What the pundits & media are saying about us

[aussie spur]

I think man u will implode again.

Mourinho seems more and more unstable, chuck in zlatan, an overpriced pogpa (creates pressure), a fading Rooney and fergie interfering behind the scenes and I think all the ingredients are there.

But yes will be much tougher for us this year all the same.

 

[CJMurray]

We're not finishing top 4 ffs. Christ almighty people. Only chance we have of that is if Modric or Bale come back or anpther world class player comes along

We got extremely lucky last year where the sky 4 all had down years and we were a fighting chance from a fighting chance at the title until we managed to fuck that up and finish 3rd in A 2 horse title race(who says spursy is dead?!) That chance wont happen 2 years in a row. City, Chelsea and United will be MUCH better this year. Arsenal could fuck up for 30+ games but they'll still finish above us because we havent proven we can string along a 38 game season under Poch. The top 4 will be back to normal.

We have a fantastic opportunity to distrupt it but look at this transfer window. Are we taking that opportunity? No. Will we? No. Can we? Well, no. We have a stadium to build.

What a horribly negative view. You assume that Chelsea, City and United will all finish above us despite them all having new managers, two of which have never managed in the prem before.

We are a damn good side, we've got arguably the best defence and keeper in the league, the top goalscorer, one of the best central midfielders in the league and some outstanding young midfielders. We've also addressed our two main squad gaps in the transfer window.

Leicester won the fucking league last year but you think theres no hope of us finishing top four ffs. We'll finish above at least one of Chelsea, United or City.

 

[longtimespur]

I know people keep saying that all our closest rivals have improved, be-it players or management, but we also have improved on a settled squad which has a full year of playing together.
Why do people not take this experience we have gained as a positive as well???
Our 2 weakest positions have proper competition (some say back-up) now in Jannsen and Wanyama as well as our improving youth team players being integrated.

I'm not saying we'll win the league or the CL but I think we'll be there abouts like last season. With a bit more belief and support from our fans who attend matches I think we'll be fine.

Oh and don't write Leicester off just because they've lost Konte to Chelsea.

 

[Ron Burgundy]

I would bloody love it if we got 3rd, I think, alongside the CL, that would represent an incredible season

 

[Tucker]

I think man u will implode again.

Mourinho seems more and more unstable, chuck in zlatan, an overpriced pogpa (creates pressure), a fading Rooney and fergie interfering behind the scenes and I think all the ingredients are there.

But yes will be much tougher for us this year all the same.

There's already unrest with the whole Scwheinsteiger situation with Mourinho being called out as a disrespectful bully. What happens when he falls out with Zlatan, or Fergie behind the scenes. IMO that club is on a knife edge.

 

[Chris Flynn]

What odds are the bookies giving on us this year. Not that its an indication but im thinking of sticking someoney on us. And for the champs league. Sorry to ask but i dont really gamble and assume someone knows

 

[glospur]

Chelsea have had a bang average pre-season and their back 4 looks completely fragile. They've still got Terry, Cahill and Ivanovic back there and they're not even going to be able to play what seems like the managers preferred system. With Costa also looking like he's off and no guarantee that Bats will adapt to the PL I think it's asking a lot for them to win the title. We shoudl be better than Liverpool as well but the one benefit those two teams have is no European football. It's a massive advantage,

Anyway, I don't see anything wrong with those predictions, although as fucking frustrating as it is the weight of history is still against us finishing above Woolwich.

 

[mattie g]

No way leicester drop that much. Think liverpool and arsenal will be bang in the top 4 race, id have them above chelsea as it currently stands.

With all the money being spent by the sky 5, if we did finish 3rd, it would be absolutely fantastic

I disagree (obviously).

The same old mantra is trotted out every year that "Teams X, Y, and Z are spending gobs of money and will be improved from last year," yet, aside form the initial years of oil money being poured into Chelsea and Man City, that's never proven out. Top clubs spending oodles of money doesn't necessarily equate to improvement, especially as there's a limit as to how much a team can actually improve. There's a knee in the curve at which improvement will occur at a much lesser pace than it did leading up to that point.

I think Liverpool will be improved with Klopp being in his second season, though I honestly think that Arse will struggle (relatively speaking). I'd have Chelsea above both for now.

