Race for the Top 4 - 2017/18

RichieS · Dec 28, 2017

Wheeler Dealer said:
They may have over paid but he’s their’s unopposed and ready to play from 1st January. He certainly will strengthen them that’s for sure, as Lovern, Matip and the other one are liabilities.

Lovren, Matip and Sakho were all at least decent before they went to Liverpool. I can't see van Dijk improving under Klopp's leadership and he's certainly not anywhere near £75m good to start with.

Westmorland · Dec 28, 2017

Watching that city game last night...the money is killing the football. It’s like watching the same game over and over again. When the second Pool goal went in against Swansea I turned off. What’s the point.
Half of the premier league are terrified of relegation and the top six are miles ahead of the rest. Did you hear Neville quote Guardiola as saying that this is the most defensive league he has played in. Don’t know what the answer is as the clubs are not going to start changing how the money is distributed.
Nothing wrong with playing on the break but these teams don’t even do that.
Good to see Benitez is ambitious. He says he can make Newcastle a top eight club....as good as Watford then!

yankspurs · Dec 28, 2017

Dov67 said:
agree its seems like desperation, but what cannot be denied is that he is better than what they currently have and will therefore improve them.

Will he though? Lovren was absolute quality at Saints for Poch. Klopp has turned him into a pub league player. Klopp’s problems lie in his extreme lack of ability to coach a defense.

Fowl! · Dec 28, 2017

tototoner said:
glacierSpurs said:

Come on Mourinho, I like the quieter you.

Click to expand...

Someone should remind him the best player at Man City ( de Bruyne), the best player at Liverpool ( Salah) and one of the best players at Man Utd ( Lukaku) he all let go while at Chelsea, yet all he wants to do is spend, deflect, spend, deflect, spend, deflect. Maybe he should coach more.

That's a good point. He also let Mata leave Chelsea for United iirc.

coys200 · Dec 28, 2017

Don’t care how good a defender you are. If you don’t have a decent DM or keeper you will look exposed. They’ve spent badly here no question.

ComfortablyNumb · Dec 28, 2017

coys200 said:
Don’t care how good a defender you are. If you don’t have a decent DM or keeper you will look exposed. They’ve spent badly here no question.

Unless they buy a decent keeper and DM by the end of January.

lukespurs7 · Dec 28, 2017

This is all subjective but if we compared us to the current top 6 on a number of areas I think it currently stands like this: (The below + fact we are not at our home ground this year means it comes as no surprise we are battling for 4th)

1st XI:
1 - Man.City
2 - Chelsea
3 - Tottenham
4- Arsenal/Liverpool
5- Man.U

Attack:
1- Man.City
2- Liverpool
3- Tottenham
4- Arsenal
5- Man.U
6- Chelsea

Defence:
1- Man.City(due to players and style of play)
2- Chelsea/Man.U
3- Tottenham
4- Arsenal
5- Liverpool

Squad depth:
1- Man.City
2- Man.U
3- Chelsea
4- Arsenal
5- Tottenham
6- Liverpool

Manager: (success,experience,future potential and current level combined)
1- Man.City/Pep Guadiola
2- Chelsea/Conte
3- Man.U/Mouriniho
4- Tottenham/Poch
5-Liverpool/Koop
6-Arsenal/Wenger

Money/spending power + wages
1- Man.City
2- Chelsea
3- Man.U
4- Liverpool
5- Arsenal
6-Tottenham

Stadium:
1- Man.U
2- Tottenham
3- Arsenal
4- Man.City/Liverpool
5- Chelsea

Club mentality of success(more recently)
1- Man.U
2- Chelsea
3- Man.City
4- Arsenal
5- Liverpool
6 - Tottenham

So as we can see we aren’t top in any single aspect, in terms of stadium we were last but will now go to 2nd. We have a manager who has as much potential as any of the other bar mabye Pep who seems to be quite special, our first XI if we keep them all is competitive but Liverpool are strengthening as I’m sure Arsenal will, we can’t stand still on that front. Some of these areas it is basically impossible to compete due to the money but if we can close the gap in the other areas and overachieve as Poch has us consistently doing then mabye Just mabye we can win something.

As for this season we ‘could’ come anywhere from 2-6 but I think realistically we will be 5-6, I think Liverpool will pip us this year to 4th but I may be wrong, our game at their gaff and our games Home to man.u and Arsenal will be very important this season and as we are at Wembley I just expect us to drop more points than we usually would which will drop us into 5/6. It would be a real shame to not have CL footy 1st season in the new stadium but hopefully if so we can field a 2nd team in the europa and really focus on the league and Cups as long as the players don’t jump ship the second we are out of he CL which I don’t think they will then we will be ok.

COYS.

Marty · Dec 28, 2017

yankspurs said:
Will he though? Lovren was absolute quality at Saints for Poch. Klopp has turned him into a pub league player. Klopp’s problems lie in his extreme lack of ability to coach a defense.

And his utter lack of defensive-minded midfielders. Keita next summer is a huge signing for them, much more important than van Dijk.

coys200 · Dec 28, 2017

Marty said:
And his utter lack of defensive-minded midfielders. Keita next summer is a huge signing for them, much more important than van Dijk.

Don’t know much about keita tbh. But thought he was more attack minded. I see him as coutinho replacement.

Marty · Dec 28, 2017

coys200 said:
Don’t know much about keita tbh. But thought he was more attack minded. I see him as coutinho replacement.

I haven't seen much either but I thought he was more Kante than Coutinho. He does score a few goals though.

yankspurs · Dec 28, 2017

Marty said:
And his utter lack of defensive-minded midfielders. Keita next summer is a huge signing for them, much more important than van Dijk.

Will Klopp even last to be able to have Keita at his disposal if they miss out on CL? Im honestly not sure.

