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Top four finish?

Shadydan

Well-Known Member
Jul 7, 2012
38,247
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That's a slightly optimistic assessment. And here's why:



I think Arsenal's defence of Koscielny, Mertesacker, Bellerin and Monreal is just as good as ours, and City's too once Kompany comes back.



Honestly, De Gea and Cech really give Lloris a run for his money on this. I think De Gea is the best in the league, Utd would be sinking without trace for the last two seasons without him.


Weird match to post this after Rose got turned inside out by Zaha, Trippier has only recently come into this good form, Walker hasn't gotten back to his Best Young Player form and Davies still doesn't scream ability at you. Granted, they're better than most of the rest of the league though.



I also agree with this and think that many others wouldn't. I'm just glad he's finally applying his talent for us rather than just running in circles and not passing forwards a la Parker.



Barkley plays in the same position and looks just as promising to me, but Alli is definitely up there.

Winning the league should be no one's expectations. We should be aiming high, but we also needn't be disappointed if we were to 'only' finish 4th in the league this season.

Your defence doesn't just consist of your back four, it consists of your whole team. We have the best defense as we have conceded the least amount of goals in the league thus far.
 

ClintEastwould

Well-Known Member
Jul 3, 2012
4,748
9,845
That's a slightly optimistic assessment. And here's why:



I think Arsenal's defence of Koscielny, Mertesacker, Bellerin and Monreal is just as good as ours, and City's too once Kompany comes back.



Honestly, De Gea and Cech really give Lloris a run for his money on this. I think De Gea is the best in the league, Utd would be sinking without trace for the last two seasons without him.


Weird match to post this after Rose got turned inside out by Zaha, Trippier has only recently come into this good form, Walker hasn't gotten back to his Best Young Player form and Davies still doesn't scream ability at you. Granted, they're better than most of the rest of the league though.



I also agree with this and think that many others wouldn't. I'm just glad he's finally applying his talent for us rather than just running in circles and not passing forwards a la Parker.



Barkley plays in the same position and looks just as promising to me, but Alli is definitely up there.

Winning the league should be no one's expectations. We should be aiming high, but we also needn't be disappointed if we were to 'only' finish 4th in the league this season.
[/QUOTE]

I can agree with Arsenal's defence, City no. They always give you a chance with or without Kompany.

DeGea has been nothing but okay this season. He was brilliant last season, or the one before. Cech is very good too but again, hes not been as good as previous seasons. Lloris makes a match deciding save almost every single match.

Davies is for me starting to show signs of becoming a top class FB. His passing is amazing, link up play very good and he has great positioning and discipline. The other three are all about the same level which may not be remarkable but like you said better than most.

Alli is younger and way less experienced than Barkly and performing just as well.

Obviously we shouldn't get carried away but the title should absolutely be in our sights and this team can definitely do it if we continue playing our best
 

gilzeantheking

SC Supporter
Jun 16, 2011
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CZci9GIWAAE4-x7.jpg
 

XSuicideBunnyX

FM Champion 2015
Aug 3, 2013
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Your defence doesn't just consist of your back four, it consists of your
whole team. We have the best defense as we have conceded the least amount of goals in the league thus far.
Good point.

I can agree with Arsenal's defence, City no. They always give you a chance with or without Kompany.

DeGea has been nothing but okay this season. He was brilliant last season, or the one before. Cech is very good too but again, hes not been as good as previous seasons. Lloris makes a match deciding save almost every single match.

Davies is for me starting to show signs of becoming a top class FB. His passing is amazing, link up play very good and he has great positioning and discipline. The other three are all about the same level which may not be remarkable but like you said better than most.

Alli is younger and way less experienced than Barkly and performing just as well.

Obviously we shouldn't get carried away but the title should absolutely be in our sights and this team can definitely do it if we continue playing our best
You'll find that you'll always get a chance with our defense too. And recently every team we play seems to take that one chance, but it's a good sign that our opponents get so little looks at our goal.

I still think De Gea has been great this season - it's not his fault his defence isn't helping him out nearly as much this season. And apart from dropping the ball literally and metaphorically against West Ham I think, Cech has made incredible saves every other match for Arse. He's looked as good as ever when I've seen him. Again, they're all in that top tier of keepers in the Prem (and the world).

Davies is showing signs of being a top class FB, but so was Rose last season, and Walker 3 seasons ago. I'm hopeful but even if he does not progress much further he is still a good player to have around.

And for both of you, I'm glad that you were able to refute a few of my statements, my opinions might have been influenced a bit too much by the Arsenal and Liverpool fans I live with! :woot:
 

beats1

Well-Known Member
Feb 22, 2010
30,006
29,551
Apply post to this thread in the event of:

Win = Yea, we can challenge for the title especially with the form of the other teams

Draw = we are making good progress for top 4 but need to win more games

Lose = We are going to struggle to make top 4 if we don't sign a striker

(y)
 

bomberH

Well-Known Member
Jun 4, 2005
28,455
168,222
If we beat Colchester on Saturday, we have 7 games to play in February. I doubt he'll play a weakened team in the Europa league so he'll have to mix it about a bit in the league.

