I’m in the same boat, whilst the ECL isn’t the most desirable competition to be in, it’s still a chance of a trophy which shouldn’t be scoffed at in my opinion, especially for a club like us. I felt we should’ve at least made the final this season of it…so that went well. I’ll be content with ECL, happy with EL, delighted with CL, albeit the latter is looking extremely unlikely.
Agree with both points here. Conte’s improving us even if results aren’t always the greatest and him - and Paratici - staying beyond the summer will be key. The additions of Bentancur and especially Kulusevski have been positive and there’s been notable (if also marginal) improvements from players and style. More additions and a pre-season with Conte should in theory set us up nicely. That said, finishing outside of Europe could be really damaging. For starters, we don’t get any form of additional revenue to pump into the squad (granted ECL provides little but progression in the EL and especially CL can provide solid to excellent funds). Then there’s also factors regarding player future. Kane almost certainly slaps in a request and will probably push a lot stronger for it than he did the summer, Reguilon will almost certainly accept any chance to rejoin Madrid if they do activate the buy back and whilst doubtful, does Son also consider his future? He’s been incredibly committed to the club since joining and obviously inked a new deal this season but he’s a year older than Kane and knows his chances of any proper silverware will be diminishing, stranger things have happened in football than players signing new deals then wanting out. We won’t have to worry about the rest of the squad, some are too new to want out, some are happy to be here as they’re at a stage where they can’t get better than Spurs and others are simply too poor and will need shipping out. Ironically I’ve said it for about two or three summers in a row but this summer is going to be absolutely pivotal for ENIC and Levy to ensure they find ways of getting the money to strengthen this squad, with or without additional European revenue.
At then end of the game my main emotion was over how we manged to lose to that lot. I genuinely think we were better than them, and if that's the best they can do with a squad that cost many multiples of ours (and far more to pay each week) then they haven't really got value for money. I think the three world class contributions by that guy I won't name have really skewed proper analysis of what happened. Yes we could have played better, but I genuinely believe that a lot of time the deficiencies showed up by those goals wouldn't be worried about because most of the time they simply wouldn't be scored. My evidence? That guy has scored a fair few goals in his time, but the media are making out that it's a normal thing for him to score a hat trick like that. Well no, he has scored hat tricks of course but not this season. He has scored screamers like his first goal before, but again if it were a regular occurrence then he'd have at least twice as many goals as he has. The problem is treating the exceptions as normal. I think we would have won that game 9 times out of 10 because given the same situation he wouldn't score three goals. Other than that we were better, and it's not a stupid thing to say. Of course goals count, but if you're looking at the direction we are heading in, it was not as bad as it seems. We went to OT and gave them more than a game. There have been *a lot* of seasons where that hasn't happened. We were unlucky that the three chances he could have scored he did (the Lloris save would only have gone in if the keeper had made a mistake IMHO). We were also unlucky that the officials did us no favours either. Not the worse of officials we've had at that ground over the years, but they could have looked at a few incidents differently. Obviously results are vital but not everything. I think United have been quite lucky this season and their fans should be quite concerned at them getting away with results they don't deserve. They are not a good team and relying on individuals to offset that is not a viable tactic in the long run.
I don’t think many were disappointed with our performance overall but the defence is what really messed it up for us. We allowed the joint best player on the planet too many chances/ too much space and when you do that you’re asking for trouble. The defence in general has looked a fair bit better under Conte but yesterday it was as if they went back to previous season’s form. Dier was dreadful and Doherty and Romero not far behind. Davies was our only defender that didn’t mess up in my opinion and actually got forward nicely at times to aid attacks. To score twice at Old Trafford though, even if via a Pen and OG, and still lose the game is something that you just cannot afford to be doing.
What the **** is Emerson syndrome? Is he taking the piss? If this is true, then it's a complete ****-up by Conte. Play Davies there and pick another centre-half. Don't play an ill player. That's just dumb.
Massive week this week. Last chance saloon for top 4 hopes. 6 points and we go fifth and with arsenal having two tough games we could be right back in it. Lose to Brighton though and top 4 is done but still can’t see us finishing below 6th.
Yeah to miss out on Europe completely will mean this inconsistent form will remain until the end of the season but finishing 6th and getting Europa or 7th and Conference League won’t really raise morale massively either. Back Conte in the summer and he can have a proper pre season to really work on his methods and get the players well drilled so they know it inside out and next season with no midweek European football will really help to get CL football.
I see where you’re coming from but I don’t think qualifying for Europa and especially the Conference League will keep the likes of Kane happy or will make Reguilon decide to turn down Madrid if they want him back. As for saying it’s a competition to win, Spurs never do as well as they should in the Europa, always end up losing to a side that on paper they should beat. Getting to the last 8 of Europa and then being knocked out is frustrating because usually league form is affected post European games too.
Sanchez will have a worldie. Would he be suspended against us if he'd been sent off against Liverpool?
It’s fine, the win lose pattern shows it’s time to win against Brighton, followed by defeat against West Ham
If top 4 is out of reach the only acceptable alternative is 5th. And by that I mean 5th having taken Arsenal to the wire. That at the very least comes with EL group stage qualification plus a semblance of progress - similar to how it was under BMJ when we were a lasagne away from 4th or even under Poch in 2014/15 when we took the race for top 4 all the way to match day 36 iirc. That's a bit of a platform to build on and say 'we're not a million miles away'. Finishing 7th or 8th would be damning tbh and probably the final nail in an already fragile confidence across the squad. It's been a long time since this club could look back on a season with pride and point to concrete progress, and I think 5th is the absolute bare minimum to do that.
I just don’t see this squad capable of being consistent enough between now and the end of the season to overhaul all of Wolves, West Ham and Man Utd even with games in hand.
United still need to go to Arsenal and Liverpool and host Chelsea. Plus potential European games to worry about. West Ham come to us after what will be a tough EL game Thurs night against Sevilla. They also go to Chelsea before hosting Arsenal, then play City in the penultimate game of the season. Wolves host City mid-April and have both Chelsea and Liverpool away in May. Honestly, if we can't overhaul all three of them it is pretty inexcusable and there is no hiding from it, especially considering the games in hand.
Alternatively, we win them both and cause the earth to spin off its axis and send the planet into orbit with Venus, causing Chelsea fans to consider decamping to our new neighbour until they realise that the atmosphere isn't toxic enough
Tbf the club is overdue winning two league games in a row, last time was the two home games against Brentford and Norwich.
Leeds and Everton were the last back-to-back league wins, although given the impotence of Everton's performance, I can understand why many wouldn't classify it as a competitive match.
