The Europeometer™ (2024/25) - NUFC Qualify for Champions League

[SteV]

1 minute ago, Benwell Lad said:

 

Prefer Athletico or Real Madrid. Much nicer place.

My own personal choice would actually be Atletico too. From the outside looking in, the Metropolitano has similar vibes to Dortmund about it, so I’d like to experience that.

 

But there’s definitely a fascination to see us playing in front of a 100k crowd.

[Keegans Export]

What are the UEFA rules on away allocation, 10%?

[SteV]

1 minute ago, Keegans Export said:

What are the UEFA rules on away allocation, 10%?

5% unfortunately.

 

And sometimes clubs get away with offering less than that.

[GeordieDazzler]

Anyone booked a hotel in Budapest yet?

[SteV]

Just now, GeordieDazzler said:

Anyone booked a hotel in Budapest yet?

Scousers probably had them booked for two years.

[Vaj]

Schar's goal against Liverpool (thanks Kelleher) was huge!

[Keegans Export]

Just now, SteV said:

5% unfortunately.

 

And sometimes clubs get away with offering less than that.

I must have got 10% from the FA Cup or something. 

 

Will take a while to get used to all this European football carry on again. Looking forward to it. 

[Superior Acuña]

1 hour ago, Yorkie said:

 

It's been an amazing effort. We've had two particularly excellent runs of form - six wins in a row post-Brentford and six wins from seven in March/April - which has given us enough grace to prevent our stumbling finish from derailing us. We basically earned the right to have a sloppy end to the season. 

 

Every single point and goal is of maximum importance given the photo finish, but I'd argue that the results of particular significance were, given things like timing and opponent: 

 

Southampton (h): always crucial to get off to a good start and particularly to do so in adversity 

Forest (a): inspiring win at a European rival and key to getting the away day monkey off our backs 

Forest (h): as above, but the key element here was winning from behind and also clinging on. 'Gonna be our year' vibes

Brentford (h): lose this and the season easily fizzles out 

Chelsea (h): absolutely enormous three points on a day where we really stepped up, preventing our shaky finish from being a disastrous one

Id maybe add Villa home to that. We’d already won a couple, but that 6 pointer felt like the start of the crucial run that then included Tottenham and ManU away (easy in hindsight but felt like rivals at the time) and the away Arsenal cup win. 

[SteV]

2 minutes ago, Keegans Export said:

I must have got 10% from the FA Cup or something. 

 

Will take a while to get used to all this European football carry on again. Looking forward to it. 

Looking at Pot 1 (and assuming there’s no scenario that somehow results in us getting an English team) we will have an away trip to one of:

 

Real Madrid (81k)

Bayern Munich (70k)

PSG (48k)

Inter Milan (70k)

Borussia Dortmund (65k)

Barcelona (105k)*
 

*assuming back in Camp Nou

[huss9]

champions league qualification or a trophy?

the age old conundrum.

 

[Optimistic Nut]

7 hours ago, huss9 said:

champions league qualification or a trophy?

the age old conundrum.

 

 

Now that we've won something, I'm going with a few years of CL qualification to cement ourselves at the top. The trophies should naturally follow after that. 

[Skeletor]

Think its about time we played Real Madrid.

[Dr Venkman]

On 26/05/2025 at 16:06, The College Dropout said:

Top managers come out with BS all the time. Relatively few offer little excuse. Howe and Ancelotti spring to mind. Pep himself gives credit to opposition. But Klopp, Mourinho, Ferguson etc. talk a lot of crap 

You’re right.

 

An obvious example, and a very recent one, are Howe’s comments post-Everton game. We performed badly in that game because the squad is too thin and we were missing too many important players, including a fit striker. He said something else, though, probably to help with transfer bargaining over the summer. Despite this, quite a lot has been made of his comments.

[Dr Venkman]

On 26/05/2025 at 17:44, Mazzy said:

I mean let's be honest, with SIX teams in the Champions League now, if there isn't one English team in the final that's a huge failure as a nation.

Agreed. Will look out for this being raised in PMQs.

[The College Dropout]

2 minutes ago, Dr Venkman said:

You’re right.

 

An obvious example, and a very recent one, are Howe’s comments post-Everton game. We performed badly in that game because the squad is too thin and we were missing too many important players, including a fit striker. He said something else, though, probably to help with transfer bargaining over the summer. Despite this, quite a lot has been made of his comments.

Howe was pretty honest post Everton and suggested psychological factors impacted the game which I think is true. Howe was very honest and frank about the everything post Everton. 
 

It was the same team that played Chelsea off the park for 40 minutes.  A level of intensity and application we didn’t see at all against Everton. An Everton missing their first choice CBs and with a 38 year old at fullback. 

[Dr Venkman]

3 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

Howe was pretty honest post Everton and suggested psychological factors impacted the game which I think is true. Howe was very honest and frank about the everything post Everton. 
 

It was the same team that played Chelsea off the park for 40 minutes.  A level of intensity and application we didn’t see at all against Everton. An Everton missing their first choice CBs and with a 38 year old at fullback. 

Psychological factors may have had a small impact but the primary reasons, IMO, are we’re not very good at playing against teams who are set up defensively, particularly at home, and the squad is stretched far too thin.