Thought he was more attack minded though I could wrong.

Klopp has been pretty poor in the transfer market, really. How could he still have no DM or a decent GK at this point?

coys200 · Dec 28, 2017

lukespurs7 said:
This is all subjective but if we compared us to the current top 6 on a number of areas I think it currently stands like this: (The below + fact we are not at our home ground this year means it comes as no surprise we are battling for 4th)

1st XI:
1 - Man.City
2 - Chelsea
3 - Tottenham
4- Arsenal/Liverpool
5- Man.U

Attack:
1- Man.City
2- Liverpool
3- Tottenham
4- Arsenal
5- Man.U
6- Chelsea

Defence:
1- Man.City(due to players and style of play)
2- Chelsea/Man.U
3- Tottenham
4- Arsenal
5- Liverpool

Squad depth:
1- Man.City
2- Man.U
3- Chelsea
4- Arsenal
5- Tottenham
6- Liverpool

Manager: (success,experience,future potential and current level combined)
1- Man.City/Pep Guadiola
2- Chelsea/Conte
3- Man.U/Mouriniho
4- Tottenham/Poch
5-Liverpool/Koop
6-Arsenal/Wenger

Money/spending power + wages
1- Man.City
2- Chelsea
3- Man.U
4- Liverpool
5- Arsenal
6-Tottenham

Stadium:
1- Man.U
2- Tottenham
3- Arsenal
4- Man.City/Liverpool
5- Chelsea

Club mentality of success(more recently)
1- Man.U
2- Chelsea
3- Man.City
4- Arsenal
5- Liverpool
6 - Tottenham

So as we can see we aren’t top in any single aspect, in terms of stadium we were last but will now go to 2nd. We have a manager who has as much potential as any of the other bar mabye Pep who seems to be quite special, our first XI if we keep them all is competitive but Liverpool are strengthening as I’m sure Arsenal will, we can’t stand still on that front. Some of these areas it is basically impossible to compete due to the money but if we can close the gap in the other areas and overachieve as Poch has us consistently doing then mabye Just mabye we can win something.

As for this season we ‘could’ come anywhere from 2-6 but I think realistically we will be 5-6, I think Liverpool will pip us this year to 4th but I may be wrong, our game at their gaff and our games Home to man.u and Arsenal will be very important this season and as we are at Wembley I just expect us to drop more points than we usually would which will drop us into 5/6. It would be a real shame to not have CL footy 1st season in the new stadium but hopefully if so we can field a 2nd team in the europa and really focus on the league and Cups as long as the players don’t jump ship the second we are out of he CL which I don’t think they will then we will be ok.

COYS.

Although City are obviously the best team I still think they are slightly lucky to have points total. Normally even the best teams will have those game you totally dominate but don’t win. City have had those but managed to scrap a win in them all Bournemouth saints West Ham Huddersfield. Had they drawn those it would still be game on.

Don_Felipe · Dec 28, 2017

My Spurs conditioned doomsday brain keeps thinking we'll finish 5th, triumphantly above l'arse - who then win the Europa League....

Please don't let this happen spurs.

Dov67 · Dec 28, 2017

yankspurs said:
Will he though? Lovren was absolute quality at Saints for Poch. Klopp has turned him into a pub league player. Klopp’s problems lie in his extreme lack of ability to coach a defense.

no way of knowing for certain at this point, but i suspect he will improve them and therefore make things more difficult for us to finish above them......though i still believe we will.

Thing is, many would've said we were mad spending £42m on Sanchez but it doesn't look so crazy now.

bomberH · Dec 28, 2017

Even If we stay top of the table we won’t qualify for CL...

(Apologies if already posted!)

coys200 · Dec 28, 2017

Gonna be a right old bum fight. At least it should Be moderately exciting.

coys200 · Dec 28, 2017

What happens if we have to play a CL play off in August and stadium isn’t ready till September?

RichieS · Dec 28, 2017

coys200 said:
What happens if we have to play a CL play off in August and stadium isn’t ready till September?

All 4 English teams go straight into the group stage now.

SpursDave88 · Dec 28, 2017

Westmorland said:
Watching that city game last night...the money is killing the football. It’s like watching the same game over and over again. When the second Pool goal went in against Swansea I turned off. What’s the point.
Half of the premier league are terrified of relegation and the top six are miles ahead of the rest. Did you hear Neville quote Guardiola as saying that this is the most defensive league he has played in. Don’t know what the answer is as the clubs are not going to start changing how the money is distributed.
Nothing wrong with playing on the break but these teams don’t even do that.
Good to see Benitez is ambitious. He says he can make Newcastle a top eight club....as good as Watford then!

Arsenal went a season unbeaten in 2004, Utd used to win the title every season. At the end of the day it's still 11 professional footballers against 11, we've had a different title winner every year for the past 3 years and 7 clubs have played CL football in the last two seasons. I agree watching City winning every week is very boring, but they only added 3 starters from last season's team, one of whom has been injured all year and another of whom is the goalkeeper (we sold them the third one).

City have happened upon a perfect formula for now, but it won't last forever...it never does.

nightgoat · Dec 28, 2017

SpursDave88 said:
Arsenal went a season unbeaten in 2004, Utd used to win the title every season. At the end of the day it's still 11 professional footballers against 11, we've had a different title winner every year for the past 3 years and 7 clubs have played CL football in the last two seasons. I agree watching City winning every week is very boring, but they only added 3 starters from last seasons team, one of whom as been injured all year and another of whom is the goalkeeper (we sold them the third one).

City have happened upon a perfect formula for now, but it won't last forever...it never does.

There are quite a few people on here who are going to have to swallow a big slice of humble pie and admit that Guardiola is actually a very good manager.

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