What should be aiming for next season?

[Footballwipe]

4 minutes ago, Babylon said:

And that's the problem, many can't differentiate. They think finishing anywhere but 6th is a failure if that's where you said your aim. 

 

Just be the best we can be, all this aim stuff in terms of positions is pointless really when you can't control the fortunes of others. Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Watford could all have unreal seasons and see us 11th. 

This is key, expectations next season will be high, and my main concern is the weird panic that seems to set in.

 

Let's quickly take Arsenal 2017-18 as an example, finishing sixth on 63 points. They lost 13 matches, including three in a row on one occasion, two in a row on another occasion, and only once did they actually win three games on the trot.

 

It is not a disaster if we have a bad patch. We are going to have a bad patch, we're going to lose to teams below us. We're going to have a game or two where we're below par, never look like scoring and lose 1-0 or 2-0. That's natural in any season in any league. People seem to fly off the handle and hit the big red panic button as soon as there's a defeat now.

[KingsX]

1 hour ago, Ted Maul said:

The major problem is that the top 6 will all be chucking £200m at their squads to try and get in the top 4

 

The major problem could be if they are chucking it at our squad.

Edited 1 May 2019 by KingsX

[Blue ROI]

Our opening game is key.

 

The last 2 seasons we played a top 6 side away with ended in defeat for 2 managers already feeling the heat and we were on the back foot straight away. Although we had a faded side in August 2017 and an newish/inexperienced one in August 2018. A win in the first game would be important for us I reckon.

 

We were fortunate we didn't play a top 6 team away in 2015/16 until the Christmas run.  

[Ric Flair]

2 hours ago, urban.spaceman said:

We have a huge opportunity to enter the top 6 next season. Liverpool and Man City will challenge for the league again but behind them the other four are in chaos.

 

Spurs have to find a billion quid to pay off their stadium in the long term and may well face another summer without being able to spend. They’ll probably have to sell to buy. Sadly I think they’ll be OK and finish third again. The bastards. 

 

Chelsea have a transfer ban coming in so other than a couple of preemptive signings coming in, they might have to rely on all that youth they’ve been hoarding. Hazard is desperate to go to Real and will probably get his wish. Sarri is totally the wrong fit with these players and without being about to overhaul the squad he will make no progress. Kante will hopefully get pissed off about being played in the wrong place and demand a move. 

 

Arsenal still have a hangover from Wenger’s era and are in need of a total overhaul. I can totally see them dropping out of European places altogether. Please. They need to spend at least £300m, which they can’t afford in one window. 

 

Man Utd made a mistake in hiring Ole Gunnar Shakespeare full time and they’re finding that out now. Again, they need a total overhaul of their squad in order to compete and I’m not sure if Ole is the guy to do that. 

 

In short, this is an amazing opportunity to break into that top 6 again. Claude had an amazing summer window last year and with this squad under Brendan we have the chance to push forward. Another good summer - a quality winger, Youri and a backup striker - could be enough for us. We'll need to improve the overall squad too the following season to be able to cope with Europe and the League. 

You raise a very good point here and I can't help but feel that if Chelsea were innovative for once that they would target Brendan Rodgers to take them in to a new era. They have a core of very talented young players either in their squad or out on loan around the world. They are going to have to cut their cloth accordingly and should completely change their approach. Their whole team should be built around Loftus-Cheek, Hudson-Odoi, Reece James, Mason Mount, Tammy Abraham etc. It is a huge gamble maybe but with the impending transfer ban it is likely the perfect opportunity to take a risk and go down that route. Rodgers would be ideal for them but thankfully they won't go for him and ruin our bright future.

[Ric Flair]

1 hour ago, Babylon said:

And that's the problem, many can't differentiate. They think finishing anywhere but 6th is a failure if that's where you said your aim. 

 

Just be the best we can be, all this aim stuff in terms of positions is pointless really when you can't control the fortunes of others. Wolves, Everton, West Ham, Watford could all have unreal seasons and see us 11th. 