 

Also, his setup going in to the game was completely wrong.

 

 

Edited 18 hours ago by Dr Venkman

[The College Dropout]

Just now, Dr Venkman said:

Psychological factors may have had a small impact but the primary reasons, IMO, are we’re not very good at playing against teams who are set up defensively, particularly at home, and the squad is stretched far too thin.

 

 

 

So you know better than Eddie?

 

What you are saying is true of the reverse game.  We played ok - huffed and puffed but couldn’t create much outside of the penalty. 
 

That game was probably the worst performance of the season. We haven’t played that bad in a long time and one of the worst Howe era performances. A draw would’ve been a robbery. The tension and nerves in the team and stadium - you could feel it through the TV.

[TRon]

1 hour ago, The College Dropout said:

So you know better than Eddie?

 

What you are saying is true of the reverse game.  We played ok - huffed and puffed but couldn’t create much outside of the penalty. 
 

That game was probably the worst performance of the season. We haven’t played that bad in a long time and one of the worst Howe era performances. A draw would’ve been a robbery. The tension and nerves in the team and stadium - you could feel it through the TV.

 

 

It's not about knowing better than Eddie, we've clearly struggled against teams who defend deep with our current set of players. Especially when players like Hall and Trippier are missing, possible Joelinton too.

[The College Dropout]

19 minutes ago, TRon said:

 

 

It's not about knowing better than Eddie, we've clearly struggled against teams who defend deep with our current set of players. Especially when players like Hall and Trippier are missing, possible Joelinton too.

That explains Brighton nicking it against us in the league. It doesn’t explain that level of performance and tangible nerves from the team and the crowd. 
 

Eddie’s summary was fair. We played too desperately and made uncharacteristic decisions and mistakes. 
 

Don’t know why that’s so hard to accept. It happens to the best. 

[Erikse]

50 minutes ago, The College Dropout said:

That explains Brighton nicking it against us in the league. It doesn’t explain that level of performance and tangible nerves from the team and the crowd. 
 

Eddie’s summary was fair. We played too desperately and made uncharacteristic decisions and mistakes. 
 

Don’t know why that’s so hard to accept. It happens to the best. 

 

I agree, there has been suggestions of lack of effort and underestimating Everton as they were "on the beach". I doubt our players going into such a crucial game thinking they didn't need to give it all because the opponent may be weak.. These players wanted the win just as much as us, if not more. They dream of playing in the Champions League.

 

It was clear to see that they were rushing it offensively, and kept trying to play through balls in scenarios where it would never work. We gave the ball away like this so many times, and I think the players was just stressed and impatient. Our offensive play in the first half was all over the place. Pure chaos.

 

Still, we do not have that much creativity in our team, and it does matter in games like this one.

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Erikse

[Cookie1892]

really want leverkusen away 

 

another few nights in Dusseldorf will do nicely

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Cookie1892

[Elma]

2 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

Howe was pretty honest post Everton and suggested psychological factors impacted the game which I think is true. Howe was very honest and frank about the everything post Everton. 
 

It was the same team that played Chelsea off the park for 40 minutes.  A level of intensity and application we didn’t see at all against Everton. An Everton missing their first choice CBs and with a 38 year old at fullback. 

 

Eddie Howe is always Frank…and John.

[ramirez]

13 minutes ago, Cookie1892 said:

really want leverkusen away 

 

another few nights in Dusseldorf will do nicely

 

 

 

Stayed there  and koln for the 2003 game and the latter is way better imo 

 

 

Edited 15 hours ago by ramirez

[Dr Venkman]

3 hours ago, The College Dropout said:

So you know better than Eddie?

 

What you are saying is true of the reverse game.  We played ok - huffed and puffed but couldn’t create much outside of the penalty. 
 

That game was probably the worst performance of the season. We haven’t played that bad in a long time and one of the worst Howe era performances. A draw would’ve been a robbery. The tension and nerves in the team and stadium - you could feel it through the TV.

 

I know that he doesn't always give the media the whole truth.

[Kanj]

4 hours ago, Erikse said:

 

I agree, there has been suggestions of lack of effort and underestimating Everton as they were "on the beach". I doubt our players going into such a crucial game thinking they didn't need to give it all because the opponent may be weak.. These players wanted the win just as much as us, if not more. They dream of playing in the Champions League.

 

It was clear to see that they were rushing it offensively, and kept trying to play through balls in scenarios where it would never work. We gave the ball away like this so many times, and I think the players was just stressed and impatient. Our offensive play in the first half was all over the place. Pure chaos.

 

Still, we do not have that much creativity in our team, and it does matter in games like this one.

 

 

 

 

Yep, you and Dropout are spot-on IMHO.  Many teams this season the desperation has forced us into very poor mistakes and led to us not getting results. It's something I think we are continuing to work on. It's why you need Trippier in these situations, who has his way of calming us the fuck down when it starts getting frantic for no good reason. I still would like to see us sign a creative midfielder who is older in his career, 1-2 year deal, for matches like Everton or crucial  matches where that calmness + guile are needed. 

 

I believe more often than not, when you see us playing flat, mistaken prone football that it's like a 50-50 or 60-40  or 40-60 fatigue to mentality thing for us. 

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Kanj