Will we win the league this season?

[coolcity]

Still not sure we are consistent enough to win the league, but that’s more to do with comparing the City of today with the one from three years ago and realising we are still a work in progress.

We are so much better to watch compared to last season and the attacking part of our game has been completely refreshed but the next three away games will be a great yardstick to measure the progress.

The performance at Arsenal should be template for some of the more difficult away games and with the continued absence of Rodri and Kova, we need another top class player of that ilk to give ourselves a fighting chance of finishing above Arsenal.

Why? We're within 2 points of them now WITHOUT Rodri and Kovacic, and they have to come to our place having been unable to beat us at theirs and having only just scraped a point.

I actually think that if we had played that game like Leverkusen did against us, not flapping and breaking away rather than pinging it anywhere in a desperate attempt to try to hang on for 80 minutes we would have won that game comfortably.

I believe we're in the better position, we're scoring plenty while most of their wins have been by the odd goal. I don't believe they can change their game if they need to and they have been overhyped by the media (just like Liverpool were at the start of the season), and as usual everybody is falling for that hype.

 

[coolcity]

If he’d been given the time and money that Arteta has, I reckon he’d have won the title with Arsenal

Totally agree.

 

[coolcity]

I mentioned on here the other day that arsenal only had 2 wins from 4 games and that draws are starting to creep in. Now that's 2 wins from 5..with a loss in.

Someone replied and said those two draws were to solid teams and insinuated we shouldn't read too much into it

I disagree. Dropped points are dropped points. There's no asterisk to say that they were a against decent sides that changes the tally.

They're clearly winning less than they had been. 2 wins from 5 isn't great form, it's irrelevant who took those points from you and how good they are. Maybe just a few signs they're not some dominant force compared to the rest this season.

That said, I'll be stunned if they drop any points next weekend v Wolves

Absolutely agree. They haven't beaten any of the contenders (us at their place, Liverpool, Villa and a Chelsea team that played with 10 men for an hour) and most wins are by the odd goal, and the fact that both ourselves and Villa are within one win of them suggests to me that they're not the dominant force most people seem to think they are.

 

[coolcity]

Sorry, but in one breath you're belittling posters who think the world has caved-in following a bad result.(and I don't necessarily disagree) but in the next breath you're doing the exact same thing when a couple of results work in our favour

Arsenal lost at Villa (so did we) and drew at Stamford Bridge where we've still got to visit and Chelsea are the weirdest and most spectacularly inconsistent team in the PL so I take every opinion of their prospects with a pinch of salt.

Forget the "we always finish the season strongly" bollocks

Our best chance of winning the PL is by blowing everyone out of the water with a run of consecutive victories like we did in 17-18 and 20-21
In doing that we'll have beaten all our rivals en route

Arsenal drew at Stamford Bridge against 10 men for an hour. They're not beating anybody convincingly and lost to Liverpool, who we beat 3-0. We have to go to Chelsea but they and Arsenal have to come to ours. It doesn't matter.

All we need to do is finish on more points than they do, doesn't matter whether we go on a run or not. The fact that we've clawed our way back to within 2 points proves we're good enough and this probably won't be a season where whoever wins it needs 90-100 points to do so.

 

[Paul1970]

still think we need to make sure we break down any attack in midfield and Stop it before it reaches our creaky defence which needs a bit of a rebuild in summer .just think we are still far too easy to score against to win titles but we are now scoring from other positions so that’s a good sign .

 

[117 M34]

We have a tough little run coming up.
If we are still within 4 points of them come fa cup 3rd round, we will win it.

 

[roy.or.r]

Arsenal drew at Stamford Bridge against 10 men for an hour. They're not beating anybody convincingly and lost to Liverpool, who we beat 3-0. We have to go to Chelsea but they and Arsenal have to come to ours. It doesn't matter.

All we need to do is finish on more points than they do, doesn't matter whether we go on a run or not. The fact that we've clawed our way back to within 2 points proves we're good enough and this probably won't be a season where whoever wins it needs 90-100 points to do so.

Arsenal lost to Pool away where we have an awful record. We beat them home so not really the same.

 

[TonyM]

IMO we have the players to win it but can Pep get them to work in a system or a number of systems that utilizes them effectively in enough games? IMO our chances rely on ...

1. We have less teams giving us real shocks in games - because we seem to be unable to deal with them often (unlikely now that other teams know we are vulnerable under pressure and wasteful up front)

and/or

2. Pep creates more systems that work - Plan A, B and C - so that we can react to in game situations (he's had loads of time over the past 2 season for this but I don't think anything seems obvious in terms of changes in tactics so not too likely)

and/or

3. Pep's undoubted ability to improve players over time kicks in and Plan A becomes so good that no opposition can deal with us (like a few years ago - probably our best hope but also probably not too likely)

So unlikely. But hopefully.

 

[brian the blue]

You ok kidda?

Have some humble pie on me, squire.

Sorry did I miss us winning the title?

I’d love to be eating humble pie, but it’s mid December and we’ve just nearly blown a 4 goal lead to fucking Fulham and beaten a newly promoted side at home.

We may be 2 points off top but we’re 9 points off 12th.

We still have to travel to Liverpool, Chelsea, United, Spurs, Palace, Everton, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Forest. Going off how we’ve played on the road there’s a reasonable chance we don’t win any of those.

 

[uwe rosler 28]

Away form will be key just don't think we have that team of leaders to get us through the tough periods away from home. Maybe a returning rodri will help that?

