Given the mounting injury problems, what will constitute a good last third of the season?

crossy1686 said:
The whole season has been built around getting top 4, anything less than that is a failure considering the money spent in the summer. The cups (this year) are nothing more than a bonus, but we can't build on anything if we don't get CL football. That's the bottom line.
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Arsenal have proven this is bollocks.
 
For me, priority is top 4. That is essential. If we don't get that we can forget about getting top quality players. Even Kane would probably pick Spurs over us as they would likely get 4th.

Europa League would be my second priority as winning that would get us CL anyway.

I'd forget about the FA Cup. The way City are playing, I think they'd be strong favourites against us. I think Brighton is tough. I know the argument is to help prevent City winning the treble but I think Brighton will be in a better position than us to beat them in a final. They can put all their eggs in that basket.
 
I'd be happy to bin off the FA Cup and Europa and concentrate on top 4.
 
glazed said:
I'd be happy to bin off the FA Cup and Europa and concentrate on top 4.
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I get this for the Europa but we’re a Wembley game against Brighton away from a final against City that’s at the end of season. This is a big opportunity.
 
Heardy said:
And yet, it'd still be hugely preferential to win the Europa and finish 5th. Another trophy is more important and the Europa gives access to CL rendering league finish irrelevant for anything other than pride over "progress."
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No it wouldn’t because it would hand our league an extra CL place, meaning we’re competing with one additional team in the summer for CL level players. On top of that we’ll have to play an additional 5 games with an already thread bare squad.
 
crossy1686 said:
No it wouldn’t because it would hand our league an extra CL place, meaning we’re competing with one additional team in the summer for CL level players.
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Is it really more important that there are just 4 Premier League teams in the CL rather than us being seeded? It's most likely going to be Newcastle and I'm not sure if them securing the CL is so relevant to our summer business plans. I'd rather finish 5th, win the EL and be seeded in the CL than finish 4th, lose the EL and not be seeded.
 
Offside said:
I get this for the Europa but we’re a Wembley game against Brighton away from a final against City that’s at the end of season. This is a big opportunity.
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For what? Who cares? EPL and UCL are the only competitions that should matter to a big boy club.
 
A good last third or quarter of the season is one where the club is sold and a new owner has some time to prepare for next year. That's the most important thing for the long term.

On the pitch, I'm pretty relaxed about finishing 3rd. A second cup would be a major bonus, but I think it's a reach.
 
Just get top 4 for me now, the shape of the team is coming together well and we have a great platform to build from for next season. A smart summer and we're potentially a big force next season so it would be nice to finish of this season on a relative high.
 
Top 4.

Bonus if we win another cup, especially if its FA cup to stop shitty winning treble.

Extra bonus, dippers end up in Europa Conference League.
 
Might be a blessing in disguise to go out v Sevilla now. No real shame in going out after how unlucky we were at OT. Our best attacker gets injured, then our best defender just as our midfield comes back from long injury/suspension. Down to 10 men and concede 2 jammy own goals. Bruno out for the away leg due to a shocking ref decision, Shaw, Varane, Rashford and Martinez probably out injured for it too.
Honestly rather go out now to them and have the easier run in and focus on the fa cup and top 4
 
I would be happy with top four and a trophy. It is more than I expected this season.

Having said that, I would like to go to Spain next week and shithouse those cnuts out of the EL.
 
Top four should be the paramount focus for the rest of the season. Winning a cup or two would just be gravy.
 
If w get players back soonish we can still have a good go in the cups. It not too 4 is most important as others have said.
 
Offside said:
And the fact we’ve already got a cup in the bag.
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Exactly. Winning mentality is improving, good steps taken with the squad, play style developing.

Results will ultimately be impacted by unfortunate things that are partly out of ETH’s control, like injuries and suspensions. But as long as we finish top four and make the right squad moves in the summer, there is no reason to not be optimistic for next season.
 
Top 4 is so important. Not just because of attracting the players and financial benefits etc, but those Thursday - Sunday fixtures are just gruelling for the players.

I know it's probably the exact same in terms of days per game in a season etc if you go all the way, but I remember some ex-pros stating that Tues - Sat is an easier schedule, and you could probably have a couple Friday night kickoffs to accommodate European football.

We already have a cup in the bag, we just need to fully cement either 3rd of 4th. It's worrying how leggy we look, especially when the likes of Newcastle are hitting form again and Spurs are stumbling their way to some lucky results.
 
eire-red said:
Top 4 is so important. Not just because of attracting the players and financial benefits etc, but those Thursday - Sunday fixtures are just gruelling for the players.

