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The post match reactions from our manager Graeme Edwards following all Premier League games during the month of May - with the club looking to bounce back after an extremely disappointing April which saw a Quarter Final exit from the Champions League (to eventual winners Atletico Madrid) and a semi final exit at the hands of Crystal Palace in the FA Cup as our attempts to retain the trophy were blown away in a torrid opening to the game.
Premier League Round Thirty One
Barnsley 1 Liverpool 1 (I think that was the score)
A dominant display (at least I think it was as this season's match reports have already been deleted) but despite that we found ourselves going behind and it was a 2nd half equaliser that got us a share of the spoils which was the very least we deserved. Barnsley were a real handful this season with their counter attacking set up so fair play to them. A game we really should have won though.
Premier League Round Thirty Two
Liverpool 2 or 3 Crystal Palace 1
Again I can't be sure of the score as the match reports have already vanished. From what I recall Palace were very unfortunate as I think the score was 1-1 when their starting goalkeeper picked up an injury and we were able to take advantage of that although we made heavy weather of it. Palace surprised us with their starting tactic and as I say with a bit more of a rub of the green they may well have emerged with a positive result. A bit of revenge for our FA Cup semi final defeat you might say but in all honesty it really didn't feel like it.
Premier League Round Thirty Three
Man Utd 1 Liverpool 1
This game I do remember as I read the match report when I was on a work trip to Barcelona. It was a very even game and without question the draw was the correct result on the day. The home side took the lead via a penalty but we equalised fairly quickly I seem to recall and that was the end of the scoring although both sides had chances to win it. A good point in our quest to finish in the top 8 against one of the best sides and managers in the game.
Premier League Round Thirty Four
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0
A tight game against the team that would deservedly go on to be crowned champions. We probably just about shaded it on the day and the three points were absolutely massive at the time to keep us in contention for the Champions League spots especially as the likes of Burnley and Southampton were right on our tail and winning too. A rare glimpse of what we are capable of as too often this season we failed to deliver.
Premier League Round Thirty Five
Man City 2 Liverpool 2
On the back of positive results away to Man Utd and at home to Chelsea we went into this game against the other title challengers in fairly confident mood. Twice in the game we found ourselves in front but both times City quickly responded and got themselves level and by the end of the match they were more than worth a share of the spoils as they were the better side.
We remain 8th but it's tight as behind us as the chasing pack all won - Burnley predictably thrashing an embarrassing effort from Sheffield United and Barnsley continuing to defy logic by going to Old Trafford and winning so fair play to them. Southampton won at Leeds and we welcome the Yorkshire side to Anfield next.
The pressure really is on in the chase for the top 8.
Premier League Round Thirty Six
Liverpool 3 Leeds United 0
An excellent performance and a deserved margin of victory in what was another must win game for us as we try to hold off Burnley and co in our quest for a Champions League spot. Youngster Halifa put in a man of the match display as he rated up ahead of his move to Stockport at the end of the season. Mudryk notched his 26th goal of the campaign and he's been a rare ray of light for us during what has been a very challenging season.
Another big game for us next as we visit a Blackburn Rovers outfit who sit right above us in the table. We fully expect Burnley to win again so we can ill afford to slip up. This will be a real test for us no question about that - both sides are at full strength.
Premier League Round Thirty Seven
Blackburn 0 Liverpool 4
We've been much more like it in recent weeks and this was a terrific result which secured our Champions League spot for next season. To be honest we haven't really done much differently of late to when we weren't picking up results but there you go that's what can happen. It's been a really poor league campaign for us but at the absolute minimum we had to make top 8 so at least we have managed that.
We can still finish anything between 6th, 7th and 8th but in truth none of these positions are anything like good enough for what we are trying to build and achieve here. We'll conduct a bit of surgery on the team in the off season and look to go again. We won't be playing an 18 rater next year that's for sure, got to be more competitive next season.
