Just noticed something..

Compare Tottenham's, Liverpool's and Arsenal's midfield quality and I think we edge them in terms of quality. Those 3 teams mentioned are in competition with us for the 4th precious CL spot..

Tottenham's fully fit midfield - Lennon Modric Parker Bale
Liverpool's(roughly) - Henderson/Gerrard(?) Lucas Adam Downing
Arsenal - Walcott Arteta Wilshere Ramsey/Song Gervinho

Our's..

Obertan Cabaye Tiote Guti. You could say Tottenham's wingers **** all over ours but to be honest Liverpool's is pretty average apart from Downing who isn't even ''world class'' himself. Arsenal have quality in Wilshere/Arteta and Ramsey but Gervinho/Walcott haven't been that great this season.

Do you think if we could add a quality RM/RW, striker, defensive cover.. we could POSSIBLY(big IF) end 4th. Just look at how Everton reached 4th place when they had a average team.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004–05_FA_Premier_League

This is there squad :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004–05_Everton_F.C._season

Not that much quality apart from Cahill, Arteta, Osman and Yobo.

So do you think we could do it.. ???

 

Honestly I struggle to agree with this. I may change my mind and by all accounts I will admittedly by the end of the season. (Depending on how we do)

 

We will no way finish 4th. 7th would still be a brilliant acheivement in my eyes, and top 10 would be OK.

 

No chance of top 4. Top 10 is realistic, maybe 7th or 8th.

 

The fact that Bolton Wonderers and Middlesbrough took 6th and 7th just goes to show how much of a ****ed up season it was. I highly, highly doubt we'll see anything like that again.

We won't get 4th. The competition is too good. However, speaking about midfields, I think we definitely have one of the best CM partnerships in the league. Jonas is a good winger, but the other side is poor. We would need Marveaux to come out as a top player.

 

No dont think we have enough to be honest. Although we do have an excellent first eleven we just dont have the depth. One striker gets injured and we're playing Lover or Ameobi, we have very little defensive cover (we only have Willo and Perch as CB back up ) Tiote would be a massive loss etc. We just cant compete in terms of depth.

I'm not being unambitious but we really need to keep our feet on the ground especially with the November we've got coming up. Between 7th and 9th would still be an excellent season.

 

Man for man we're as good as anybody. I wont go so far as to say better or else I'll be called the 'd' word.

 

The fact Spurs had a 4-5-1 yesterday and we only had a 4-4-2 and pretty much ran CM speaks for itself, even more so when you consider Cabaye wasn't at his best.

 

Think 4th is just a step too far.. But judging by the team spirit, and our current first team line up compared to potential rivals we can challenge for 7th or maybe even 6th!!

I think it all depends on if we can replace the ACN players and if we pick up a few results from November and December run of death!!

 

Delightful? I suppose you must get sick of hearing it

 

7/8th would be fantastic.

 

Exactly. This is how Everton managed to get that 4th spot. They lacked quality in several areas but as a team they grinded out results, played for each other and had a massive team spirit. Also that season.. Cahill was amazing for them! But look at them now.. on paper they have a better team than 04-05' but they'll struggle to end in the top 6 by the end of the season because of there lack of invesment and there lack of depth in there squad.

 

I'd like to finish in a Europa spot, but only if Ashley is willing to buy 4-5 players to boost squad depth.

We have a fantastic first team, but we lack depth in critical areas, and extra games could prove too much for the team to handle, so we need depth to replace players who need to rest.

Tiote, Cabaye, Colo and Taylor should be sold at no price. These 4 players are the most critical. Tiote is the player we just can't replace and shouldn't sell, but he's the one i reckon big teams will put bids in for.

However, I take comfort in the fact that he turned down Chelsea last Jan, and i see Manure and City going in for better players than Tiote, and i doubt he'd go to Arse or Spuds, and I'm pretty sure he'd prefer to stay in the PL, so as long as we aim for aorund 7th/8th i reckon he'll stay

 

If we get 4th spot this season I'll cut off my penis. That's how much I don't think we'll be there at the end of the season.

 

Agree with everything you've said here. Especially with the ''depth'' bit. Defensive cover wouldn't be bad(especially in the central department).. Ridgewell from Birmingham always springs to mind. A quality winger.. Adam Johnson would be amazing! And of course.. a quality striker.

 

Yes. I think Best and Ba are great, but we need at least 3 great options for starters, and Ameobi and Lover for cover