans that you probably are!
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with Lawrenson here.
ReplyDeleteWe have genuine problems in certain positions that will hamper our push for fourth.
Unless we strengthen in the next transfer window, we'll struggle making the top four... sadly.
Well said, why is everyone assuming that Spurs are the only team we can beat to 4th place?
ReplyDeleteLiverpool will definitely finish in the top four lads,the only team I think we didn't deserve to beat was Spurs.Its only a matter of time before them chances turn to goals,We are playing such good football under Kenny and there is still so much negativity around a section of our fans.Get behind the team and look towards a bright future for the Reds!
ReplyDeleteBravo, you must be an expert! 1 semi final and only 6 pts from a 3rd place before crmibo...You clown, are you for real??? No team deserves to be champions, you earn it but you glory hunters cant see this and need glory immediately!! grow up!!!
ReplyDeleteI know what i believe in and that's LFC.
ReplyDeleteI dont believe any journalist or newspaper.
I do believe in Kenny.
I will believe it will come again,when? not too soon.
We are on a long term plan,i hope the owners feel that way,they need to invest,they know that.
I believe they will.
The title will come when it comes,lets face it,with all the silly money flying around its a different league.It may not come again in my lifetime.I'm quite chuffed I've seen numerous titles and victories all over Europe.I'm sad the younger fans have not.Maybe this is where the "knee jerk" comes from.I think were playing well defensively and in the middle.The attackers need to be focused and finish their chances.We are a decent team,we are building,we are Liverpool FC
that's Lawro's way not jinxing our 4th position this season.
ReplyDeleteWell said, Mark Lawrenson. Nothing is farther than the truth.
ReplyDeleteWe all know Lawro's predictions. He cannot predict anything right.So this means good news. WE WILL FINISH IN TOP 4!!
ReplyDeleteLet's hope SG can recover in time to lead Liverpool for the hard push for 4th position and CL qualification. LFC is too huge a club to miss out on CL. We still have time, hopefully.
ReplyDeleteLawro has clearly adopted too simplistic a position. It is very true that Spurs have a far superior starting 11 as it stands. The midfield pair of Parker and Modric with Van der Vaart in front is to the league now what Mascherano, Alonso and Gerrard were back in 08-09. In that season, we too boasted the strongest starting 11 in the league. However, another stark similarity between the Spurs now and our amazing team back then is that beyond the starting 11, what else is there? Without either Parker or Modric, Spurs will not be top 4 material. Spurs is the best kick and chase team in the league, we'll grant them that, but without clever distribution and a ball winner, it doesn't separate them very much from Swansea or Wolves.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, what we finally have that Rafa never did is strength in depth. We may no longer possess a ridiculously good starting 11, but we can at least now argue all day about who should be playing and who should be benched. Our 3rd and 4th choice players are no longer obviously shoddier players, less experienced maybe. If there's a good reason to back our shout for the top 4, it's this. We will have the fresh legs and hungry players.
A big telltale sign we're on the right track is the presence of decidedly average or just above average Englishmen in the side. Last year's champions and this season's likely champions both boast English talent that can hardly be considered world class and these players are indispensable to their respective teams. Barry and Milner are hardly spectacular, but they've started almost every game for City. Carrick... need I say more? Spurs needed a couple of seasons under Redknapp to get this good, as did City under Mancini. Likewise, once Kenny's squad has gelled, the results will soon follow. The football is already attractive, if not brutally effective yet. What this means is that we aren't not good enough. Currently, in terms of how it looks, maybe we aren't. However, considering where we are in relation to where City and Spurs were 2 seasons ago, I would deduce we have a team capable of challenging for the title in 2 seasons, if not the next.
Looking at our recent history, Rafa's 06-07 team did put in a strong challenge in 08-09, however, that strong a season with such a thin squad was to prove key to our downfall in 09-10. If we had the investment we've got now before the start of the 08-09 season and retained Rafa, the title could have been ours in 10-11. Our lack of strength in depth meant we could not maintain consistency in performances and that mounting injuries would inadvertantly become crises. 2 more rounds of squad improvement will be required for us to truly make a step up, one of them bringing in proven talent and another replacing our veterans and we'll be on our way. The key is to maintain strength in depth as the squad forms its new core and you can be sure Hendo, Adam, Downing and Carroll would all be key performers when we do push for the title.
So while Lawro may be spot on just considering the superficials, his statement is not very fair if you consider the larger picture. Maybe he would have done better to say we aren't as good as we should be with our current players yet.
how many points are we now from tottenham 3 poss 6, we are good enough tottenham have 4 key players in bale, modric, adebyour, vandavart maybee 5 including defoe but thats it, if they get two key injuries like we have in gerrard and lucas there screwed weve shown our depth now lets see theres, chelsea ubless they sign someone in january who fits straight in a starts scoring instantly there'll be lucky if they get europa nevermind champs league it's early days and were right up there we just need to get through the next month and a half and we've got a pretty easy run from there fourth is within grasp
ReplyDeleteabandoned the europa they needed to win by 5-0 and they fought on and ended 4-0 they got knocked out simple as, focused they maybee but dont thik tottenham have enough quality to cope with any injuries and cant see them pickin non up all season nbut they certainly didnt abandon the europa just didnt have enough quality to cope with both compititions.
