Champions

[catcherintherye]

I simply cannot see anyone getting close to them now. They have a banker 10 points (probably 12) from their next 4 games & at that point they will be 4 points plus clear. Coasting job from then on.

But, that might suit us down to ground, Liverpool in particular, but also MUFC, Spurs, chelsea and co will push in Europe and drop more points. Top 4 a real opportunity here.

I am a real optimist, but you are right. There were 2 teams who had the potential to put all others out of sight. City and Liverpool. It's pretty clear Liverpool won't do that now. As you said a while back, if there wasa moment they were going to do it, it would have been between December-January. That they've failed is actually quite onimous for them.

City though, under the radar have looked very strong. I did say weeks ago, even when they were a long way behind, they were the big competitors for the title. Diaz doesn't get the plaudits of VVD, he wasn't signed for a world record fee to enormous fan fare, but he has in his own way been every bit as important. Laporte is not the same player following his knee injury, and he has really steadied them down.

From our perspective, I can make a case that we can finish above all teams, but City if they kick into gear we can't. And they ook worryingly like they are getting into gear for me.

All we can do is keep winning. 4 game winning runs, even if we have a loss or two in between them are really useful. You are right too, that managers like Mourinho, Klopp, OGS, Arteta may start to prioritise Europe as a result- which as you say works well for us. I'd also note, in all years European football makes things very difficult. It stretches squads and causes injuries. This year more than ever, with no meaningful pre-season it could be very damaging for those sides. With all the uncertainty of when and how games go ahead, quite restrictive rules etc, it will not help them. If I were to make a case for us V City, thats about the only thing I coud say- does the European football cause a fatigue?

Anyway, it's a fascinating season. I greatly miss not having fans in, and sort of think what that away at Wolves would have been like had they been there to see that win. But it's been brilliant entertainment this season. On a whatsapp group with loads of different fans, and the enagement and discussion about who is finishing where is unchartered for us all really.

 

[Zatara]

Top 4 keeps the top players and attracts others...plus great for marketing/sponsorships and of course the money from champions league.

FA Cup brings the cup of course so can be a catalyst for success...

 

[messymascot]

This season if you gave me the choice I would choose finishing 4th. However if that is as good as it gets then next season I would rather win the cup and finish 8th. My hope is by finishing 4th this season we will attract better players that will eventually lead to us winning Leagues, European trophies and domestic cups in future seasons.

 

[Goat]

Top 4 keeps the top players and attracts others...plus great for marketing/sponsorships and of course the money from champions league.

FA Cup brings the cup of course so can be a catalyst for success...

Yeah, that 2m prize money will really help us kick on.

 

[Zatara]

Yeah, that 2m prize money will really help us kick on.

£2mil from?

 

[Goat]

£2mil from?

Winning the FA Cup.

 

[Zezti]

£2mil from?

Winning the FA Cup.

The Emirates FA Cup
Season 2020-21
Payments made from The FA's prize fund

Extra preliminary round	(184)	£1,125 Losers receive £375
Preliminary round	(160)	£1,444 Losers receive £481
First round qualifying	(116)	£2,250 Losers receive £750
Second Round Qualifying	(80)	£3,375 Losers receive £1,125
Third Round Qualifying	(40)	£5,625 Losers receive £1,875
Fourth Round Qualifying	(32)	£9,375 Losers receive £3,125
First Round Proper	(40)	£16,972 Losers receive £5,657
Second Round Proper	(20)	£25,500 Losers receive £8500
Third Round Proper winners	(32)	£61,500 Losers receive £20,500
Fourth Round Proper winners	(16)	£90,000
Fifth Round Proper winners	(8)	£180,000
Quarter-Final winners	(4)	£360,000
Semi-Final winners	(2)	£900,000
Semi-Final losers	(2)	£450,000
Final runners-up	(1)	£900,000
Final winners	(1)	£1,800,000

 

[Zezti]

Would that include broadcast revenue?

 

[JMT]

Cup would be priority for me, some of us unlucky ones got born into the Walter Smith regime.

