Much later than usual, but two excellent opposition pundits for us this week as we welcome Liverpool fan Shane Thorne back to LFW after a year away, and he’s joined by Liverpool Echo sports journalist Kristian Walsh.
Ultimately, why did Liverpool fall short last season? And do you see it as a missed opportunity or an over-achievement?
KW: It's a strange one. Though Liverpool did ultimately fall short with the title in their grasp, they had no real right to be there in the first place. So rather than falling short, it was simply the problems - that should have prevented them from ever challenging - finally catching up on them at the worst time possible.
Those problems primarily stemmed the size of the squad. Granted, they only had the league to concentrate on from February onwards, but bringing on Victor Moses and Iago Aspas as your two attacking options off the bench is never a good sign. Liverpool won 11 games on the spin. To win 14 would have been, I believe, unprecedented in the Premier League era. They just charged too late.
If you want a particular moment however it was ultimately the Chelsea game cost them. Henderson's sending off against City saw him suspended and that was a big blow. If Liverpool had avoided defeat against Chelsea, then won at Palace they would have won the league.
ST: Looking back in hindsight, I personally feel where we lost out last season was simply experience in mentally handling the pressures that come with a genuine title challenge; especially those final few games.
If you take the league results/performances between January and prior to the final game in April then arguably this was the best football Liverpool had played in a decade or more. We had one of world football's most prolific strike partnerships bagging more than 50 goals together with a decent return elsewhere on the pitch. The victory against the eventual champions at Anfield left us within a grasp of the title going into the last few games. Then out of the blue we looked hungover in a shaky victory against Norwich, didn't even show up against Chelsea and completely turned off when throwing three points away at Palace. This happened all whilst City kept accumulating the points they needed with the games in hand - showing the experience of a champions elect side we seriously lacked.
There had been a new strategy recently implemented at the club with many of the players taking up the option of personal sessions with top sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters. Whilst this had clearly benefitted the squad in some capacity you still cannot account for footballing experience in the home stretch of a tightly contested title dogfight. The somewhat infamous 'slip' by the clubs leader and most seasoned campaigner just went to show there was a huge pressure on a team in new territory, regardless of who you are. I can only realistically look back at 2013-14 as a wasted opportunity in a season of over-achievement.
How profound is the impact of Luis Suarez's departure going to be and, now he's gone, is it generally accepted round Anfield that he's a bit nuts?
KW: I think people thought he was a loose cannon when he was at Anfield. It is probably easier to admit for some now though - although I do maintain the reaction around the bites were wrongly focused. He clearly needed some sort of psychological help.
On the pitch, he's going to be a huge miss. For me, he's one of the best five players in the world. He was everything that Liverpool did right last season - skilful, unrelenting and completely unpredictable.
Liverpool still have some very good players and the squad is better now. However, they will have to recapture that zaniness he brought somehow. He will be missed and he's irreplaceable but it isn't the end for Liverpool necessarily.
ST: There is no doubt about it that the departure of Suarez has left a massive void in the team. If you take Luis' footballing credentials into account then any team in the world would miss what he has shown in the last two seasons. He is easily in the bracket of world beaters and I shall (eventually) continue to enjoy watching him play with no hard feelings.
With a new multi-million pound contract signed and the return of Champions League football there was still no hiding the player wanted out when citing personal reasons and the draw of firstly Real Madrid then Barcelona as too good an opportunity to waste. This was even prior to his latest catastrophic mistake in Brazil.
Without bringing up old debates I personally have always been highly critical of any player that behaves in such a disgraceful manner, even more so those I follow. Whilst you can hide behind being made a scapegoat in the equivocal race row you cannot defend the brutality of a physical assault on a fellow professional on what was becoming a reoccurring basis.
What did you make of the summer transfer business - lots of weird and wonderful Europeans for around the £15m mark and some overpriced Southampton players felt a bit Tottenham-y, is that fair?
KW: The Spurs comparison is an odd one to deal with because Liverpool had no choice. They could have spent the money on two or three £30m players but that would leave Rodgers with a squad of 15 with four competitions to compete in. So they simply had to bring a number of players in.
Time will tell on the signings. Sturridge was a problem child who doesn't fulfil potential and Coutinho was on the scrapheap at Inter Milan - look how important they proved to be.
