Manchester United News 24/7Writer: Zae 
Date:Tuesday May 19 2009
Time: 10:41AM
UK time is: 06:13:18
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Liverpool's Very Best Was Still Not Good Enough
Yeah, I know, Torres was injured a lot. And yes, there were the home draws against lesser teams which cost them. However, the brutal truth is that almost everything went right for Liverpool this season and it still wasn't good enough.
They scored more goals in stoppage time than any other club - they scored more in the dying minutes than United did in 1998/99! They did the double over us and Chelsea - tell me, what are the odds of that happening again?
They accumulated their highest ever points total and still could not take us right to the wire. United were some way off their best, scoring only a measly 67 goals so far. We played an astonishing amount of games, we played in every three days' through almost the entire season.
Meanwhile, Liverpool quickly dropped out of the Carling Cup and the FA Cup, they were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarter-finals so they only had to focus on the league. And still, it was not good enough.
We had, for the biggest par of the season, a below-par Ronaldo, we had an underperforming and increasingly unsettled Tevez, Berbatov had problems blending into the squad and getting used to our style of play - and we had Owen Hargreaves out for the entire season. Rio Ferdinand, Gary Neville and particularly Wes Brown were dogged by injury problems throughout the campaign but still the defence was the strongest part of the team.
So the truth is that with all our problems and with Chelsea's disintegration under Scolari, Liverpool had an excellent chance to win the league and they blew it, they still could not cope with Manchester United's consistency. Will they have a better chance for next year?
They'll have to sign two or three players, we are told - well, I hope they sign a Robbie Keane and a Dossena again.
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Your Comments
The argument that Manu were below their best therefore Liverpool blew their best chance doesn't hold water. How many points did Manu at their best accumulate last season, 87 points, how many points do you have now, with one game left in the season, 87 points. Manu have the same points total as they did last season, so you aren't below your best. In fact, if you win your last game of the season, you would accumulate your second highest points total in the premier league era, 90 points, only back in the 1999-2000 season did you accumulate a higher total, 91 points.
JohnDoe
Sorry John Doe, but I have to disagree, I think what you've said just supports the view of most United fans, that this is our strongest ever squad. Whilst our points total may be equal to last season, the potential of this team is FAR greater than our performance this season. With our squad stretched across fewer competitions, and 6 or 7 key players enjoying greater fitness throughout next season, I believe our current squad is capable of doing much better in the league next year. Whereas, Liverpool have missed Torres (and when he has played Gerrard has sometimes been missing) apart from those two, your squad seems to have been relatively injury free. I'm no mystic meg, but I can't imagine that you could go the whole season with no injuries, so improved fitness to Torres, will surely be offset against injuries to other important players. Our injury situation has been awful pretty much all season, we only need to improve this situation slightly to have a much better chance next season. But hey, this is all just speculation! If liverpool sign Silva and Villa, we'd all be bricking it a bit!
tuscan3000
The point is tuscan3000 is that you have the same points total you had last season, with one more game left to play. So the point that Liverpool missed their chance because you didn't play well doesn't hold to scrutiny. If you only accumulated about 80 points this season then the author of the article has a point, Liverpool would've missed a great chance to win the league. But you didn't accumulate 80 points, did you? You accumulated the same level of points you did last season, with one more game left to play, so where was the chance that we missed?
JohnDoe
The chances you missed were in all the draws you got at home. You got an extra 10 points from us and chelsea, and you were 7 points clear of us at one point. Whether it was poorly timed rotations, poor tactics or bad luck, I don't know, but the point is we were over stretched and ready to be picked off but Liverpool let it slip with no immediately obvious reasons why. I'm not trying to wind you up, only liverpool fans can truly say whether they feel like they missed an oppertunity. If the tables were reversed, I'd be disappointed if we threw away the lead you did, against the teams you did.
tuscan3000
"but the point is we were over stretched and ready to be picked off" That's the thing, you accumulated the same points as you did last season, with one less game, so you weren't ready to be picked off. Manu didn't suffer from a worse season points wise. You might have played worse than you did last season, but that didn't affect your points total. So the argument that you will be better next season is flawed, you might play better, but your points total won't be much higher, if any, as I've said earlier that if you win your last game it would be your second highest points total in the premier league era. We lost the league because we drew a lot of games against clubs we should be winning against, not because we didn't take advantage of you, there wasn't an advantage to take.