I know it's probably the exact same in terms of days per game in a season etc if you go all the way, but I remember some ex-pros stating that Tues - Sat is an easier schedule, and you could probably have a couple Friday night kickoffs to accommodate European football.

We already have a cup in the bag, we just need to fully cement either 3rd of 4th. It's worrying how leggy we look, especially when the likes of Newcastle are hitting form again and Spurs are stumbling their way to some lucky results.
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Theoretically we should be much fresher over the next few weeks, with a completely refreshed spine. Martial, Casemiro, Eriksen, Maguire and Lindelof all haven’t played much football recently. Come to think of it, neither have Sabitzer, McT or Fred (over season as a whole)

Desperately in need of some more quality in wide areas, though. Having Rashford and Garnacho both out with Sancho playing this badly is painful to watch. And fullback has been a problem area for most of the season.
 
Pogue Mahone said:
Theoretically we should be much fresher over the next few weeks, with a completely refreshed spine. Martial, Casemiro, Eriksen, Maguire and Lindelof all haven’t played much football recently.

Desperately in need of some more quality in attack, though. Having Rashford and Garnacho both out with Sancho playing this badly is painful to watch.
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Yes I know what you mean, but it's a dicey part of the season to hope players can get that match fitness up quickly, even if they are fresh physically. Casemiro and Eriksen have looked sluggish.

Yeah Garnacho is a big loss. He offers us such a different dynamic down the left. But it should be good to see Martial and Rashford linking up in the run-in to the season provided Rashford is back shortly and Martial can stay fit. The drop off in quality when Weghorst and Elanga came on last night was eye-watering, but all fit they don't make the bench in my view.
 
For me, the best possible end to the season would be getting a buyer lined up for Maguire.

Seriously though, top 4 needs to be the priority. Even if that means being more defensive in our approach to cover for what will be a piss poor defense.
 
glazed said:
For what? Who cares? EPL and UCL are the only competitions that should matter to a big boy club.
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No. A big boy club fights on all fronts. Laughable really you act as if we are a super club that won everything the last years. We won feck all and we need every trophy we can get.
 
Brighton are massive favs now at Wembley for me.

At one point last night it looked like we would be able to rest a few players in Seville in prep for the semi final but now we obviously cant. Not only that but we have lost two key players also.

Game management last night was 1 out of 10. The players stopped playing and the manager made some truly baffling subs. How on earth he didn't bring Fred on I will never ever know.

What a shame.
 
If last night proved anything it's that the 'one game at a time' approach is the only one worth considering. We know that we aren't going to prioritise anything, and nor should we. The hand we are being dealt keeps changing. Come what may, for me this season has been great. Enormously entertaining
 
I said to at the start of the season top 4 and a cup.

We have won a cup so lets just focus on getting the 4th spot and we can rubuild over the summer.
 
glazed said:
For what? Who cares? EPL and UCL are the only competitions that should matter to a big boy club.
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Complete bollocks mate. If we’re a big boy club we should care about going head to head with City at Wembley for actual honours and not simply finishing in the top 4.
 
arnoldS said:
No. A big boy club fights on all fronts. Laughable really you act as if we are a super club that won everything the last years. We won feck all and we need every trophy we can get.
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If we fight on all fronts and end up with a crocked squad and no top four, we'll look like idiots. It's top red dumbassery

Has anyone noticed our injury list? It happens from playing game of football. Fewer games, fewer injuries. It's just a fact we have poor squad depth.
 
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Top 4 finish has to be the priority now. If you’d said we could have top 4 and a trophy at the start of this season I’d have taken that gladly.
 
Post world Cup the expectations got really high, though it was powered by freak run by Rashford and good run in cups. Post that Liverpool result we are back to step forward step back routine we are used to.
 
Nou_Camp99 said:
Brighton are massive favs now at Wembley for me.

At one point last night it looked like we would be able to rest a few players in Seville in prep for the semi final but now we obviously cant. Not only that but we have lost two key players also.

Game management last night was 1 out of 10. The players stopped playing and the manager made some truly baffling subs. How on earth he didn't bring Fred on I will never ever know.

What a shame.
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Exactly. Fred would make a lot of sense, even if we want to have Eriksen there we could push Bruno to the left for Sancho.
ETH clearly puts Fred on the bottom of the available midfield options and it is weird.
 
Even the top red woodentops must now realise chasing four competitions full pelt with such a shallow squad was a major error of judgement from EtH. The only thing we should now care about is top four. I will be pleasantly surprised if we make it.
 
With a trophy already secured, a solid top 4 finish would be a good season.

Given our injury crisis, it’s unlikely we can win either the EL or FA anyway. These are nice cherry toppings on the cake.
 
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