It's still risky for them to put all their eggs in one basket for the Europa. In theory, they can still finish outside a European spot and get knocked out of the Europa League. However, given the stuttering form of us and United (and to a lesser extent, Spurs), they probably fancy their chances of a top-6 finish. Whilst they've done incredibly well to reach the semi-finals, there are no guarantees and it'd be hard for West Ham to accept the prospect of no European football at all for next season. So they still need to take the league seriously.
How many of them have the CL multiple times? Or the German league? Or the Spanish league? Or the English league?
Weirdly, 11th placed Brentford can't finish above us - but 12th placed Southampton and 13th placed Palace both have mathematical chances of doing so
That's why they both have a mathematical chance: as things stand Southampton can mathematically finish on 58 points and Palace 59, meaning that at this moment in time both are capable of finishing above us, and it will remain that way until either a.) We pick up enough points to make that an impossibility b.) Full time in Schroedinger's derby
what I’m saying is that both can finish above us, but because they still have to play each other, then both won’t. Also, Saints can only get 57 points and Palace only 58.
They each can, they both can't. It would take Southampton overhauling 32 points of goal difference to do it, too.
You pick the starting eleven for many reasons but you are quite unlikely to learn anything during the game that you didn't know before it. You should NEVER take players off because they are playing badly because their form over the previous games is a much better guide to what they might do in the second half than how they played in the first half. However if you are 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go you need to play a much riskier game than you started with so it is quite plausible that you need different players on the field.
They don't have the quality. GD is still - IMO - the best measurable statistic to tell you about the quality of a team over a large period of a season. 4th is done - Arsenal had to capitalise on Tottenham losing and didn't. United have 3/4 games left they can't and won't win.
