Beth Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 6 hours ago, Optimistic Nut said: The game evolves. It's no longer enough for a winger just to be a good crosser, full-back to be able to block crosses, strikers have to do more than just be able to finish. Keepers have to at least be able to be comfortable with their feet, they don't have to be Pirlo-like. Give Pope even just Dubravka's feet and he'd be elite. It'd be nice not having to keep setting up to defend a throw-in or keep having to press all the time to try to win the ball back every time the ball goes back to the keeper. Conceeded 33 in 38 games last season, that's the best ratio in our history despite being shite with his feet. Ramsdale had a couple of howlers the season just gone despite barely playing, trying to be clever with his feet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palace fan Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 On 21/05/2024 at 17:28, Ed Vinegar said: I thought this was a fun season. We handed out some absolute pastings, Isak and Gordon were mint, and we survived a ridiculous injury crisis to still have a reasonable finish. I don't think I'll ever get used to expecting us to win, so I'd be happy with the same again. Realistically, if we improve the strength and depth of the squad and manage to avoid the types of games we had this season where teams either walked through our midfield or waited for us to be knackered after 80 mins, I think we could do quite a bit better. Arsenal and City will keep their standards, Chelsea should improve, but Liverpool will decline, Villa will struggle to handle CL, Spurs have been found out and Man U are turgid and drifting. I reckon 4th or 5th is a good target, along with a strong cup run. I'd love us to win literally any trophy, so would be happy with top 8 and a cup. Mostly I just want to enjoy it, last 2 seasons have been amazing overall. I love watching bruno, AG and Isak and thinking "how do they play for us?" Such a breath of fresh air compared to the big mug magnate's years. I'd be crossing everything I had that Man United win the cup if you value a top CL finish. Can't see you have the squad depth to do the Conference and the League and you're likely to go a long way in the Conference after all. Really notable this season how all the teams in Europe bombed in the second half of the season bar Arsenal and City and they both have amazing squad depth. Villa for instance were 10 points down with no particular injury crises (39 points in GW19 and 68 points in GW38), Liverpool same sort of story and Brighton and West Ham were only just over the relegation zone on second half of the season form. Don't think I've left out any other teams in Europe last season there Conference and 8th place? Really fast start to the season and slowly roll home as per Villa this time also possible of course Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stifler Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Aye but 1 key thing you are forgetting. We want to win a cup. I’d rather win the Conference League and finish 10th, than not even play in it and finish 4th. Your examples fall down a bit when Aston Villa went deep in the Conference League and finished 4th as well. We finished 4th last season, had Champions League this season. Like I say, now I’d take an average league season for a cup win. On top of this we help our own coefficient, and also a cup win gets us into Europe in anyway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee_Johnny Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 (edited) 10 minutes ago, Palace fan said: I'd be crossing everything I had that Man United win the cup if you value a top CL finish. Can't see you have the squad depth to do the Conference and the League and you're likely to go a long way in the Conference after all. Really notable this season how all the teams in Europe bombed in the second half of the season bar Arsenal and City and they both have amazing squad depth. Villa for instance were 10 points down with no particular injury crises (39 points in GW19 and 68 points in GW38), Liverpool same sort of story and Brighton and West Ham were only just over the relegation zone on second half of the season form. Don't think I've left out any other teams in Europe last season there Conference and 8th place? Really fast start to the season and slowly roll home as per Villa this time also possible of course I’m not into that kind of crazy lack of ambition. It’s highly unlikely we’ll have to cope with the lack of availability/injuries we had this season. A season where we still finished three places higher than Palace have ever managed, endured ‘the group of F’, and had decent domestic cup runs. Edited May 22 by Coffee_Johnny Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solitude20 Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 2 minutes ago, Stifler said: Aye but 1 key thing you are forgetting. We want to win a cup. I’d rather win the Conference League and finish 10th, than not even play in it and finish 4th. Your examples fall down a bit when Aston Villa went deep in the Conference League and finished 4th as well. We finished 4th last season, had Champions League this season. Like I say, now I’d take an average league season for a cup win. On top of this we help our own coefficient, and also a cup win gets us into Europe in anyway. I would look at it from a different angle, it would be really exciting for us if our team plays every three days for an entire season as opposed to having a single game per week, that’s just a lot of games to watch and more goals to enjoy, as long as we have a better depth next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattoon Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 There will be a lot of rotation in the early/mid conference league games anyway, no way will we have to utilise our best players for more than an hour, much like in the early stages of domestic cup competitions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 18 minutes ago, Stifler said: Aye but 1 key thing you are forgetting. We want to win a cup. I’d rather win the Conference League and finish 10th, than not even play in it and finish 4th. Your examples fall down a bit when Aston Villa went deep in the Conference League and finished 4th as well. We finished 4th last season, had Champions League this season. Like I say, now I’d take an average league season for a cup win. On top of this we help our own coefficient, and also a cup win gets us into Europe in anyway. I wouldn't. