Hahaha, a response I actually expected from you.
In 2014/15, we finished above Liverpool in 5th on 64 points to their 62. I mean, how many more ways would you like it written down for you to accept this is not 'moving goalposts', there was a period of time (not just a few months) where we had the edge over Liverpool and were in greater onfield ascension.
You and others keep retreating to 2017-19, yet you never acknowledge or address the questions regarding footballing decisions!
Sissoko cost 30 million
Janssen cost 17 million
N'Jie cost 12 million
N'Koudou cost 11 million
Moura cost 25 million
Here are a few of the players the manager wanted and didn't get... Mane, Winaldjum, Grealish, Maguire, Fernandes.
None of us have crystal balls so who knows if even two of them would've made a difference. I have always felt Mane and Winaldjum coming in would've been transformative.
What we can say is that the fact he decided against buying anyone for a little over a year after all that, tells us that he was tired of getting fobbed off with 'committee' choices. And we can also say that Klopp looked at that 4-1 hammering by us, and realised he'd spend the next few years behind us like the previous two unless he got VVD and Allison. His board got the sale of Coutinho done, and Klopp got the money.
Of course they've had duds; but strategcially, their 'duds' have not affected them like ours. You 'moved a goalpost or few LOL' and decided to bring up Lo Celso and N'Dombele. OK, whose fault was THAT palaver? Could it have been the fault of a chairman who at one moment spent to appease a manager he thought he wanted to keep, only to fudge him over the moment his 'lost love' whispered sweet nothings into his ear persistently? It was pathetic!
I did not say anything about a 'plot' of incompetency. I merely pointed out that we made some bad decisions with regards to potentially achieving massive things on the pitch. Off the field we are pretty untouchable, that is clear, yet I am always amazed that within that circle of praise, no-one has questioned that we chose the likes of Moussa and N'Jie instead of Mane and Winaldjum.
Again, NONE of this makes sense unless you are prepared to acknowledge that despite the financial differences, we were ahead of them in the pitch for several years, and that prudent-yet-slightly more adventurous speculation could well have ensured years of silverware and success...
