That match was the start of our downfall followed up by the Chelsea game. Both Arsenal and Chelsea were **** in those games (made to look **** by us or were **** on the day is your choice) and had we won or drawn those 2 I think we could well have sneaked into the top 6. Lost both through our own faults and moral took a hit for a fair few games as well as injuries.
Thank goodness we didn't sneak 6th, can you imagine how much more difficult that would have made this seemingly inevitable situation we find ourselves in now.
Yep we'd be stuck with MP having achieved Europe and then have to attempt to add to the squad for that feat whilst still having no Plan B. I think we will do well next season. New manager, new players, new start.
Totally disagree. Finishing 6th would not have kept everything together, we still would have had a transfer deficit that would have led to NC's departure, there's not much money in Thursday night footy. So everything would have panned out the same except we'd have the extra pressure on our 'smaller by the day' squad of playing in Kazakhstan, when they should be preparing for Villa/Swansea/Hull instead. These are the games that will define next season.
Goalkeeper stats are particularly unreliable, given the amount of uncontrollable variables there are.
I didn't say it would have kept everything together. I said MP would probably have stayed. And I agree with the rest. You actually agree with what I meant to say with what I wrote. I think had it not been for those 2 games we would've finished even higher and it's a blessing in disguise we didn't because we now have a manager that appears to be better (definitely has more than 1 plan at least) and we will hopefully have a squad that is more balanced, more strength in depth and hopefully more quality too. If we can get off to a reasonably good start we could well be amazed by the position we reach. I don't think Tottenham failed because they bought too many players. I think they failed because they bought the wrong players as in not looking at what qualities each player would bring to the squad and whether they complimented what the manager was trying to achieve. They just went 'He's good. We'll get him' rather than 'He's good but is he right for us'. If the right players are bought to fit the system and Koeman has a full pre season with them I think we could have a very very happy year, even better than last. All depends on what players we get. I am optimistic as always though.
There are very few parallels between the man who is Morgan and the boy who is Adam. I still think Morgan will be gone, sadly. Thus it is academic, and I'd go for Steven Davis or FLT
Unless Hoover spills the beans on team spirit and those not putting effort in last season. That could be juicy.
That's the bottom line really. We finished where we deserved to finish, which was still excellent. But we were some way off a top 6 squad. Top 10 would be brilliant next season, but to be honest I'd settle for top 17 and build from there the season after.
I think we'll be top ten again. I don't see other teams improving to the point that they're better than us, though obviously there's a lot of transfer window left for that to change. But right now, Villa, West Ham, Newcastle, Stoke? Not impressive really.
To be honest I've no idea what to expect. It depends who we get in, how long they take to gel, what sort of plan or vision Koeman has for the team, and how well he is able to get that across. I admire your optimism though.
Newcastle have significantly weakened - Remy and Debuchy gone. West Ham have signed Kouyate and Cresswell but not a lot going forward. Stoke I think will invest but have already some pretty decent players, can see them being close to us. Swansea need to invest desperately and are weakening more quickly than us. Villa lol! Be interesting to see who the promoted 3 invest in but agree with Joe, don't think we should be too worried at this point
