New Gap in the "Big 4" ???

[Dokko]

If Wenger is allowing Henry to leave, I'd wager that he already has a replacement lined up, someone we aint heard to much of perhaps, like Gomis of St Etienne who is suppose to be the new Drogba of the French League.

 

Maybe Wenger is off, maybe there is no replacement lined up.

 

 

 

Can Wenger be arsed to rebuild this Arsenal team....again? (esp with new American owners)

 

I think he'd enjoy a move to Madrid more.

 

No matter how good a rebuild job he does, he's got two rock solid teams to get past, and another team on his level to fend off. With Madrid he's sitting a lot prettier.

 

I just think his time has come, he only wants to stay another year max, so a rebuild job could possibly be out of the question.

[Guest kingdawson]

Depends on who Arse sign to replace Henry. If its Babbel or Martins then i will be happy tbh. Both are good players but nowhere near the class of Henry.

[Baggio]

Depends on who Arse sign to replace Henry. If its Babbel or Martins then i will be happy tbh. Both are good players but nowhere near the class of Henry.

 

Henry wasn't near the class of Anelka when they bought him, didn't stop Wenger turning him into one of the best players in the World.

 

Whoever he buys I'm confident he can do it again.

[Dr Spectrum]

Depends on who Arse sign to replace Henry. If its Babbel or Martins then i will be happy tbh. Both are good players but nowhere near the class of Henry.

 

Is there anyone near the class of Henry? Tevez maybe? 

[gray]

Depends on who Arse sign to replace Henry. If its Babbel or Martins then i will be happy tbh. Both are good players but nowhere near the class of Henry.

 

Is there anyone near the class of Henry? Tevez maybe? 

 

good shout that actually.

[Optimistic Nut]

Henry will never be replaced. They'll get a good player, but they'll not get better.

[Guest kingdawson]

Depends on who Arse sign to replace Henry. If its Babbel or Martins then i will be happy tbh. Both are good players but nowhere near the class of Henry.

 

Henry wasn't near the class of Anelka when they bought him, didn't stop Wenger turning him into one of the best players in the World.

 

Whoever he buys I'm confident he can do it again.

 

Whos to say Wenger will still be there.

[Guest kingdawson]

Depends on who Arse sign to replace Henry. If its Babbel or Martins then i will be happy tbh. Both are good players but nowhere near the class of Henry.

 

Is there anyone near the class of Henry? Tevez maybe? 

 

true but players like Babbel are not even close.

[Dave]

I still think they are a good enough team to beat the vast majority of the other teams in the league, even without Henry. Top four to remain the same imo, although not sure on the order.

[Guest mishka17]

if henry's departure is true, that means that it's the beginning of arsenalls falling down....first henry, then wenger, then fabregas etc. and there will be place for us in big 4 ... again

[La Parka]

Gutted for Arsenal something is going wrong behind the scenes. Wenger to go next closely followed by Fabregas.

 

[ohmelads]

They finished top 4 without him last season and my head says they'll do it again if Wenger stays. He never did replace Vieira though and Henry will be at least as hard to replace.

 

As for us, it's impossible to say where we're headed until we know what's happening with Owen and Martins and what kind of budget we have. We need a whole new defence and I wouldn't get too excited until I've seen a few decent defenders through the door.

[1878]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

[johnnypd]

wenger won't be thinking of it in terms of replacing henry, he's irreplaceable. wenger will change the system so that they have a new team playing a new style of football, rather than trying to replace a unique player. if you do that you will just end up with a poor pastiche. for instance Fabregas was Bergkamp's "replacement" as the brains and playmaker of the team, but he plays in a different position so the system as a whole must change.

 

as for the team that will challenge them, i think it will be Spurs. 1878 said that everton were above them for the majority of the season, but Spurs had just lost their best player in Carrick and for the first half of the season they struggled. Once Berbatov, who started off pretty badly, adjusted to the English game they looked a lot better. With a whole season of Berbatov settled and adjusted, as well as spurs spending big again this summer (unlike everton) you have to think they are the most likely to challenge.

[Dave]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

 

Spot on. The top four are away on their own imo.

 

Everyone else is pretty much as shit as each other at this stage. The increasing number of takeovers might change things though.

