The battle for 4th place

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YaYa's Left Peg said:
Hahaha.... thanks for at least attempting to cheer me up. I really hope you are right, but I'm not as optimistic as you re our ability to resurrect ourselves.

Leicester, and to a lesser extent spurs, are exceptions to the rule, emerging from the ashes of a freakish season. Next season, we will not only have to contend with these two, but also a resurgent Liverpool who will buy players even more suited to Klopp's style, Rags who will go big again in the transfer market and may even have a decent manager in charge, Arsenal who will do an Arsenal and take up a top 4 spot, a re-invigorated Chelsea under Conte's guiding hand, and the likes of West Ham who will benefit greatly from their move to the Olympic Stadium. This is without the possibility of another 'Leicester' emerging next season!

The only bright light on the horizon is that Pep will be our manager, and he is without doubt one of the best in the business. However, as good as he is, he is no miracle worker, which is what I think we will need if we drop out of the top 4.
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Nothing wrong with competition.

If other sides improve & become better than us, then it's our job to improve & become better than them. I don't see that as a disaster personally, it's just football. If we were out of the top 4 for years & couldn't afford to compete it would be a disaster. But even then we see the rags a couple of points behind us now, with a nutcase manager & a bunch of shite signings on the edge of the CL due to using their kids. We have loads, better than theirs. So even if we missed the cut several times & lost a fortune we could still possibly find a way back. Imo a team moving forward heading towards the top is far less a disaster & far better to support, than a team full of stars underperforming & going backwards, which is what we have had for the past two years.
 
YaYa's Left Peg said:
Hahaha.... thanks for at least attempting to cheer me up. I really hope you are right, but I'm not as optimistic as you re our ability to resurrect ourselves.

Leicester, and to a lesser extent spurs, are exceptions to the rule, emerging from the ashes of a freakish season. Next season, we will not only have to contend with these two, but also a resurgent Liverpool who will buy players even more suited to Klopp's style, Rags who will go big again in the transfer market and may even have a decent manager in charge, Arsenal who will do an Arsenal and take up a top 4 spot, a re-invigorated Chelsea under Conte's guiding hand, and the likes of West Ham who will benefit greatly from their move to the Olympic Stadium. This is without the possibility of another 'Leicester' emerging next season!

The only bright light on the horizon is that Pep will be our manager, and he is without doubt one of the best in the business. However, as good as he is, he is no miracle worker, which is what I think we will need if we drop out of the top 4.
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There are lots of bright lights on the horizon if you look for them. I've found avoiding the media has really helped because, as is well-documented on here, they thrive on sensationalism and love to hype to the nth degree anything bad that happens to us. In the cold light of day, without the background noise, we're well set for many years to come. The rest is on our hands. If we're good enough we'll succeed. If we aren't, we won't. It really is that simple and, as fans, all we can do is support and hope for the best. To re-work a line from a film "Failure smiles at us all. All we can do is smile back".
 
YaYa's Left Peg said:
We should be able to cope no matter what team we put out - but only if the manager has a clear set of tactics and formations, and sets his training regime accordingly.

You look at Klopp - he put half the youth team out against Bournemouth, but they played the same way and got a result. Again last night, they played with a fluency that suggests that the players understand what they need to do.

Pellegrini has had three years to get his ideas across, and taken us backwards!!! The CL run has papered over some huge cracks, and imo completely taken the focus away from the bread and butter of the PL. That is unacceptable.

Given our record against the top 8 this season, I think it is inevitable that we will miss out on top 4, to be replaced by the Rags and/or Liverpool. And for what - a semi-final in a cup competition (and no, I don't think we can win it - it would surprise me if we are still in it after the first leg of the semi, but that's just my opinion)?

And to those saying it wouldn't be too bad to not be in CL - you have got to be joking. For the stage the club is at, it would be a complete disaster. But don't worry about that Pellers old chap - you charming man!
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Sadly the more I think about it the more I have to agree with these critical posts. However, I still think we can just about make 4th spot despite the generally poor performance of our manager over the last two seasons. However, his legacy will largely be judged on the outcome of the Madrid tie. We have been somewhat fortunate with the draw this year and hey we probably deserved that luck. Now we face a serious opponent for the first time this season really and I hope I am wrong but we are likely to be found out if not next Tuesday then the following week. Then we may have to win our last two games to get back in the competition. This could go down to the last day and we could either finish 3rd or 5th depending on results.
 
Just ran the predictor and got this
3rd Arsenal 71 pts
4th City 69
5th United 69
6th Pool 67
7th WHU 62
 
Yeah Sunderland away is their banana skin, but tonight, can't really see anything but a comfortable win for them
 
How it's been allowed to get to this point is beyond me. We've been absolute disgrace in the league this season.

Saturday is now massive as is the following Sunday against Southampton. We can't afford to rest players ahead of the Madrid games. Shit or bust
 
YaYa's Left Peg said:
Hahaha.... thanks for at least attempting to cheer me up. I really hope you are right, but I'm not as optimistic as you re our ability to resurrect ourselves.

Leicester, and to a lesser extent spurs, are exceptions to the rule, emerging from the ashes of a freakish season. Next season, we will not only have to contend with these two, but also a resurgent Liverpool who will buy players even more suited to Klopp's style, Rags who will go big again in the transfer market and may even have a decent manager in charge, Arsenal who will do an Arsenal and take up a top 4 spot, a re-invigorated Chelsea under Conte's guiding hand, and the likes of West Ham who will benefit greatly from their move to the Olympic Stadium. This is without the possibility of another 'Leicester' emerging next season!

