Originally posted by magicalbarnes
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I was comparing the statement that he's content to not win trophies. I mean seriously? For how long? 10 years, as long as our football is at times a joy to behold? That is Arsenal all over.Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back. Oscar Wilde -
If I was given a life or earth choice, I may have Arsenal coming above us, otherwise I'd stake it on us coming above the other sides. Not to say we will, but I think the head of steam we are building makes it difficult to see us not having a really good run. It's then down to whether or not two teams can have a better run than us. Right at this minute, I can't see that.Forwards.......Comment
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Without question I'd take Champs League qualification and what that brings ....over just a trophy.Comment
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Originally posted by danperkins View Post
Potential signings (particularly the foreign ones) dont give a toss who won the Capital One or FA cup last year. Right or wrong its all about competing for the big prizes and being in the CL.
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Like Kenny says - just keep focused on winning the next game and we'll add all the points up at the end of the season
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I had a dream last night. One of those ones when you wake up it takes you a minute or so to realise it was a dream. Normally they involve the likes of Cheryl Cole sitting on my face but this one was about LFC.....
We had just achieved 4th position with Man United 5th.....it was confirmed and we still had the Europa League final to play....and it was against Rafa Benitez's Napoli. Loads of LFC fans were actually shouting for Napoli because if LFC won, then United would also qualify for next seasons champions league.........it was Blackburn at home in '95 all over again....
I'm not even sure of the rules (don't think this would happen) but what a kick in the stones it would be if we won the europa league and it helped United to qualify for the CL....
Fast forward in the dream and we were playing United the week afterwards in the FA Cup final and the chanting from LFC fans was "Rafa Benitez!!!" and "NAPOLI"...... it was ****in weird as well though. Brendan hired Jason McAteer to work with Colin Pascoe to try and teach him how to be scouse (or a plastic scouser!) and he was part of the back room team teaching the lads to say "calm down" a lot. And Brendan was wearing Jason's white suite from '96 and people were saying "Jaysus Brendan the suit matches yer teeth" taking the piss because he looked like a ****in clown but Brendan thought it was a complement so he was going "ah thanks" and then giving everyone big smiles (his teeth were ****in huge as well - think he must have got new ones for the final)Comment
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Now you've shared this, I'll be disappointed if it doesn't happen.Originally posted by frank the tank View PostComment
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I dreamed last night that i won a gold medal in a swimming competition and then **** myself in the changing rooms. Out of the two i'd prefer it if yours came true frank.
Sack swinging like Dub-D40 on a door hingeComment
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Originally posted by magicalbarnes View PostPotential signings (particularly the foreign ones) dont give a toss who won the Capital One or FA cup last year. Right or wrong its all about competing for the big prizes and being in the CL.
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Late February and, while the Premier League title race has become into a straight sprint between Chelsea and Manchester City, the bottleneck at that pair’s back is tighter than ever. Not since 2009‑10 has the race been so close between so many, with four points covering five clubs and with two Champions League qualification places up for grabs. Liverpool are mounting the charge from deep as Southampton heave to maintain their early-season form. Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United offer flashes of brilliance and bouts of inconsistency, while Arsenal have glided almost unnoticed through the pack and into the top three. So, as things stand, which two are likeliest to have a tilt at a place in Europe’s elite competition?
1) Current form
The team displaying the most consistency are Liverpool, a side unbeaten in their past 10 league games stretching to mid-December when they were traumatised by their brush with the Champions League group stages and appeared such a defensive shambles. They are transformed, comfortable in Brendan Rodgers’ adopted system after five successive clean sheets away from home for the first time in 30 years, Steven Gerrard waiting to return from a hamstring strain, Daniel Sturridge back to fitness and even Mario Balotelli stirring. Memories of last year’s run-in will serve as inspiration.
Of the others, Arsenal have won five of their past six league games – the only blip a hurtful derby defeat to Spurs – to suggest they are summoning momentum in a campaign of fits and starts but 15 wins in 19 matches in all competitions is impressive form. Manchester United will cling to their own encouraging statistics, with only two defeats in 16 league games, but those numbers still feel rather deceptive. There have been only three victories in eight matches, with unconvincing if unbeaten performances against Burnley, West Ham and Stoke in that sequence, and Saturday’s defeat to Swansea did not seem that surprising.
Tottenham Hotspur have lost only once in five league games but they are still saddled by a certain inconsistency: a team capable of thrashing Chelsea but succumbing at Crystal Palace; of beating Arsenal but sloppily throwing away points at home to West Ham. Southampton are enduring an uncharacteristic, sluggish period with only one win and one goal in four league games, and three successive scoreless games at St Mary’s. Every blip is seen as evidence the campaign is catching up with Ronald Koeman’s team which, while perhaps unfair, only a flurry of wins will dispel.
How they rate 3 Liverpool 4 Arsenal 5 Manchester United 6 Tottenham 7 Southampton
2) Squad depth
Arsenal probably have the greatest array of options, a squad who consistently compete in the knockout phases of the Champions League with an array of attacking-midfield and forward options at their disposal. Injuries across the backline would leave them more stretched, but they have learned to cope when depleted already this season and while they appear short of being title challengers, they are probably the best of the rest on paper.
