What’s your optimism for next season rated out of 10?
Probably a 6/10, but my excitement is rising towards a 9. For me, success is getting into Europe this season and I don't think it's unrealistic: every year the top six buy a load of players and get hyped up beyond belief, and every year at least two of them stink and let the great unwashed into the Europa League. We have a squad that's good enough to be one of those whiffy disruptors.
I don't know if we're going to be able to achieve that without solving our defensive issues from last season. But I do have high hopes that we're going to be good in attack again. That, on its own, gives me confidence that we might be able to have a bit of fun.
I found last year a real grind, with so many games where it felt like the injuries meant we had no chance going in. Just having a fully fit squad giving it a go would be a nice change.
James Knight
I’ll go with a solid 6/10. Like most fans, my mindset regularly flicks between ‘this is a talented squad who finished 5th, twice’ to ‘the lack of signings and set-piece woes could really cost us’.
The expectation from fans is to qualify for Europe, i.e. a top seven finish. But Brendan Rodgers, whether genuinely or over-cautiously, is trying to temper those expectations. You’d imagine he’d be pleased with a top-half finish. And while I’d love to be more optimistic, somewhere in the range of eighth to 10th does currently feel more realistic.
Charlie Carmichael
8/10. There seems to be a bit of hyperbole around the lack of transfer activity on the forums and Twitter (although I have now deleted my account!). I'm actually quietly confident. If you look at the table last season, we were only four points behind West Ham, who were considered to have had a great year. We were six behind Manchester United in the top six.
Adding to that, we scored the fifth-highest amount of goals in the league with Fofana, Justin, Evans, Castagne, Ricardo, Ndidi and Vardy all out for long periods. We still have an incredibly talented and combative squad.
If you factor in that we had an additional 13 games in Europe last season, without them I think we can focus solely on the league and breaking into that top six again. You only have to look at Arsenal last season – to be honest, I don't think our squad is 17 points worse than theirs.
They have made a couple of good signings on paper and Spurs have strengthened too, but I certainly think we can catch both of those, West Ham and Man United with all playing European football again.
You'd also like to think that Vestergaard, Soumare and Daka have now had 12 months to settle, and hopefully Soyuncu can re-find the form that made him so popular here previously. With Dennis Praet also returning, we have a very strong squad.
Jordan Halford
At the moment, 5/10. No European football will take some getting used to. Hopefully it’s a good thing for our league form, but the European trips were the best thing about last season by far and the fact that this summer has been more of a transfer wall than a transfer window has left a lot of us feeling flat.
Overall, I do trust Rodgers once we get into the business of the actual games as opposed to the current transfer obsession. Our previous final-week failures to finish in the top four really should be viewed as an immense managerial achievement – to have even been in the mix was excellent, given our resources compared to the richest clubs in the league.
Having said that, it feels like the lack of activity so far will probably limit the scope of most fans’ expectations and ambitions. As things stand, I’d take a mid-table finish and a delayed refresh next summer.
David Bevan
I'm naturally a pessimist, but even so I'm probably around a 6/10 at the moment. We may not have strengthened, but we haven't been significantly weakened as of yet either. As long as we don't suffer any serious injuries in our upcoming marquee friendly against a La Liga side (you’re not forgiven, Villarreal), then we'll probably start this campaign with a much stronger XI than last year.
Ryan Hubbard
6/10. I’ve tried not to consume too much of the doom and gloom on social media surrounding our lack of transfer activity. While I understand and share frustration that we’re one of two clubs in Europe’s top five leagues not to have made a signing, there’s a reason for it.
We were one of the highest spenders last summer, and look how that turned out. Ultimately, poor recruitment has repercussions and we’re paying the price. With too many players in our bloated squad, getting rid of those deemed surplus to requirements by Rodgers has proven difficult, mainly due to many players on wages that far exceed their abilities.
In terms of expectations, I certainly believe that if we have our best XI fit and available for much of the season, we should be aiming for a European place. Last season was frustrating for many reasons, whether it was the injury crisis, mental fragility in matches or defensive incompetence from set-pieces. Start poorly, though, and pressure will only intensify further on Rodgers.
Dante Clarke
7/10. Starting with the positives: we have a strong squad who finished last season on a great run and can beat anyone in the league. With fewer games and a new, highly respected club doctor, long periods without multiple key players should be a thing of the past. I am also warming to the idea of free roaming, inverted right-winger James Maddison.
The lack of new signings is an obvious concern which has been discussed at length. The offshoot of this is Rodgers’ mindset and how this will affect the squad. He is understandably trying to rephrase his bold mid-season declaration about a refresh, but his desire for new personnel is clear and recent comments about ‘different expectations’ are very worrying. After all, we know that Rodgers will want his stock to be as high as possible as he begins to think about his next challenge.
Matt Jedruch
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