The defence needed fresh blood, although problems still persist. Signing Lovren for £20m when he's predominately a left-sided centre back - like last summer's £17m signing Mamadou Sakho - could be questioned. He's a communicator but is still settling in. Lallana came with an English premium on his price but he's been one of their best players so far this season. Alberto Moreno looks very good at left back too.
I suppose fans would have liked a 'marquee' signing - though I hate the term - and maybe they got that in Balotelli. If Liverpool are to go two up front then his signing makes plenty of sense - but that of Lazar Markovic doesn't. Likewise, if it is a 4-3-3, then the reverse can be said.
It is probably too early to tell. The iffy start perhaps leans it towards the Spurs comparisons, but we'll have to see.
ST: Losing your best player hurts. Receiving £75m in return softens the blow a little....
After coming so close the season before you had to be optimistic as a Liverpool fan going into the summer market. There obviously a few key areas which needed improvement and with what was effectively a blank chequebook it felt like Christmas Eve and I couldn't wait to unwrap some fancy new toys.
What is taking some getting used to is operating with a transfer committee and owners who nlook to invest in youth within a highly inflated market. The summer prior we saw the likes of Aspas, Luis Alberto and Ilori arrive for an accumulative fee of around £20m. Between the three of them they played less than ten games. Clearly there were higher hopes for this season and adding the much needed experience lacking from coming so close. Nine signings later and over £100m spent, you can do nothing but pray what is a massive financial gamble works out.
Like Spurs after Bale-gate, I think the money would have been far better invested elsewhere.
Why the lacklustre start to the season? Will it get better?
KW: The absence of Sturridge is big. Against Spurs, you saw how a team with him leading the line and confident looked. Defenders become so preoccupied with him that space opens up everywhere else. Allen and Can have also been misses in midfield - having Lucas and Borini, two players the club wanted gone all summer, on the pitch trying to grab a goal against Aston Villa was farcical.
Transition is a dirty word for most but I think it's true with Liverpool. They did one thing and it brought them 101 goals. They now have to do another thing which won't see them concede 50 goals.
The frustration of fans, from what I can gauge, is that a team that finished second shouldn't be transitioning but making the final push for top spot. But when you get a £75m bid from Barcelona and the player wants to leave...
ST: What I feel we seem to be missing most of all is a defensive coach. If you consider names like Skrtel, Lovren, Sakho and Toure then you are looking at four very talented and experienced international centre backs. Swap out Lovren for Agger last season and still that is an adept back line yet we have been leaking goals for fun.
What we didn't however have an issue with last season was scoring goals. With no Suarez and Sturridge having been sidelined for over a month there is an unmistakeable heartbeat missing from our style of play. Add the 'to be expected' settling in period for the many new signings to adjust to a new team/tactics/lifestyle and we find ourselves in our current predicament.
Mario Balotelli has come in for some criticism, why is he struggling to settle in?
KW: Tellingly, that criticism has come from the manager - which did surprise a few people I must say.
On the face of it, Balotelli for £16m is a good signing. Forget the peripheral nonsense - he's a talented, young but experienced player who has done the business in the Champions League and major international tournaments.
The problem he's found this season is that the team isn't set up to get the best out of him. Success last season came from quick breaks, quick thinking and winning the one-on-one battles. That isn't Balotelli.
Sometimes that's conceived as lazy, but for me, that's just his style of play. He also has an issue where nobody still knows what he is, even at 24. Is he a target man? Does he drop deep? Play off the striker? Evidence says he can't play up front alone for Liverpool but it will be interesting to see how he fares when Sturridge returns.
ST: Rather than not settling in it looks to me that it's more of a lone striker role Balotelli cannot get to grips with. At all prior clubs he has played with a strike partner. In his two best games in red so far (Spurs and Ludogorets) he has shown glimpses alongside either Sturridge or Borini. With Sturridge expected back come Sunday then I hope we are going to see much more.
I have been really impressed thus far with the attitude shown by Mario towards the fans, the city and the club. We have even seen the odd smile thrown in for good measure.
As Sky Sports News seem to think it's the most important story ever, may as well ask what you make of the Raheem Sterling 'tired' debate - especially given his full 120 minutes in a League Cup game against Middlesbrough, shouldn't England take priority over this?
KW: You won't find anyone in Liverpool saying England should take priority over the club. Scousers have never really had an affinity with the England national side - they struggle to identify with it - and that relationship has worsened with Roy Hodgson in charge.
