Winning the league is everything to me. Even getting knocked out of the cups isn't as important. Those are playoffs in the most random of the major sports. Establishing a dominant position over an entire 38-game season is what determines the quality of a team, despite the fact that those playoffs (as with all American sports) are often more exciting than the regular season. Is it just my Reds bias talking here or is it a Liverpool-centric trend that every time we either win or come close to winning the league, it's always derided as "weak" whereas other recent winners like City and Chelsea never seemed to encounter that or at least not at the level we do?
Shankly called it the bread and butter, and he’s right. It’s the staple, the every day, but the most important at the same time. It sustains you. It’s what any team is judged on. Cup football is utterly random; if it weren’t, 2005 Liverpool would be one of the best teams ever!!
I wonder if this season is going to push Newcastle into Big 6 position. Chelsea seem to be at a point were player transfers do not impact results anymore. United are hopeless because of their players, Tottenham because of their manager.
The big six became a thing as they basically finished as the top six every year. Those clubs have taken 52/60 top six places in the last decade. It definitely feels like Tottenham are vulnerable to maybe not being considered in the group. Kind of hard to change once it’s in place, I guess if Newcastle start qualifying for the CL every year then they’d have a case.
Winning the league is everything to me. Even getting knocked out of the cups isn't as important. Those are playoffs in the most random of the major sports. Establishing a dominant position over an entire 38-game season is what determines the quality of a team, despite the fact that those playoffs (as with all American sports) are often more exciting than the regular season. Is it just my Reds bias talking here or is it a Liverpool-centric trend that every time we either win or come close to winning the league, it's always derided as "weak" whereas other recent winners like City and Chelsea never seemed to encounter that or at least not at the level we do?
Shankly called it the bread and butter, and he’s right. It’s the staple, the every day, but the most important at the same time. It sustains you. It’s what any team is judged on. Cup football is utterly random; if it weren’t, 2005 Liverpool would be one of the best teams ever!!
“Only” going to win the premier league, personally I don’t think I could ever tire of hearing that sentence.
Very important article!
I wonder if this season is going to push Newcastle into Big 6 position. Chelsea seem to be at a point were player transfers do not impact results anymore. United are hopeless because of their players, Tottenham because of their manager.
The big six became a thing as they basically finished as the top six every year. Those clubs have taken 52/60 top six places in the last decade. It definitely feels like Tottenham are vulnerable to maybe not being considered in the group. Kind of hard to change once it’s in place, I guess if Newcastle start qualifying for the CL every year then they’d have a case.