Seventh Place

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It is certainly very tight.

Looking bigger picture and going very slightly off thread, I think the league now has a top 2, a next four, a next 4-5, a just avoid relegation next 5 and a bottom four and that those individual groups are quite easy to move around within, but very difficult to get out of - upwards at any rate.

So, I do not see us breaking into the top six any time soon. What I do think we can do is to turn the top 6 into a top 7 and then build on that. There is too much money being spent by the current top 6 for us to muscle our way in at the moment

So, for me, the next step is just to reduce the gap between the top 6 and us and be ready to pounce if Arsenal or Man U have another dodgy season.
 
I really don't think potential big signings care about the Europa League, especially if you only sneak in by finishing 7th. Smaller ones might as they might think it'll open the door for them to play as there's more fixtures to contend with, but your big name players aren't going to be fussed

If you win a cup to get in then maybe, as it suggests you're going somewhere as a club, but that's about it

Champions League? Yes, that's a selling point

Europa League? No, I don't think so

For that reason I'm not that arsed where we finish. So long as we play well in these next three games then I'll be happy, as it means we can take the momentum into pre-season
 
Being positive here and looking at that I'd say if we don't get 7th we'll prob end up in 8th spot and we'll prob only miss out on 7th by a small margin like 1 point. It'll be tight. Although I agree with what a previous poster said, missing out on Europe (provided Watford dont win the cup) could do us well in getting rid of players we don't need, bringing in a small group of new players and gelling them with an uninterrupted pre season and domestic campaign.

Isn't it Copa America this year?

That means Richarlison and probably Mina won't be back till July at the latest (Depending on how far their countries get)

Here's hoping Brazil and Colombia crash out in the group stages ;)
 
It is certainly very tight.

Looking bigger picture and going very slightly off thread, I think the league now has a top 2, a next four, a next 4-5, a just avoid relegation next 5 and a bottom four and that those individual groups are quite easy to move around within, but very difficult to get out of - upwards at any rate.

So, I do not see us breaking into the top six any time soon. What I do think we can do is to turn the top 6 into a top 7 and then build on that. There is too much money being spent by the current top 6 for us to muscle our way in at the moment

So, for me, the next step is just to reduce the gap between the top 6 and us and be ready to pounce if Arsenal or Man U have another dodgy season.
I don't think you need to spend fortunes, although of course you have to be able to afford good players. We spent a fortune, Man U have, Spurs have not. Much more to it than cash alone.
 
So, I do not see us breaking into the top six any time soon. What I do think we can do is to turn the top 6 into a top 7 and then build on that. There is too much money being spent by the current top 6 for us to muscle our way in at the moment

So, for me, the next step is just to reduce the gap between the top 6 and us and be ready to pounce if Arsenal or Man U have another dodgy season.

How can you say this when we've won 10 out of 12 possible points in our last 4 matches vs the Top 6?

The only teams in the Top 6 we haven't taken points from are City & Tottenham, and we put up a good fight in all 3 of those matches.

We need to focus on our consistency against the lower teams. We're only 15 points away from United who are comfortably in 6th.

That's 5 wins. We should have beat Fulham, Newcastle, Watford, Brighton & Leicester just off the top of my head.

Then another 12 points dropped from draws coming against the likes of Wolves, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Newcastle & Watford.
 

How can you say this when we've won 10 out of 12 possible points in our last 4 matches vs the Top 6?

The only teams in the Top 6 we haven't taken points from are City & Tottenham, and we put up a good fight in all 3 of those matches.

We need to focus on our consistency against the lower teams. We're only 15 points away from United who are comfortably in 6th.

That's 5 wins. We should have beat Fulham, Newcastle, Watford, Brighton & Leicester just off the top of my head.

Then another 12 points dropped from draws coming against the likes of Wolves, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Newcastle & Watford.


I think you answered your own question. The top 6 don't drop points (well, hardly any) against the lower order teams.
 
I really don't think potential big signings care about the Europa League, especially if you only sneak in by finishing 7th. Smaller ones might as they might think it'll open the door for them to play as there's more fixtures to contend with, but your big name players aren't going to be fussed

I am sorry but thats a very skewed and faulted view in my opinion.