Both Liverpool and Manchester United have been built with participation in the elite competition in mind – even if the latter are experiencing a rare season on the outside looking in. There is arguably more balance to Brendan Rodgers’ options than Van Gaal’s at Old Trafford. United have the look of a work in progress, a group supplemented lavishly last summer but in need of defensive reinforcements (despite results hinting at solidity) and still to see the best of the attacking recruits who cost so much. It suggest they may not capitalise on the lack of European football.
Liverpool, who had done just that last season, appeared frail at the back earlier this term and their forward signings took considerable time to adjust, but they have struck on a system that ekes the best out of their personnel.
Southampton added midfield and forward bodies over the winter but still rely heavily on Morgan Schneiderlin’s presence in the centre. Over-reliance on one influential figure is risky, and they may lack options up front, where Graziano Pellè has scored once in 12 and Jay Rodriguez is still missed. He has been coveted by Tottenham for a while and Mauricio Pochettino’s squad can seem stretched. Runs in the Europa League and Capital One Cup have tested their strength – their involvement in both might have been curtailed by Sunday evening – with the reliance clear on Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen. While interest is retained in different competitions they may rely rather too uncomfortably on players from the ancien régime whose futures at White Hart Lane appear doubtful.
How they rate 3 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 5 Manchester United 6 Tottenham 7 Southampton
3) Remaining fixtures
Arsenal’s run-in might appear the least daunting, with home games against Chelsea and Liverpool and the trickiest trip to one of the other contenders, at Old Trafford on the penultimate weekend. Certainly, their home fixtures appear very winnable, while Southampton will also be encouraged by what lies ahead. They must visit the top two, with City on the final afternoon, but there are seven fixtures against clubs involved in the scrap at the bottom. To date, Koeman’s team have imposed their class on such opponents.
Tottenham will hope to inflict damage at Old Trafford and at St Mary’s against direct rivals, and have only one derby with which to contend in their final 12 games. Manchester United, in contrast, face Spurs, Liverpool, City and Chelsea in a five-game sequence which will potentially determine the fate of their campaign.
Then there is Liverpool. At first glance, their run-in appears awkward at best, with the top two as well as United and Arsenal lying in wait. But recent history, and new-found momentum, may work in their favour. In the two seasons Rodgers has overseen the side, Liverpool have played 58 games before 31 December, winning 26 but losing 18. Their record from 1 January to the end reads 44 matches, 29 wins and only four defeats. Three of those were against United, West Bromwich Albion and Southampton in his first season. They are a team who tend to find their rhythm late. As the manager stated on Sunday, the run-in does not hold too many fears.
How they rate 3 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 5 Southampton 6 Tottenham 7 Manchester United
4) Experience
Where Arsenal and their manager, Arsène Wenger, have grown accustomed to timing their run to a top-four finish, Tottenham have become rather familiar with missing out late-on.
They have slipped from the perch they had enjoyed 12 games from the end of each of the past three seasons so under the new management of Pochettino, any higher finish than their current seventh would actually represent progress.
While Southampton are in uncharted territory, albeit under the stewardship of a manager who has upset the established order previously in his coaching career, Liverpool will lean heavily on memories of last season when there were 11 successive league wins before the infamous and costly slips in the spring.
Yet, if any of the sides in the race should be able to count on experience to see them home it is the United team of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Michael Carrick and, above all, Louis van Gaal. The Dutchman’s reputation precedes him and it remains rather baffling that his time at Old Trafford has appeared to lack pattern and long-term strategy. Yet salvage Champions League football from the run-in and this campaign can be put down to transition before a return to the elite. The weight of his experience must tell.
How they rate 3 Arsenal 4 Manchester United 5 Liverpool 6 Tottenham 7 Southampton
Final verdict
Logic suggests Arsenal should secure a 19th consecutive top-four finish, with Liverpool the likeliest to oust Manchester United from the Champions League places. However, the sheer number of meetings to come between those currently ranked between third and seventh should maintain the drama to the wire
How they are likeliest to finish 3 Arsenal 4 Liverpool 5 Manchester United 6 Tottenham 7 SouthamptonThat rug really tied the room together.Comment
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Would anyone put us at less than 50% to finish above Man U? We both have toughish run-ins but one of us has form and momentum and the other looks out of ideas.Comment
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Where will we finish this season?
It seems a reasonable analysis.
My only concern is that every club goes on a run and every run comes to an end. We've already been on a reasonably long run so I'm fairly sure we will have a blip somewhere between now and the end of the season. I just hope it's short and inconsequential.
He Mancs can go either way. As usual they've looked **** but still got the results. Hopefully they will implode and finish 6th or 7th but if Van Gaal finally gets them clicking they could still go on a run. They've spent enough money on the squad.
I cannot see Southampton maintaining their position and I think Spurs will be out of it well before the end too.Comment
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Hopefully we win the Europa Cup and this discussion is then irrelevant.Comment
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We finish 4th, win Europa, and united just miss out on 5th. Lovely stuff.Comment
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I think we're certainties to finish above them. I predicted we'd finish ten points ahead of them and, based on current form and respective remaining fixtures, I see no reason why that won't happen.Originally posted by Trippendicular View Post
They're a mid-table team masquerading as top four contenders. I think they'll finish sixth at best. They could even finish seventh like last season.Comment
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