The top 4.

[Jimothy]

48 minutes ago, Steve_Guppy_Left_Foot said:

I'm not sure anyone has the squad to cope with key players getting injured other than man city, you look at Liverpool's front 3 and if 1 or 2 of them get injured they've got origi, lallana and/or shaqiri to come in, they're nowhere near as good.

Well Man City aren't coping too well at the minute.

[KingsX]

4 minutes ago, Facecloth said:

Well Man City aren't coping too well at the minute.

Depends where the injuries are.  I can't think of a squad with no Achilles heel.  Even Man City, as you note -- they could live with the loss of Sané, but not Laporte.  In mid-table, look at what Fabianski's injury has done to West Ham.

 

None of us wants to think of a long stretch without Vardy or one of our starting CBs.  Even with the deepest squad we've had in the PL era.

[Grebfromgrebland]

It's a blessing that soyunchu as Madison got rested on the last game really. 

[LC/FC]

Anyone else but me struggling to suppress the notion that we might actually be part of a brand new 'Big 4'?

I have no idea why the sacking of Poch is making my instincts go mad. But I can't help the feeling that we've supplanted them in the natural order of the footballing world somewhere... 

 

[TheLittleBigMan]

1 minute ago, LC/FC said:

Anyone else but me struggling to suppress the notion that we might actually be part of a brand new 'Big 4'?

I have no idea why the sacking of Poch is making my instincts go mad. But I can't help the feeling that we've supplanted them in the natural order of the footballing world somewhere... 

 

Sshhh. Don't jinx it 

[yorkie1999]

37 minutes ago, LC/FC said:

Anyone else but me struggling to suppress the notion that we might actually be part of a brand new 'Big 4'?

I have no idea why the sacking of Poch is making my instincts go mad. But I can't help the feeling that we've supplanted them in the natural order of the footballing world somewhere... 

 

When we’ve won countless trophies, won the league a few times and have 60000 fans at home games every week and done all that for 30 years, we may become a top 4 club. Until then we’re a bit, too new

[trabuch]

As it stands we are a top 4 club. Without a doubt top 6. Why on earth would anyone think Spurs are a top 6 club. Gettimg Mou in is like getting Sam Allardyce in.

[LC/FC]

17 minutes ago, yorkie1999 said:

When we’ve won countless trophies, won the league a few times and have 60000 fans at home games every week and done all that for 30 years, we may become a top 4 club. Until then we’re a bit, too new

Right, so plan is... Become Real Madrid! 

[mozartfox]

8 minutes ago, LC/FC said:

Right, so plan is... Become Real Madrid! 

No!  Celtic's Reserves surely?

[Gamble92]

The constant money throwing from Man United until they finally get what they want is only further reinforced by the media. Every game they're on TV there seems to be an hour long discussion after the game with red faced red devils on all their woes and how much this "isnt a man united team". 

 

Same goes for a side like spurs and arsenal in a sense. You look at Mersons comments and that's how little they think of sides outside this bracket. Any manager or player will jump ship to be at them clubs despite all their issues. 

 

Until we genuinely see that start to NOT happen, there will always be this top 6. 

 

I've seen this argument that this "top 6" hasn't always been here and we've gone through many variations of big teams, but in reality its always been Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool since it started and Chelsea/Man City have cemented their places with billions.

[LC/FC]

56 minutes ago, Gamble92 said:

The constant money throwing from Man United until they finally get what they want is only further reinforced by the media. Every game they're on TV there seems to be an hour long discussion after the game with red faced red devils on all their woes and how much this "isnt a man united team". 

 

Same goes for a side like spurs and arsenal in a sense. You look at Mersons comments and that's how little they think of sides outside this bracket. Any manager or player will jump ship to be at them clubs despite all their issues. 

 

Until we genuinely see that start to NOT happen, there will always be this top 6. 

 

I've seen this argument that this "top 6" hasn't always been here and we've gone through many variations of big teams, but in reality its always been Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool since it started and Chelsea/Man City have cemented their places with billions.

Well if the media keep saying it then it must be true. That there is just the traditional big clubs and everyone else is just fodder. 

 

I mean, with all that history and tradition and continuing domination by the big sides, how are other clubs going to get a chance to disrupt the very top clubs?

 

Must be at least a 5000-1 shot for something like that to ever happen..... 

[Dahnsouff]

Long has it been since England top division was a meritocracy,  must be at least, oh I don’t know, 1992?

[Nicolo Barella]

2 hours ago, Dahnsouff said:

Long has it been since England top division was a meritocracy,  must be at least, oh I don’t know, 1992?

