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The glorious march to CL qualification

lurker of old said:
I think that it would be difficult to find a club to loan him to where he would learn more than he would staying.
Foyth needs to go to any 2nd division (Championship) club, to learn how to defend.
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Disagree. He just needs another season playing about as much as this one and continuing to learn. He's young so mistakes will happen. Its the price we pay for our strategy and business model (and funding the stadium)

If we loaned him out we'd need to sign someone else, which we can't afford
 
AdamB said:
And to make things even better today:

- Roma (above us in the UEFA coefficients) only drew and are now 3 points behind 4th placed Atalanta with 3 games to go. Milan can draw level with Roma if they win their game in hand
- Getafe won and Sevilla (also above us) lost this weekend meaning Getafe are now 3 points ahead of Sevilla with 2 games to go
- Man U obviously failed to qualify

We're currently 18th in the UEFA rankings so, assuming things above don;t change, that puts us 15th highest ranked team for the CL next year and we'd move up another spot if Arsenal dont win the EL

I know its not all about rankings, and league winners in the top 6 or 7 leagues take precedent, however it feels a little more comfortable now that we might be a second seed for the CL groups next year
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We'll be in pot 1 as CL winners, so no need to worry about all these scenarios.
 
El Guepardo said:
I just hope we can enjoy the achievement of top 4 again in a difficult season but we need to make changes still, get stronger, as through our success there was still weaknesses this season. We need to step up and get better to push more next season. But proud of top 4, even if perhaps not always how it’s been achieved.
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How it we achieved is very important. We lucked into top 4 this year. 9 times out of 10 70 points doesn't get you CL.
 
alekaras said:
How it we achieved is very important. We lucked into top 4 this year. 9 times out of 10 70 points doesn't get you CL.
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We ground our way to it. We didnt play pretty but we got the results we needed.

When the dust settles I actually think this will be a watershed season for us, when we took a step on.

Imagine if we actually had a fit squad all season, we would be on for the title...
 
AdamB said:
Yeah, he needs to be 4th choice CB again next season - play him in all domestic cup games and selected other lower risk games. Aim to get him 20-odd games next season. He needs time to mature and learn when to dive in and when not to
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I think this was the learning season for him. In retrospect the red he got yesterday was a key point of his learning experience and will help him a lot in his decision making moving forward.
 
Gazza Dazzla said:
Arsenal have been pretty terrible this season, if they had Wenger in charge they’d have qualified for the CL through the league. I know that goes against the grain but I don’t get how people can say Emery has done well, he’s done “ok” at best and that’s purely because they are still in the EL but if they don’t win it then it’s pointless. The players he’s bought are bang average and they have spent shedloads in the last 18 months, we could only dream of a net spend like that!
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I think they brought in Emery for his EL experience. Especially since they'll be in it for a good few years. :p
 
milo said:
It depends on the formation we play next season and where Dier is playing. I think that if Alderweireld leaves, it is most likely that our existing CBs get promoted a place and we sign a younger player to train up.
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I have a feeling Dier will be gone, along with Eriksen, Lamela, Wanyama and possibly Trippier from the 1st team squad.
 
alekaras said:
How it we achieved is very important. We lucked into top 4 this year. 9 times out of 10 70 points doesn't get you CL.
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This is where I think it is important to have context. We have had the most bizarre set of circumstances I can remember in a season and been incredibly unlucky in many ways...so much to that I think we have earned our bizarrely good flashes of luck this season.
 
alekaras said:
How it we achieved is very important. We lucked into top 4 this year. 9 times out of 10 70 points doesn't get you CL.
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That’s what I mean. Proud of what we have achieved. Less proud of looking lazy and unmotivated and not getting the job done sooner.
 
alekaras said:
How it we achieved is very important. We lucked into top 4 this year. 9 times out of 10 70 points doesn't get you CL.
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https://www.dreamteamfc.com/c/news-...d-to-get-to-into-the-premier-league-top-four/

According to this article, which is a couple of years old, the average points tally to get fourth place was 68.24 points. They observed that 68 points was enough to guarantee Champions League football in 13 of the 21 seasons. I've always thought of 70 points as more or less guaranteed Champions League, in the same way the 38-40 point mark is heralded as a guarantor of PL safety.

EDIT: Just another point on that note, before we were blessed with the mark of Poch, our record points tally was under AVB 2012-13 and we achieved 72 points. That was, at the time, the highest recorded points tally for a team who failed to get top 4.

Some (@Gutterboy) argued it to be evidence of AVB being some kind of tactical messiah. Others argued the amount of points you get is a poor reflection of team quality because it merely reflects the strength of the league - with league position itself serving the purpose it is built for - to reflect team performance.

I think 70 points is an acceptable tally- not to take away your point that our form has dropped drastically and we have put in some very questionable performances.
 
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Let's sign Mbenza and Murray, just for the fudge of it. Can't believe this season... Relieved, delighted but still a bit annoyed.

Hope the players can use this as a platform for a huge result on Wednesday. GET IN!
 
Craig_J said:
I think 70 points is an acceptable tally- not to take away your point that our form has dropped drastically and we have put in some very questionable performances.
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I still cant get away from the idea of "what if we werent handicapped all season" and "what if we didnt lose an uncharacteristically high number of games"?

Genuinely think a 3rd or 4th place finish is a remarkable achievement.

That and a CL semi (possibly final) having done it the hard way...
 
nayimfromthehalfwayline said:
I still cant get away from the idea of "what if we werent handicapped all season" and "what if we didnt lose an uncharacteristically high number of games"?

Genuinely think a 3rd or 4th place finish is a remarkable achievement.

That and a CL semi (possibly final) having done it the hard way...
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Who would have thought 4 years ago any of us would ever be bemoaning finishing 4th rather than gushing ourselves silly at the prospect of a season of Champions League football.

Certainly a sign of how far we have come!
 
The last few months have left a sour taste that is for sure. Ever Since we won 4 on the trot without Kane we have been a bit of a mess. We have not played badly, but individual errors and lack of options from the bench have really kicked us.

Lets get one thing straight though. Most of our players have had their longest season ever. Nearly all that went to the Semi Finals of the World cup have had an injury at some point, all that an playing away at Wembley. There is no doubt that starting the season in our new home and hopefully with a fully fit squad will in itself give us a massive boost. But we all know we need 2-3 quality players to come in and that is only if we dont lose Eriksen
and Toby. Poch has hit his required mark of getting us Champions league football again. All this money flowing in from our Champions league run and the forecasts of what we can see coming in finance wise from the new stadium. This is the moment if we want to push on to the next level. Like Liverpool we need to sign those quality players to get us on.

Out guys look tired. I dont blame them. Son himself has played so many games.

WE might look at the fact we have lost 12 games. That is pretty bad. But you can also say we have won more games than any other team bar the top two. Lets all hope the players are relieved we dont need to go out next weekend in a do or die game. All our energy into this game against Ajax and then the rest can take care of itself.
 
Craig_J said:
Who would have thought 4 years ago any of us would ever be bemoaning finishing 4th rather than gushing ourselves silly at the prospect of a season of Champions League football.

Certainly a sign of how far we have come!
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Im genuinely enthused by this season in particular.

Spurs of old would have folded and fallen into the EUROPA spots, the amount of things against us this season has been incredible.

And did we? Did we fudge! We dug in, and we ground it out, and we got what we needed to get. Incl a CL run to be proud of.

This is proper "big club" stuff. We arent pretenders or upstarts anymore.
 
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