Breaking a points total is more of what our benchmark should be. 60+ points next season would be a great improvement and would have us in the mix with the top 6 but likely not definitive. I think it is a realistic aim, we are on course for 51-57 points this season and feel like we've left a lot out there over the first 2/3rds of the season. Another season together under the regime of Rodgers with a positive transfer window in the summer is there for the taking. That said, there's a nervousness about how seemingly straight forward our progression appears to be laid out. Is it really going to be that plain sailing, i'm still not used to us being any good.

[Bert]

1 hour ago, KingsX said:

 

The major problem could be if they are chucking it at our squad.

If I was a player playing here I’d rather hedge my bets and stay. What we are building is good, whilst playing good football. Of course, Man Utd, Arsenal etc are rebuilding and they are bigger clubs but the pressure for results there whilst doing so is too much. Unless you’re gonna be starting each week and challenging - let’s be honest it’s gonna be the top two from this season and Spurs there or thereabouts why would you want to leave here? 

[TheLittleBigMan]

8th.

[hackneyfoxx]

I thought the Arsenal match (even before the sending off) was the strongest City has seemed since the title winning season - should have been 6-0 if it wasn't for their goalie having a great match - and we looked Top 6 easy..... assuming one of the others has a mediocre season.... the problem is as with 2016 - we lost Kante  who was such an important player (how great to have been able to go in the CL with the previous seasons team) .   The big question is can we hang on to the team (and will need to get more depth if by chance we do end up in the Europa Cup) as there is a lot of interest in Tielemans, Chilwell, Ndidi, Maguire, Maddison -  keep them (big if)  and keep Vardy fit and we have a really good shot at Top 6, even conceivably  Top 4 -   we can probably afford to lose, say, Maguire, but thats about it...I'll be happy if we there's a sense of progress and the intensity and creativity continues....

[Jon the Hat]

60 points and a Cup final.

[urban fox]

Obviously would love to see us break up the current cartel at the top of the league but realistically we should take it one game at a time, like in 15/16. first get the 40 points under the belt, then push on without fear, aim for 60 points next see where that gets us and just keep going as far as we can.

 

I would really like to see us put out our strongest team in the cups (especially FA cup)

 

There is a lot on here saying how poor/in disarray/there for the taking arsenal/man utd/Chelsea are.  Do people not think they know this?  They all have lots more dosh and pulling power than us and will be going all out to plug the gaps (except Chelsea of course who have the transfer ban).  Not only will these clubs be able to snap up world class players but it is an oft used tactic to sniff around (usually at or on deadline day to reduce the chance of replacements being brought in) and poach (or at the very least unsettle) the better players at other clubs to maintain the cartel.

 

All of the above said, I think some of these teams are not going to have it all their own way as much as they have in the past. There are some good teams with a good squad spirit close behind them and with the wage gaps closing and players seeing that it is not always the best long term career move to go and warm their benches (DD RM for eg) I can see some changes in the established order coming about

[Dan LCFC]

2 hours ago, Blue ROI said:

Our opening game is key.

 

The last 2 seasons we played a top 6 side away with ended in defeat for 2 managers already feeling the heat and we were on the back foot straight away. Although we had a faded side in August 2017 and an newish/inexperienced one in August 2018. A win in the first game would be important for us I reckon.

 

We were fortunate we didn't play a top 6 team away in 2015/16 until the Christmas run.  

Absolute banker our opener is Liverpool or Man City.

[Grebfromgrebland]

Aim for the stars and we might make it to the moon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Col city fan]

Gonna stick mi neck out here and suggest, VERY tentatively that we could even make top 4 next season

Arsenal are crap

Sarri is weird

Kane is injury prone

Man Utd are so very inconsistent

 

We have the makings of a great side here IF we can keep em all together

 

Dont laff..... I’m sewious...

[reynard]

Really depends on how many of the current squad we can keep. There is likely to be a lot of interest in several of our better players over the summer.

 

If we can keep them and add Tielemans ( a pretty big if for me) and add a couple of high quality players then top 7 has to be a realistic aim.

[norwichfox]

Win every cup match and 40 Premier League points first and take it from there....

[HighPeakFox]

3 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Absolute banker our opener is Liverpool or Man City.

Absolute banker that it's one of the other 17...

[spacemunky]

The top corner.