Better in Europe than not in it. If we are attempting to sign a player that would improve the quality of our starting XI, I doubt he would give two hoots about where we play if he is not playing in Europe. And to attract this level of players, we have to be better than the club that he is playing at. There are 1000s of players who would improve a team that isn't (yet!) good for Europe, but better than the rest. Like Kante or Son before they came to the premier league.
 
I am sorry but thats a very skewed and faulted view in my opinion.

Better in Europe than not in it. If we are attempting to sign a player that would improve the quality of our starting XI, I doubt he would give two hoots about where we play if he is not playing in Europe. And to attract this level of players, we have to be better than the club that he is playing at. There are 1000s of players who would improve a team that isn't (yet!) good for Europe, but better than the rest. Like Kante or Son before they came to the premier league.

I really think it means nothing

The Champions League has pull because it's seen as this big deal and players want to be part of it

If we're offering Europa League and someone like Leicester is offering money, then the money could swing it IMO

If we're offering Champions League and another club just has money, then the Champions League could swing it IMO

I'd be interested to actually get a chance to chat with a player about it, because I reckon they'd back me up on this one, but no one is going to say it publicly
 
If we're offering Europa League and someone like Leicester is offering money, then the money could swing it IMO

If we're offering Champions League and another club just has money, then the Champions League could swing it IMO

If money is important, it wont matter where we play. The player will go to the club that offers him more money.

If Europe is important, it wont matter how much money a club will offer. The player will come to us if we are in Europe.

Plus playing in Europe means increased exposure for the player. Which means, if he performs better than expected, then a "bigger" club will make an offer for him dwarfing what he would otherwise be making in any of the above mentioned scenarios.

I still dont think players would not want Europe in favour of more bank balance. If you still feel so, lets just agree to disagree.
 
If money is important, it wont matter where we play. The player will go to the club that offers him more money.

If Europe is important, it wont matter how much money a club will offer. The player will come to us if we are in Europe.

Plus playing in Europe means increased exposure for the player. Which means, if he performs better than expected, then a "bigger" club will make an offer for him dwarfing what he would otherwise be making in any of the above mentioned scenarios.

I still dont think players would not want Europe in favour of more bank balance. If you still feel so, lets just agree to disagree.

There is a big perception difference between the Europa League and Champions League though

Players don't see it as a blanket "Oh, they're playing in Europe"

One definitely means more than the other, and one is a selling point whilst the other isn't

One means you play in the biggest club tournament in the world, the other means you play Thursday-Sunday all season in a tournament that feels like it goes on forever, where literally no one cares about it until the semi-final stage, and where the only reason to win it is so that you can qualify for the tournament that people actually care about

I'm not happy about that of course, but UEFA destroyed the UEFA Cup when they added a group stage and then finished it off with the name change and the fact that teams from the Champions League can drop into it

It's prestige is minimal and means next to nothing when attracting most players
 

I really don't think potential big signings care about the Europa League, especially if you only sneak in by finishing 7th. Smaller ones might as they might think it'll open the door for them to play as there's more fixtures to contend with, but your big name players aren't going to be fussed

If you win a cup to get in then maybe, as it suggests you're going somewhere as a club, but that's about it

Champions League? Yes, that's a selling point

Europa League? No, I don't think so

For that reason I'm not that arsed where we finish. So long as we play well in these next three games then I'll be happy, as it means we can take the momentum into pre-season

I agree.
 
Avoid the Europa for now - need to sort the squad out first imo......

If we really get rid of 20 and bring in 6 then the squad will definitely benefit from having just a domestic season with one game a week and more training ground time.

Allow them to gel and not overload the new players with games straight away.

I just can't bring myself to not want European football though. I'll be happy either way. I think we'll definitely be a lot better in Europe if we get things settled first though. We looked like a team of strangers after Koeman and Walsh bought so many players and played in Europe straight away.
 
If we get 7th then great. We should be aiming to always be in europe.

But if we don't make it then I won't be too fussed. Our squad depth is all quantity and no quality. We have a massive summer ahead to change that and early qualifiers could be a hindrance.
 
The only teams in the Top 6 we haven't taken points from are City & Tottenham, and we put up a good fight in all 3 of those matches.
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:coffee:
 

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