The Title Race - 2023/24

[Father Paul]

Exactly!

Both midfield additions have looked like relative panic buys and have not shown the quality needed. Doku has excited and delivered at times, but loses the ball a lot, while Grealish holds the ball well and yet has looked anything but exciting or delivered!

We look bang average for long stretches against lower level opposition, yet can still turn it on at times. Unfortunately, at the moment, those times are getting fewer and further in between!

Need to splurge some of those record revenues in January and make a statement!

No. More panic buying is not what is required and I am confident this won't happen in January. We need a strategic approach aimed at consolidation for the next five years or so. We need to accept that we will not win this league every year and this season looks like it could be one of those years. We are likely to face a transition if Pep departs in 25 and need to plot the course ahead carefully.
The likely sale or loan of Phillips opens up one slot in the squad and hopefully we can find a suitable permanent replacement or loan during the upcoming window. If not we move on until the summer and try to land our main targets.

 

[Manchester_lalala]

We’ll be fine even if we drop points tonight. Still over half a season to go.

 

[Kippax77]

A once in a lifetime game for the Liverpool lightning said Klopp on Sunday.
3 days later another once in a lifetime game this time for the Arsenal Jets.
Sandwiched in-between our very own 3-3 game, shortly after our 4-4 game with Chelsea.
Welcome to the Premier league the Greatest Show on the planet.... yeee arrrr

 

[Bluemoon has risen]

Agree it happens every season and we come good but maybe this season we don't because of injuries and quality of the other teams have improved!

We can't keep saying come the back end of the season we will come good! We going to say it every year for the next 10 years and win it for another 10 years on the bounce!? No...

We spoilt and am loving it but brings the entitlement into us the more you win the more you want the more you think oh we come good and win the league..

No guarantee we will win the league or come good, but based on the way we approach season and our past history, I'm confident we will improve come the new year and be there or thereabouts.

Its not about entitlement it's about belief in the manager and the players we have. It won't always be this way but with Pep in charge I'm always confident he will have us competing and winning. We're not playing as badly now as we were at spells last season IMO. I remember from the Liverpool away game last October until about Feb this year we were bloody awful at times.

 

[the-ecstacy-of-eight]

Rice spoke well after the game, one game at a time and learning from last year etc. But what they displayed post game was the same over the top hysteria.

It comes from a manager incapable of being a calm and level headed figure for the players.

At a time when we are dropping points late on, it's fucking frustrating seeing them continue to snatch late goals to win games. 9pts this season now. Whereas we have dropped 7pts from late goals in the past 6-7 games. Quite a swing that.

Yep, EVERY question of the title puts extra pressure on, even if it's answered well.

They're pretty much ARE taking each game at a time, but every single one of them games is played in a cup final frenzy atmosphere, on and off the pitch.

It'll hopefully lead to them being mentally frazzled when the chips are down, but who knows?

What I do know is that it's a hell of a lot easier to win in the 97th minute when a ref doesn't actively stand in the way of your attempts to win, than when they do.

 

[Lovebitesandeveryfing]

I don't honestly think we can wait until the New Year. Put it this way, I don't really see Arsenal folding the way they did last year. The dippers are gradually getting into gear, too. If we can keep the gap to three or four points, no problem. If we can overhaul the gap, even better. But I don't think the margin is huge.
By the way, Pep's right. We haven't been playing badly overall. Simply, we've been missing huge chances. And on the few chances the opposition have been allowed (and it was truly ridiculous in the case of Arsenal away and Liverpool at home, we allowed them almost nothing), the opposition have scored. It's much finer margins that it appears.

 

[bridgeno1]

As an Arsenal fan I see our chances of winning the PL at about 25%. Dippers 15% and City 60%. Reason is simple - if you went back and looked at whatever the equivalent of this thread is but for the previous 3 seasons, it would pretty much read exactly the same as this one. Slow start by City, they pick up after Xmas and go off like an exocet after March. Rinse and repeat.

This season won't be any different, City still have the higher ceiling plus they have experience of doing this over and over again. I reckon for Arsenal to win the PL we will need to win at the Etihad.

 

[mancityscot]

I don't honestly think we can wait until the New Year. Put it this way, I don't really see Arsenal folding the way they did last year. The dippers are gradually getting into gear, too. If we can keep the gap to three or four points, no problem. If we can overhaul the gap, even better. But I don't think the margin is huge.
By the way, Pep's right. We haven't been playing badly overall. Simply, we've been missing huge chances. And on the few chances the opposition have been allowed (and it was truly ridiculous in the case of Arsenal away and Liverpool at home, we allowed them almost nothing), the opposition have scored. It's much finer margins that it appears.

Chances missed have been a big factor, but conceding 4 to pretty average chelsea side, 3 to an injury ravaged spurs side and conceding late goals to arsenal, liverpool, and the two previously mentioned, thats a mentality thing.

 

[blueparrot]

Chances missed have been a big factor, but conceding 4 to pretty average chelsea side, 3 to an injury ravaged spurs side and conceding late goals to arsenal, liverpool, and the two previously mentioned, thats a mentality thing.

Think it isn’t mentallity it’s missing the game management and control to see games out,Gundogan, Mahrez, KDB , Stones brought to the team. Will Pep be able to sort that this season, probably.If not we’ll just have t wait until next.
No coincidence we lost those goals to teams / managers that thrive off creating chaos to win games.

 

[waspish]

I don’t think other teams have improved, at least not the challengers maybe some of tne teams like Villa have. That’s why we aren’t far behind them.We are talking liverpool and arsenal as challengers and they are conceding as much as us 3 against Luton and Fulham in their last games and nicking points in injury time, where we are dropping points late on in games.
When we sort out our games management and we will because It’s Pep then we’ll stop dropping these late points.

Hope so but think we need important players to stay fit and the ones we bought to come good plus I feel we need one top quality player in January