Premier League Round Thirty Eight (final fixture)
Liverpoool 1 Cardiff City 1
A game that epitomises our league campaign quite honestly. Failed to capitalise on our superiority and you just knew the equaliser would come at some point and it duly did with their one and only shot on target. A win would have seen us climb a place but honestly 6th, 7th whatever it's just not good enough regardless.
We will look to wheel and deal again during the bonanza in the hope of producing more of a fight next season but certainly it's a very disappointing league campaign from us. The cups were ok but quite honestly if you don't actually win the tournament there's nothing to get overly excited about making semis etc - at least not if you are a club with our ambitions anyway.
Congrats to anyone that did win something and to those who clinched promotion etc.
Finally a big thanks to JB and all the admin team for all of the time and effort they continue to put into running the game, appreciated as always.
Overall summary of the month's results from the manager and of the season has a whole
"After a hugely disappointing April we did at least show a little bit of resilience to bounce back during May and go undefeated during the month to at least ensure that we finished in the Champions League places. A 7th place finish certainly is not what we dreamt of going into the campaign and we don't need anyone to tell us how disappointing we have been. There are numerous games throughout the season where we feel we did not get what we deserved but no doubt other managers will feel exactly the same way and after all thirty eight games have been played the table does not lie. We have to take it on the chin and work hard over the close season to improve our team and look to go again next year.
We have already started the process of moving players on to give us a budget with which to try and improve our squad. Youngsters Halifa and Luiz will move on and we are already looking at players to bring in with the money that has been generated. Halifa played a lot of games for us over the past two seasons and we would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best at his new club. Luiz had a terrific season on loan in the Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk and came away with a medal after they won the EFL2 title which was a terrific achievement. We thank their manager Steve Outten for the terrific job he did developing Luiz and again the lad moves on with our very best wishes.
Finally we can only apologise to our supporters for failing to win or even seriously threaten to win any silverware this season. I have said previously that they deserve better and we went into the season confident that we could build on the success of the previous campaign. They can sleep easy knowing that we will work hard and do all that we can to get this club into a much better place"
Premier League Round Thirty One
Barnsley 1 Liverpool 1 (I think that was the score)
A dominant display (at least I think it was as this season's match reports have already been deleted) but despite that we found ourselves going behind and it was a 2nd half equaliser that got us a share of the spoils which was the very least we deserved. Barnsley were a real handful this season with their counter attacking set up so fair play to them. A game we really should have won though.
Premier League Round Thirty Two
Liverpool 2 or 3 Crystal Palace 1
Again I can't be sure of the score as the match reports have already vanished. From what I recall Palace were very unfortunate as I think the score was 1-1 when their starting goalkeeper picked up an injury and we were able to take advantage of that although we made heavy weather of it. Palace surprised us with their starting tactic and as I say with a bit more of a rub of the green they may well have emerged with a positive result. A bit of revenge for our FA Cup semi final defeat you might say but in all honesty it really didn't feel like it.
Premier League Round Thirty Three
Man Utd 1 Liverpool 1
This game I do remember as I read the match report when I was on a work trip to Barcelona. It was a very even game and without question the draw was the correct result on the day. The home side took the lead via a penalty but we equalised fairly quickly I seem to recall and that was the end of the scoring although both sides had chances to win it. A good point in our quest to finish in the top 8 against one of the best sides and managers in the game.
Premier League Round Thirty Four
Liverpool 1 Chelsea 0
A tight game against the team that would deservedly go on to be crowned champions. We probably just about shaded it on the day and the three points were absolutely massive at the time to keep us in contention for the Champions League spots especially as the likes of Burnley and Southampton were right on our tail and winning too. A rare glimpse of what we are capable of as too often this season we failed to deliver.
