The battle for 4th place

[kippax4ever]

Spud chelsea a
southampton h
newcastle a
the 2 away games are not a done deal.plus add to the equation if the cripsmen win at the swamp its all over as far as the title goes.

 

[chaddblue]

Although finishing 2nd would be nice, it doesn't really matter as you get exactly the same for finishing 2nd and 3rd, apart from a bit more prize money

What matters is we finish 3rd not 4th, to avoid the CL play-off

 

[Chi-town blues]

Although finishing 2nd would be nice, it doesn't really matter as you get exactly the same for finishing 2nd and 3rd, apart from a bit more prize money

What matters is we finish 3rd not 4th, to avoid the CL play-off

It's not about the money but more of a safety buffer if we aim higher.

 

[Healdplace]

"We could then beat Arsenal and win 10-0 at Swansea and still did not qualify after the new young Pele scrambles one in against Bournemouth in the last minute causing this forum to implode."

We would finish 4th on goal difference to Arsenal.

2 wins - one being arsenal and we are 4th. In our hands even if southamption beat us

Except you forget who Arsenal play on their last game. Villa at home. If they need to win 11-0 to catch up on goal difference it is the one fixture where that really could be a possibility.

They are not that far behind us as it is. We have a nice buffer but over three games it is not quite the extra point the United GD gives us.

For it to be entirely in our hands we need a point on Sunday. And for third we need three - unless United and Arsenal drop points that weekend too.

 

[Andouble]

Need help from Leicester this weekend. Our guys looked knackered and with the return few days later, I imagine all of Bony, Delph, Kolarov, Zaba, will play. We can't really afford to rest Kun and KDB but they both need it. Nasri would be a huge boost if he's fit enough

 

[chris63]

Win our next 2 games and we should finish 3rd. Southampton and arsenal.

 

[Healdplace]

Win our next 2 games and we should finish 3rd. Southampton and arsenal.

With the team that played in the first half last night I think we would.

Trouble is that unlike last few times we needed wins at the end of the PL season this is our first taste of a CL distraction getting in the way.

Good as that is it is inevitably going to risk a greater chance we struggle in these two games and end up getting Thursday nights with Pep.

Not really much we can do. It is a great distraction to have and hopefully one we get every year.

But we must use it as a driving lesson never to leave ourselves vulnerable to needing wins in the league as much as we do this near the end just to earn a spot in the CL.

For a regular CL semi finalist that should never be an issue by this late in the season.

Though, of course, the PL has the problem that it is far more competitive than the leagues where the rest of the semi finalists are always likely to come from. So it is likely to be an issue for all English teams in seasons to come.

 

[CatMan]

Strange isn't it that the very thing we are striving for next year is the very thing that may well stop us this year!

I for one, and I was there last night with a 250 mile 5 hour round journey to boot, am not that fussed if we miss out on CL next year. For me if it's a choice of winning the Premier League or Champions League then it's Premier every time. I just can't connect or enthuse with Champions League football. I don't trust UEFA, I don't trust the referees, I dislike the cheating antics of the players and it's proving nothing more than an opportunity for the old establishment to ridicule us at every opportunity on TV.

Worst of all however is we have to compromise our Premier League team selections to accommodate it!

I genuinely believe that a year of Europa League where the EDS compete and gain experience would be great. The main squad would just play Premier League, which we could win at a canter.

Currently we seem incapable of winning either.

 

[cibaman]

I think those delighted that Tottenham lost 2 points last night so we could catch them for 2nd are being a bit presumptuous.

This gives Leicester so much breathing space - from needing to win two games to be sure to now needing just one - that it would not surprise me that they play with just a little less intensity at OT.

Maybe they also want to win the title in the next game in front of their own fans rather than somewhere else.

Either way I do not think Tottenham's result last night did us any favours.

We quite possibly will have to win or at least draw at Southampton - though at least we will know this by kick off.

Otherwise if we lose and United go into the final three games (with us having just 2) only 2 points behind us it is entirely in their hands to finish above us.

I have been warning in here for weeks that we must avoid that scenario as we do not want to have to win the last two AND hope that United slip up somewhere if it ended up in their hands thanks to that game in hand.

We could then beat Arsenal and win 10-0 at Swansea and still did not qualify after the new young Pele scrambles one in against Bournemouth in the last minute causing this forum to implode.

So we need a full strength, fully focused team on Sunday for a tough game at Southampton where they pretty much have to win to retain any chance of getting a Europa place.

Not sure we will get it though if we are still in the SF after tonight. As we surely are going to be.

Hopefully we win 4-0 tonight and can rest players next Wednesday instead!

Spurs result doesn't mean that Leicester will play with less intensity on Sunday. It may mean that there's a little less tension but that's a good thing, its more likely that they will play the way they did against us. Less likely that the nerves will get to them.

They will definitely want to win on Sunday, who doesn't want to win the league at the very first opportunity? They're not going to risk dropping points just to win it at Leicester. Wouldn't that mean that there's also a chance that they win it when not playing? And the possibility of winning at Old Trafford will definitely appeal to many of their players.

Its questionable what constitutes a "full strength" team for City at Southampton. If Aguero and DeBruyne do not start then it wouldn't be full strength, it would be prioritising RM. But even if we had not been due to play RM next week, we could expect several changes for this game.

 

[Healdplace]

Strange isn't it that the very thing we are striving for next year is the very thing that may well stop us this year!

I for one, and I was there last night with a 250 mile 5 hour round journey to boot, am not that fussed if we miss out on CL next year. For me if it's a choice of winning the Premier League or Champions League then it's Premier every time. I just can't connect or enthuse with Champions League football. I don't trust UEFA, I don't trust the referees, I dislike the cheating antics of the players and it's proving nothing more than an opportunity for the old establishment to ridicule us at every opportunity on TV.

Worst of all however is we have to compromise our Premier League team selections to accommodate it!

I genuinely believe that a year of Europa League where the EDS compete and gain experience would be great. The main squad would just play Premier League, which we could win at a canter.

Currently we seem incapable of winning either.

It would indeed be very City-esque for that to happen. Or even to make the final and our own new manager knock himself out of the CL. That would be very typical City fortune.

I can see the argument about going for the league and not playing our best players in Europe to guarantee pot 1 in the CL the season after next.

Two big problems - though - with your thinking.

One is that unless we win the Europa our European coefficient would drop a lot from basically throwing the season in Europe. That would impact the future. As would the loss of income from not going far in the Europa which is already a seriously poor relation of Champions League income anyhow.

Secondly, Pep will be signing big players and I do not think he would be wanting to tell these (hopefully) big names and our own long term CL players that they will not be getting any European football next year as we intend to play the kids instead and get them just to win the league as fast as possible for CL the next sesason.

Yes Europa would give the chance to field some kids but we have to wonder as to how much basically not playing our first team in Europe at all would impact on some of the players we might hope to sign this Summer.