Is finishing 7th in the league more exciting than perhaps getting to a Cup Final and winning it? "Oh grandkids, I remember those halycon days when we finished 7th, here's my photos and programme from the day" or "Oh grandkids, remember that game called football, well my team won something, actual silverware, one of only three on offer to all teams that season"
With Boruc, Wanyama and Lovren in the side we are so much better defensively. We would have won easily today if they were in the side .
If you look back to the start of this and the "team for Burnley" thread, you will see that I was a strong advocate of rersting players for this game. The next rounds of this competition do ont follow a run of 5 games in 13 days, so I believe the normal fitness and conditioning of the 'first team' 15 or 16 will be fine. We can play stronger teams in later rounds. It won't be an issue unless we are besieged by injuries. For the record, we beat Burnley with our two reserve CBs and our reserve keeper.
Well spotted but it wasn't a knock, Maya actually went over on an ankle and did well to play on. Hoover looked to be away with fairies at times but was good at other times, we do need some good replacement CBs, that is obvious now if it wasn't before!
They're damned if they do and damned if they don't with you CBK, no matter the subject. I don't quite understand the point of your post. We picked a team that won. The margins of that victory don't matter now. We are through.
Lallana just gets better and better. His control of the ball has to be among the best in the league, and some of the through balls he made were inch-perfect. He gets a 10 from me today for his game-changing performance. I might go spray painting 'LaGod for England' around the city. Bad points today were obviously the defending, and J-Rod's piss-poor finishing. He should have had a hat-trick. Anyway, a wins a win, so yippee!
Not really sure what you're getting at. Is there anyone who would choose finishing 7th over winning the cup?
Spot on mate....it would shut up the Skates that I work with, if we could win at Wembley, like they did (although our triumph would be more "legitimate" and less hollow than theirs!)
because life is just like that. I'll take continued progress on the pitch in building this team (in the league), in the knowledge that with good draws in the cup, we may get a chance to win one of them. A question from me on this: how many 'non-big' teams have won the FA Cup in the last few years? I'll start: Wigan.
What? There isn't a list of 8. 9 or 10 smaller clubs that have seized the opportunity to win the cup? Blimey, I wonder why not?
As much as I like the bloke, Jos is no longer of the quality that should be representing Saints and should be replaced asap... I love SKD too, but now is also the time to replace him...I still believe that the starting XI should be evolving and would like to see a top quality Keeper and CB arrive this month.
If that was indicative of poor performances and a relegation battle the following season, I wouldn't. League positions between 8th and 17th don't technically mean a lot, but they're consequential. If we finished 17th it would be because the team had got a lot worse and the effects would run into following seasons as well. That is why this whole conversation is nonsensical. As for CBK's little brainteaser, I care far more for enjoying the present than for enjoying it vicariously through my grandchildren decades later.
I know it's not as black and white as that just annoys me how many people dismiss the Cup so easily. Yeah there are only 2 non big sides to win it, in doing so Wigan have now got the same amount of major honours as us, is that what we're striving for? People keep talking about breaking the top clubs getting onto europe becoming a 'big' club. Well big clubs win trophies, its as simple as that
Finally someone said it actually I think there's just a lot of misunderstanding of people's points. It's as if the guys who want to rest three players want the team to deliberately lose the match, and wanting to play a full team means accepting instant relegation. Maybe I'm on my own when I want us to do well in both.
