Liverpool FC: 10 Reasons a Top-4 Finish Will Be Achieved This Season

Liverpool Football Club face an uphill task to achieve what they sought out to do.

Following their 1-2 loss at home to Arsenal last weekend—which was also their first home defeat in all competitions—the fourth spot seems to be getting out of reach for the Reds.

Adding the fact that Jamie Carragher is saying he is completely fine with life in Europa league for the next season, and it doesn’t add much in terms of encouragement.

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At the moment, we're definitely in the Europa League, and I know people knock it but I'd love to reach the final of that competition.

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Sure, Kenny does have a few little issues at hand. But that shouldn’t overshadow the club’s achievements under him to date.

Liverpool Football Club are the 2012 Carling Cup Champions—there is no denying that.

It is essential for the supporter to get behind the team and do what is required of him/her at this point in time.

And that is to remain optimistic and cough up a few reasons why the fourth spot is still not out of reach.

Carling Cup Winners

As stated in the intro slide, LFC are the League Cup champions.

A victory should normally charge up any team.

A victory in a Cup final will shoot up the morale in the dressing room.

The Reds aren’t any different in this philosophy.

They remain an immensely motivated pack from the penalty-shootout victory against Cardiff City.

It is, therefore, the reason why gate-crashing the fourth-spot party isn’t an out-of-the-world option. 

Still Play Better Football

There can’t be many out there who can refute this claim.

Liverpool do play better flowing football under Dalglish and Clarke’s stewardship.

They still create a whole lot of goalmouth chances and hit the target (dare I say, the woodwork!) more times than one in a single match.

And that is proof of my claim that continuous development playing the style of football that the Reds have adopted is bound to bring upon a change at some point or other.

Maybe the Reds are approaching that final corner.

Loss vs. Arsenal—not a Big Deal

For the millions of Reds supporters across the globe, I urge them to not look too much into the loss against Arsenal.

Sure, the loss does stand out, and it’s a three-point advantage for the Gunners, but it isn’t the end of the world.

There won’t be many out there who believe that Arsenal beat Liverpool comprehensively.

Arsenal had two clear chances, and the ball fell at the feet of Robin van Persie—a man who is on a red-hot streak—on both those occasions, and he duly obliged.

To be fair, Liverpool didn’t deserve to lose, but two mistakes—and who might have bet on it coming from Carragher—cost them that match.

Anyway, the Reds still have that one game in hand.

The best thing to do is to forget that result and focus on the next game, when they come up against a depleted Sunderland.

Kenny Dalglish should hope for a game free of beach ball incidents, as another disappointing result would certainly mean Liverpool would have reduced their fourth-place chances by a considerable margin.

Steven Gerrard Will Be Back

Steven Gerrard, along with Glen Johnson, sat out for the loss against Arsenal as a precautionary measure from the medical team.

But it was clear during the game that Liverpool did miss his services quite badly.

Maybe he’d have converted the penalty, or at least its rebound.

So expect Steven Gerrard to be back in the lineup at this weekend’s game.

Jordan Henderson Will Get Better

There are quite a lot of people who find Jordan Henderson to be an easy target for the team’s failures.

Sure, the lad hasn’t done anything out of ordinary to prove his detractors wrong, but it isn’t going to help either party with the bashing that he has been receiving of late.

It should be vividly clear for Kenny that Henderson just doesn’t click on the flanks and it is in the player’s best interest to deploy him in the centre, and also not in a defensive role.

Henderson could have converted a goal or two in the game against Arsenal, and that could have done him and the team a world of good.

But the problem lies in the fact that he is not clinical in front of the goal—not even to the standards of a midfielder.

Well, hasn’t that been the problem of the entire Liverpool squad?

Failure to convert those half-chances have hurt the Reds on crucial occasions.

Still, Jordan Henderson has room for improvement. He is young and here for the long haul.

Expect a matured performance from the youngster one of these days.

Although there are quite a few positives that we can draw from the team’s recent performances, there are a couple of things that Kenny should work on...

Building for the Future

The first of it is building for the future.

One of the major aspects of Kenny’s second reign at Liverpool was the amount of trust he placed on youngsters.

That was one of the several reasons why Kenny won over the majority of the fanbase when he came back.

But what has happened to that of late?

We find talented youngsters like Coates and Carroll warming the bench more often these days.

Kenny should remember that Jamie Carragher is getting older and, with lack of desirable game time, he is prone to committing those grave mistakes, like the ones against Arsenal when he failed to mark Robin van Persie.

With Daniel Agger out for about a month, there is no better time to test out Coates through the rigours of the Premier League.

Trust in the youngsters to deliver the goods.

But I still am not able to figure out the reason why Andy Carroll loses the trust of his manager so easily, because...

Kenny Usually Trusts His Players

That is exactly what he has been doing since he took over the reins from Roy Hodgson.

He trusted the youngsters and the experienced players to save the season last term.

And he has trusted his new players throughout this season.

How else can you explain the infinite amount of game time that Henderson and Downing received despite them not setting the stage alight?

So it is about time that the players start to repay the faith that the manager has shown in them, and if they do, good results will follow suit.

And finally, there is this stuff about…

Getting the Formation Correct

This is something that Liverpool have struggled across the season.

Even after playing about 40-odd games, Kenny and Clarke still seem to be at a loss when it comes to structuring that winning formula.

It is a different formation every other week.

Now, I don’t know if it is part of a ‘surprise your opponent’ tactic, but it clearly isn’t allowing the team to gel well.

We don’t need to look any further than Andy Carroll to support my claim.

One week he is in, the next couple of weeks he is out. That is clearly disruptive to the balance of the team.

Once the coaching staff settles on a formula, the results will improve automatically.

Kenny Is Still in Charge

Kenny Dalglish is still the right man to lead Liverpool forward.

It is only fair that the supporters rally behind him in his effort to succeed.

The video provided is a part of a documentary on Kenny Dalglish made back in the 80s.

Listen to what George Best had to say about Kenny’s tactical acumen.

If only Kenny can get his players to understand the knack of playing the game—like he did—we’d see a much-improved Liverpool side that have no problems in achieving that fourth spot.

Optimistic Supporters

There is no questioning the fact that Liverpool have some of the best supporters across the world.

Now, as much supportive as they are, the main thing is to remain optimistic.

The manager is here to work out a project, and that takes time.

Supporters should remain optimistic until that day when a self-sustaining model is fully functional at LFC.

These are the times when patience becomes an important virtue.

Conclusion

Let me be clear about something.

I’m not sugar-coating anything to the supporters, because let’s face it—it will be a difficult task to achieve that all-exclusive fourth spot in the standings.

But nothing is impossible at this stage.

There are still about a dozen games in hand for Liverpool and a hot winning run might just change their fortunes.

Sure, that depends on Arsenal slipping up which is a bit unlikely considering the form that they’re in at the moment.

The Gunners should feel deprived on missing out of the CL quarters despite putting up a spirited display against Milan.

Furthermore, Liverpool should look for better results against fellow fourth-place competitors Newcastle and Chelsea.

The fixtures against these two opponents should decide the eventual winner.

But first up is Sunderland, and let’s hope that the Reds prove a point to their supporters.

Thanks for reading. And if you got the extra minute, please read:

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