paulw66 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 31 minutes ago, Holymoly said: Great result although I can't see us overhauling both Manure and Newcastle before the end of the season. Aside from United having to play Arsenal and the two teams above us having to play each other the run ins are fairly similar. Given our proclivity to bugger things up I doubt we'll win all our remaining games either although we really should, injuries allowing. Still, in the meantime, let's continue to bask in the joy of doing the double over the October League champions. United have Palace away (who are in very good form) Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton away. That is not a nice run of games. Newcastle have 3 away games left out of their 4, the 1 home game being against Man Utd. Our run-in is the kindest out of the 3, so 6th spot is certainly doable. I think 3 wins from the remaining 4 should be enough, allowing for a draw at NF or BHA. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiswickblue Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 14 minutes ago, paulw66 said: United have Palace away (who are in very good form) Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton away. That is not a nice run of games. Newcastle have 3 away games left out of their 4, the 1 home game being against Man Utd. Our run-in is the kindest out of the 3, so 6th spot is certainly doable. I think 3 wins from the remaining 4 should be enough, allowing for a draw at NF or BHA. As well as needing to get past Man Utd and Newcastle, we also need City to beat Utd in the Cup final if we're to make the EL. If Utd win the Cup, 6th place would mean the Conference League for us next season. Brighton and Bournemouth should be on the beach, not that they will be easy matches, but Forest are fighting relegation so I think that will be the toughest of our remaining matches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post paulw66 Posted May 3 Popular Post Share Posted May 3 8 minutes ago, chiswickblue said: Brighton and Bournemouth should be on the beach, Literally 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShedMiddle Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Cucurella man of the match. I don't know why but, I like Jackson. He has a great attitude and keeps going. With all the stick he gets it doesn't seem to faze him. It was a good first half and held steady when up against it in the second. Great atmosphere - my head hurts today! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siidi Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 37 minutes ago, chiswickblue said: As well as needing to get past Man Utd and Newcastle, we also need City to beat Utd in the Cup final if we're to make the EL. If Utd win the Cup, 6th place would mean the Conference League for us next season. Brighton and Bournemouth should be on the beach, not that they will be easy matches, but Forest are fighting relegation so I think that will be the toughest of our remaining matches. I would just be happy to see us successfully deal with different kinds of team - top teams, relegation strugglers, mid+table scrappers, etc. That is what good coaching is all about - you want a fight, we're up for it, you want to pass, let's go If ECL is where we emd up, so be it. We can look to something better next season . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mora Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, paulw66 said: United have Palace away (who are in very good form) Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton away. That is not a nice run of games. Newcastle have 3 away games left out of their 4, the 1 home game being against Man Utd. Our run-in is the kindest out of the 3, so 6th spot is certainly doable. I think 3 wins from the remaining 4 should be enough, allowing for a draw at NF or BHA. We were recently a few times in this position and blew it. It's the hope that kills you... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarefreeMuratcan Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 2 hours ago, paulw66 said: United have Palace away (who are in very good form) Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton away. That is not a nice run of games. Newcastle have 3 away games left out of their 4, the 1 home game being against Man Utd. Our run-in is the kindest out of the 3, so 6th spot is certainly doable. I think 3 wins from the remaining 4 should be enough, allowing for a draw at NF or BHA. Maybe it will come down to who actually cares about qualifying for Europa, hopefully we do and they don't to give us an extra edge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarefreeMuratcan Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 17 minutes ago, mora said: We were recently a few times in this position and blew it. It's the hope that kills you... What is most annoying is thinking about the 6 points dropped against Sheff Utd, Burnley and Villa. We'd be talking about overtaking Spurs, let alone those 2. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boratsbrother Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, ShedMiddle said: Cucurella man of the match. I don't know why but, I like Jackson. He has a great attitude and keeps going. With all the stick he gets it doesn't seem to faze him. Imo Jackson has been one of our four outstanding players this season, alongside Palmer, Gallagher and Gusto. He has a terrific attitude (I excuse that one blip with the penalty incident a few weeks ago) and works hard for the team as well as scoring decent number of goals and completely outshone the hugely disappointing and overpaid Sterling. There's a strong core of players starting to emerge now who we can be confident to go forward with - Palmer, Gusto, Gallagher, Jackson, Caicedo, Cucu. Badiashile is looking better and Madueke is also starting to show more consistency. Then we have all the crocks to hopefully return next season. 