I also think that Leicester will have a tough time handling the pressures of the Champions League and defending their title. They caught lightning in a bottle last year, and coming anywhere near close to achieving the same feat will be an absolute miracle. Whether they finish 9th, 14th, 7th, etc. doesn't really matter - I think they'll be well off the pace set by the top four, which is the basic premise I was agreeing with in the post you quoted.

 

[aliyid]

Feels good to have pundits actually putting us in the mix. We haven't got the x-factor star player of Aguero, Ibra, Ozil, Hazard, etc... but I think we're starting to shape up as the Athletico Madrid of the English league. i.e. no single shining star but the the team as a whole being the brightest star.

We need to make a good start as that was a key thing missing last year (first 4 games 0 wins - Last 4 games 0 wins - Middle 30 games saw 19 wins)

City - New Manager in new league
Utd - New Manager trying to fit round pegs in square holes (and has managed to alienate a popular person AGAIN)
Chelsea - New Manger in new league
Liverpool - Average squad with too much expectation
Arsenal - Good squad, Good manager, poor attitude with no drive to achieve success
Spurs - Good squad, Good manager, growing belief in our style and game plan

 

[Ribble]

There's already unrest with the whole Scwheinsteiger situation with Mourinho being called out as a disrespectful bully. What happens when he falls out with Zlatan, or Fergie behind the scenes. IMO that club is on a knife edge.

I don't think he'll fall out with Zlatan as they know eachother already, and Fergie is becoming a marginalized figure now (one of the symptoms of which is Mourinho being there at all) but I do think there's plenty of combustibility there. A number of players who I doubt will be very happy with how Mourinho demands they play and view it as a continuation of the bad old LvG days, rather than a reinvigoration with a new manager.

 

[Saoirse]

What odds are the bookies giving on us this year. Not that its an indication but im thinking of sticking someoney on us. And for the champs league. Sorry to ask but i dont really gamble and assume someone knows

Best you can get on us right now is 10/1 for the Premier League and 66/1 for the Champions League.

 

[Chris Flynn]

Best you can get on us right now is 10/1 for the Premier League and 66/1 for the Champions League.

Cool. Grand on both then
Appreciate the response mate

 

[goughie1966]

I disagree (obviously).

The same old mantra is trotted out every year that "Teams X, Y, and Z are spending gobs of money and will be improved from last year," yet, aside form the initial years of oil money being poured into Chelsea and Man City, that's never proven out. Top clubs spending oodles of money doesn't necessarily equate to improvement, especially as there's a limit as to how much a team can actually improve. There's a knee in the curve at which improvement will occur at a much lesser pace than it did leading up to that point.

Actually looking back for the past 10 years that's exactly what has happened. The big money spending sides have finished in the top 4. In fact if you go all the way back to 2003 the top 4 has been dominated by Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool until City got their oil money and they displaced Liverpool.

Since City arrived in the top 4 Liverpool have been the only side to break the top 4 cartel until last season. I believe it will be business as usual this season. I hope I'm wrong and the TV money may well benefit the smaller teams as they will not have to sell.

Look back as far as you want and it there is a clear correlation between wage spending and league position. Last season was a freak and I do hope it can happen again but I wouldn't put money on it.

List of Premier League Finishes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Premier_League_seasons

 

[branchie]

We'll be alright again. A solid team, with quality individuals and a focussed manager. Other so called big teams are in transition and it's all to play for.

I think we'll finish 16th.

 

[Saoirse]

Actually looking back for the past 10 years that's exactly what has happened. The big money spending sides have finished in the top 4. In fact if you go all the way back to 2003 the top 4 has been dominated by Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool until City got their oil money and they displaced Liverpool.

Since City arrived in the top 4 Liverpool have been the only side to break the top 4 cartel until last season. I believe it will be business as usual this season. I hope I'm wrong and the TV money may well benefit the smaller teams as they will not have to sell.

Look back as far as you want and it there is a clear correlation between wage spending and league position. Last season was a freak and I do hope it can happen again but I wouldn't put money on it.