[Guest kingdawson]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

 

Yeh and IF the ref called a foul on Stalteri in the build up to the Arsenal equaliser we would have been playing Champions league football. Decisions go against every team and cant really be used as an excuse. Tbh i think were the best of the rest but not by much

[Baggio]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

 

Yeh and IF the ref called a foul on Stalteri in the build up to the Arsenal equaliser we would have been playing Champions league football. Decisions go against every team and cant really be used as an excuse. Tbh i think were the best of the rest but not by much

 

He's not using it as an excuse, he's using it as an example of how close it was between the Spurs and Everton last season in response to people thinking Spurs are far better than the other clubs who finished just below them.

[1878]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

 

Yeh and IF the ref called a foul on Stalteri in the build up to the Arsenal equaliser we would have been playing Champions league football. Decisions go against every team and cant really be used as an excuse. Tbh i think were the best of the rest but not by much

 

I know decisions generally even out  but the point I was making is that if the shoe was on the other foot and we finished 5th, which was very plausible, the reaction to it would have been completely different.

[Guest Triglett]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

 

Then again, we were in 4th for almost the entire season before that, only to lose it on the last day in bizarre circumstances. And we played 17 more games than you this season. Maybe it's bias creeping in, but I do think we are fairly significantly better equipped to make a challenge on the top 4 than the teams below us. There's only a year in it though. With the amount of takeovers and new money coming into football at the moment, I imagine the likes of Newcastle, Villa, City, Blackburn etc will catch up very quickly. Not sure if Everton will be left behind. You've tended to fluctuate from season to season, too.

[Guest Alan Shearer 9]

tbh I think Liverpool are more likely to drop, especially if the rumours about transfer funds are true

[Guest kingdawson]

It makes me laugh when people talk about Spurs like they're so much better than anyone else outside the top 4.

 

If it wasn't for two terrible decisions at both ends vs Chelsea on the final day we would have beaten them 2-0 instead of drawing 1-1 and finished above Spurs in 5th. We were above them for the majority of the season.

 

If that was the case, the media and the same people on message boards wanking over Spurs wouldn't be saying "Everton for the top 4!!!11"

 

Yeh and IF the ref called a foul on Stalteri in the build up to the Arsenal equaliser we would have been playing Champions league football. Decisions go against every team and cant really be used as an excuse. Tbh i think were the best of the rest but not by much

 

I know decisions generally even out  but the point I was making is that if the shoe was on the other foot and we finished 5th, which was very plausible, the reaction to it would have been completely different.

 

Yeh you're probably right.

[Offshore]

Of the top four i'll go for Liverpool to be the most at threat of being pegged by someone, canny team but i'm not 100% convinced by them.

 

 

ah, beaten by a minute!!

 

[Kev]

if someone will finish above Arsenal except Liverpool,Chelsea,Man Utd it will be Spurs as they are mint now with Berbatov upfront

[brummie]

The gap between the top four and the rest is still big, but the gap between the top two and the next two is getting bigger, especially with these stories of Liverpool having piss all money to spend this summer.

 

Spurs are best placed to challenge  Two top six finishes after 15 years of being outside it shows they're clearly going the right way.

 

Villa and Newcastle have the managers, semi-OK squads and money to challenge, but they're a season of it yet, at least. Citeh are another season behind imho. Everton are actually closer to it than Villa and Newcastle, but don't have the cash advantage the other two do.

 

So, I'd expect a top two, then a second two, with Spurs pushing to usurp one of these, then Villa, Newcastle and Everton (no particular order), giving potentially 8 teams who can make things a bit more interesting. Possibly.

 

Of course, I bet it doesn't work out anything like that.

[midds]

The gap between the top four and the rest is still big, but the gap between the top two and the next two is getting bigger, especially with these stories of Liverpool having piss all money to spend this summer.

 

Spurs are best placed to challenge  Two top six finishes after 15 years of being outside it shows they're clearly going the right way.

 

Villa and Newcastle have the managers, semi-OK squads and money to challenge, but they're a season of it yet, at least. Citeh are another season behind imho. Everton are actually closer to it than Villa and Newcastle, but don't have the cash advantage the other two do.

 

So, I'd expect a top two, then a second two, with Spurs pushing to usurp one of these, then Villa, Newcastle and Everton (no particular order), giving potentially 8 teams who can make things a bit more interesting. Possibly.

 

Of course, I bet it doesn't work out anything like that.

 

Think that's bang-on tbh.