Come the end of the season which of the big teams will be happy with what they have achieved? Who will have had the best season and who will have had the worst? Will our season look like it's been good or poor? It could well end up: Liverpool - league title Arsenal - top 4 + fa cup Man city - top 4 + league cup Chelsea - top 4 Man utd - nothing Spurs - nothing Of course in the above it could easily enough be Chelsea and Liverpool swapping places, or city taking the league and leaving Chelsea and Liverpool with just a top 4 spot. I'd say liverpool fans will be pleased come the end of the season whether the above comes true or not. They have achieved what they set out to at the start of the season. Utd and spurs fans are obviously not going to be happy, especially with us likely to win a trophy and city already with one. But what about city and Chelsea? A league cup for all the money spent would surely feel like failure to city? And what about a season with no trophy for mourinho? I think if either of these teams fail to win the league, particularly city they will be feeling very let down. We could well end up with the second best season outcome of any team in the league, by securing a top 4 spot and taking the fa cup. That's got to be a big incentive to the players. Despite the poor results away to the big teams this year they still have a chance to actually achieve something. But will that be enough to make our fans happy? Who do you think will be happy come the end of the season?
City definitely not, they should have won the league fairly comfortably. They have to win it next year or Pellegrini will probably be sacked Chelsea who knows, their fans were pretty insistent they wouldn't win it at the start. I don't think they're bothered about the cups Liverpool I think is pretty obvious Tottenham I think were looking at 4th as a minimum with the money they spent, I think they'll be most disappointed of all We've had a bit of a shocker in the second half of the season, I guess most fans would have accepted top 4 and the FA cup at the start but I think Everton are favourites now Utd don't have any positives really. They knew it might be a difficult season but I don't think any of them predicted this
Can I come back and tell you at the end of the season? As far as Liverpool are concerned your right. We need 2 points to secure CL football next season and that was our Prime Objective. But right at the moment we are doing what our banners say - DREAMING and loving it! We've got no fingernails left, we all need bypass surgery but it's wonderful. If we do win don't come to Liverpool until after the World Cup 'cause we'll still be celebrating!! If we don't do it then I'd like City to be happy at the end of the season. They really have played some wonderful football. Plus they are another attacking side. I've got to support my fellow Scousers in their battle with you for 4th spot. So I'll wish you good luck in the cup. I don't care how United and their fans feel. Long may we maintain our present 20 point gap over them!
To be fair, Chelsea could also win the CL, they have a manager with experience in this area. I also think there should be a distinction in your post between top 4 and top 3. Finishing in the top 3 is much more advantageous; first, you don't have to worry about a potentially tricky qualifier, second, it's arguably easier to attract top players if you are guaranteed CL football with no qualifiers to worry about.
I think for any of the teams in the top 4 it's a very minor difference between being 4th or third. All of the teams would expect to get through a qualifying round.
Couple of points. Liverpool will be delighted. Chelsea and City will have to win the league to be happy. If they dont then both will be unhappy. Once United were done they should have been battling with each other for the title. Instead they have tripped up at every opportunity. Worse bit is United would usually take advantage of this and romp the league..... this time Liverpool have taken advantage. How are Arsenal likely to win a trophy? Have Hull forfeited the game? As of now the only happy clubs are Liverpool and Everton. Regardless of how the season ends. The rest are on suicide watch. Especially Chelsea and City but thats down to their won doing. Shouldnt have been doping.
Agreed but I also accept the point. I deliberately left Chelsea out of my post. Having given City as my preferred alternative for the title I am indicating that I would not like Chelsea to win it. As for the CL, my gut tells me that they are the weakest side left and I don't see non-football winning at this stage. It worked once but not a second time.
4 more games at most and it will be gone Dave. No need to worry though, we wont be getting 20 points handed to us. The table resets and it all happens again but very differently.
Given the opposition arsenal are the favourites. Not a forgone conclusion and it could still go either way, but you'd expect arsenal to win it. So I think "likely" fits the situation perfectly, it leaves open the possibility of it not being the final outcome whilst still respecting the favourites tag.