Premier League Round Thirty Five
Man City 2 Liverpool 2
On the back of positive results away to Man Utd and at home to Chelsea we went into this game against the other title challengers in fairly confident mood. Twice in the game we found ourselves in front but both times City quickly responded and got themselves level and by the end of the match they were more than worth a share of the spoils as they were the better side.
We remain 8th but it's tight as behind us as the chasing pack all won - Burnley predictably thrashing an embarrassing effort from Sheffield United and Barnsley continuing to defy logic by going to Old Trafford and winning so fair play to them. Southampton won at Leeds and we welcome the Yorkshire side to Anfield next.
The pressure really is on in the chase for the top 8.
Premier League Round Thirty Six
Liverpool 3 Leeds United 0
An excellent performance and a deserved margin of victory in what was another must win game for us as we try to hold off Burnley and co in our quest for a Champions League spot. Youngster Halifa put in a man of the match display as he rated up ahead of his move to Stockport at the end of the season. Mudryk notched his 26th goal of the campaign and he's been a rare ray of light for us during what has been a very challenging season.
Another big game for us next as we visit a Blackburn Rovers outfit who sit right above us in the table. We fully expect Burnley to win again so we can ill afford to slip up. This will be a real test for us no question about that - both sides are at full strength.
Premier League Round Thirty Seven
Blackburn 0 Liverpool 4
We've been much more like it in recent weeks and this was a terrific result which secured our Champions League spot for next season. To be honest we haven't really done much differently of late to when we weren't picking up results but there you go that's what can happen. It's been a really poor league campaign for us but at the absolute minimum we had to make top 8 so at least we have managed that.
We can still finish anything between 6th, 7th and 8th but in truth none of these positions are anything like good enough for what we are trying to build and achieve here. We'll conduct a bit of surgery on the team in the off season and look to go again. We won't be playing an 18 rater next year that's for sure, got to be more competitive next season.
Premier League Round Thirty Eight (final fixture)
Liverpoool 1 Cardiff City 1
A game that epitomises our league campaign quite honestly. Failed to capitalise on our superiority and you just knew the equaliser would come at some point and it duly did with their one and only shot on target. A win would have seen us climb a place but honestly 6th, 7th whatever it's just not good enough regardless.
We will look to wheel and deal again during the bonanza in the hope of producing more of a fight next season but certainly it's a very disappointing league campaign from us. The cups were ok but quite honestly if you don't actually win the tournament there's nothing to get overly excited about making semis etc - at least not if you are a club with our ambitions anyway.
Congrats to anyone that did win something and to those who clinched promotion etc.
Finally a big thanks to JB and all the admin team for all of the time and effort they continue to put into running the game, appreciated as always.
Overall summary of the month's results from the manager and of the season has a whole
"After a hugely disappointing April we did at least show a little bit of resilience to bounce back during May and go undefeated during the month to at least ensure that we finished in the Champions League places. A 7th place finish certainly is not what we dreamt of going into the campaign and we don't need anyone to tell us how disappointing we have been. There are numerous games throughout the season where we feel we did not get what we deserved but no doubt other managers will feel exactly the same way and after all thirty eight games have been played the table does not lie. We have to take it on the chin and work hard over the close season to improve our team and look to go again next year.
We have already started the process of moving players on to give us a budget with which to try and improve our squad. Youngsters Halifa and Luiz will move on and we are already looking at players to bring in with the money that has been generated. Halifa played a lot of games for us over the past two seasons and we would like to thank him for his efforts and wish him all the best at his new club. Luiz had a terrific season on loan in the Ukraine with Shakhtar Donetsk and came away with a medal after they won the EFL2 title which was a terrific achievement. We thank their manager Steve Outten for the terrific job he did developing Luiz and again the lad moves on with our very best wishes.
Finally we can only apologise to our supporters for failing to win or even seriously threaten to win any silverware this season. I have said previously that they deserve better and we went into the season confident that we could build on the success of the previous campaign. They can sleep easy knowing that we will work hard and do all that we can to get this club into a much better place"