Will we challenge for the title next season?

Admittedly, I have been slacking and not updating this blog as often as I should. I promise I will do my best to be more diligent.....

The title challenge was a disappointment last season despite the team's performance. To not win the title after beating Man U (twice) and Chelsea in the same season is simply unbelievable. As far as I am concerned, we lost the title during the Middlesborough game. The final surge to the end of the season was phenomenal. We were scoing for fun and won every game along the way. That to me was the sign of a championship winning team. Many people said that Man U didn't win the title but rather Liverpool gave it away.

So will we challenge for the title once again next season? It depends on whether if we can hold on to players like Alonso and Mascherano. Basically, the backbone of the team. In defence, we have Carragher, Skrtel and Agger. With the inclusion of Johnson, it will provide us with more attacking firepower from the rear. Something Arbeloa wasn't doing as well throughout his time in that position. It will be good if we can cash in on him now if Real Madrid continues their crazy spending spree. For midfield, we have Alonso and Mascherano. On the flanks, we have options in Kyut, Benayoun, Reira. In attack, we need Torres and Gerard to be fit and playing together more. This is the spine of the team. I dun see why we need to spend a lot of money to buy more players.

We also have a few talented and upcoming young players, ready to make the break through to the senior team. Emiliano Insua, Nabil El Zhar, Jay Spearing, N'gog, Charles Itandjie, Damien Plesis, Craig Lindfield. These are players that have performed well either when called into the first team or when playing with the reserves last season.

The appointment of Kenny Dalglish in the youth development programe will be a boost to the club as well. Just to have King Kenny walking around the club will serve to provide that little extra motivation to the players in general. He is afterall a legend and great player.

Finally, I feel Benitez needs to continue the strategy he employed towards the end of last season. By releasing the defensive leash and mindset, what we got was a team that didn't know how to stop scoring. On the other hand, we found ourselves conceding a lot of goals as well. Remember the Arsenal game that ended 4-4? We need to restore the defensive steel in our backline. Behind every successful team is a strong defense.

Can't wait for the new season to start but in the meantime, I am looking forward to my second pilgrimage to Anfield in December.