Hitler did study to be a chef in our diff old city, true fact.
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tomhagen2 - aman_narang92@yahoo.com
Player Valuation: £100k
Hard to see City dropping any points at home, though Toure and possibly Kompany could be a big loss for them
Ashtonian
Banned on request
what i mean is two close games go in our favor and we are top of the league or at least next to it and our season is suddenly amazing. The sheer difference between ourselves punching above our weight and our title destiny neighbors is 2 of our games were 6 pointers. Otherwise we could be joining them in getting excited.
We finish 4th or even 5th this season and that is fantastic for us. Not rubbishing that at all, european football in any capacity will make me excited for next year and this season in my eyes has been a success.
but those 6 points are the difference between us being title contenders and fighting for 4th.
(and i do not include the derby in the above, clearly we lost that game)
Berto's view on the run-in. Dunno if this was posted elsewhere already, apologies if so
http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/9263827/martinez-confidence-is-high
http://www1.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/9263827/martinez-confidence-is-high
toffeejack
Player Valuation: £100m
yeah. i like not to talk about challenging for the title and such because it seems way too far fetched and may seem deluded to the outsider, but if you look at the stats, we're not far behind at all. i don't like to say what ifs regarding games, because others can say that as well. but we did miss a striker in those first 3. the thing which grates me is that spell over winter where we had a horrendous injury list, especially when surprise surprise, we had to play liverpool.
we've gone through the whole season with only lukaku or naismith (our 4th choice striker) as our only attacking options. games like spurs away where we would have only needed one of the 3 fit and we would probably have won then. you see liverpool who haven't seen suarez injured for one minute, where as city have had aguero injured a lot this season, united the same with van persie.
those are the kind of breaks you need for a title race. a good summer and there's no doubt that we can challenge next season, the premier league has been blown wide open now without ferguson.
Coach
Player Valuation: £30m
Even draws in those two games and a deserved win in the Goodison derby would have made a massive difference.
We are not far way.
Chang Elephant
Forum God
Think the point is that Tottenham and Liverpool (torn a new hole at Goodison) aren't better
Spartacus10
Player Valuation: £100k
I don't know, I mean all this optimism is amazing and almost surreal that it is happening, but Liverpool have scored almost double our total goal tally and thrashed us at Anfield. We are rightly ahead of Spurs and Arsenal. My point was simply that every team can point to games they should have won. Chelsea have had plenty of examples recently, Liverpool had a few as well, City also.
We've just gone on a ridiculous winning streak, almost unprecented for us. I think our current league position is just about right.
Chang Elephant
Forum God
YNWA mate
CrabbyPaddy
Player Valuation: £8m
Of course we should. The higher we aim, regardless of how unrealistic it is, will IMO prevent us from choking.
I really feel that beating Crystal Palace could demoralise Arsenal. Even though they would have a game in hand, a five point gap with only a few games to go could play on their confidence.
I really feel that beating Crystal Palace could demoralise Arsenal. Even though they would have a game in hand, a five point gap with only a few games to go could play on their confidence.
B
Big Fat Sam
Guest
Yep.
Going into games literally knowing they cannot afford to drop points would play on their nerves big time. It's all well and good, with eight or nine games to go, saying games are "must win", but when they literally are "must win" it becomes a whole different matter.
Weren't we all saying back in like January that certain games were "must win"? Look at us now. When push comes to shove and you will fail if you do not take maximum points, nerves become a major issue for a lot of players!
We're in a whole new game now that we've overtaken Arsenal. I think the way we handle Crystal Palace will point to how comfortable we are being in fourth, with teams breathing down our necks.
Ideally, we will look up and chase down third. I'm sure that's what Roberto is telling the players.
There's not one of us that wouldn't be delighted with fourth, but if the players start thinking like that, it's the equivalent of playing for a draw. Which can be disastrous.
B
Big Fat Sam
Guest
Yep, and I agree Martinez will have the players looking up rather than down the league. He seems to have got them into a really positive frame of mind; that 'arrogance' he talked about and confidence in their own ability.
Let's hope we can take care of Palace and United and then see what the league looks like; I don't think Arsenal will take more than four points from the next two games. Let's not forget Hull still need a point or two to guarantee safety, and it's their first home game after qualifying for the FA Cup final... fans will be bouyant and players want to put on a show.
mrb85
Player Valuation: £35m
Looking forward just gets your head scrambled. Just 2 - 3 weeks ago, before the north London derby, I was praying for Arsenal to beat Spurs because at that time top 4 looked out of the question and we needed to focus on topping Spurs. Now, I'm thinking what a pity Spurs didn't get something out of that game.
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