04 Jan 2017 07:17:46
Despite 6 wins in a row we are still in sixth. But now only 5 points of 2nd.
It will take another 3 wins in the bounce before we are in top 4.
This league is very competitive this year and while we have caught up a lot of the ground we lost the hard work only really starts now. I can't see any other if the top 5 fading away so it will be touch and go for the rest of the season. It's going to be full on.
If Chelsea drop a few points it will tighten up dramatically. When the pressure comes on klopp wenger and Poch have a history of cracking so that bodes well.
Conte never had teams coming at him at juve so how will be react if it closes up but he has always managed a team pulling away very well.
Pep has not got the players he needs to play his way so they will continue to be inconsistent.
My prediction is that city and Liverpool will miss out on top 4.
04 Jan 2017 07:50:05
I feel City and Arsenal will drop out.
I want city to drop out because I want the world to know how good Pep really is.
And I want arsenal to drop out, because I'm tired of their finishing 4th.
Even though liverpoool are a rival club, they do look a decent team.
04 Jan 2017 08:14:08
Ken
Picking up points in the second half of the season will get harder and harder given the volume of games most top teams will play. United, Spurs and City will be an a disadvantage.
Arsenal will probably benefit from getting knocked out of CL and will have to only worry about the league and possibly an FA cup run which is the same as Liverpool and Chelsea.
I agree competitive league and having watched everyone of the top teams all will have their struggles. I know Chelsea's 13 game winning streak says otherwise but 5 or 6 of those for me could have gone the other way and expect them to drop points in small batches and things will tighten up considerably.
I have us finishing on 78/ 79 points which will be top 3 maybe even second. Chelsea will win it with 84/ 85. I have spurs beating chelsea tonight so let's see:)
04 Jan 2017 09:11:16
Liverpool have a week to prepare for every game, with no European football. I don't see them dropping out of the top 2/ 3. We will be fighting for 4th still imo.
04 Jan 2017 09:27:10
I think you are right Stand -United, Liverpool could stay the top 4 distance this season . I am hoping for a Chelsea win tonight based solely on I don't see us winning the league -and I don't see Chelsea finishing out of the top for so for me they have nailed down a top 4 finish.
A spurs loss will dent their confidence and keep them and Arsenal in reeling in distance - a bit of pressure on them with us breathing down their necks, I look forward to Chelsea dropping points in other games but I hope its not tonight.
Thats my (possibly flawed) logic anyway!
04 Jan 2017 09:45:54
I don't think we will need to win the next 3 to be in the top 4 but if that's what it takes then I imagine we can get 7-9 points from the next 3 games if we continue playing how we are. City have a tricky run now of 3 games including playing Spurs, Liverpool have us, Chelsea and Spurs in their next 5.
It is no coincidence that we are playing better and more consistently without the Thursday night games, I said earlier in the season I would have been happy to go out of Europa as it would help the league form but as we were so far behind the top 4 I think it became more important. As good as it would be to win it I would hate to sacrifice a top 4 position to get to the final that we could end up losing and missing out anyway.
The games will come thick and fast after February, we need to make sure we are in the top 4 by then in my opinion and then try and hold our position once Europa starts and we start to struggle in league games playing Thursday - Sunday.
04 Jan 2017 11:16:34
I still think we can sneak it. I appreciate the odds are against us, but I just think Chelsea will blow up. We saw last season how a drop in form of 1-2 key players and they suffer, Costa is a head case and picks up injuries, Hazard can fade - we just need Kante to go off the boil. They are very beatable and Conte will be very quick to anger I think, which we know doesn't go down too well in that dressing room.
For me it's a comfortable 2nd or a take it to the wire title win - Chelsea have not looked great watching them and the others will take points off of them (starting with Spurs tonight imo) . Mid-table teams can't be as bad this half of the season and the relegation rivals will be scrapping for every point now. More points will be dropped than the first half of the season. We are learning how to battle to the end again and we still haven't clicked, we are in third gear with a big squad and players playing for their futures! I think we can do it.
