At this point in time...

[EQP]

Europa and the FA cup could well end up being our best chance of getting European football next season.

It's a fair question, as the league is obviously the most important for the club, but I would love to see us win a trophy (plus the FA cup final is on my birthday!).

Good point. I look at Everton and Liverpool ,who at times are playing fantastic football, as our main competition for 4th place. Now to be on equal footing in terms of fixtures and freshness will only benefit us (no european fixtures for either of those teams).

 

[TrueYid]

Winning the EL gets us CL football next year. Probably our best chance. It would be irresponsible not to go for it.

As for the FA cup, we are playing Arsenal and no matter what competition we are on we should always be beating Arsenal. So we go for that to.

As for the EPL. We could win the thing.

 

[Spurger King]

Winning the EL gets us CL football next year. Probably our best chance. It would be irresponsible not to go for it.

As for the FA cup, we are playing Arsenal and no matter what competition we are on we should always be beating Arsenal. So we go for that to.

As for the EPL. We could win the thing.

Not this season unfortunately. Only applies from next season on.

 

[EQP]

Focus on the League for me. This is a strange season and whoever finishes in the top 4 will probably go on to better things. Miss out and you lose revenue and the ability to attract better players and your rivals get it. Cups are lovely but long term they don't count for much.

My biggest fear. Since Tim isn't a big name manager who can attract a certain level of player, we need to place as high as possible in the league to give us a better chance of keeping our stars and attracting more.

 

[EQP]

Winning the EL gets us CL football next year. Probably our best chance. It would be irresponsible not to go for it.

As for the FA cup, we are playing Arsenal and no matter what competition we are on we should always be beating Arsenal. So we go for that to.

As for the EPL. We could win the thing.

At this point in time though, us focusing our energy on the league stands the best way to qualify for Champs League. Looking at our run of fixtures, if we can stay healthy and focus on the league while playing the kids in the cups competitions, i see no reason why not.

 

[EQP]

You cant pick and choose. You either aim to be a club that wins things or not.

In a few weeks we will probably have something like a full squad and players will be twiddling their thumbs without cup football to provide game time.

Aim to win every game. Winning is a habit and momentum plays a huge part.

1) You make the running/managing of a team seem black/white. There are moments where we will have to look at the value of certain games and chose the best course of action be it playing the kids in order for them to get experience or playing squad players to save the better players for more challenging/worthwhile opposition.

2) True, players could need more gametime but i look at Liverpool/Everton who without EL managed to get players gametime but more importantly have gelled and are playing fantastic football at times. Be it double sessions or more intra team/local friendlies we can still keep the players fitness and competitive nature up.

3) This could be true for League games but our wins in the EL never drove us to play better in the league. In fact looking at fixtures after the EL, we struggled for points, our most telling thrashings came after EL games.

3-0 Tromso (W) = 1-0 Win (Cardiff)
2-0 Anzhi (W) = 3 - 0 Loss (WHU)
2-0 Sheriff (W) = 1-0 Loss (NEWCASTLE)
2-0 Sheriff (W) = 1 - 0 Win (Hull)
2-0 Trosmo (W) = 2-2 Draw (MANU)
4-1 Anzhi (W) = 5-0 Loss (Liverpool)

 

[parklane1]

I want us to win things, so i hope we try for all the trophys.

 

[Misfit]

There's simply no need to. Zero need and in the long-term counter-productive. In previous seasons I was against it but could see the merits at least when our squad was rather imbalanced or lacking in certain areas. We now have a large enough squad to have two very effective teams. The players all need games to maintain/find form and keep fitness levels up.

And hey, I know it's been rather sporadic for the last 20 yrs but winning a cup is always a positive.

 

[Paolo10]

I would play as many of the talented young players as possible and the fringe guys in the Cups and concentrate with the main men in the League.

Fuck the Cups tbh.

 

[dontcallme]

I've never thought it particularly helpful for the young players to just be thrown together into a team they've never played with before in the cups.

As we've seen with our experienced players they can play much worse when playing with new partners all the time. Often our young players look bad in the cups as they don't have any understanding with their team-mates. This can't be good for their confidence or development.

I like what Sherwood has done with Bentaleb. Bringing him on as a sub, integrating him slowly but not being afraid to bring him on in important games.

If Sherwood uses the squad correctly then we are strong enough to compete in the league and 2 cups. Of course we have a big ask in the FA Cup to start off with.

To dare is to do, not waiting to die of boredom and all that stuff.

 

[BSJ93]

There's no point having a big squad if you're not going to use it.

I know we've got injuries, and have picked up injuries in games that we didn't necessarily need to under AvB in the EL, but we're now in the part of the tournament that matters. Not to mention the prospect of playing Benfica/Juve/Ajax/Napoli at some point too.

 

[kaz Hirai]

Not this season unfortunately. Only applies from next season on.

Which is why we will win it this season and then never again

 

[Spurger King]

Which is why we will win it this season and then never again

I'd probably still take that!

 

[theShiznit]

Think he should use the FA cup and Europa to experiment with different formations.

Like 4-4-1-1
4-4-0-2
4-4-1-0-1
4-4-0-2
or the much maligned 4-4-1.75-0.25 although from hearing some you'd (wrongly) think we were playing that already...

 

[TheAmerican]

Which is why we will win it this season and then never again

Never again cuz we'll be in the Champions league, making it past the group stages

 

[Kingstheman]

Think he should use the FA cup and Europa to experiment with different formations.

Like 4-4-1-1
4-4-0-2
4-4-1-0-1
4-4-0-2
or the much maligned 4-4-1.75-0.25 although from hearing some you'd (wrongly) think we were playing that already...

Stop with the football fractions...

I've just got over footballing algebra under AVB and my head hurts...

 

[Misfit]

Stop with the football fractions...

I've just got over footballing algebra under AVB and my head hurts...

Just be grateful it isn't long division.

 

[Pedro]

No an easy question to answer. I voted league and el since we have have already progressed to the knock outs. Our priority needs to be the league, but we should still take the cups seriously, especially if/when we get to the later stages. A few key players should be rested in the cups, but we have a strong enough squad to field a good second team. Since we have a bit of an injury crisis right now, I would play a weakened team vs arse and if we get though then start taking the FA cup more seriously once we have more players fit.

 

[Singayid]

Good points by all. Though i should've clarify what i meant when i said "pass" on cup competitions which is to say i'd rather see the youngers players and squad players being played primarily in these fixtures instead of risking the likes of dembele/ade.

I think it partly depends on oppo - for Sunday against Arse needs to be a strong team - not full EPL but close - then possibly younger players in EL again depending on oppo

 

[TaoistMonkey]

He would be a fool not to go for the EL.