At The End of the Storm: The story of Liverpool's greatest ever league campaign

The first post-war Football League campaign of 1946/47 was the longest and most tumultuous ever known. For Liverpool FC, it was the ultimate triumph against adversity; a First Division championship won in a style that was to set a precedent for future Anfield success....
http://www.attheendofthestorm.co.uk

Still Dreaming.....

Just a quick follow up to my previous blog post and the possibility of us being able to grab 4th spot, there were a couple of results this weekend that didn't go exactly as we would have liked. However, a point for City and a win for Villa does not end our chances just yet.

Whilst a few are still suggesting that I am a prime candidate for a padded cell it was interesting to see that there are now also a few that are having another glance at the table.

Let me remind you that no-one predicted these results;
Spurs beating Arsenal and Chelsea back to back.
Wigan beating Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal.
Burnley beating Man Utd and Stoke beating Arsenal.

The fact is, there have been some very strange results this season which have taken everyone by surprise. Who's to say there aren't one or two more shock results to come between now and May 9th?

Granted, we have had a few shocking performances away from home this season, but our home form has not been too bad (perfect examples being the excellent performances against both of our arch rivals). If only our fortunes on the road could have mirrored our efforts at Anfield, we would be in contention for the title. It's also a little frustrating to see that if Chelsea are to be crowned Champions this season they will accrue no more than 86 points (our tally for last season which only saw us finish 2nd).
No point in dwelling on that statistic now though.

So to Sunday and a crucial match against Chelsea. What a dilemma, win and give ourselves a really good chance of staying in the race to steal 4th, or lose and increase Chelsea's chances of winning the title ahead of Man Utd. There are many different views on this, mine is just to enjoy the final home game of the season and to cheer the boys on. I am also hoping that we will be able to wish them luck for the Final in Hamburg next month (fingers crossed for Thursday).

But I digress. Man City play Villa and Spurs play Bolton next Saturday before we play Chelsea on the Sunday. Chelsea, incidentally, are in pretty devastating form. Case in point today - a 7-0 thrashing of Stoke, and that's not the first time they have hit 7 this season as Villa will testify to.

So, as the title of this post suggests I'm still trying to find a way to 4th. For us to stay in the race then a point a piece at Eastlands and Bolton to do us a favour at White Hart Lane would be extremely helpful and give us that extra incentive going into the Chelsea game, by which time Spurs and Villa would be on 65 points with Man City on 64. A win against Chelsea would then see us go 4th on goal difference. I also wonder what favours will be done at the Stadium of Light next Sunday. Will Bighead Bruce roll over and have his tummy tickled by Slur Alex? (hush my mouth)

We proved again today that losing Fernando Torres to injury has not necessarily meant we cannot score goals. At times it seems we lack that final punch but when Steven Gerrard is on form and with the 12th man at Anfield it doesn't seem to make that much difference. The fact is we have scored 61 goals this season, Torres has 18 Premier League goals from his 22 appearances - a remarkable return. Clearly proof that he is not our only goal scorer but if only he could have escaped injury...
Dirk Kuyt and Steven Gerrard have chipped in with goals this season, let's hope Kuyt's calf injury that saw him taken off on 48 minutes today is not serious. Incidentally, Yossi Benayoun, who replaced Kuyt, has 6 Premier League goals to his name this campaign. A final mention for Maxi Rodriguez who chipped in with a well deserved and well taken goal today. Hopefully that is a sign of things to come, perhaps next Sunday?

4th place may not happen but at this moment in time it is a possibility and I will not give up hope at least until full time on Saturday afternoon. Final fact, 1 point from the last 2 games will all but guarantee us European football next season.

Just want to finish by giving a round of applause to the Burnley fans who cheered their team right to the final whistle even though our 4-0 victory condemned them back to the Championship after only a short stay in the Premiership.

YNWA

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About Me

I'm a 30-something husband and father of 2 who has recently decided to have a go at blogging. I love watching pretty much any sport but my passion is football and in particular Liverpool F.C. If you're here then thanks for stopping by and I hope you find my words interesting and thought provoking. Any comments, feedback and constructive criticism is welcome.