I think he'll keep rotating the fullbacks but if Jan is injured, there isn't much room for rotation amongst the CB's - can't see Fazio staying but we obvs have Dier. Kane can't play 6 games in a month and be expected to play to the best of his ability. Behind him we have the choices of Eriksen, Son, Chadli, Lamela, Dembele, Alli, Mason (if fit), Bentaleb, Dier, Carroll, Onomah & even Townsend (if he stays) fighting for 5 places between them. They are all either great or at the very least, reliable, so we're in a decent situation but i think if we want to secure top 4, we need at least one other striker.

If Kane gets injured it'll be massive. Yes other players can score goals but Kane contributes to lots of them and we're a different team when he isn't playing. Hopefully Dembele the younger signs but I'm hoping (obviously improbably) that we get an experienced prem striker too.

February is such an important month & it'll only get harder if we keep winning our cup matches! Still loving it though.
 

spursram

Well-Known Member
Aug 3, 2013
1,910
2,904
We have lost out in recent years due to a bit of lack of belief, confidence, character, call it what you will. IMO.

There were some key moments in yesterday's game but one revealing episode was after Kane scored. His urgency to get the ball back, lack of celebration amongst the players, the desire to get on with the game and get 3 points. It was like we were 3-1 down....we could have been 3-1 down!

Haven't been so happy with the club for years. Good squad depth, with quality players willing to be benched, no super stars (yet) threatening to leave, players and manager seemingly as one.

Threats that could knock us of course? Kane injury, LVG sacking, Alli's goal going viral in Spain. The first concerns me most. I saw Charlie Austin came off the bench to score yesterday. We could have done worse.
 

dondo

Well-Known Member
Jan 4, 2006
8,603
14,091
Def optimistic. I personally think we can win it. Just don't want to be too confident

I think we could win it too.
With 15 matches left and with Arsenal and city on 44 points (I'm not including lecester as I think they will fall away) and if they average 2 points a games till the end of the season they would finish on 74 points which would leave us needing 32 points from our 15 games.
Is it likely to happen? No but it's certainly possible
 

thebenjamin

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2008
12,164
38,545
Vertonghen's injury could be a major spanner in the works. If he's out for a significant amount of time he'll miss all those massive games.

Huge ask for wimmer to step in permanently, or move dier back comes with its own disruption.
 

Stamford

Well-Known Member
Sep 15, 2015
4,121
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Vertonghen's injury could be a major spanner in the works. If he's out for a significant amount of time he'll miss all those massive games.

Huge ask for wimmer to step in permanently, or move dier back comes with its own disruption.

Dier could drop back in at CB and Bentley could take on his role if needed.
 

thebenjamin

Well-Known Member
Jul 1, 2008
12,164
38,545
Dier could drop back in at CB and Bentley could take on his role if needed.


Presuming you mean Bentaleb! Dave is a bit busy with other things.

Trouble is Bentaleb is nowhere near as good defensively as dier, so you're weakening that position.

And dier although quality is nowhere near as good a left sided centre back as Jan.

So the question is do you weaken 1 position or 2?
 

Woodyy

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2016
1,402
3,391
Presuming you mean Bentaleb! Dave is a bit busy with other things.

Trouble is Bentaleb is nowhere near as good defensively as dier, so you're weakening that position.

And dier although quality is nowhere near as good a left sided centre back as Jan.

So the question is do you weaken 1 position or 2?

It's tough because I think both Bentaleb and Wimmer deserve a shot at the starting 11..

So does Chadli but that's another matter..
 

Ironskullll

Well-Known Member
Nov 15, 2010
1,378
1,894
4 to 6 on now, firming up nicely. Seriously considering a tenner at 25/1 on the spammwrs. Unlikely, sure but those odds are tempting....
 

spursram

Well-Known Member
Aug 3, 2013
1,910
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As others have said don't forget that "extra" point. Last season when we were playing catch up, we always needed the "extra" point because of our poor GD. Well, this season same rules apply. So we are 6 ahead of Man U. Anyways still a long way to go!
 

Mr Pink

SC Supporter
Aug 25, 2010
54,776
99,340
United have Stoke at home next - you never know what Stoke you're going to get but I think United will struggle again in that game.
 

CoopsieDeadpool

Well-Known Member
Jun 8, 2012
18,257
70,419
United have Stoke at home next - you never know what Stoke you're going to get but I think United will struggle again in that game.

Yep, I thought Stoke would get at least a point against Leicester yesterday, but they were totally outplayed. Chances are they'll bounce back next week & beat United.
 
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