 

[bluegaz13]

Why? We're within 2 points of them now WITHOUT Rodri and Kovacic, and they have to come to our place having been unable to beat us at theirs and having only just scraped a point.

I actually think that if we had played that game like Leverkusen did against us, not flapping and breaking away rather than pinging it anywhere in a desperate attempt to try to hang on for 80 minutes we would have won that game comfortably.

I believe we're in the better position, we're scoring plenty while most of their wins have been by the odd goal. I don't believe they can change their game if they need to and they have been overhyped by the media (just like Liverpool were at the start of the season), and as usual everybody is falling for that hype.

I very much hope I’m wrong and you are right.

A couple of top class additions in the middle and out wide ( more likely to be during the Summer) would certainly give us a better shot at it….and of course a Rodri return.

As I said in my original post we are still a work in progress…..but I have seen enough to know we are heading in the right direction.

 

[Cobwebcat]

Arsenal have dropped points to Villa, Liverpool, 10 man Chelsea and ourselves and needed a 96th minute goal to beat Newcastle. Then most of their wins are by the odd goal, so I don't believe that they are the wonder team that many (especially on here) have built them up to be.

Meanwhile we consistently outscore teams and while it's true Haaland is the top scorer (as you would expect), we don't know how well Marmoush would do if he gets a run, especially with the likes of Foden and Cherki on fire. Villa are only 3 points behind them and their top scorers only have 4 goals each so I wouldn't read too much into that. Arsenal would be similarly vulnerable if they lost Havertz or Saka.

I think we're the better team even if we may let in a few more, but people only look at what might happen if we lost our player. The reality is they're starting to panic (just take a look at the fan videos on YouTube), while we're improving all the time. We have every chance and if I were neutral I know who my money would be on.

If most of their wins are “by the odd goal” whereas we “consistently outscore teams” (which could also be by one goal btw) how come we both have the same goal difference?

Arsenal have more injuries than us.

 

[Claytop]

If we have a fit Rodri from January onwards I reckon we'll do it.

 

[Kippax Street 1880]

We need to start getting results at the tough away grounds to really put the pressure on. Am I going to start pointing and laughing at Arsenal calling them bottlers for losing in the last minute at Villa? Fuck no, especially when our next fixture is Palace away while they play Wolves.

Personally I think we're still a year too soon. We will be best served not thinking about a title and just taking each game as it comes and trying to put in the best performances possible. If we're still within touching distance around Easter time game fucking on.

I said I was happy with comfortable CL qualification and a positive trend in performances at the start of the season and that's still where I'm at. Arsenal have a much deeper squad. An injury to Nico and we're fucked. Haaland and we're fucked. Gvardiol O'Reilly we're fucked. We're going to need a lot to go our way to sustain a title challenge all the way until May with our current squad. We can't plug 3 or 4 players in off the bench and keep the same performance levels like we used to.

 

[LangleyBlue1970]

Sorry did I miss us winning the title?

I’d love to be eating humble pie, but it’s mid December and we’ve just nearly blown a 4 goal lead to fucking Fulham and beaten a newly promoted side at home.

We may be 2 points off top but we’re 9 points off 12th.

We still have to travel to Liverpool, Chelsea, United, Spurs, Palace, Everton, Sunderland, Bournemouth and Forest. Going off how we’ve played on the road there’s a reasonable chance we don’t win any of those.

Yeah but your post said we had more chance of finishing in the bottom half. Like as though recent history of what we do has completely eluded your train thought.

Yet here we are.

 

[the blue panther]

We need to sign a centre half now that it's pretty clear that Stones is fucked again.
We need a right full back too.
Khusanov can cover both positions but Pep is very reluctant to use him so we have to get someone to cover one of these positions. I can't imagine Pep will want to bring Reis back - too young and inexperienced for Pep to rely upon.
I believe we're on the upward trend at the moment. If Rodri comes back and we can get someone of the calibre of Guehi from Palace - and keep our other gems fit - we can definitely win the league from here.

 

[Kippax Street 1880]

I thought we were shite in the treble season until the spring. Shows what I know!

You were right, although we did start the season well aswell. That loss to Southampton in the Carabao was fucking diabolical. Though in that period Grealish stepped up big time which is why I gave him so much rope afterwards.

 

[HelloCity]

I did too. Shite is maybe a bit of an exaggeration but we weren’t that good for the most part until that upturn in spring. But what we did do when we finally got our mojo back is win all the games that mattered in those last few months which shows you don’t always have to be the best team for the majority of the season.

Pep found a new formation which was what turned things around. It took a few weeks to bed in but once the players got used it to we really clicked.

We were also disappointing in the 4 in a row season until the new year. Playing Alvarez as a 10 was seeing us lose control of the midfield. Think De Bruyne came back and we started to control games again.

A big difference to those seasons is that we did have better players and a better squad then though.

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Pep found a new formation which was what turned things around. It took a few weeks to bed in but once the players got used it to we really clicked.

We were also disappointing in the 4 in a row season until the new year. Playing Alvarez as a 10 was seeing us lose control of the midfield. Think De Bruyne came back and we started to control games again.

A big difference to those seasons is that we did have better players and a better squad then though.

I suppose this is the big question now. Our first eleven or twelve can compete, but we need a core of 15 or 16. Rodri at 80% + three or four others and I think we win something. Need some players to step up.

 

[Saddleworth2]

We don’t have a strong enough squad yet I think. We only need to lose one or two of the most influential players to injury and we are in real trouble as our squad depth isn’t there yet.