Arsenal or 'Pool? I know it's early days, and the most that this thread can do is open the can of worms of rampant speculation, but - hey! - this is a footy forum, and if one cannot discuss such things here, then there is no other place that one can, so... here goes! There is no getting away from the fact that Arsenal were an utter shambles, yesterday, at home, to Villa, a team that barely escaped relegation last season. 'Pool, by stark contrast, looked full of running (apart from the first 20 minutes) against a physical Stoke side, and will be even stronger when their star player, Goofy, returns after the next 5 games (from which he is banned from playing, as part of his punishment for taking a bite out of a Chelsea player, last season). I would say that Stoke is a better side than Villa (slightly, though some may debate that with me), but even if there isn't much between them, there is no getting away from the fact that 'Pool managed to scrape a win at home, whereas Arsenal were humiliated on their own turf. Before the season started, I would have said that 'Pool would struggle to make the top 6, but I can see them finishing perhaps as high as 5th (if they can maintain their stunning form against Stoke). Now, I've predicted that, if Whinger doesn't manage to bride a top-class player to join his club, Arsenal are going to finish no higher than 5th. That naturally means that I now see 'Pool and Arsenal fighting for 5th spot, and it's a battle that I can see 'Pool winning. I'd like to think that neither will have enough quality to make any serious challenge for 4th, but one never knows in football. On balance, therefore - and if we are to face any serious challenge for 4th - I'd say that our nearest rivals, this season, will be 'Pool. What do you guys think?
Hahaha, i still think us and arse fighting for 4th with pool a bit behind (but not as much as last year)
I think you pose this question far too early. After ONE game each and the window still open? Come back with this in January and we might get a sensible debate.
why in the name of all the is unholy do you insist on writing these "wum welcome here" threads???? you must know that he who shall not be named *coughpiskiecough* will be marking this in his lttle red book so he can claim that you were deadly serious and how it's now come back to bite you on the arse
the only team to stop spurs getting 4th is spurs, they should of been 4th last season, but choked, this season arsenal wont make 4th, 6th I think liverppol 5th, spurs 4th, could even go close to 3rd
Judging by the last couple of seasons, either our manager's ego or our players' cruciate ligaments...
Gonna be between us and Arsenal again I think. But this question will be easier to answer in a few months time.
There is a fantastic article by the superb Alan Hansen, on the BBC Football website, where, though his astute critical analysis, he concludes that Arsenal are a shambles. Okay, so he doesn't actually use the word "shambles" in his article, but that is clearly his conclusion. He posits the truism that it would be a "disaster" and utterly "unthinkable" for Arsenal not to make it through to the CL proper, and that if they fail to do so it will all be Whiger's fault. Although he doesn't say as much, one senses that the erudite Hansen believes that Arsenal is a spent force. Hansen's illuminating thoughts strongly support my argument that it will be 'Pool who will be our biggest rival for 4th (if we are to have a rival, that is).
I hear what you (and Spurf) say - I really do - and I did say in my OP that I was about to "open the can of rampant speculation," so I would expect no one to be held to their opinions, not at this very early stage. However, I would say that, even after one game, there are already signs that Arsenal are in free-fall. The cultured Hansen tends to agree with me, too.
Was this the Hansen who said that Man U would win nothing with kids? Come on HIAG if you have to use pundits to support your case you don't have one.
I, too, in the not-so-distant past, have criticised Hansen. I have likened his punditry to that of a mindless automaton. Perhaps, in retrospect, I was a little too hasty. One cannot deny that the man has exhibited, with his astute analysis of Whinger, a certain panache. Yes, of course he has been wrong with some of his predictions, but so have we all. Do you really want to be seen as the man who cast the first stone. Spurf? I wouldn't say that I rely upon the likes of Hansen to "support" my case, since the case clearly existed before Hansen's article was published. However, it surely cannot be denied that the fact that Hansen is thinking along almost exactly the same lines as me tends to strengthen rather than weaken my argument. And, as I have already said (and repeated, once), I do accept that I am opening the can of worms that is rampant speculation.
What about Chelsea? 6th in May 2012 Cemented top four place at a late stage last season - but wouldn't had they not had such a good start under di Matteo (22 points from first 8 games). Surely they have a chance of battling you for a top four place again?
What part of that was mocking Hansen?! Mocking Arsenal, sure, but Hansen? Talking up the opinion of someone saying exactly what HIAG wants to see, I'll give you, but there's literally nothing negative in there about him at all.
