Jamie Redknapp's thoughts on the race for the CL places http://www.skysports.com/opinion/story/0,25212,18932_8715879,00.html "Arsenal tipped to seal fourth at expense of Spurs by Jamie Redknapp Manchester United have sewn up the title and Wigan, Reading and QPR have been consigned to relegation. But the final of the day of the Premier League season will be a fascinating afternoon of football, as North London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal vie for the final Champions League spot. Arsenal sit in pole position to land fourth place and travel to Newcastle on Sunday knowing victory will assure them of a place in Europe's elite club competition. A top four finish would be one of Wenger's 'biggest achievement' says Jamie Tottenham, meanwhile, sit one point behind in fifth, and must defeat Sunderland at White Hart Lane and hope the Gunners misfire at St James' Park. Both games will be live on Sky Sports, and it will be a nail-biting afternoon for the two sets of supporters. For me, the biggest banker of the weekend is that Spurs will beat Sunderland, so Arsenal can't afford to sit back and think 'what are Spurs doing?'. They have to take it for granted Spurs will win and they need all three points at Newcastle. The pressure is off now for the Magpies; they've had a terrible season, considering they were pushing for a top four place themselves last year, but they've avoided relegation and the players will be relaxed come kick-off - and I wonder if that will make things harder for Arsenal. If you look at Newcastle's results when they've needed to get points - when they were battling relegation and were hammered 6-0 by Liverpool or when they were beaten by local rivals and fellow strugglers Sunderland 3-0, both at home - it shows they can't handle the pressure particularly well. But they have a squad, featuring a few players such as Hatem Ben Arfa, who play nice football when they have the ball, don't like restriction in terms of defensive duty and excel when they have the freedom to attack. This is such a big game for Arsenal and they'll certainly be feeling the pressure on them. Financially, three points on Sunday is worth so much, but Newcastle will make it tough. However, Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine in the league and are playing well at the moment and I think they'll just edge the win they need - ad if they can pull through and get into the top four then, as I have said from day one, it will be one of Arsene Wenger's biggest ever achievements. Tottenham and Chelsea have got a far superior squad to Arsenal when you match them up player for player, so a top-four finish will be a major achievement for Wenger and shows how good a manager he is. Regardless of the result, though, Wenger can't afford to have another off-season selling his best players and replacing them with inferior signings. He mustn't paper over the cracks becuase you can't expect to succeed like that. Arsenal must add some star quality to their ranks - they are too big a club not to have aces in their pack. Tottenham, on the other hand, will judge their season on Sunday afternoon's events; they'll feel they should have bought a forward in January but, with the squad they've got, they should be finishing in the top four, and if they don't it will be a big blow. A lot can happen this weekend and, for Spurs, it could be the difference between a great season and a major disappointment. However, whether they do or don't make the top four, Spurs must get more out of their attacking players such as Mousa Dembele next season - they can't keep on relying on Gareth Bale. The likes of Dembele, who has only scored one goal this season, have not performed to the level they can. They must also address their defence - they've conceded nine more than Arsenal this season and we're always saying how fragile the Gunners' defence is. However, they are things for Andre Villas-Boas to consider in the summer and his focus now will be on Sunday's decisive games at White Hart Lane and St James' Park. I'm tipping Tottenham to win comfortably 3-0 but could rack up a real score. However, I think Arsenal will just edge a tight encounter with Newcastle 2-1 and seal a top-four finish." Ok Jamie.... "Tottenham and Chelsea have got a far superior squad to Arsenal when you match them up player for player. - really? Chelsea yes, us... far superior to Arsenal? not at all! "with the squad they've (Tottenham) got, they should be finishing in the top four, and if they don't it will be a big blow". - has he turned into a wum since his old man got the sack? We've managed it once Jamie... once!!! "They must also address their defence - they've conceded nine more than Arsenal this season and we're always saying how fragile the Gunners' defence is." - We've had our best defender out all season Jamie! and our left back missed half the season, which is probably why he's struggled to find his form!
I take that back. I always seem to forget we even finished 4th last season as we didn't make the CL. It just feels like we finished 5th again. Still, Chelsea had a bad campaign which was a 1 off. Now they appear to be back to winning ways and blatantly have Mourinho stepping in, so it's going to be between us and arsenal over the next few seasons, unless we somehow get the cheque book out and capitalise on arsenal's reluctance to progress any better than "champions league football will do". - we've got a real opportunity to do that now, and have had for a couple of seasons. Edit: liverpool could be up there competing too, if Rogers carries on the job he's doing.
Chelsky have finished within 6 pts of Spurs in the PL for two seasons running. A Europa cup win hardly constitutes "winning ways" IMHO.
Just to clarify the stupidity of Jamie Redknapp, you would only have to ask him (separately) for each of Spurs/Goon/Chelsky, whether he thinks based on their on paper squads they should be finishing top 4. If the answer to each is yes, then 3 into 2 don't go and he is a plank. If the answer to any is no, then which ones and why.
11 years.10 managers.9 trophies - regardless of the ridiculous sackings of some of their managers, can the trophy count really be argued? and now it's likely they'll be getting Mourinho back again. So, back to winning ways, IMO.
"So, back to winning ways, IMO." But based on their trophy haul, by definition they have never left "winning ways" in recent times. Irrespective of their managerial debacles (what Pat Nevin called the "Chelsea model" ) . If you mean as in winning the PL, then yes the return of Jose may resume that.
Redknapps right about Dembele mind you: for all the plaudits he has received, his goal return has been pitiful - in fact the number of strikes on goal is pretty dire in itself. End of term report: B-, could and should do better.........
"Tottenham and Chelsea have got a far superior squad to Arsenal when you match them up player for player" I would like to see Jamie Redknapp do this, and post the summary on Goon 606s everywhere.
How does Jamie Redknapp figure that it's a big achievement for a team with the 4th highest budget to finish 4th? The biggest spenders occupy all of the top slots in a similar order to that of the wage bills of each club. A table of that figure alone would look like this: 1. Man City 2. Chelsea 3. Man Utd 4. Arsenal 5. Liverpool 6. Tottenham 7. Aston Villa 8. Newcastle Utd 9. Sunderland 10. Everton None of the top 4 are doing anything exceptionally out of the ordinary. Liverpool are underperforming and Everton are overperforming. The less said about 7, 8 and 9 the better, frankly.
PNP : The combination of Spurs finishing well beyond the Poool + sacking his dad is proving to be too toxic for ickle Jamie to think straight.
After seeing him "tip" on Sky Bet, nothing he says can be taken seriously. Just remember who his pay-masters are now, and remember he's no more than a corporate puppet.
I'm guessing he didn't write that article either? There was a few spelling mistakes, but surely he's not that lierate?
It's understandable that he's pissed off with us for sacking his dad, but... I was just about to write something about journalistic integrity. Not really an issue here, is it?