The point about Boro is fair. Rodgers rested Sterling at home to Aston Villa, which Liverpool lost, and then had him play 120 in the Capital One Cup. He was clearly worried about fatigue with Sterling but seemed to get the matches wrong. That does show how much he wants a trophy, mind you.
Sterling did nothing wrong saying he was tired. The same would apply for any player from any club. I think English football needs to ditch the infatuation with bloodied bandages and realise bravery isn't the most important asset in a player. With a young side, England don't want to burn out their best players.
ST: I feel for Raheem. So early in to what we all hope to be a long and illustrious career he has been hung out to dry by the media - just look at the erroneous and unwarranted multiple children story that made the tabloids not so long ago.
This is a kid (given he is still a teenager) that came to Liverpool from QPR with high hopes. He was fast tracked through our youth ranks and has now been a regular in the first team for the best part of two seasons amidst being desperately registered for England to fend of the advances of his native Jamaica. If you add in that he is already very much seen as a key player for club and country then he rarely misses a game. It is proven the younger you are as an elite sportsman the more protection you need.
You could argue that country comes before club but if you don't play the club games then you won't necessarily be considered for the international games. Is it your club or the international team that pays the bills? International football is about the various nations best players competing. That should mean that you have a number of capable players to call upon when required for any game yet alone, with respect, inferior nations.
If it was a case of saying that you don't want to play because you're not in the mood or consistently withdrawing after being selected to represent your country rather than asking to sit out one game you may have an argument. Personally if anyone should receive criticism it should be the manager for publicly discussing a confidential conversation.
Where is the team strong, where is it weak?
KW: Weakness is defence. Fifty goals last season and plenty already this season points to that. The collective gasp around Anfield when a corner is conceded is something else. Mignolet doesn't command his area; the two young Spanish full backs have been good but still adapting; Lovren and Skrtel both have a mistake in them.
The team is strongest when it has swagger. Henderson needs to be further forward and working with movement in front of him. In fact, movement is its real strength. If Sturridge is back then there's him, Sterling, Lallana, Coutinho and Henderson who can all pop up anywhere on the pitch. That was hard for teams to deal with last season.
What else I would note is how strengths are accentuated with an early goal, while weaknesses are made even more evident the longer the game goes on without scoring. Early goals for Liverpool were crucial last season - see what happened against Chelsea when it didn't come.
ST: ) You have to say that although it is early days still for the coming year, we have gone one step forward and two steps back after the last season. The word potential is one used a lot with Liverpool but what about right now?
Statistically there is an evident weakness at the back. What with the goalkeeper looking somewhat complacent and a combination of centre back pairings staging their very own Laurel and Hardy sketch at times - thankfully we don't struggle as much at the top end of the pitch. The likes of Coutinho, Sterling and Lallana is a mouth watering combination at the head of a diamond or adding width to what looks likely to be a front two of Sturridge and Balotelli. That in itself is where I see we are and will be strongest.
With a number of players set to return this weekend from layoffs it should add much needed dynamic to what we have been lacking the last handful of games. I still can't help but worry though with Skrtel and Toure the only two recognised fit centre halves and a rookie (yet admittedly Manquillo and Moreno have looked lively and capable) pairing of full backs it is going to be another case of defensive vulnerability.
Is a league title coming short, medium or long term? Or did you miss the big chance last season?
KW: Medium term, if ever, I think. The side is still very young bar Gerrard and Skrtel, really. Sterling is 19, Sturridge has just turned 25, Balotelli 24, Coutinho 22, Henderson 24, Moreno 22, Can and Markovic both 20.
What Rodgers has shown is how he can turn a young player into something really special. For all the talk of Suarez, he was a brilliant but inconsistent talent who could be wasteful in front of goal. Rodgers honed what Suarez possessed and helped him become what he has, though Suarez obviously had a pretty good base to start off with.
Short term, it's hard to see City or Chelsea falling away. It is promoting youth and recapturing what they had last season some point down the line. But the feeling most seem to have is this: Liverpool may very well win the title at some point over the next x amount of years but it will never feel as possible as it did last season.
ST: I had reservations after losing Suarez's goals where we would make that up this year and that has not changed. I predicted a fourth place finish at the start of the season and I have to believe that is still a possibility, if not an optimistic one. The next eight weeks leading up to Christmas should give us an idea of what we can achieve in the short term but for me we are still a good three to four years off seriously becoming a consistent title challenger.
The Twitter @loftforwords, @Kristian_Walsh,@Shane84Thorne
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