I don't know Tottenham's financial position but the players they bought last Summer weren't just expenisve in purchase terms but they also want paying each week, the entire offloading Bale and bringing in the 7 is likely to have a net cost of £300k a week, around £16m a year, and without CL football and 3 or more years away before they can start benefiting from increased gate revenue there's an argument they are the biggest losers this season regardless of what happens to us. Utd I fully expect to spend big and return to the CL fold in 15/16
Arsenal could well end up with 4th and the FA Cup, but they could just as easily end up with **** all. So you need to wait until it's done before judging the success or otherwise of the campaign for Arsenal and the others concerned (I notice in true Sky fashion you omitted to even list us, lol) What it does show, is that with a handful of games left the season could end up being a massive success or a total let down for virtually all of the leagues top sides, which shows just how small the margins are in the game.
Yeh it was more of a "what will make them happy" than some sort of super prediction of how things will actually finish. Highlighting that for the teams at the top it could so easily be a good or bad season and how so easily one team could be deemed to have out performed another despite the current standing.
I think at the start of the season most Arsenal fans would have seen top 4 and an FA cup as a more than satisfactory result. Once again though Wenger has been out-done by his own success. By topping the table for so long, fans dared to hope and for an already disappointment-weary support not winning the title has pushed a few fans over the edge. I always thought this season was a season too early to EXPECT a title. We have really only just loosened the purse-strings with Ozil. We still need a little more depth, a little more quality, a little more belief. I don't subscribe to this tactics nonsense or mentality nonsense, it isn't anyone's fault, it is just the situation. Still very happy with the season in general, and the young players we have tied to long contracts. Whether Wenger stays or goes, the future is bright. I know that a lot of fans think the last 9 years have been a "failure", but I don't think any manager could have achieved success with what Wenger has had to work with. What he has been able to do is turn likely mid-table finishes into 4th place finishes. For me the complete lack of interest shown by Arsenal fans in the very good opportunity to win the cup shows that the fans have no sense of reality with their expectations. Even if Arsenal had won 3 or more trophies in the last 9 years, I believe there would still be many expecting more, and calling for Wenger's head.
Spoken like a true mid-table team supporter. 'Wenger has been outdone by his own success.' What success? 'I don't subscribe to this tactics nonsense or mentality nonsense.' You obviously didn't witness our complete whippings by all of our immediate rivals. My favourite assertion of yours is that wanting to win, as opposed to expecting to win equates to ambition. I'm sure my local Sunday league team wants to lift the F.A. Cup but I would hardly describe them as an ambitious club. You talk about heightened and unrealistic expectations but I think your views are evidence of distinctly LOWERED expectations among supporters like you, Piskie and the other Pollyannas. We used to expect tangible success, now we should be satisfied with finishing in the top four and 'wanting' to win? Do me a favour.
You missed Everton out of the equation. They will probably finish fourth meaning you must beat us in the FA cup final and with your trophy record I don't envy you . We will be underdogs so all pressure on you I personally cant wait to see you turned over by lil ol 'Hull City AFC' . Either way, you are the only team that can stop us being in Europe next season. So unless we win the FA cup , I hope you come fourth .
Well Everton top 4 would be the most significant of all of those except liverpool winning the title, so it was a suspect omission.
All, I got out of this post was rampant immaturity. Waah waah waah, I want, fairly typical of our time. When you grow up, life doesn't give you stuff just because you want it. Arsenal have needed to be the most in debt club in the world with a massive debt, just to keep near the top of the league. You label realists like Piskie and I, Pollyanas, whereas it is you and your fellow dreamers that are living in cloud-cuckoo land. Your expectations are so high, you cant even support players that are quite literally breaking their bodies trying to win against the odds for you. Pushing themselves to the limits, knowing that their chances of winning are slight. The worst part is that we might win a trophy anyway. You don't f**king deserve it. Diaby is an excellent example. Here is a guy, who has had 3 horrific tackles, worked his nuts off rehabbing each time, gone through I don't know how much pain and mental anguish, just to make it back to help the club and people on here are "Get rid of him", "f**king loser crock", "Waste of space" etc. etc. That is disgraceful and totally unacceptable. You treat the players and manager with disrespect, insult them, and claim it is your absolute right to do so, because for some reason you think they owe you something more. I hope the fans that turned on the boo boys in the stands when we went a goal down against Wigan gave the ****s a good kicking! People say I am arrogant in my posts. It is not arrogance, it is utter contempt for you and your ilk.