04 Jan 2017 13:02:15
Beast, with all due respect, but how has Costa been a headcase this season? And he hasn't been prone to injury since his first season with us.
I do agree that you aren't out of the title race at all. You've got the most talent in your squad, and it's bound to get results Individual talent can often be enough to bully the smaller clubs, and Mourinho does well against big teams usually. You were my pick to win the title at the start of the season, and I still believe you'll be in the conversation come April and May.
I do think however that you're not giving us (Chelsea) enough credit. 32 scored and 4 conceded over the last 13 games doesn't exactly scream "very beatable" to me (though I'd be happy with a draw at Spurs tonight, they're in good form) .
04 Jan 2017 13:14:11
Jackson - I didn't say this season, you either are a nutter or aren't - he is a loose cannon, they go off from time to time especially if things take a turn for the worse. I'm speculating that everything is going your way at the minute and players have dips eventually. Your key players are doing very well, can't last forever and when it goes bad it can go very bad.
I'm just hoping your luck and good fortune turns to give us a chance, otherwise you will romp the league. I'd say you are playing close to your very best and we are only just getting going.
I'm not being critical of Chelsea, I'm just hoping that things start to go wrong and highlighting how that can most obviously happen.
04 Jan 2017 12:06:48
What has Beast been drinking?! That is quite comfortably the most optimistic post I've seen you post mate - love it!
Welcome to the blindly optimistic side :)
04 Jan 2017 14:08:28
Oh okay, Beast, thanks for clarifying. I truly believe that Costa has turned a corner with his on-pitch behavior. Even when things have gone bad this season (the 3 game stretch of Swansea, Pool and Arsenal) there weren't any negative incidents with him. It seems that he has learnt to channel his aggression the right way.
Obviously things can't keep going on forever like they have, and I expect us to drop points tonight against Spurs. But there's a lot of scope for improvement for us still. Some starters for us have performed admirably, but there can still be a lot of upgrades on them (I'm thinking Pedro, Moses, Cahill, Matic) .
I just hope we can maybe win the league this season. Because the way you guys have been spending big on players, I don't see how anyone but you will win the title the next couple of seasons.
04 Jan 2017 14:20:43
Yeah Jackson it's the same with injuries though as Costa struggles to get rid of one once he gets crocked. Looking at Phil Jones and Wilshere this season you would think they couldn't point the way to the physio room, when in actual fact they use it as their mailing address! I'm just dreading seeing the headline "Jones out with slight knock in training", see him again in 2019.
We have to try and ignore the money spent thing, because despite spending shed loads under LVG and Moyes it looks like it has gotten us nowhere and we are probably going to have to swallow it with most of those signings being shown the door (or clearly not good enough to start in most cases) . I get your point though and I think Jose will have a £200m war chest in the summer once he gets rid of the excess "fat" around the team. But so should most top teams.
It's going to be an interesting 5 years, all the top managers in the league, mega money, 6+ teams that will all fancy their chances every August. I just hope we haven't let you guys get too far away this season. 1-0 Spurs tonight is my prediction.
04 Jan 2017 16:03:41
Beast assuming we lose 3 and draw 3 between now and the end of the season we would need Chelsea to lose 10 that's not going to happen.
If we lose 2 and draw 2 we would need them to lose 5 draw 5.
On that basis I would suggest we can't afford to do more than 6 points between now and the end and that is a tall order.
04 Jan 2017 17:14:37
Yes Ken, the maths don't look good, but we have a lot of leg room here, still a lot of room for improvement and confidence/ momentum is massive. Granted Chelsea are red hot favourites, but I wouldn't put it passed us going unbeaten until the end of the season. I appreciate it's wishful thinking, but there are a lot of 6 pointers still to go and we are starting to get that fear factor back which is worth a lot of points a season.
04 Jan 2017 19:40:52
Beast, stop it now! We are NOT going to win the league. Chelsea win has to be the result tonight. If we were in second place, fair enough, but we've still 4 other teams to get past, mate.