Top four finish?

Lilbaz said:

It's the beginning of november. Just over quater of the season has gone.

Just concentrate on winning our games and leave talk of where we can finish in the league till march.

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Mr Pink said:

Where's the fun in that?

Half the fun is discussing how we're doing, in relation to our competitors, the progress we're making and if we're playing well enough to sustain a top four push.

Might as well close the threat until March!

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Riandor said:

Yeah, I would be happier if all the media attention stayed on Chelsea and Liverpool to be honest. However, IF we won against Arsenal on Sunday, then you can bet all the talk will shift. We're 5 points behind Arsenal, win and its 2 and people will be talking about Top 4 with more certainty and some media outlets might start suggesting higher.

Lose though and its 8. We talk about being miles ahead of Chelsea, but come Sunday evening we might find ourselves equally adrift of the top. Then we have West Ham, who could turn up and get a result, they've shown that they can against the top teams and then Chelsea who might have a new manager etc...

Suddenly those 9 points we're ahead don't feel so comfortable and that gap to to the top grows and grows.

November is a massive massive month and frankly, I know its unpopular, but I am not personally even bothered about Europa League. The Premier League is wide open this year and we should be doing our utmost to take full advantage.

We have seen in seasons where Liverpool and Manchester United have not had to worry about Europe how well they have done in the League... In my view we should take a similar stance. Its almost a shame Anderlecht is this week, as if it was after the Arsenal match we could see how we were doing and make a judgement call.

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gazzeh said:

Shhhh only dreams now

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The ESPN FC panel analyse Tottenham's win against Aston Villa and credit Mauricio Pochettino for his part in their success.
Something special is beginning to happen in North London. No, it is not an Arsenal title challenge developing. Instead, it is something that should bring fear to fans at the Emirates. Tottenham Hotspur are on the march. Spurs will go into the weekend's derby with ambitions of a top-four finish and a sneaking belief they can end the season above their neighbours.

All the attention has been on Arsenal, who have home advantage on Sunday. They have an abundance of talent and, in Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez, two of the most expensive players in the league. Both can change games. Neither changes enough to bring the Premier League trophy to the Emirates.

Spurs, by contrast, lack star quality and are better for it. They have lost just once this season -- on the opening day -- and have begun to build some momentum.

There is an unusual sense of stability at White Hart Lane. Mauricio Pochettino took a while to settle into his role as manager but the 43-year-old has got the team playing the way he wants with a high-energy pressing style. Tottenham had taken a scattergun approach to the transfer market in previous years, but last summer saw more targeted business that aimed to bring in players who suited Pochettino's plans.

Paul Mitchell, the head of recruitment, worked with the manager at Southampton and their relationship is paying dividends for Spurs. For more than a decade, Daniel Levy, the chairman, tried to develop a Continental-style system with a director of football working with the head coach. It was a poorly executed policy marked by clashing personalities and U-turns but, almost by accident, Spurs seem to have found the right men to take them forward.

Arsene Wenger will know what to expect on Sunday. The Arsenal manager will be aware that Tottenham's eagerness to win back the ball requires massive effort and Pochettino's team can be prone to flat periods, where their energy seems temporarily spent. Spurs can also suffer bouts of nervousness.

Up by two goals to a dreadful Aston Villa side on Monday night, Tottenham suffered a wobble in belief when Villa pulled a goal back before Harry Kane made it 3-1. Lapses like this are becoming rarer, though. Pochettino's side look more mentally robust than any Spurs side in recent memory.

Arsenal are at their best when given space and time. Tottenham will deny them both. Ozil, in particular, will be snapped at when the ball arrives. The German is uncomfortable against teams that close him down quickly. Spurs are built to subdue players like him.

Tottenham match up well with their rivals across the pitch. Toby Alderweireld has stiffened the defence and looks to be one of the buys of the summer. Dele Alli, Mousa Dembele and Erik Lamela have exceeded expectations in midfield and Christian Eriksen seems purpose-built to exploit Arsenal's tendency to push up both full-backs at the same time.
Up front, Harry Kane is a handful. He is not a striker of the very highest quality but his appetite and work-rate elevate him to one of the Premier League's best forwards. When Heung-Min Son is fit to share the goalscoring burden, the Englishman will benefit from the space Son's extra threat will bring.