List of Premier League Finishes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Premier_League_seasons

Back in 2003 there was generally a lot less money in the league. The clubs with Champions League football, great commercial operations and huge ticket sales could completely outspend the rest. But the increased TV money has levelled things up. Since it really exploded in 2009, there's been a clear top 4 financially - United, City, Chelsea and Arsenal - but we've finished in the top 4 three times, Liverpool once and Leicester once. That's an average of about one a year missing out and the only ever-present has been Arsenal. Aston Villa, Everton and Southampton have all come close too. With the league more competitive than ever I'd say the most likely outcome is that only two of those four make it again. Not to mention that we have a stable team with a highly rated manager and a very young squad which should only improved, with a couple of positive transfers in areas where we really struggled for depth last year. Staying in the Champions League should absolutely be our aim and is absolutely possible.

 

[dontcallme]

We're not finishing top 4 ffs. Christ almighty people. Only chance we have of that is if Modric or Bale come back or anpther world class player comes along

We got extremely lucky last year where the sky 4 all had down years and we were a fighting chance from a fighting chance at the title until we managed to fuck that up and finish 3rd in A 2 horse title race(who says spursy is dead?!) That chance wont happen 2 years in a row. City, Chelsea and United will be MUCH better this year. Arsenal could fuck up for 30+ games but they'll still finish above us because we havent proven we can string along a 38 game season under Poch. The top 4 will be back to normal.

We have a fantastic opportunity to distrupt it but look at this transfer window. Are we taking that opportunity? No. Will we? No. Can we? Well, no. We have a stadium to build.

You were saying the same shit in the middle of last season. Like always you were wrong.

 

[mattie g]

Actually looking back for the past 10 years that's exactly what has happened. The big money spending sides have finished in the top 4. In fact if you go all the way back to 2003 the top 4 has been dominated by Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool until City got their oil money and they displaced Liverpool.

Since City arrived in the top 4 Liverpool have been the only side to break the top 4 cartel until last season. I believe it will be business as usual this season. I hope I'm wrong and the TV money may well benefit the smaller teams as they will not have to sell.

Look back as far as you want and it there is a clear correlation between wage spending and league position. Last season was a freak and I do hope it can happen again but I wouldn't put money on it.

List of Premier League Finishes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Premier_League_seasons

There's no question that money can buy success (I noted that much when I referred to the oil money of Chelsea and Man City), but money can't buy ever-increasing quality in a side simply because there comes a point when spending money earns you an exponentially lesser return on your investment. Basically, those teams with the most money now see less and less for their ever-increasing spending because they're already at the top of the heap.

Just because a team spends £300 million on transfers and pays at least £200K/week to its starting 11 doesn't automatically mean it's twice as good as a team that spends and pays half of that. As you pass that knee in the curve, then the relative return decreases dramatically.

 

[yankspurs]

You were saying the same shit in the middle of last season. Like always you were wrong.

That's the point. I dont plan on changing my pessimism anytime soon if i continue to be wrong.

 

[Shadydan]

We're not finishing top 4 ffs. Christ almighty people. Only chance we have of that is if Modric or Bale come back or anpther world class player comes along

We got extremely lucky last year where the sky 4 all had down years and we were a fighting chance from a fighting chance at the title until we managed to fuck that up and finish 3rd in A 2 horse title race(who says spursy is dead?!) That chance wont happen 2 years in a row. City, Chelsea and United will be MUCH better this year. Arsenal could fuck up for 30+ games but they'll still finish above us because we havent proven we can string along a 38 game season under Poch. The top 4 will be back to normal.

We have a fantastic opportunity to distrupt it but look at this transfer window. Are we taking that opportunity? No. Will we? No. Can we? Well, no. We have a stadium to build.

Didn't even read but disagreed anyway.

 

[pablo73]

We're not finishing top 4 ffs. Christ almighty people. Only chance we have of that is if Modric or Bale come back or anpther world class player comes along

We got extremely lucky last year where the sky 4 all had down years and we were a fighting chance from a fighting chance at the title until we managed to fuck that up and finish 3rd in A 2 horse title race(who says spursy is dead?!) That chance wont happen 2 years in a row. City, Chelsea and United will be MUCH better this year. Arsenal could fuck up for 30+ games but they'll still finish above us because we havent proven we can string along a 38 game season under Poch. The top 4 will be back to normal.

We have a fantastic opportunity to distrupt it but look at this transfer window. Are we taking that opportunity? No. Will we? No. Can we? Well, no. We have a stadium to build.

Look forward to bumping this post later in the season. Ridiculously negative outlook