The College Dropout

Think Any PL side in the top 12 would have a decent crack at making the Europa league final this season. They wouldn’t have got to the final last year with Atalanta and Leverkusen. It’s genuinely harder to win a domestic cup this season. At least 3 of our 4 wins against Spurs/Man U were ‘live’ games. We smashed a live Man U at OT. We are good. But that is insane.

Adding 3-4 and keeping who we want will give us the squad. I think we are 3 quality players away from being as good Arsenal and Liverpool. 1 pacy quality defender. Another bionic midfielder with ability. And another attacker - preferably a creator like a left footed Cunha. With that we could win a 85 point league imo. In fact - if we ‘just’ signed a Cunha/Palmer level player. Another top quality technician that wants the ball at all times. It would add another dimension and we could have a challenge. This is why I’m so keen on CL. The best teams in the division are only 1 or 2 quality players above us. We’ll have a small squad and need a bit of luck. I think every team apart from peak City need that bit of luck with injuries.

Don’t overly care. We are good and Everton are shit. We take care of that and nothing matters. if we play our best - the game could be over by half time. We could grind out a 1 nil. We’ll find a way to beat Everton.

They are also shit. Don’t forget that. a shit team either hungover from a cup win or low morale from losing. impossible to go in mentally 100%. And again. They are shit. Villa are good.

we always had the CL to chase. Spurs have nothing.

Winning EL won't be transformational for Spurs. The Spurs "project" is not about winning trophies. It's not something they will consistently do. It's not important to Levy and the club embodies it. They only giving Europa a good shot because of CL qualification. Man U managers need to win trophies. Which is why they have won 3 different types, some of them multiple times, since Ferguson left. It's transformational for us because our "project" does require winning trophies. And we've only been trying to win trophies for the last 3 years.

Don't care. Due to their ownership both aren't title threats IMO. Due to finances Man U in particular will always be competitive. But Levy will never spend the money and Man U won't make enough compounded good decisions. Both of their managers aren't the right men for the jobs.

Arsenal need 2 top quality attackers. Martinelli is not at the level.

Harry Kane does it a lot. If he can't win it, he'll back into a player. It's one of those things that need to be outlawed from the game. Immediate yellow. It's dangerous. Chelsea are a pretty small team. I think it's a deliberate tactic from the coach. I get the idea of "if you can't win it, make it difficult for the opponent" but those snide back-ins and forearms to the face is too far.

Looks like he does none. Common thought is *some* strength training will help prevent injuries. Will literally give you stronger ligaments and connective tissues etc. but if he thinks it will increase his injury record then it will increase his injury record. There's a sprinter. Who was world class that never did weights. He finally started lifting in his mid 30's... then started getting PBs at a time when he should've started slowing down.... and it was attributed to the weights. Think it's Kim Collins. He hardly hulked up either. Might be PEDs.

He's well off it in Eddie's own regard too though. That's not going to help his development. He has the right team around him though. And a pre-season will do wonders. Hall learnt it quickly. Hall became an Eddie Howe player, Barnes too - by becoming that split second more aggressive in their play.

Man U last day of the season. But win or lose the Europa I can't see them turning up. Forget it. Villa 69 points.

He's one of the advantages of having a slightly older squad than most. We bring on seasoned pro's to close out games. You can tell he's a proper character behind the scenes. Good professional, supports the team, trains well, mentally prepared for battle even though he's unlikely to get many minutes. I don't think Chelsea have that type of culture in their club. Lack of leadership in management and above - most of these players have seen out 2-3 managers already. Too young. Too detached from the fans. Lack of leadership in the squad. I look at Krafth and I know "he gets it". It gives me faith that Miley will make the step up because he's surrounded by players that get it.

Nah it doesn't. It would be good for momentum though. I reckon we get a draw. I think the players are in line for massive bonuses if they qualify for the CL too. We get it done against Everton man, at the worst.

We just haven't been that side. We aren't that side. It's Chelsea and Forest that have been the poorest over the last 20 GW's or so and I think are most likely to have a twist go against them. Villa have been brilliant and have 2 of the best matches coming up. I expect Man U to win the Europa, so will have a hangover on the last day.... and they are shit. It's all coming up Villa.

Yep. I've got no reason to think we won't beat 1 of Arsenal or Everton. We should win and qualify for the CL. And this is with a fair few injuries now. As you say, if we get CL, we could add 2-4 players to take us to another level. We'll have had 2 seasons on 69-71 points and another 60-point season. Add another 2-4 quality players and we could be a 75-85 point team or a 70-80 point team + a deep CL run. That's another level from where we are and I think it keeps the Tonali's and Isak's long-term where we can add more of them. Could we start doubling our Saudi-sponsorship deals? And it helps keep the Saudi's super engaged. If Villa gets CL, they can continue to wheel and deal and keep a similar squad level. If they can maintain this level of squad, they have the potential to be an 80-point side. That is why I hope they miss out and need a selling summer.

Random players I think have done really well this season: Sels Aina VVD Gabriel Robinson/Hall Gravenberch Tonali Tielemans Salah/Mbeumo Isak/Wood/Wissa Rogers Lack of quality at LW these days. Once upon a time you had peak Sterling, Rashford, Mane etc.

???? We didn’t need anything against Villa which is why it will be in our hands in GW38 no matter what happens next week. Everton are still shit.

Or win against Arsenal. We’ll beat one of them at least.

It’s not complicated. 3 more points and we are in the CL. We have 2 shots at it. I don’t expect to capitalise on the first shot. But I do expect we will for the second shot. Pickford will be well up for it. That’s my only slight fear. Fortunately I expect the rest of the team to be on the beach and emotionally spent after the last Goodson game.

GD just turned 26. The super ball playing GK is utter woke nonsense. Arsenal would’ve won something by now if they kept Martinez.

It’s not though. Courtois and Donnarumma are among the worlds best neither is excellent with the ball at their feet. Pope is especially bad though aye.

Agreed. It’s less important than a CM for me

It would be a crying shame to miss out on CL. At some point we need higher ambitions than fighting for CL. That requires qualifying for the CL numerous times. My assumption is that CL will mean we can keep who we want and invest properly. Without it I fear we need to wheel and deal without a significant net spend (90m+ type)

Aye he did his bit off the ball. No complaints about graft. His touch and decisions have been poor for some time. Didn’t have any good efforts on goal.