This derby will tell us a lot about both sides. It may well illustrate why Arsenal will not win the title, despite the early season optimism. It should also show us that this youthful, energetic Spurs side is developing into a team that can threaten the Premier League elite. North London is on the cusp of a new era. Tottenham's time is coming.

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glospur said:

Ugh, not only top 4 apparently. This from ESPNFC:

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Riandor said:

Dear god, any talk above being top 4 needs binning right now. Talk about top 4 is fine, reasonably possible and a good achievement. Let's focus on managing that first before we delude ourselves with any thing else!!! Flipping media.

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glospur said:

I completely agree. That title made me vomit a little. Everyone, media and fans included, just needs to let this team develop without putting too much pressure on them. Sure, this unbeaten run is fantastic and we have shown great signs of improvement this season but the nature of a young team means there will be an inevitable dip in form at some stage. The only thing articles like this do is place unrealistic expectations and demands on very young shoulders.

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worcestersauce said:

So if, as some people fear, we lose all our games in November top four is beyond us, do we believe top four is on if we don't lose all three?
For that matter what if we don't lose any or, heaven forbid, we win all three.

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worcestersauce said:

So if, as some people fear, we lose all our games in November top four is beyond us, do we believe top four is on if we don't lose all three?
For that matter what if we don't lose any or, heaven forbid, we win all three.

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beats1 said:

We lose all three, the top 4 via the league is most likely beyond as probably chelsea will at least be 6 points behind us but more likely 3.
If we get 3-5 points we have a chance of top 4(if the 3 points are all draws)
If we get 6-7points we are top 4 challengers
If we win all 3 we are then at least 2 points behind arsenal and probably be 3 points behind Man city. We are then long shots at doing a title challengers(similar to what we were under Redknapp when we went on a 11 match unbeaten run and got 31 points out of 33, we weren't real title challengers but we were within 7 points of the title at the start of the collapse)

That doesn't mean we are going to win the title or even be at arsenal's level. We are still below that but remember when Liverpool nearly won the title they weren't near to a title challenge by the end of December but the bigger clubs couldn't run away from Liverpool that season. We don't have a suarez or anyone of that ilk but we would still be close to the title challengers should we win those matches and the december matches(which is an easy run of games in comparison, though no easy games in the PL and we will lose to Norwich)

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beats1 said:

We lose all three, the top 4 via the league is most likely beyond as probably chelsea will at least be 6 points behind us but more likely 3.
If we get 3-5 points we have a chance of top 4(if the 3 points are all draws)
If we get 6-7points we are top 4 challengers
If we win all 3 we are then at least 2 points behind arsenal and probably be 3 points behind Man city. We are then long shots at doing a title challengers(similar to what we were under Redknapp when we went on a 11 match unbeaten run and got 31 points out of 33, we weren't real title challengers but we were within 7 points of the title at the start of the collapse)

That doesn't mean we are going to win the title or even be at arsenal's level. We are still below that but remember when Liverpool nearly won the title they weren't near to a title challenge by the end of December but the bigger clubs couldn't run away from Liverpool that season. We don't have a suarez or anyone of that ilk but we would still be close to the title challengers should we win those matches and the december matches(which is an easy run of games in comparison, though no easy games in the PL and we will lose to Norwich)

These next 3 matches are the biggest test this team will face. They shouldn't really fear anyone atm after the City match.

Here we have 3 very different matches
Vs. Arsenal - we are playing the best team in the PL at the moment(top of the form table)
Vs. West Ham - This will show how tactically mature we are as we will face a team set up to beat the top teams and whether we are tactically naive but letting them play their game
Vs. Chelsea - This is the game that show whether we can get over the problems of travelling far away in Europe and if we are mentally strong enough to put down a team that is limping along and playing very badly but still got great players and will be up for it against their rivals.

I think this month we will learn more about how far Poch has come than we have before

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arunspurs said:

Just comparing fixtures we have played with same fixtures of last season. The relegated 18,19,20 sides replaced by top 3 from championship...

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Just going fixture by fixture we have improved on most of them. We are better off 6 points and 15 goal difference in net from last season - just shows the improvements we have done from last season...

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Lilbaz said:

It's the beginning of november. Just over quater of the season has gone.

Just concentrate on winning our games and leave talk of where we can finish in the league till march.

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