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boratsbrother Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 (edited) 52 minutes ago, CarefreeMuratcan said: What is most annoying is thinking about the 6 points dropped against Sheff Utd, Burnley and Villa. We'd be talking about overtaking Spurs, let alone those 2. But everyone knew it was going to take time for the team to start gelling. Remember way back to the Vialli and Ranieri era. We had a team which could beat the best but we never won the league because we the dropped too many sloppy points against the teams they should have beaten. They never learned to grind out results when they weren't at the their best. That's roughly the level where we are now. Finding that consistency and learning to win or draw ugly when needed is the next step. Looking ahead fo next season, our ceiling for improvement is significantly higher than the current squads of Villa, Spurs, Utd and Newcastle. We should be seriously thinking about 4th place next season! Edited May 3 by boratsbrother 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulw66 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 41 minutes ago, boratsbrother said: Looking ahead fo next season, our ceiling for improvement is significantly higher than the current squads of Villa, Spurs, Utd and Newcastle. We should be seriously thinking about 4th place next season! 100% Even without buying anyone (not championing this), imagine a world next season where you get some decent minutes out Nkunku, Fofana, James, and Lavia. How many points up the table does that take us? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarefreeMuratcan Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 43 minutes ago, boratsbrother said: But everyone knew it was going to take time for the team to start gelling. Remember way back to the Vialli and Ranieri era. We had a team which could beat the best but we never won the league because we the dropped too many sloppy points against the teams they should have beaten. They never learned to grind out results when they weren't at the their best. That's roughly the level where we are now. Finding that consistency and learning to win or draw ugly when needed is the next step. Looking ahead fo next season, our ceiling for improvement is significantly higher than the current squads of Villa, Spurs, Utd and Newcastle. We should be seriously thinking about 4th place next season! Definitely. To me City and Arsenal are a cut above the rest. 3rd-8th are interchangeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thiago97 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 8 minutes ago, paulw66 said: 100% Even without buying anyone (not championing this), imagine a world next season where you get some decent minutes out Nkunku, Fofana, James, and Lavia. How many points up the table does that take us? Heard this the other day. Money spent on Lavia , Nkunku and Fofana, totals approx 20% of the money spent on new players by the owners so far. Yet those 3 players contributed less than 300 minutes combined this season. Crazy situation really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lump Of Celery Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 45 minutes ago, paulw66 said: 100% Even without buying anyone (not championing this), imagine a world next season where you get some decent minutes out Nkunku, Fofana, James, and Lavia. How many points up the table does that take us? 34 minutes ago, Thiago97 said: Heard this the other day. Money spent on Lavia , Nkunku and Fofana, totals approx 20% of the money spent on new players by the owners so far. Yet those 3 players contributed less than 300 minutes combined this season. Crazy situation really. In a world where everyone stays fit, even just for 50% of the games, would be happy with swapping Sterling for a striker and retaining the rest of the squad we have right now. Maybe look at some loans out like Big Les, Gilchrist and Casadei. See how the squad does for another season. Unfortunately, that also sounds very risky given our recent injury record Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Moon Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 3 hours ago, ShedMiddle said: Cucurella man of the match. I don't know why but, I like Jackson. He has a great attitude and keeps going. With all the stick he gets it doesn't seem to faze him. It was a good first half and held steady when up against it in the second. Great atmosphere - my head hurts today! Now that I'm sober, and the hangover has diminished to a tolerable level ... Petrovic was at the very least competent - a clean sheet - well done!, while Gilchrist did the RB-with-a-hint-of-midfield job competently - he'll be a great player as he matures. I can't say much about Acheampong, Casadei and Tauriainen, as I didn't notice them much - although at least they didn't do anything stupid - but maybe by that time I was on cloud 9, so probably not paying too much attention. Must watch the repeat on the telly. Mudryk eating the curate's egg, again - he's got what it takes, but doesn't seem capable of delivering it consistently. Palmer scurried around helping out as required; a quiet day at the office for him, so maybe he's a bit knackered? Chalobah (nice goal) and Badiashile seem to be settling down and producing some excellent performance. Gallagher and Caceido were, as ever, a total bloody nuisance - to the opposition - does Conor ever run out of energy? - he's perpetual motion - selling him would be madness - that's a midfield partnership we disturb at our peril. Jackson quietly continues to improve - not a Drog yet, but heading in the right direction. Madueke is proving to be an excellent investment - strong and willing performance. I like him more each match. Which leaves my Man of the Match: Cucurella (and I never thought I'd say that) - the Gnasher of the side (to quote from The Beano Wiki: "Dennis the Menace's pet dog, best friend, and sidekick. He is a black-haired Abyssinian Wire-Haired Tripe Hound who often enjoys chewing and biting anyone and anything". Cucu may not be large, but he pursued and chewed anything in a white shirt last night. What a performance! Thanks to him, I have an appalling earworm: "Cucurella, Cucurella, he eats paella, drinks Estrella and his hair's effing massive!" Dunno if @ShedMiddle was close to him, but whoever was leading the singing in Shed Middle last night must have laryngitis today. I know I have ... I'll have earache too by Sunday. 'er upstairs isn't too pleased about me cancelling a family lunch due to the changed date for the WHam match, and isn't backward in coming forward with her views on my "sense of priorities". Hmph. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