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dokko Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 Win the conference and it puts you in europa league. Win the europa league and it puts you in CL. Fuck the league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sibierski Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 (edited) 41 minutes ago, Palace fan said: I'd be crossing everything I had that Man United win the cup if you value a top CL finish. Can't see you have the squad depth to do the Conference and the League and you're likely to go a long way in the Conference after all. Really notable this season how all the teams in Europe bombed in the second half of the season bar Arsenal and City and they both have amazing squad depth. Villa for instance were 10 points down with no particular injury crises (39 points in GW19 and 68 points in GW38), Liverpool same sort of story and Brighton and West Ham were only just over the relegation zone on second half of the season form. Don't think I've left out any other teams in Europe last season there Conference and 8th place? Really fast start to the season and slowly roll home as per Villa this time also possible of course I’d say our squad will be far better next season then this season, with the experience, to juggle both a low quality competition till the April and go hard in the league for UCL. It’s the domestic cup runs on top that have the negative impact. Only the truly elite can do both, and it’s often because their youth is decent enough to get the results. Edited May 22 by Sibierski Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 27 minutes ago, Beth said: I wouldn't. I would, but I doubt the club see it that way. The riches of CL qualification is surely their main target for next season. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 27 minutes ago, Dokko said: Win the conference and it puts you in europa league. Win the europa league and it puts you in CL. Fuck the league. Yes, piece of piss that like. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 4 minutes ago, Unbelievable said: I would, but I doubt the club see it that way. The riches of CL qualification is surely their main target for next season. Maybe we'll emulate Villa, but we'd need a lot of luck with injuries. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
OverThere Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 As long as we rotate the squad quite a bit for the conference League we will be just fine Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palace fan Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 1 hour ago, Coffee_Johnny said: I’m not into that kind of crazy lack of ambition. It’s highly unlikely we’ll have to cope with the lack of availability/injuries we had this season. A season where we still finished three places higher than Palace have ever managed, endured ‘the group of F’, and had decent domestic cup runs. Ah yes I forgot football only started in 92 or was it 93 and not a couple of seasons earlier Point was simply that Thursday night football is a killer if you want to put a complete season together. Feel sure there will be examples of teams that have done both but most all evidence points to it dampening league form. Enough flakey big 6 teams to have ambitions but from the outside I wouldn't have you as among the favourites for CL football Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffee_Johnny Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 12 minutes ago, Palace fan said: Ah yes I forgot football only started in 92 or was it 93 and not a couple of seasons earlier Point was simply that Thursday night football is a killer if you want to put a complete season together. Feel sure there will be examples of teams that have done both but most all evidence points to it dampening league form. Enough flakey big 6 teams to have ambitions but from the outside I wouldn't have you as among the favourites for CL football The point I was making was probably more relevant to the more modern phenomenon of balancing European games with a heavy domestic. schedule. However, apologies probably it would have been fairer to say that we finished 7th; which is a higher league position than Palace have ever managed, in the last 119 years, bar once ? And more seriously, we will surely have more players available next year. But 7th not bad, given the three cup runs and season of having the worse injury record in the top flight, plus a freakish season long ban for our main signing. I think we’ll do better next year with or without ECL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Checko Posted May 22 Share Posted May 22 (edited) 47 minutes ago, Palace fan said: Ah yes I forgot football only started in 92 or was it 93 and not a couple of seasons earlier Point was simply that Thursday night football is a killer if you want to put a complete season together. Feel sure there will be examples of teams that have done both but most all evidence points to it dampening league form. Enough flakey big 6 teams to have ambitions but from the outside I wouldn't have you as among the favourites for CL football Champions League will still be tough without europe. Arsenal and Man City are a clear level or two above us. Liverpool too, though obviously transition year. Spurs, Villa, Chelsea, Man U all vying for that spot(s) and will probably all spend. I'd rather have the exposure (even if relatively small) of the Conference League - just having Europe could help with recruitment. Plus Eddie Howe's been a manager a long time, but does lack experience dealing with