The only bright light on the horizon is that Pep will be our manager, and he is without doubt one of the best in the business. However, as good as he is, he is no miracle worker, which is what I think we will need if we drop out of the top 4.
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I don't think you need to worry about missing out on the Top 4 moving forward. I think this season we'll be close but will scrape over the line. We still of course could win the CL so it wouldn't matter if we missed out in any case. The cash from the CL is huge, but the Prem gives huge money anyway and we're sustainable enough as a club to cope financially if we missed out for one season.

I also think you're over playing other sides and down playing City.

We've been poor this season through injury and the decline of our squad largely because of the average age. From transfer rumours it's a clear goal to lower the average age - Pogba and Gundogan are linked and the lack of midfield presence has been our biggest concern. Those two in our current squad remove that issue and we've enough in defence and attack to make the top 4.

The rags could miss out on Top 4 again, the managerial situation is uncertain and though they've a young squad there's no evidence the young players they have will do any better. For every Messi and Ronaldo there's an Ashley Young or Phil Jones. Good initially but it's beginners luck and they then decline to their actual consistent standard. We'll see how Rashford etc cope next season.

Chelsea will improve but again, there's a lot to do and they've been so far off it this year there's a huge issue with the squad dynamic and mentality there that could take more than a year to resolve. Tottenham can improve but Leicester are unlikely to get better. They still won't be able to attract top players because despite the CL they're not as attractive as several other sides. They'll have to compete in an extra competition and that will force them to rotate the squad.

Arsenal still have the Wenger love/hate relationship and the same weaknesses are there that have been since Vieira and Henry left. Plus the injuries and you still can't take them too seriously as a threat. Liverpool can improve but won't be willing to pay top wages so limits to who they can buy.

Meanwhile City with one of the best managers, with a fantastic academy that he will dip into over time, with funds to oversee a big transfer window... we'll be fine! I seriously think this season will be the low point and we'll manage our transition better than other clubs in England have.

The Rags never replaced Giggs or Scholes. They've not replaced Vidic or Wio either. Bacon tried to but failed so retired. Arsenal I've already mentioned... you can add that they've not replaced Adams etc at the back either. Chelsea need to replace Terry, they've missed someone like Lampard this season too with his passion for the club.

We're needing to plan for life without Yaya (which probably needed to happen sooner). Kompany's injuries continue to cause concern so we need to think about that. De Bruyne has arrived so some of the burden on Silva is already lifted. With Pogba mentioned we have a potential Yaya replacement already. The transition would be done and dusted and we can build an even better side to dominate.
 
supercity88 said:
I don't think you need to worry about missing out on the Top 4 moving forward. I think this season we'll be close but will scrape over the line. We still of course could win the CL so it wouldn't matter if we missed out in any case. The cash from the CL is huge, but the Prem gives huge money anyway and we're sustainable enough as a club to cope financially if we missed out for one season.

I also think you're over playing other sides and down playing City.

We've been poor this season through injury and the decline of our squad largely because of the average age. From transfer rumours it's a clear goal to lower the average age - Pogba and Gundogan are linked and the lack of midfield presence has been our biggest concern. Those two in our current squad remove that issue and we've enough in defence and attack to make the top 4.

The rags could miss out on Top 4 again, the managerial situation is uncertain and though they've a young squad there's no evidence the young players they have will do any better. For every Messi and Ronaldo there's an Ashley Young or Phil Jones. Good initially but it's beginners luck and they then decline to their actual consistent standard. We'll see how Rashford etc cope next season.

Chelsea will improve but again, there's a lot to do and they've been so far off it this year there's a huge issue with the squad dynamic and mentality there that could take more than a year to resolve. Tottenham can improve but Leicester are unlikely to get better. They still won't be able to attract top players because despite the CL they're not as attractive as several other sides. They'll have to compete in an extra competition and that will force them to rotate the squad.

Arsenal still have the Wenger love/hate relationship and the same weaknesses are there that have been since Vieira and Henry left. Plus the injuries and you still can't take them too seriously as a threat. Liverpool can improve but won't be willing to pay top wages so limits to who they can buy.

Meanwhile City with one of the best managers, with a fantastic academy that he will dip into over time, with funds to oversee a big transfer window... we'll be fine! I seriously think this season will be the low point and we'll manage our transition better than other clubs in England have.

The Rags never replaced Giggs or Scholes. They've not replaced Vidic or Wio either. Bacon tried to but failed so retired. Arsenal I've already mentioned... you can add that they've not replaced Adams etc at the back either. Chelsea need to replace Terry, they've missed someone like Lampard this season too with his passion for the club.

We're needing to plan for life without Yaya (which probably needed to happen sooner). Kompany's injuries continue to cause concern so we need to think about that. De Bruyne has arrived so some of the burden on Silva is already lifted. With Pogba mentioned we have a potential Yaya replacement already. The transition would be done and dusted and we can build an even better side to dominate.
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Good post
 
When the Arsenal duly win tonight, following the procession of victories by Liverpool, United and West Ham, the full implication of dropping two points at Newcastle, when it should have been eminently doable to get all three (especially having gone ahead through, let's face it, a fortuitous goal), will be in plain view. I still have faith that we'll get top four, but honestly, why make it difficult when we've just destroyed Bournemouth and Chelsea at their places?
No, it does annoy me…
 
HolisticJim said:
He absolutely does not give a fuck about the league not what competitions we are playing in next season. All he cares about are the CL games.
If we had been know led out by Kiev I honestly think he would have been sacked already because he has been a fookin liability for 18 months.

Get him out of our club and if we get knocked out by RM then so be it but rather that than our objectives for next season be hampered by this ridiclious excuse of a manager.
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I said in another thread, wait for the team sheet on Saturday and if there's so much as a whiff of not giving it 100%, personally I would sack him on the spot.

Playing fast and loose with our top 4 spot as he has been doing is imho a sackable offence.
 
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