02 Feb 2015 05:38:23
What a showing by arsenal yesterday and no sanchez ( but entire team is fit now). looks like they are hell sure for top 4. now its one spot for liverpool, soto, united and spurs.
we also have started to turn it on and have sturridge, ibe back, i think if we win against everton and tottenham, we are definitely top of the pack for champions league.
( it just tells you the importance of a good striker in a team, arsenal have giroud back and they are a different team, we have sturridge back and we looked so threatening in the 20 minutes he was on . tottenham found it in kane and they are flying )
Did you not watch Villa?
They were awful.
Yes Arsenal played well but you can't judge a club on one game against Villa.
Next week Arsenal play Spurs and we play Everton.
That surely is a better indicator?
02 Feb 2015 07:50:29
Arsenal looked good yesterday, but they always look good one day and awful the next. Saying they are 'hell sure' for top 4 makes no more sense then saying it about us following the Spurs match, or the Swansea one.
Aston Villa were appallingly bad and gifted them goals. They are a team that hasn't managed to score a single goal for 6 games, that's how bad they are. A lot of season still to go
02 Feb 2015 08:36:30
Top 4 relies very heavily on six key games between now and the end of the season:-
Spurs (h, 10 Feb)
Southampton (a, 22 Feb)
Man City (h, 01 Mar)
Man Utd (h, 22 Mar)
Arsenal (a, 04 Apr)
Chelsea (h, 09 May)
In addition we have two tricky games against Stoke and Swansea who are both not that far behind us, and one wild card game - Everton (derbies are always unpredictable).
To be thinking of 4th spot, we really need to take at least 12 out of the 18 points available there (besides winning most of the rest opf our games) as these are teams above us, so it not only stops them pulling further away but also closes the gap on them and let's us start to overtake. So we basically have at least 2 cup final games a month between now and the end of the season. Football is a cruel game and my gut feeling is that if 4th becomes likely, the key game will be Chelsea with fate dictating they need three points to be champions and we need three points to be 4th (no room for slip ups there then ).
Totally understand what people are saying about Villa and about us being great one game awful the next but at the etihad everything changed and hopefully it was permanent.
We we're disaplined like I haven't seen for year's and Coquelins arrival looks to be the DM we have needed for so long.
The work rate of some has been increased by Sanchez shining example but all have upped their work rate since the city game, if you look at Merterducker against yourself Stoke and Southampton he made a plumage look active, but yesterday he was running trying to actually recover position even though the ball was behind him, not seen him do that for ? Well ever.
How long it lasts is up for debate of course but I have not seen the ability matched by the effort for a lot of years and its a pleasure to watch again, .
Long way to go in the top 4 race for all involved but its been a long time since we looked like the 4th place trophy was an underachievement for us
Since we played them in that god awful game, Arsenal have improved a considerable amount. Taking 15/18 points. including a game against City.
People have been claiming we are back on track when we get 2-0 victories looking poor against Villa, yet claim Arsenal can't be judged beating Villa 5-0.
Liverpool will not get 4th spot. if you think that will happen, you might as well put your money where your mouth is and bet on us winning in an accumulator vs arsenal, UTD, city, Chelsea, Spurs and Soto, as that's what we have to do.
Agree with Bobatron. The teams we have beaten recently are all awful teams who will very much be in relegation battle. We have yet to face a half decent team in the league for over a month, so all this talk about LFC being back to their best needs to be cooled down. I still believe Arsenal will comfortably get 3rd place while we fight it out with Man Utd, Saints and Spurs for 4th.
02 Feb 2015 10:51:20
I'm not claiming that Arsenal didn't do well or aren't likely to get into the CL. Just that it's too early to say anyone but Chelsea and City are guaranteed (or any other phrasing that means guaranteed) - we're all having the occasional stutter, off game and masterclass performance and a lot will depend on how we all perform against each other, with most of those games still to play!
Gunner62 You can only beat what is in front of you.
And you played really well.
Ozil and Walcott coming back and in good form is very good timing for you.
But I can't judge you on a 5-0 against Villa.
That triangle of Carlos Sanchez, Okore and Clarke is the worst in the league.
Sanchez is the worst defensive midfielder I have seen for a long time.
You can't read too much into that.
Having said that. They beat us:)
Personally back in August I thought you'd finish 7th this season simply because losing Suarez would be too difficult to cope with for Rodgers and his signings did nothing to convince me otherwise.
But below city and chavs no team has been consistently good over the first 23 games and now top 3/4 is very much a 5 team race and you've as much chance as any but only if you ditch the Thursday night league ASAP
02 Feb 2015 11:58:03
Also Indian, granted we couldn't pull it off in the end but we did just draw twice with Chelsea. And we beat West Ham and Swansea - both of who have been strong this year and had some big wins. Not going over the top and saying we're back to our best, we're not. But it's not been all bottom half teams
Hjikle, Swansea were awful that day. They would have struggled to get anything against a Sunday League club the way they played against us. Garry Monk himself did say it was Swansea's worst performance in a while. Completely forgot about West Ham even though it was just recent. But that was our only convincing performance in the league over the last month or so. The games against Everton, Spurs, City will give us a better idea of where LFC actually deserves to stand, and if the club fails these tests then i'm afraid the writing is on the wall for BR.
We are playing catch for no reason which is why I can understand why many think we won`t come 4th because there are too many obstacles to overcome. But we are in the mix and we play the teams ahead of us which is what IMO, will determine if we get 3/4 or not. Heres to hoping!
We are playing catch for no reason which is why I can understand why many think we won`t come 4th because there are too many obstacles to overcome. But we are in the mix and we play the teams ahead of us which is what IMO, will determine if we get 3/4 or not. Heres to hoping!
How are the 3 points against City or Chelsea anymore important than the others?
We will be nowhere near either, so apart from helping decide who'll win the league, those two games won't decide sh!t.
Spurs,Arsenal, Soton yeah, 6 pointers, but City and Chelsea are light years ahead of us,
I still say arsenal are hell sure because they HV done this like 8 seasons straight and they always turn it up . they HV a full squad . I mean just look at that squad ozil cazorla Ramsey Sanchez Walcott ox giroud available ( wilshere, arteta injured) flamini . youth players like bellerin coquelin coming in and contributing. Arsenal have a great squad and are looking good. And they will be top4 . its between lfc and others the remaining spot . Chelsea city arsenal are there.
02 Feb 2015 15:24:25
Ak - you can say that about anyone. Spurs have Erikson, Kane, Chadli, Vertoghen, Lloris etc all having storming season with young players like Benteleb and Mason contributing greatly. We have our load of Sturridge, Sterling, Coutinho, Lucas, Sakho etc with plenty of young options around like Ibe to chip in. United have a mouthwatering attacking line up with the likes of Di Maria, Falcao, Rooney, RVP etc. And Soton just seem to roll on, even when they take a knock they recover and just keep going. Good luck to everyone and may the best team over the season win, not just the one who hits the best form for a month mid-season!