European football. I think it would useful just from that perspective. Plus it's a trophy we'd have a legitimate shot of winning and it's be an adventure for the fans to go and see some new places and teams. Edited May 22 by Checko Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palace fan Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 On 22/05/2024 at 20:00, Checko said: Champions League will still be tough without europe. Arsenal and Man City are a clear level or two above us. Liverpool too, though obviously transition year. Spurs, Villa, Chelsea, Man U all vying for that spot(s) and will probably all spend. I'd rather have the exposure (even if relatively small) of the Conference League - just having Europe could help with recruitment. Plus Eddie Howe's been a manager a long time, but does lack experience dealing with European football. I think it would useful just from that perspective. Plus it's a trophy we'd have a legitimate shot of winning and it's be an adventure for the fans to go and see some new places and teams. Personally I'd take a trophy any day of the week - helps that they come with rewards in Europa Could be of course you consolidate the squad sufficiently in this window to make a serious run at CL possible too. Villa did after all but they were blindingly good up to the new year - just a couple of points off top. Feels like a scenario you hope for rather than expect. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Checko Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Palace fan said: Personally I'd take a trophy any day of the week - helps that they come with rewards in Europa Could be of course you consolidate the squad sufficiently in this window to make a serious run at CL possible too. Villa did after all but they were blindingly good up to the new year - just a couple of points off top. Feels like a scenario you hope for rather than expect. We definitely didn't consolidate the squad properly last summer. We got one CM, swapped one winger for another and brought in two back-up fullbacks. Plus bought one to loan out for the future. Obviously doesn't help that we then lost the CM all year and the winger for half the season. Could still turn out to be a good window long-term, but we probably didn't strengthen the overall squad as efficiently as we could. This was then compounded by injuries early on and relentlessly tough cup draws. If we can get the two frees in defence then that definitely helps numbers this year and gives us a bit of wiggle room to try and buy quality in a couple of areas. You must be looking forward to next year. Reckon you'll have a Europe challenge in you? Edited May 24 by Checko verb conjugation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vaj Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 Also 5th should be Champions League next year (yes I know we said that this year!). Italy could have 9 teams in Europe, so naturally their average ranking should decrease unless all their teams have a successful European campaign. Especially when Bologna and Atalanta will be in the CL. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Palace fan Posted May 24 Share Posted May 24 11 minutes ago, Checko said: We definitely didn't consolidate the squad properly last summer. We got one CM, swapped one winger for another and brought in two back-up fullbacks. Plus bought one to loan out for the future. Obviously doesn't help that we then lost the CM all year and the winger for half the season. Could still turn out to be a good window long-term, but we probably didn't strengthen the overall squad as efficiently as we could. This was then compounded by injuries early on and relentlessly tough cup draws. If we can get the two frees in defence then that definitely helps numbers this year and gives us a bit of wiggle room to try and buy quality in a couple of areas. You must be looking forward to next year. Reckon you'll have a Europe challenge in you? Fair amount depends on Olise and Eze and where they are likely - though of course if they do go there will be (for us) unheard amounts of money to spend on replacements. 10-14 is generally never far off of course but Glasner didn't come for that and has been to Europe wherever he's been and it's easy to see why now. A De Zerbi Brighton season not impossible by any means if we have reasonable injury luck. I'm guessing that no squad in the league has a sharper drop off from first team to rest. Impressive that Mitchell is possibly our weak link as he's very handy - less impressive that Joel Ward is an injury away from playing. But been around long enough to look forward to next season in the knowledge that we'll be playing watchable football and be most likely be a feel-good club that is fun to support. It's not always like that after all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unbelievable Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 With no European football commitments in midweek I imagine the club’s target for next season will be to qualify for CL..? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazzaschicken Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 3 minutes ago, Unbelievable said: With no European football commitments in midweek I imagine the club’s target for next season will be to qualify for CL..? I'd imagine so with Liverpool, Chelsea and man united (potentially) having new.managers and villa with UCL drop off we should be aiming for 4th as a minimum Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 Been comparisons with 94/5 a canny bit all season, this just rounded it all off. In for a helluva season next year if that follows on too. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nowhere Man Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 we just need this mentality next season, things will change, in’s & out’s, but we don’t need to fear anyone , keep the purples and we good to go.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack27 Posted May 25 Share Posted May 25 Bet we win the league Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now