ReplyDeletewe dont need no more players maybee a defender but thats it we need to make good the QUALITY players we brought in who were playing QUALITY football for lesser teams came to us and we havnt found how to utilise the qualities these player have into our game, dont want to buy the league like man city/chelsea bit of and empty win if the clubs a joke like man city/chelsea, football should be kept as football competition not a competition amongst foreign owners of the bulging bank balances! all this talk about needing new players brings the whole club down they are good enough just need time without new blood for the players to gel.
ReplyDeleteLFC, creating chances, keeping clean sheets and looking less likely to have another bad match (hopefully Spurs was the only match we deserved to loose all season), understanding developing between new players and Gerrard returning, team spirit high, it's not all that bad an outlook for the remaining part of the season, and i still think we will make the top four, which with hopefully a cup final to enjoy, makes better outlook than this time last year!
ReplyDeletei agree spurs was the only game we deserved to lose, infact we should have, and did enough, to win every other game inc. man city and man u.
ReplyDeletevan persie is due a injury, and arsenal allways collapse in march they dont have the mental strength for the fight. as for spurs there over reaching and will hit a blip, wether that blip is a major one we'll see.we have created more chances than any other team in the prem and conceded the least amount of goals, all be it down to the now crocked lucas. its actually super-natural the amount of near misses where having that cant continue all season and i think we are going to go on a high scoring run soon.our strength in depth is better than ever, and all though i agree hendo, downing and carroll have been below par, i honestly think when gerrards back fit he will help all of those said players especially carroll. if we can stay within 3 points of the pack by february we'll definetly make top 4, if we dont it will be close and the near future is assured regardless.
absolute rubbish from lawro, we have every chance of breaking the top 4 and as far as spurs being a better team, lets examine that......i count one spurs player who would make it in to our starting 11 and that is modric, please tell me another? i know alot of you would say bale but imho he is only 2nd to zlatan ibrahimovic as the worlds most over-rated player, tell me other than speed what other qualities he has? none is the answer
ReplyDeleteso the best defence in the league need another defender? get real mate, imho we need another wide man and that is it to make us a serious title challenger someone like eden hazard would be perfect
ReplyDeleteIn all honesty, Mark Lawrenson is Liverpool through and through and he wants the club to be pushing for honours like they were in the past and it must be just killing him to be honest with current situation. We would have more wins on the board if King kenny admits he made mistakes with Carroll and Henderson and stops trying to play them every week to prove they are up to it when they are not. When Carroll is put in team we lack fluidity,speed, movement. Our best team we could and should have played when every one was fit week in week out was:
ReplyDeleteReina
Johnson Skrtel Agger Enrique
Lucas Adams
Bellamy Maxi Downing
SuarezThe club needs 5 players in who will change dynamics of squad and improve standard and get clubs squad stronger and have more depth: A CB : G Cahill Of Bolton should have been brought to club in summer,to come and compete with Skrtel and Agger for Centre back starting spot for next two-3 years. Coates and Danny Wilson will be future partnership.For £4-£8MA DM: Apart from Lucas and Spearing, no one else in the centre of the park can tackle hard,tough and well and protect back 4 well enough when these two are out. C Tiote of Newcastle is a beast and is awesome,he would be a great addition to club for £15-£22M he would be bargain.A RW: if we had a speedy, pacey, fast and trickery Right winger on the right wing who had good quality regular/consistant delivery into the box Carroll could be used better at club, but we do not have that option as we have only one natural out and out winger at club: S Downing. We need one of these 3 wingers in January: J Navas Of Seville,A Sanchez Of Barcelona Or E Hazard Of Lille,one of these should be brought to club for £18-£26M.A AM: A Creative player in the Iniesta, Silva, Modric, Nasri, Fabregas mould who could unlock the best teams in europe and the world:One of these players needs to be brought to club: Diego Of Wolfsburg, Valbuena Of Marseille, Gotze Of Dortmund, C Eriksen Of Ajax, Willian Of Shakthar Donesk Or Lucas Of Sao Paulo,One of these should be brought to the club for £15-£20M.An Out and Out FD/Fox in the box/finisher striker: Higuain Or Benzema Of Real Madrid, L Lopez Of Lyon, D Bent Of A Villa Or G Rossi Of Villareal,One of these strikers should be brought to club for £20-£30M.The club/Commoli and King Kenny: spent £75 on 3 Average English players: Carroll,Downing and Henderson in the summer.They should spend £72-£106 on quality proven players who have the potential to be world class in future and the club will prosper.
Liverpool have no players that are good enough to join the spurs team!
ReplyDelete