The Race for the Title, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th Thread.

[Shadydan]

People need to cool their jets a bit with the title talk. Yeh we thrashed United, but they are absolutely awful at the moment and were down to 10 men for an hour. We do look so much better than we have done in at least 2 years though, amazing how a few new faces can completely rejuvenate the whole squad. I wonder whether this ridiculous run of fixtures has actually helped the squad gel, as it's given everyone a chance to play their part and allowed players like Ndombele and Aurier to show their real value. We should definitely mount a challenge for top 4 and the cup comps this year, and then with a few more improvements next summer we might be challenging for the title again.

I think it's more to do with the fact that the 2 main title challengers have taken an absolute pasting in the last couple of weeks, in fact no-one's looking convincing at the moment apart from Everton who aren't likely to sustain their form.

 

[ikky]

People need to cool their jets a bit with the title talk. Yeh we thrashed United, but they are absolutely awful at the moment and were down to 10 men for an hour. We do look so much better than we have done in at least 2 years though, amazing how a few new faces can completely rejuvenate the whole squad. I wonder whether this ridiculous run of fixtures has actually helped the squad gel, as it's given everyone a chance to play their part and allowed players like Ndombele and Aurier to show their real value. We should definitely mount a challenge for top 4 and the cup comps this year, and then with a few more improvements next summer we might be challenging for the title again.

Bollocks to that, WE ARE WINNING THE WORLD CUP!

 

[Haddock]

Top four is more than reasonable as I see it. Considering the signings we've made we're quite comfortably better than all of Arsenal, Chelsea, and Leicester. I'd be slightly disappointed if we didn't finish top four to be honest.

If Bale comes in and hits his stride and adds 15-20 more goals, and if Vinicuis can fill the void and give Kane a break from time to time, then I'd agree that we can really challenge Liverpool and City. Under Pochettino we had spells where we were quite clearly the best team in the league at times, but we were never consistent enough over the course of a season. Right now we're in great form, but there will be times when we're not. That's where (...hopefully) we've made improvements in squad depth this transfer window. Further more I feel like we've have sort of a secret weapon in Ndombele, Lo Celso, and to an extent Bergwijn. Players that still have room for improvement and we who watch every single Spurs match know that they are extremely talented players with room for further improvement.

 

[shoggy33]

I think it's more to do with the fact that the 2 main title challengers have taken an absolute pasting in the last couple of weeks, in fact no-one's looking convincing at the moment apart from Everton who aren't likely to sustain their form.

True but there is no way Liverpool will ever play that badly again, and they have been pretty good otherwise. Having said that they conceded 3 against Leeds as well so maybe their defence has been found out a bit. Could be an exciting year either way!

 

[Shadydan]

True but there is no way Liverpool will ever play that badly again, and they have been pretty good otherwise. Having said that they conceded 3 against Leeds as well so maybe their defence has been found out a bit. Could be an exciting year either way!

Looks to me like Liverpool have been defensively dodgy this season, they conceded 3 against Leeds and everyone thought it was a one off, Arsenal breached a few times last week as well and probably should have scored more. No one saw this Villa result coming but they're definitely not as strong as they were a couple of seasons ago, Allison is out for a few weeks as well so here's hoping it continues.

 

[freeeki]

Next set of fixtures make for interesting reading:

Everton vs Liverpool
Leicester vs Villa
City vs Arsenal

We're at home against West Ham. If we beat them, there's a very real chance we could go 2nd.

 

[rez9000]

Bollocks to that, WE ARE WINNING THE WORLD CUP!

And we'll win it so hard, they'll give us the cup forever and never play another World Cup ever ever again! I'm in! LET'S DO THIS!

 

[vegassd]

I think it's more to do with the fact that the 2 main title challengers have taken an absolute pasting in the last couple of weeks, in fact no-one's looking convincing at the moment apart from Everton who aren't likely to sustain their form.

Everton have a very sticky December during which they face Chelsea, Leicester, Arsenal, Sheffield and City in the league with the EFL quarter final against United in there too. So I reckon by the end of the year we will have a much better idea of how dangerous or not Everton are going to be.

Personally I would quite like to see Everton do well for once - although not at our expense of course. We don't play them again until April so it would be interesting to see if they can stay in the mix until that point. I tend to agree that they will start to suffer once fatigue to their first XI starts to kick in, but who knows.

Still too early to tell much about the league but it seems like teams who are able to adapt to empty stadiums and the handball mess are going to do well this season. Mentality is going to be a big factor, so I would expect the likes of City to rebound and the likes of Leicester and Wolves to stay in the hunt. It might be that we've got Jose in at the just the right time, when it's so valuable to be intelligent ****s.

