4. Out Of The Frying Pan, Into The Fire
Newcastle might be sitting rather unpretty in the bottom half of the division currently, but the only way is up for Alan Pardew's men, especially with their new signings hitting form immediately. They remain in European competition, have some key players returning from injury, and are rumoured to be strenghtening further in the summer (with a striker the bare minimum according to
the Chronicle, and more mentioned elsewhere). Liverpool's problems are more entrenched than the Magpies', even though they sit higher in the table. For the Anfield side, Liverpool qualification is the bare minimum of expectations, with the fans screaming for something more substantial in the shape of silverware to reflect the size of the club and its former glories. Sooner rather than later they will be losing Steven Gerrard to retirement, having already lost one playing icon in the shape of Jamie Carragher (for all intend and purposes), and the rumours linking Luis Suarez to Man City recently will sound an awful lot louder if Liverpool don't pull something off this season. The rest of the squad needs reinforcement as well - though Raheem Sterling is an exceptional talent (watch out for those rich sharks again in summer), players like Downing and Jordan Henderson are not worth the prices they cost, even if Henderson has started to play better recently. And the worry is that Liverpool won't have the required money for another summer of transfers after the excesses of recent years. Why would Ben Arfa, a player motivated by ambition (in his own words at least) sign for a club that need to get their house in order before they can make it back to the top again?