I don’t particularly worry about Palace, they are essentially a punching bag for big teams this season. If we can’t score more than 2 goals against them, we deserve to miss CL.
In the 5 games in which he took charge during the end of the 98/99 season he certainly gave him a valuable lesson in how to lose whilst scoring (Inter lost 3 of those 5 games despite Ronaldo scoring 5 times).
I think the will/focus/motivation factor is often overexaggerated by us fans, in terms of expecting a result only because of it.
WBA was a great fresh example. I was incredibly happy for Ali’s winning goal, but also pretty angry with the overall quality of our performance. Not enough performers. Not shocked though, these games are often more difficult than expected. Who could’ve said that they’re already relegated? 20 years specifically watching Liverpool (I’m sure it’s not the only example our there) brings more than enough lessons like that.
Wanting it more (or being “horny”, as van Gaal would say!) sometimes isn’t enough and in these final moments it can even lead to very nervous performances which affects the quality of our game. The amount of inaccurate passes we played in the final 3rd was really bad. Think back to Chelsea in 2014 as well, we didn’t create a single proper chance. Suarez was nowhere to be seen that day. Hidden somewhere in Chelsea’s deep block.
Of course they know what’s at stake and they want it just like we do, they’ll try and be totally focused, but there are also other elements and it’s still our season, a number of issues are still there and won’t go away.
I’d say, yes, be hungry because it’s natural to be so in this moment, but also be smart over the quality of our game.
By simply qualifying for the Champions League, and not including the prize money for wins and draws, or assuming qualification beyond the group stages, simply appearing in the group stage would be worth £58m to Liverpool.
The year we won the CL our total financial windfall was around (I think) £70m. So, either Echo has got it wrong or financial bonanza has been improved.
I heard some analyst say that “The team that won UEFA Europa CUP got 20 million whereas the team that qualified for Champions League won 70 million”. Shows the importance of qualification. That’s like one extra 50 million transfer.