 

[Wig]

Bloody annoying we were robbed of two points against Newcastle, as otherwise we'd be two points off top with a decent goal difference. With shaky starts from all the "top" teams, honestly this is one of the best chances we could ever have to win the league. The way we are playing at the moment we could beat anyone.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

It’s 4 games so red hot starts and shaky starts don’t really mean a lot. Can Everton keep up the pace, unlikely (they faced us at absolutely the best time and have had a fairly easy run) but they look like they’ve improved a lot. I really like where we are at though, we have so many positive players and difference makers now and we are as deep as I can ever remember. I think we will be in the mix as things start to settle after a pretty crazy opening to the season.

 

[CowInAComa]

All the trophies are belong to us

 

[cozzo]

If we beat Arsenal, Liverpool and City then we will be champions this season

 

[popstar7]

I think with the squad now available Mourinho has so many options, not just to rotate from game to game, but to change things during games depending on circumstances. He could afford to take Lamela off yesterday to avoid a second booking. He could take Son off for Davies and push Reguilon further up the left. Those weren't critical yesterday given the score but they will be across the season.

Doherty, Serge, Bale and Lucas can't all start every game on the right but whichever two start on the bench are going to be great options to bring on for 20-30 minutes depending on the state of the game. Vincius could replace Kane if we're comfortably ahead or Kane drops deeper and he comes on if we need goals.

Only place I can't see that flexibility is midfield where there's a real drop off from Lo Celso, Hojbjerg and Ndombele to Winks, Sissoko and Gedson.

It looks like a squad that absolutely should be top 4 at the end of the season. Winning against our rivals - like yesterday - is absolutely key to that.

 

[Lighty64]

If we beat Arsenal, Liverpool and City home and away then we will be champions this season

FYI

 

[elfy]

People need to cool their jets a bit with the title talk. Yeh we thrashed United, but they are absolutely awful at the moment and were down to 10 men for an hour. We do look so much better than we have done in at least 2 years though, amazing how a few new faces can completely rejuvenate the whole squad. I wonder whether this ridiculous run of fixtures has actually helped the squad gel, as it's given everyone a chance to play their part and allowed players like Ndombele and Aurier to show their real value. We should definitely mount a challenge for top 4 and the cup comps this year, and then with a few more improvements next summer we might be challenging for the title again.

Its the start of the season, who the hell goes into the new season thinking they'd be happy with top 4?
Winning mentality needs to apply to us fans as well! We are in it to win, not make up the numbers.
Do I honestly think we WILL win the title? No, of course not. But at this point in time that should be the ambition for players and fans alike.

 

[mark87]

If we beat Arsenal, Liverpool and City then we will be champions this season

Think we'll need to win a few more than that...

 

[rossdapep]

One of the things that we should all be really encourages about is this past week and the tone it may have set.

We've been worried about competing on all fronts and many believe the Europa Cup is a mine field to navigate through. And whilst I do agree with that, having the options we do means that we can rotate and balance nicely. Just like Jose has done this week.

I think in the past we've fielded much weaker teams in Europa that then reduces the chances of qualifying with ease. Under Poch we nearly didn't qualify, under AVB the first season was a struggle and Redknapp regularly treated it as a distraction. Then of course you have no guarantees that fielding a weaker team helps you with the Sunday league fixture either.

Therefore what this club needs, and has shown this week, is a desire to approach every single game as a big game and must-win.

With more options we'll be able to maintain a healthy level of competition within the squad. Players will look forward to playing Europa or PL as it helps them stake a claim to play and others will look forward to playing to score more goals and build confidence. You dont get that with a 'set' XI, like we saw under Poch. Motivation will be high regardless of the opposition.

Lastly, Jose's treatment of Alli was a masterstroke. By axing him, he's shown the others that it doesn't matter who you are and the opposition, if you don't put it in, you are out.

I'm expecting us to approach every game with professionalism and a strong desire to win.

 

[HodisGawd]

Year ends in 1 folks. Nuff said.

 

[BringBack_leGin]

Next set of fixtures make for interesting reading:

Everton vs Liverpool
Leicester vs Villa
City vs Arsenal

We're at home against West Ham. If we beat them, there's a very real chance we could go 2nd.

And even if not, 10 points from 5 matches is top four form in any season, and that’s including them two point robbery v Newcastle and an opener v Everton which by that point will have to be seen as an outlier., which would suggest that we’re capable of much better than just top four.

One step at a time but if we best West Ham there’ll be a lot of reason to get excited.

 

[carpediem991]

Field seems to be wide open as of now.

In the Top 10 you will see Chavs, City, Pool, Arse, United, Leicester, Everton, Villa, Wolves and us.
But the ranking can be anything really. Still would rank Pool as favourites and City will come strong with time but every of the other teams can reach Top 4, even though Villa and Wolves are unlikely.

So Top 4 and a trophy would be absolutely awesome. And that does not rule out the trophy of the league.

Although I think we are still buzzing about last week and get a bit ahead of ourselves.