The Road to Top Four

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By @LFCKRISHNA07

The basic doctrine every team, management or fan of EPL focus is the ‘one game at a time’ strategy. Leave all statistics, charts and numbers behind and focus all your energy into the game you are going to play next. That is what all managers in football will say to their players. I am a firm believer of that policy and followed the same since I started watching football. But as an ambitious fan I was always forced to observe beyond the rule and engage myself in these so called statistics and numbers. Well at times you have to view the big picture as it so beautiful.

Up until the last game at Anfield where the lethal partnership of SAS shattered the promising defence of West Bromwich Albion with four breath taking goals, which is going to stay in the heads of every LFC fan for some while, I was not much interested in these numbers or was afraid to go near them as they have failed me in the past. But my hopes and belief in numbers was reignited by those four beautiful goals. Not that I haven’t thought about a top 4 finish before last game but the manner in which we played the last one was top class. Every Kopite will definitely remember those Champions League nights which the whole city celebrated up until 2009-10 season. If we play every game like that one, those nights are not so far away. Well, its not the just the fluidity of SAS but the whole team was excellent against a resilient WBA side who played very well against both Arsenal and Manchester during the previous weeks. Lucas and Hendo rose up to the occasion along with our ever reliable Captain. The defence although shaky at times played their part well especially in the first half while Suarez was busy running riots in WBA camp.

The win last weekend took us to 20 points in 9games which can be referred to as healthy start in a very long campaign. We have 10 more games to be played before the end of 2013. Those 10 games will decide the fate of our season which have been prosperous up until now. What makes those 10 fixtures so important is the teams we are playing against and the venues in which those games are being played. We will play against Arsenal, Everton, Spurs, Chelsea, Manc away from Anfield before the end of 2013.All these 5 teams as everyone know have finished above us in the league last campaign and the fact that all the 5 games are away from home make these fixtures more relevant and more tough. Apart from these 5 we also play against Fulham, Westham, Norwich, Cardiff city at Anfield & Hull city at KC Stadium. Looking into these fixtures everyone can evidently understand why I have a firm belief that these games are going to fix the fate of our season. Some where around 17-20 points in these games will take us to 37-40 points by the end of December which will be a remarkable achievement looking into the fact that the intensity of the games which took us there was quite strenuous. After December we will have only a single away fixture left against a top 6 side of last season i.e. Manchester at Old Trafford on March15th. Looking into points table of past few seasons we can easily arrive at a conclusion that a top 4 finish can be achieved with around 75 points at the end of the season. The toughness and the quality of the league has tremendously increased this season and with

more teams vying for a top 4 finish the points needed for a top 4 finish may get reduced compared to previous seasons. If we finish our first 19 games with 37-40 points then getting the same amount of points from the remaining fixtures will be a piece of cake.

Some people may as well think that the positioning of these games, playing 5 of the top 6 teams away from home before New Year is not so good for us. But I personally believe that it is rather good than bad. It is better to face the challenge sooner than later. The return of our ‘Little Magician’ Philippe Coutinho is also timed perfectly. If he is fit and ready to fire, he will be a key point in these fixtures along with SAS who are on top of their game and are still improving every day. The tactical ability of Rodgers will be tested like never before in these games and lets hope that he will emerge out winning.

If the rumours are any indication of what is upcoming then we are definitely going to sign 1 or 2 top players during the winter transfer window and like the press are referring probably a ‘marquee signing’ is also on its way to Anfield. With such quality players adding to our strength and a solid foundation laid our job will be fairly easy during the second half of the season.

Coming back to where I started the team has to look at each of these key figures as one by one and try and get maximum points from every one of them. The game after the next one should never be a concern at all. Millions of LFC fans around the globe are waiting for there beloved club to finish in a top 4 spot after 5 year long waiting. But these 10 games are the most important and hazardous obstacle in between us and a top 4 finish. But this team has proved that they have the potential to overcome any obstacle. So let’s keep faith on the team and continue our support like we always did & always hope for the very best.

YNWA