My hunch is that Bale will carry Spurs to 3rd ...just. So it will a battle between Arsenal and Chelsea for fourth place. This is really difficult because both can lose to smaller teams. I will go for Arsenal if only because Wenger is more used to these situations and there is less disunity in the Arsenal dressing room.
After looking at the fixtures, I'm more confident. I don't think Spurs will take 15 points from the next 5 - but I think we'll get 15 points from our next 5 games, so I can see us being just ahead on points ahead before we take on Spurs, Liverpool and United. I see a huge gap opening up between us and Arsenal though. They're fixtures aren't as easy as many point out - WBA in particular stands out as a potential upset, and how can people ignore Everton and Swansea? I reckon in 5 games Spurs and Chelsea will be neck and neck on points - but due to our fixtures, even a win at the Bridge over Spurs wouldn't guarantee third. However, I think in 5 games, Arsenal will be out of it. Despite our form, I reckon the City loss will have had a galvanising effect rather than a negative one.
That's a rather sweeping assumption? I think you'll be in the same position you were with AVB (i.e. with the Manager having lost the the players) and will struggle to pick up points. Even when RDM came in last year, you still didn't win that many points in the league?
Hardly a sweeping assumption - it's a different situation. AVB lost the dressing room - as far as I can tell Rafa hasn't - and nowhere do reports claim that he has. All reports say is senior players basically said there should be a tactical switch. RDM last year is irrelevant as he prioritised cups and therefore heavily rotated an average squad. It's just as much of a sweeping assumption to assume that this year will pan out exactly the same.
Because we had to juggle 3 competitions and field the reserves against Liverpool, City and Arsenal away. When we play to our full potential with full concentration there isn't any side better than us, IMO at least anyway. I think March-November last year proved this.
Love your optimism but getting 15 from 5 games is hard for any team let alone given our patchy form. I really can't see how we can assume we'll win any game given the results v the likes of QPR, West Ham, Swansea, Southampton, Brentford etc.
We have 5 huge games coming up. If we got 15 points from them then I think we would be sorted... I think we'll get 12. I'm less confident about getting a win at Boro tomorrow though!
Things can change, it only takes 2 wins on the spin and suddenly things look different. Spurs have got to play some half decent opposition now so that will test their mettle.
Things can change, it only takes 2 wins on the spin and suddenly things look different. Spurs have got to play some half decent opposition now so that will test their mettle.
An old Sutton player against you tomorrow D/L,Nicky Bailey,a youth product,made his 1st team debut at 17.
Half time and it's Spurs 2-0 Arsenal... Going to be very tough for Arse to come back. If Spurs win and then lose to Liverpool next week then that helps us I suppose... Providing we keep winning games! Typical that Bale had to score first...
Gonna be a cracking finale for the final two Champions League places that's for sure. If we continue to grind out these results like we've been doing, I think a top 4 and dare I say, 3rd place finish will be ours (FINALLY!!! ). In fairness, some of our top players have been below par recently too (Dembele, Parker) so hopefully if they buck up that'll help performances plus it seems Sigurdsson is now showing the promise that initially forced us to buy him AND we've got Kaboul, Dempsey and Defoe all returning from injuries, leaving us with just one long term absentee - Sandro. The fact we seem to have a much better unity and team spirit than both Chelsea and Arsenal, I think that also works in our favour. You can tell the hostile atmosphere towards Rafa has affected performances plus the uncertainty over Lampard's future is a concern as regardless of his age, he's still one of the Prem's best no question. To me Arsenal have never shown great team spirit, it summed it up Sunday when Vermaelen and Mertesacker were staring at one another as if each was blaming the other for Lennon's goal, I've noticed this season that at Spurs, if we concede, you'll notice the likes of Dawson/ Vertonghen/ Lloris do their best to motivate and jee up all around them rather than point fingers and moan. Plus I think it showed how strong our team spirit is when Bale got the winner against West Ham, his celebration certainly didn't signal any "player unrest" like what many media outlets tried reporting in the earlier months of the season. I think, or atleast like to think that the heartbreak of last season will also help spur our lads on not to make the same mistakes. We probably have the toughest run-in but I feel quietly confident we can get enough points/ results to keep 3rd (or at least 4th). Will be extremely tough though as both Chelsea and Arsenal have the experience and know how of dealing with the pressure in the latter stages but there's something with this current squad that suggests they're really determined to achieve a top 4/ top 3 position. Last season it was as if they were getting all exicited at this stage and I think complacency plus the Harry to England fiasco resulted in a poor run of form. This season, not too many have spoken of 3rd or 4th as if we've already got it, there's a more grounded and determined feeling this time around and I hope it works out well. As I said though, it's going to be a one cracking finale.
