Time to reassess: 71 points won't get us CL

[johnnydawg68]

Also, throw out the first 3 games when thinking about point averages. We didn't have Lukaku, Barry, or McCarthy for those. It was, to put it simply, a different team.

If we had those three in before the year, those 3 points could have easily been 6-9.

 

[blue4eva77]

Agree. Also we HAVE to get something out of the Derby. Can't drop 3 points there or it gets really tough.

Losing in the derby always feels terrible but i can't even imagine the feeling i will have if we lose at analfield.

 

[dholliday]

21 games down, 17 to go.

I think in the back of Roberto's mind he may already be raising his goals, because imo 71 points isn't going to be enough to get us in the CL this season.

Liverpool, 42pts:
avg 2.0 pts/game
Need to average 1.705pts going forward, also likely to have a superior GD if it comes down to that.
Will finish on 76pts at current rate


Everton, 41pts
avg 1.95 pts/game
need to average 1.76pts going forward to reach 71.
will finish on 74pts at current rate


Spurs, 40pts:
avg 1.905pts/game
need to average 1.82pts going forward to reach 71.
will finish on 72pts at current rate


ManU 37pts:
avg 1.76pts/games
need to average 2.0pts going forward to reach 71.
will finish on 70pts at current rate

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It's not impossible that 71 points would only be good enough for 7th. At any rate, I just can't see how it would be good enough to get 4th, given the points already accumulated by Liverpool and Spurs.

This is the mother of all fights we have been in, during all our time in the PL era. I'm saying 78 points needs to be our aim. That's another 37 points from the remaining 17 games. We're going to need some big wins and some big performances to pull it off.

Good thread. Agree. No one is dropping points.

Does 6th ensure Europa League or is it only 5th again?

 

[johnnydawg68]

Good thread. Agree. No one is dropping points.

Does 6th ensure Europa League or is it only 5th again?

Depends on who wins the cups. We need City to win the League Cup, simple as. Everyone else left is below us. We also need one of City, Arsenal, Chelsea, or (preferably) us to win the FA Cup.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Losing in the derby always feels terrible but i can't even imagine the feeling i will have if we lose at analfield.

If we go out swinging, will be easier to take, but a real blow for our top 4 chances. Just tired of going there and laying down for them.

Their defense is crap though. They were incredibly lucky with some shocking defending from Stoke yesterday (where was that against us??). Stoke looked like a proper footballing side against them yesterday going forward, and we all know their not.

I will say this. Liverpool take their chances. They are pretty ruthless with Suarez and Sturridge.

 

[Khalekan]

Top 7 again all won this weekend, very few mistakes from anyone currently above us. All we can do is keep focussing on our own form and keep .

Not just yet.

Arsenal have yet to play.

 

[Khalekan]

If we go out swinging, will be easier to take, but a real blow for our top 4 chances. Just tired of going there and laying down for them.

Well, we know we will go down swinging, if down we go at all.

The days of "laying down" for any team are gone.

 

[ProZ]

I like to judge our progress by half season, we have played 2 games second half of the season (drawn 1 won 1) which means we are already in better form than first half, as we drew our first 3, currently 2 points better off.

This is what gets me to sleep at night.

 

[Simon Smith]

This season so far has been better than we could have ever hoped for on so many different fronts from wins at Man Ure to the way Bobby brown shoes has brought his own no holds bar style of play to the club.
The buzz around the ol' lady on a match day is just amazing and something that I have not witnessed in a long long time!
It's been said by a few just how good it is to take an Uzi to a gun fight instead of the pen knife we use to carry, so as far as the Champions league goes all we can do is aim for the stars and if we come up short hope we reach the moon.
The ****e away will be a big test as will the Spuds, then we have to look forward to both the Mancs with City being the harder game.
So in short there are games we should win and some that we won't but let's just enjoy the ride until the fat lady sings and worry about making our European travel plans when we know who and when we get them

 

[blue4eva77]

If we go out swinging, will be easier to take, but a real blow for our top 4 chances. Just tired of going there and laying down for them.

Their defense is crap though. They were incredibly lucky with some shocking defending from Stoke yesterday (where was that against us??). Stoke looked like a proper footballing side against them yesterday going forward, and we all know their not.

I will say this. Liverpool take their chances. They are pretty ruthless with Suarez and Sturridge.

Thats one of the reasons why losing their will be hard to stomach more than other years. Its because i know we won't go their and just let them do their thing. In some ways i guess you could argue that ' at least we had a go ' but for me its the opposite. We will have a go and give them a game and will be the type of game where we simply have to take our chances and NOT like at Goodison.

 

[Hellerad]

If we get top 4, I'll be incredibly proud of the club. If we end up in 5th or 6th, I'll be incredibly proud of the club and incredibly annoyed at everybody who managed to keep us out of the top 4. We've dropped points, but that is football. This season has been wonderful.

 

[johnnydawg68]

Thats one of the reasons why losing their will be hard to stomach more than other years. Its because i know we won't go their and just let them do their thing. In some ways i guess you could argue that ' at least we had a go ' but for me its the opposite. We will have a go and give them a game and will be the type of game where we simply have to take our chances and NOT like at Goodison.

Barkley's a big miss. We were quite a bit better than them at GP, and they were fortunate we didn't score 5-6 goals that day. Yes Allen missed a sitter, but Mignolet was world class that day.

Osman at Anfield scares me. I hope McGeady drops a few pounds and can play in the midfield with Barry, Mirallas, McCarthy, and Pienaar.

 

[johnnydawg68]

If we get top 4, I'll be incredibly proud of the club. If we end up in 5th or 6th, I'll be incredibly proud of the club and incredibly annoyed at everybody who managed to keep us out of the top 4. We've dropped points, but that is football. This season has been wonderful.

Great post. If we play the way we're playing and it just so happens that there are 4 teams better than we are, then so be it.

 

[SpeedEFC]

If we win the derby we get top 4 at least, titles are won by who wants it the most and if we go to Anfield and tonk them can you imagine what that will do to the morale of the squad? First win there this century and it'll set up a proper title challenge because we won't even imagine losing after going there and brushing them aside, we'll just keep winning until there's no more games to win until next season.

Call me crazy like but I reckon that if we win the derby then a title challenge is most certainly on. Actually no, scratch that. If we win there the double is most certainly on.

 

[johnnydawg68]

If we win the derby we get top 4 at least, titles are won by who wants it the most and if we go to Anfield and tonk them can you imagine what that will do to the morale of the squad? First win there this century and it'll set up a proper title challenge because we won't even imagine losing after going there and brushing them aside, we'll just keep winning until there's no more games to win until next season.

Call me crazy like but I reckon that if we win the derby then a title challenge is most certainly on. Actually no, scratch that. If we win there the double is most certainly on.

All of this is assuming we get 3 points at WBA. But if we do, then this is the biggest Derby in over 25 years.