My Blood Is Blue Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Highlights added... go on, enjoy it one more time! Watching the highlights again, I can't believe how long VAR looked at our first goal for! Chalobah is clearly onside, not even close and would never have needed lines, so that should have been cleared within a few seconds and then the Cucurella 'block', again just seeing it back once you can see there is nothing in it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chara Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 @Blue Moon.... enjoyable read as ever...and I did notice the Jackson "heading" in the right direction! Cucu.... the word/image that kept going through my head watching him was "Berserker"...absolutely barmy and outrageous reactions with and at successful team mate tackles etc...said in appreciation not censure! Alfie was also very vocal and committed...what we all look for and embrace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holymoly Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 5 hours ago, paulw66 said: United have Palace away (who are in very good form) Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton away. That is not a nice run of games. Newcastle have 3 away games left out of their 4, the 1 home game being against Man Utd. Our run-in is the kindest out of the 3, so 6th spot is certainly doable. I think 3 wins from the remaining 4 should be enough, allowing for a draw at NF or BHA. Are you also allowing for the odd brain fart we're currently famous for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulw66 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 8 minutes ago, Holymoly said: Are you also allowing for the odd brain fart we're currently famous for? One. If we can win 3, I think we will finish 6th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boratsbrother Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 2 hours ago, CarefreeMuratcan said: Definitely. To me City and Arsenal are a cut above the rest. 3rd-8th are interchangeable. Even though Liverpool have fallen away (surprisingly to me at least) over the past couple of weeks, I'd still rate their squad as a clear top three. However, it will be interesting to how they react to life without Klopp. Also, a few of their elite players are on the downward slope now and the likes of Salah and VVD will not be easy to replace, so they could skip back into the chasing pack before long. My big hope is City are found guilty of the 115 charges and recieve the punishment they deserve resulting in Pep clearing off. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulw66 Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 7 minutes ago, boratsbrother said: Even though Liverpool have fallen away (surprisingly to me at least) over the past couple of weeks, I'd still rate their squad as a clear top three. However, it will be interesting to how they react to life without Klopp. Also, a few of their elite players are on the downward slope now and the likes of Salah and VVD will not be easy to replace, so they could skip back into the chasing pack before long. My big hope is City are found guilty of the 115 charges and recieve the punishment they deserve resulting in Pep clearing off. would leave the path pretty clear for Arsenal Liverpool are at a cross roads, like you say. New coach and their best two players for the last few years are past their best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sciatika Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 Someone on the "London is Blue" Discord has decided to rename Marc Cucurella "Hair Force One" after this performance.😀 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kelly Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 1 hour ago, My Blood Is Blue said: Highlights added... go on, enjoy it one more time! Watching the highlights again, I can't believe how long VAR looked at our first goal for! Chalobah is clearly onside, not even close and would never have needed lines, so that should have been cleared within a few seconds and then the Cucurella 'block', again just seeing it back once you can see there is nothing in it at all. That's an easy one, they were trying to find a reason to disallow it because Chelsea. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chara Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 5 minutes ago, Mark Kelly said: That's an easy one, they were trying to find a reason to disallow it because Chelsea. As Sam says...not so much the check but how long it took...no sound for me so I sort of thought they were looking for an OffSide... missed the "check"..usually I don't miss much which says something........ the almost forensic in depth analysis was "suspect" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kelly Posted May 3 Share Posted May 3 5 minutes ago, chara said: As Sam says...not so much the check but how long it took...no sound for me so I sort of thought they were looking for an OffSide... missed the "check"..usually I don't miss much which says something........ the almost forensic in depth analysis was "suspect" I do find it "amazing" that when whoever we are playing does something that would benefit us if found guilty the check takes a nanosecond and they're more often then not let off but if there is the remotes chance we will benefit then it's full on Sherlock Holmes forensic masterclas to deny us. We are being had, results are being manufactured Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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