voici un article de stressderic,fan de liverpool.
son point de vue est interessant.
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Reds Across The Line
Liverpool travel to Portsmouth on Sunday knowing that if Manchester United fail to pick up three points against a Charlton side about to lose their manager, then 2nd place can be snatched right at the death.
Portsmouth themselves will undoubtedly be in party mood following Harry ‘I’m not saying Houdini’ Redknapp’s heroics in keeping them up for another season. The safe money will be placed on United beating Charlton, and therefore making Liverpool’s result largely irrelevant, but having failed to find the back of the net against a much changed Middlesbrough and a Sunderland who are hardly renowned for their defensive solidity, there is cause for significant doubt upon a home banker and leave room for perhaps one last twist in a Premiership season that hasn’t been overly dramatic at the top end.
The idea that Liverpool need 2nd place to signal a good season isn’t something I buy into. An interesting fact on Sky Sports today suggests that if the Premiership had begun in October we’d be the Champions. Obviously this fact doesn’t do us much good now, the season starts in August (and ends there to if you are in any way affiliated with Everton) but it does give a very clear indication of our progress under Benítez in the league. Last season I think the term ‘erratic’ would best describe our form. At home we could be very good, but every away game seemed to bring more misery. As the season progressed and the likelihood of a European Cup Final increased we sacrificed the League for a shot at number five, and it paid off. It’ll be interesting to see if the gamble works for Arsenal.
Bearing in mind some of the criticism levelled at us this term (zonal marking doesn’t work, our strikers can’t score, can Benítez get to grips with the Premiership) a finish of at least 3rd with the possibility of 82 points is no mean feat. Over the course of this season we’ve racked up clean sheet records, taken part in the World Club Championship, won the Super Cup, started our European Cup qualifiers in July, and are even now on the verge of completing eleven back to back victories in all competitions. If that’s a bad season then it’s difficult to see where to go from here.
Of course at the end of any campaign where number nineteen has eluded us, there’s a distinct ‘What If?’ feeling in the air. What if we’d taken those six points off Birmingham? What if we’d managed to beat Charlton at Anfield in a game we dominated? What if Cissé had scored at Old Trafford? Seasons can swing on pivotal incidents, but realistically we were never going to win the League this year. We could make a huge stride towards it and send out a clear signal to Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United that we were ready for a serious challenge, and that’s precisely what we’ve done. Only the most narrow minded (yes, Charlie Nicholas, I’m talking to you) would fail to recognise the changes to our style and mentality this year, our prowess in defence and our fluidity in midfield has only been let down by the limitations of our finishing. I’ve no doubt Rafa will buy strikers in the summer, and we’ve hardly been overly crippled by problems upfront, but regardless it’s an area that needs bringing into line with the rest of our team.
So we go now to Portsmouth, knowing that in all likelihood we’ll finish 3rd, but that 2nd is still a possibility. Should we go for broke and send out the stars, or rest some in mind of the FA Cup final? Personally I’d like to see us sign out with a comprehensive victory. We may not finish 2nd but I’d rather that be because United won, instead of us failing to capitalise on an opportunity. I can’t envisage a situation where Rafa would send out a team he didn’t think could do the job, but a weakened XI is certainly not out of the realms of possibility. The team he selected against West Ham was good enough to take the points in the end, and hopefully we can do the same at Fratton Park.
Either way finishing 2nd certainly should not become the be all and end all of the season. It might not have been as dramatic as last seasons European Cup success, but domestically, this season we’ve given our rivals good cause to sit up, take notice, and hopefully spend a few sleepless nights considering our threat. 2nd or 3rd at this point isn’t going to change the fact that we are a very credible title threat for next year. We have to make another step up of course, but the gap is not so large as some would have you believe. If we take points of our closest challengers next season, and maintain our progress then the wait could be over.
That’s certainly a thought to whet the appetite as we sign off in the League, before turning our attention to Cardiff, West Ham and the FA Cup Final.
stressederic
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