JohnDoe
Not in points, JohnDoe, but we haven't performed at all in terms of scoring and attacking - we've been fairly shocking at finishing. If we'd have been top all the time (instrad of patches, moments, games) and got that consistency, it could have been so much better. We had to go to Japan, we've had to cope with at least one game in hand nearly all season; Ronaldo missed the first months; Hargreaves (argueably England's best midfielder) hasn't played at all; we lost Carlos Quieroz who was very influential; Gary Neville's hardly played at all; Ferdinand, Rooney, Carrick have all been out a lot; Ben Foster's been injured or could have played more; I could go on... but we don't complain. We still won the title. Liverpool have an excellent team, but ultimately nowadays, it is the squad that wins the league, and Liverpool don't have that.
Man utd champions
The fact that Liverpool didnt win it even with their best ever total is testimony to how well Man Utd kept their consistancy
denno4
I guess the point that tuscan and man utd champions are trying to make is that in terms of our attacking ability,we have been no where near our best and the potential that this team has it should be doing better in terms of our attack and it will most probably do if u consider the age of this squad.So in that aspect we will do better as a team which will give us more points if we defend as we have in the past 2-3yrs.But I still believe that if u come close to 90 pts. there is always a good chance of winning the league,thats the way it has been for most of the premier league era.As the big 4 our improving their squads the teams below them,too,are improving and getting better and its not easy to get past them any longer.So close to 90 pts. should do the job.
abmtd
Man utd champions, with all the problems you've mentioned that happened to Manu this season, you still have the same points total you did last season, when you played very well. Accumulating points is the only thing that matters, not how well you played, otherwise Arsenal would've won the league last season and the seasons before that. Points wise Manu were as good as you were last season, even better if you win or draw your last game. That's my point, you didn't give Liverpool a greater chance to win the league because you didn't play well. Not playing well is meaningless if you still accumulate points, and that's what you did.
JohnDoe
JD - But with the amount of games we had to play, going to Japan, constantly losing Ferdinand and still winning the CC, PL , getting to the CL final and getting to the SF of the FA Cup is no mean feat! Still unbeaten in the CL mind you stretching all the way back from last year. We haven't been as good as last year and that shows with our goal tally. What has saved us has been our defense and nothing else.
ForeverUnited
Again, playing a lot of games didn't matter because you accumulated the same level of points you did last season. Not scoring a lot of goals didn't matter for the same reason. Manu had a very good season points wise, in fact you were better than last season, when you played very well. That's the point I've been trying to make, you didn't give Liverpool a greater chance to win the league because you didn't play well. You still accumulated the same level of points as you did last season despite that. So the argument that we blew a great chance this season because you didn't play well is wrong as that didn't affect your points tally.
JohnDoe
Again.....we had 11 1-0 wins this year and like I said the only reason we won the title was our defense. Last year we could boast of a potent attack and stifling defense but not this year. THAT'S why this wasn't a better year despite the points tally.
ForeverUnited
Points wise you had a better season than last season. It doesn't matter if it was because of your defence, offence, or any other reason. Points are the only thing that matter, not how well you play. Would you rather won 9 of those 1-0 games by a greater margin and lost or drew the other two? The fact is you won those 11 games, gained 33 points as a result, and that what matters. That's why, despite whatever problems you faced this season, you didn't give Liverpool a greater chance to win the league as those problems didn't affect your points tally. You still reached 87 points, the same level of points you reached last season when you did play well, and that with one more game left in the season. If this was a worse season than last season for Manu points wise then you wouldn't have won the league yet, as even if your points tally this season was less than last season's by a single point, Liverpool would win the league by goal difference if we win against Spurs in our last game, both with 86 points. That's why I say that the argument that Liverpool blew their chance this season because you didn't play all that well is wrong.
JohnDoe
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