 

[DanB90]

I’ve always been of the opinion that I’d rather a trophy than CL football, but my view has changed fairly recently. It feels like football is fast becoming a closed shop, and I worry if we’re not constantly finishing in the European positions soon, we may miss out.

 

[PSB1]

There was a time when the F A Cup had its mystique ... if you got to the final, people from Lancashire, Yorkshire and the midlands could make their once a decade visit to London, if nothing else.

Times have changed and the imperative for clubs with ambition is to be in and around the top 4. Without that, it's unlikely you'll keep your best players. We've left the era of flat caps, whippets and people standing to attention for the National Anthem in cinemas. The F A Cup would be lovely to have but ultimately won't progress us, IMO.

 

[kev]

.

There was a time when the F A Cup had its mystique ... if you got to the final, people from Lancashire, Yorkshire and the midlands could make their once a decade visit to London, if nothing else.

Times have changed and the imperative for clubs with ambition is to be in and around the top 4. Without that, it's unlikely you'll keep your best players. We've left the era of flat caps, whippets and people standing to attention for the National Anthem in cinemas. The F A Cup would be lovely to have but ultimately won't progress us, IMO.

Exactly this.
The FA Cup WAS for a long time a magnificent competition. Regrettably, for the reasons you quote, regular European qualification (and success in Europe) must now be the goal.

 

[Saint Domingo]

My thinking on this has probably changed a bit, even in the last couple of years.

I understand it's a bit annoying when mainkly Liverpool fans makemockery of how many years it's been. I do think it's partly motivated by fear, they never really did it before Moshiri arrived, as there was little expectations we'd even win a trophy.

Partly to shut them up, but more that really it was all I ever saw us doing/I knew we didn't have the infastructure to capitalise on it even if we got top 4, I'd have always previously taken the trophy option. While we are not completely there yet, we are a lot further along, and with the DOF and manager we have, as well as the owners commitment we are now qualitatively better placed to capitalise if we got top 4. We have a manager who Christiano Ronaldo rings to congratulate on signing players.

If we got top 4, with the money available and the manager, we do what we do last summer but style it up. I would not be surprised if names such as Ronaldo, Ramos, Mueller, Boateng etc were not in the frame. You can add in thers, Rabiot, Varane, Casemiro, Modric. I'm not saying we sign them all, but 2-3 could easily come. People will say it sounds ludicrous, but it's no more ludicrous than saying a year ago we'd get Allan and James Rodriguez here for little over 20m between them.

We also probably get a couple of the young up and coming big deals over the line. Maybe Luka Jovic comes. Max Aarons probably comes and forces a move here. Puig from Barca, or if he ever gets fit the lad Dembele might.

You get the gist. Most of the above doesn't happen- or certainly doesn't happen as quickly if we win the FA Cup but finish 10th. Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted with 10th and the FA Cup, but thats the reality of things.

We get hung up on being "winners" but now that probably means finishing in the top 4. Ancelotti knows this. People laighed at Arsenal for always finishing in the top 4 and winning nothing, but it contributed to them winning the FA Cup 4 years out of the last 7, alongside getting to Europea finals. Lets be honest, if we win 4 FA Cups in the next 7 years, we are all delighted beyind expectations.

Id agree. The interesting one for me is CL qualification. If we could get it and sustain it then history shows that any team from major leagues qualifying for it regularly will at some point make at least a semi final probably a final. Even amongst the English teams, they all have a final to show for their efforts (apart from City but they will get there inevitably) even Spurs and Arsenal. Same in Italy Juve, Inter, Milan, Roma have all made at least the semis; Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Schalke, Leipzig in the Bundesliga; Real, Barca, Atletico, Valencia, Villreal, Deportivo in la liga. Even Leicester made the quarter finals in their one foray.

The pattern is clear, it’s harder to get into the CL than it is to actually do well in it if you can keep qualifying for a good few years in a row. If Everton can achieve this under Ancelotti like Spurs did under Pochettino (and why not when Klopp will soon leave Liverpool probably, Arteta and Lampard are unproven, and Mourinho could go either way at Spurs) then history shows that at some point we would find ourselves in the latter stages. Every single other team from the major European leagues who’s re qualifying regularly has seen the draw open up for them at some point or another. The challenge for us is to get in and then stay in for a season. If we do that then there’s 3 of the sky six not getting in and they get weaker and weaker the longer we can sustain top 4 placings.

