Seen this story doing the rounds recently as Italy are ready to overtake us as Europe's third best league. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/34324794 Having watched Arsenal fail miserably in Europe so far, what are the odds we'll finally clinch 4th spot only to lose a CL place because of Arse's shocking CL showing? Maybe the Europa really is the way to go Just to open it up - do you think England deserve the 4 CL spots being the highest spending / most watched league in the world?
Oh Christ. This is definitely going to happen. Of course. First there's a stomach bug keeping players awake and ****ting and puking all night long before the last game against West Ham, then we finish fourth but somehow Chelsea manage to not only manage to get to penalties in the CL Final but actually find a German team happy to lose a penalty shoot-out (Oh - the very last year that this rule applied). Then - what happened in 2013? Didn't the keeper of whoever Arsenal were playing basically have a nightmare all game and throw the ball into the net, giving Arsenal a win? Or was that the penultimate week? I vaguely remember something to moan about. Are there other ridiculous stories of recent times? Feels like there have been. Anyway - if there's any way Spurs can break the top 4 the very year that 4th doesn't get you a spot we'll find it (To clarify - the move to only 3 CL places would start 2017-2018). But even if we finish 4th this season - to really consolidate and press on (the whole point of getting in the CL) we would then have to finish 3rd the next year. Still, at least with Spurs in the CL next year we might get a bloody chance to win some UEFA points for England unlike these useless bastards in it now so it might not be a problem.
Which would then only help a further season ahead. In this scenario - to back up the point you made - we would have 3 for 1 season. Italy only have 2 in the CL and Roma are not doing great. City losing to Juve was a blow, but we need them, Utd or Chelsea to do better than Juventus and us, Liverpool and Arsenal to do well in the Europa (if Arsenal make it). Be interesting to know what is the worse we could do but still keep our extra place? This year's co-efficient includes Chelsea's win for the last time I guess?
"we finish fourth but somehow Chelsea manage to not only manage to get to penalties in the CL Final but actually find a German team happy to lose a penalty shoot-out (Oh - the very last year that this rule applied). Then - what happened in 2013? Didn't the keeper of whoever Arsenal were playing basically have a nightmare all game and throw the ball into the net, giving Arsenal a win?" No, that was also 2011-12 (Fulop-gate - an interesting saga in itself) .
despite the fact we are unlikely to gain CL entry through the league (imo) in the next couple of years i still found myself supporting chelsea and arsenal last night as i want our teams in the CL. Plus, i assume it would trickle down and you'd need to finish higher to get in the EL, which would affect us. I should support them both more in the league, because last night it backfired for them
The Goons have been slowly spiralling out of CL usefulness. Unfortunately, rather than being replaced by more eager PL newcomers and business as useful, the other Sky4 / Sugga Daddy FCs have been equally sh*te over the past 2-3 seasons.
This shows the position http://www.skysports.com/football/n...ampions-league-spot-under-threat-from-serie-a This season should be ok unless Juventus win the CL. Gets harder from next season.
If we have a repeat of last season's points Italy overtake us by a considerable margin. Juventus "only" got to final last year which is likely not going to happen, but i think we're also doing worse so far.... England: 65.659-15.250+13.571= 63.98 Italy: 61.605-11.357+19 = 69.248
Even though Bayern and Dortmund usually do well in the Champions League, other Bundesliga teams usually make up the numbers in European competitions. For example, Schalke and Leverkusen were dumped out of the CL in the last 16, while in the EL Monchengladbach were eliminated in the last 32 - although Wolfsburg made the quarter finals.
The fortunate thing is that it's unlikely any other country could have a better coefficient than these four. And Germany and Italy have weaker teams as their 3rd and 4th qualifiers as has been said. I still fancy all but Arsenal to progress through their groups and then, on any given day, Chelsea, City and Utd have a chance of winning against most of the teams likely to be left. Only the big three of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are opponents they wouldn't have much chance of overcoming. With a favourable draw, two or three quarter finalists is not beyond us.
As putrid as the PL has been so far, and as many forecasts of doom as there have been, what it really is at this point is a crap shoot which is likely to be decided by something unexpected, like Juve getting to the CL final last year. I dunno about Arsenal getting through, that’s for sure. They absolutely positively have to get a win vs. Bayern I (I think!), though Bayern may well be in cruise control by the time they play the second. Chelsea should still advance, and who knows about the Mancs. It would be very Spursy for it all to come down to Spurs. What could go wrong? If we save the fourth spot, Arsenal or Chelsea will end up in it. If we don’t, we will.
ur mad. i am glad we may lose a spot. we might take the Europa seriously then, thus trying to win a damn trophy,..something every fan dreams of.
The disappointing result for Arsenal against Olympiakos needs to be put in perspective. Olympiakos have gotten a result in all but 12 of their 12 previous trips to England. The three goals they scored Teusday was no more than the three goals they had previously scored in England. Ever. Oopsina was not the cause of the loss, Wenger assures us.
Do you really mean this? I want Arsenal and Chelsea to lose every match. I couldn't care less that they are English clubs. I hate them more than any other European clubs by far. The fact that it means we may lose a Chanpions league place is a small price to pay for the joy of watching them be so dogsh*t in Europe. I'm loving it.
I'm with you on this. I do try to support the other English teams, but when they concede I am out of my seat celebrating. It's a reflex I can't turn off.
I agree. Not quite so much with the Manchester clubs although it does make me smile when they concede and lose. But Arsenal and Chelsea I definitely cheer when the other team scores. Then it's straight over to read the message boards. I particularly enjoyed the Arsenal board last night as the match thread went from pissed off, to relief and happy, back to really pissed off again. It was a most enjoyable read. Nice of Spurlock to make them feel better by liking all their comments as well, a nice gesture I thought.
I'll pretty much always support the other team if Arsenal are playing to be honest, and most of the time for Chelsea too if I'm bothering to watch the games. Its a bit small minded I guess but thats rivalry for you. The two Manchester clubs I'm fairly indifferent about. United I can sometimes enjoy losing, as I have known a fair few incredibly entitled Man U fans over the years, and their reactions to the recent post-SAF years has been like a spoilt child throwing the toys out of the pram, so its nice to see those fans be bought down to Earth. Liverpool too. And when a team like City who throw the cash around lose in Europe to a team they're probably vastly outspending, its always an amusing moment. But generally I feel able to get behind the Manchester clubs in Europe if I'm watching the match, far more so than the other London clubs. Honestly with these clubs (and indeed pretty much every English team playing in domestic and European competitions) I don't tend to care too much about their results really, I'll have a chuckle if they lose but if they win I'm not exactly distraught, and unless I'm watching the match with mates I tend not to care all that much. I'm not the type to be glued to the results praying for an Arsenal or Chelsea loss every time they play. That is unless there are direct consequences for Spurs from the match (like Chelsea's CL final...) in which case I'm clearly watching and very much emotionally involved, as you'd expect.
