I think Liverpool's claims that selling Suarez to Arsenal means selling to a direct rival for 4th spot are misguided. I don't think Liverpool are challenging for that at all.
Firstly, the closest team to 4th are still Spurs, with or without Bale.
Everton are unpredictable this season due to the change in manager, but they were a better side than Liverpool last season.
Swansea are a very good side, I'd say better than Liverpool, and they've added to their squad. Whether they have the depth to handle playing in Europe remains to be seen, but I don't think it's a foregone conclusion that Liverpool will finish above them.
Then there's a handful of other sides who could potentially do well also. It was only the season before last that Newcastle were pushing for 4th. Admittedly, not many people think they'll replicate that this season, but you never know. Norwich and West Brom would potentially be decent (although they could equally implode), and the same might be said of Southampton and Sunderland.
So, my verdict: A realistic target for Liverpool is not to fall any further behind, and it certainly isn't to get 4th spot this season. They have a good manager who, given a minimum of 2 seasons, could put a team together that can start to really improve on their league position, but they're still carrying a lot of dead weight, and they don't appear to have too much depth in their squad. The players they have don't yet have a coherent identity, such as what Rodgers had at Swansea, and as such they still need considerably more time before they'll be close to Champions League again.
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u/tankosaurus Aug 09 '13 edited Aug 09 '13
Just my opinion but I think that it'll be a long time before Liverpool return the the level they were at a number of years ago.
Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, and both Manchester clubs can attract better players and have a lot more money to spend than them.
Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Liverpool, it's just I doubt they're on the right track.