 

[Zatara]

My thinking on this has probably changed a bit, even in the last couple of years.

I understand it's a bit annoying when mainkly Liverpool fans makemockery of how many years it's been. I do think it's partly motivated by fear, they never really did it before Moshiri arrived, as there was little expectations we'd even win a trophy.

Partly to shut them up, but more that really it was all I ever saw us doing/I knew we didn't have the infastructure to capitalise on it even if we got top 4, I'd have always previously taken the trophy option. While we are not completely there yet, we are a lot further along, and with the DOF and manager we have, as well as the owners commitment we are now qualitatively better placed to capitalise if we got top 4. We have a manager who Christiano Ronaldo rings to congratulate on signing players.

If we got top 4, with the money available and the manager, we do what we do last summer but style it up. I would not be surprised if names such as Ronaldo, Ramos, Mueller, Boateng etc were not in the frame. You can add in thers, Rabiot, Varane, Casemiro, Modric. I'm not saying we sign them all, but 2-3 could easily come. People will say it sounds ludicrous, but it's no more ludicrous than saying a year ago we'd get Allan and James Rodriguez here for little over 20m between them.

We also probably get a couple of the young up and coming big deals over the line. Maybe Luka Jovic comes. Max Aarons probably comes and forces a move here. Puig from Barca, or if he ever gets fit the lad Dembele might.

You get the gist. Most of the above doesn't happen- or certainly doesn't happen as quickly if we win the FA Cup but finish 10th. Don't get me wrong, I'd be delighted with 10th and the FA Cup, but thats the reality of things.

We get hung up on being "winners" but now that probably means finishing in the top 4. Ancelotti knows this. People laighed at Arsenal for always finishing in the top 4 and winning nothing, but it contributed to them winning the FA Cup 4 years out of the last 7, alongside getting to Europea finals. Lets be honest, if we win 4 FA Cups in the next 7 years, we are all delighted beyind expectations.

Top 4 is basically everything bar actually having a trophy.

The players will stay + come...money will flow and advertising revenue will increase.

The cup basically is something you want to win to grow a winning mentality -- i think these days top 4 gives you that as well.

The players we could sign with Ancelotti at the helm would take us to a new dimension.

Winning the FA Cup.

Id take top 4.

Id agree. The interesting one for me is CL qualification. If we could get it and sustain it then history shows that any team from major leagues qualifying for it regularly will at some point make at least a semi final probably a final. Even amongst the English teams, they all have a final to show for their efforts (apart from City but they will get there inevitably) even Spurs and Arsenal. Same in Italy Juve, Inter, Milan, Roma have all made at least the semis; Bayern, Dortmund, Leverkusen, Schalke, Leipzig in the Bundesliga; Real, Barca, Atletico, Valencia, Villreal, Deportivo in la liga. Even Leicester made the quarter finals in their one foray.

The pattern is clear, it’s harder to get into the CL than it is to actually do well in it if you can keep qualifying for a good few years in a row. If Everton can achieve this under Ancelotti like Spurs did under Pochettino (and why not when Klopp will soon leave Liverpool probably, Arteta and Lampard are unproven, and Mourinho could go either way at Spurs) then history shows that at some point we would find ourselves in the latter stages. Every single other team from the major European leagues who’s re qualifying regularly has seen the draw open up for them at some point or another. The challenge for us is to get in and then stay in for a season. If we do that then there’s 3 of the sky six not getting in and they get weaker and weaker the longer we can sustain top 4 placings.

With Ancelotti building the side then we would be a threat to alot of sides in european competition.

It could really set us up for many years and be a catalyst for success.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Id take a draw against leicester. If we win though then i think we'll beat both Newcastle and Leeds and push towards the top.

I fancy a draw against Leicester and a win against Newcastle.

Leeds will be the interesting one - will we have learnt our lesson from our first encounter? Win that one and its 7/9 points which is a solid return.