20 games in....Title race back on?

[gomer27]

then again if my aunty had a sweaty ballsack.......!

Well that would suck

 

[Father Paul]

Chelski have lost 3
We have lost 4.
Not much in it really.
If we can't do enough to win it we won't be far away. It could all c

Except we have lost 3 of those games in the last month and have a few tough games coming up. Look we can talk all night about stats and about reeling teams in but the bottom line
as always is that to win the league you need a team that is strong in all departments and is playing well. We don't tick those boxes at the minute and from what I have seen(not what I wish for or would like) we don't look like we can get up to speed. I hope the lads prove me wrong but unless we have a big January we have zero chance.

 

[the plasterer]

No chance of the league in my opinion, think we will struggle to make top 4, just don't think our defence is good enough and we can't rely on just out scoring opposition when we miss as many chances as we do, think chavs, pool and spuds will take top 3 leaving us, rags and arse scrapping for 4th

 

[FantasyIreland]

Just don't think we can do it with these fullbacks we have right now, they hamper the team real bad.

Clyne isnt that bad.

 

[Akiva]

7 points is a massive gap, but it's not just surpassing Chelsea but all the other sides too. The question is whether we currently have a squad good enough to do that, and I'm not convinced we do.

Then again, our rivals are far from flawless and there's plenty of precedent for late season bottling from Liverpool, Arsenal and Spurs.

FWIW I think we'll be up there in the end.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Based on what I have seen so far this season, we are not going to win the league. We would need a number of things all to happen to even make us contenders:
1. Our defence would need to improve to the extent that we make opposition play well and work to score against us rather than leak easy goals as we have been doing. This would mean imo stabilising a back 4 with Sagna and Clichy as full backs and Otamendi and Stones/Kolo as CB's. Someone needs to get hold of Bravo and tell him what is expected of a top flight keeper in the Premier league. Distribution is good, shop stopping is average but could probably live with that. Presence in the box and communication are both way below par - that would need to be resolved. Cant really imagine Vinny playing anything but a bit role sadly and we have little chance of buying and integrating new full backs in January window. I just can't see Pep doing this.
2. More clinical up front - particularly in big games. I genuinely think we would be ahead of Chelsea at this point if Kun had scored the penalties against Everton and Kev had put his sitter in against Chelsea. We can't keep on missing these chances. Maybe a fit Sane and Gabriel Jesus can contribute significantly here
3. From what I have seen so far, we need Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool to underperform in the second half of the season. All three look like they have more balanced first teams than us and are more mature in the systems they are playing. Can only see that happening if they hit injuries to key players. As a minimum, we would need at least 6 points from those three games starting with Spuds later this month.
4. We would need to get at least as many calls for us than against us in key games from match officials

Cant really see all that happening.

So for me, success this year is top 4 with a consistent improvement in performance in the second half of the season and an unbelievable transfer window in the summer - 1 goalie, 2 full backs, a centre back, 1 DM, 1 proven striker capable of 20 odd goals in PL. + clear out at least that number if not more.

Oh and Pep needs to extend to 5 years - 3 years aint going to do it.

 

[cibaman]

I would be happy with 2nd or 3rd. 4th would be ok. Don't think the defense is anywhere near good enough for us to win it. Then, hopefully, some decent defenders coming in during the summer.

 

[Father Paul]

Based on what I have seen so far this season, we are not going to win the league. We would need a number of things all to happen to even make us contenders:
1. Our defence would need to improve to the extent that we make opposition play well and work to score against us rather than leak easy goals as we have been doing. This would mean imo stabilising a back 4 with Sagna and Clichy as full backs and Otamendi and Stones/Kolo as CB's. Someone needs to get hold of Bravo and tell him what is expected of a top flight keeper in the Premier league. Distribution is good, shop stopping is average but could probably live with that. Presence in the box and communication are both way below par - that would need to be resolved. Cant really imagine Vinny playing anything but a bit role sadly and we have little chance of buying and integrating new full backs in January window. I just can't see Pep doing this.
2. More clinical up front - particularly in big games. I genuinely think we would be ahead of Chelsea at this point if Kun had scored the penalties against Everton and Kev had put his sitter in against Chelsea. We can't keep on missing these chances. Maybe a fit Sane and Gabriel Jesus can contribute significantly here
3. From what I have seen so far, we need Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool to underperform in the second half of the season. All three look like they have more balanced first teams than us and are more mature in the systems they are playing. Can only see that happening if they hit injuries to key players. As a minimum, we would need at least 6 points from those three games starting with Spuds later this month.
4. We would need to get at least as many calls for us than against us in key games from match officials

Cant really see all that happening.

So for me, success this year is top 4 with a consistent improvement in performance in the second half of the season and an unbelievable transfer window in the summer - 1 goalie, 2 full backs, a centre back, 1 DM, 1 proven striker capable of 20 odd goals in PL. + clear out at least that number if not more.

Oh and Pep needs to extend to 5 years - 3 years aint going to do it.

Good post and I agree with most of it.
Minor correction but did De Bruyne not miss one of the pens against Everton.

 

[City_Sean]

Of course it's on. We've got the best squad and the best starting XI. Performance wise we've been poor for a while now, but we're going to improve, teams like Chelsea and United will wobble soon and we have to be ready to take advantage.

 

[Tricky_Trev]

We're not playing well enough to put the kind of run together that we need. The others will drop points but we look like we'll drop more.