It never will be a meritocracy again. All we can hope is that the pay to win aspects decrease just a smidgen

[Stuntman_Mike]

7 hours ago, trabuch said:

As it stands we are a top 4 club. Without a doubt top 6. Why on earth would anyone think Spurs are a top 6 club. Gettimg Mou in is like getting Sam Allardyce in.

Exactly. 

 

Spurs have finished top 6 for the last decade or so. We have finished there once.

 

How can we on one hand be 'without a doubt be top 6' and spurs who are competing in the CL not be? 🤣 

 

We've got plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future but it's November.. They're not far off the European places and we're not guaranteed to finish there. 

 

[Happy Fox]

2 hours ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Exactly. 

 

Spurs have finished top 6 for the last decade or so. We have finished there once.

 

How can we on one hand be 'without a doubt be top 6' and spurs who are competing in the CL not be? 🤣 

 

We've got plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future but it's November.. They're not far off the European places and we're not guaranteed to finish there. 

 

 

12 points behind us in Top 4, that’s a big enough gap at this stage of the season.

[Xen]

Fairly confident we'll hold on to finish top 4. The gap to 5th already is substantial, and with the way we're playing (and the sides we've yet to play) I think we've got enough to maintain that, at least.

Also fairly confident that all the usual suspects will pick up form and make up the rest of the top 7. Spurs who are having the worst season of them all are only 3pts - one result - behind Sheffield in 5th. They've just brought in Mourinho so will probably have at least some upturn in form, Man Utd are looking better recently and Arsenal are doing alright despite their issues, so presumably that'll continue. One team will miss out because of our success, but I'd bet money that the traditional 'Big 6' will still finish in the top 7.

[Stuntman_Mike]

6 minutes ago, Happy Fox said:

 

12 points behind us in Top 4, that’s a big enough gap at this stage of the season.

It's only a 4 game swing with 26 games to go. I'm confident because we seem very focused on ourselves, but it's not impossible. 

[Guest Cujek]

2 hours ago, Nicolo Barella said:

It never will be a meritocracy again. All we can hope is that the pay to win aspects decrease just a smidgen

They already are.

 

you cant just throw money at players any more because it dont work.

 

you can buy all the top rated players in each position with enough money and of course they would win games, but it wouldnt be a team built from the ground up they wouldnt have the same passion and will to achieve, like say... Leicester.

 

Look at Man city, how much money have they spent playing football manaher, buying anyone that they like, with supposedly the top manager in the world, they cant dominate our league, they certainly cant dominate in europe doing that.

 

on the other hand look at Liverpool, whilst they have spent a lot of money as well, but they have done it in a sensible controlled way and bought the right players, they got a manager that had a vision and implemented it.

 

Football has changed and the moneybags clubs are failing because they havent invested in the right way.

 

We are a prime example, whilst we do have money these days, we dont go out spending 50m + in each position, we have invested from the bottom up, buying young promising players and coach them through to become genuine world class talents.

 

Chelsea as well, with the enforced transfer ban, they couldnt get a top level manager, so they went for Lampard, who has done exceptionally well with the youngsters ignored and shipped out by other managers, but they have of course spent a lot of money as well, but they have the youth to back it up.

 

Man utd are washed up they are an absolute mess of a club, the supporters hate the owners, the owners hate the club it seems, im sure they put Ole in as a joke, they have some class players, but no real world class performers. Pogba is the biggest example of this, huge money, huge wages cant be arsed most of the time.

 

clubs need to move with the times or die, the bubble has burst in my opinion there is no way the fee's going around was sustainable, we seem to be in the right place at the right time, we sold Mahrez for a bucket load, Maguire went for a laughable amount, but we have ready made replacements in the squad already, we havent sold Maguire for 80m then go out and buy Ake for 75m, we looked what we had and said you know what what we have is more than good enough.

 

Spurs are screwed now, they will have a new manager bounce for 2 or 3 games, then spunk 200m in jan and then be a worse team for it, Jose will go middle of next season with them in a total mess, whilst Poch will be at man utd attempting to rebuild.

[Dorkingfox]

12 minutes ago, Cujek said:

They already are.

 

you cant just throw money at players any more because it dont work.

 

you can buy all the top rated players in each position with enough money and of course they would win games, but it wouldnt be a team built from the ground up they wouldnt have the same passion and will to achieve, like say... Leicester.

 

Look at Man city, how much money have they spent playing football manaher, buying anyone that they like, with supposedly the top manager in the world, they cant dominate our league, they certainly cant dominate in europe doing that.

 

on the other hand look at Liverpool, whilst they have spent a lot of money as well, but they have done it in a sensible controlled way and bought the right players, they got a manager that had a vision and implemented it.

 

Football has changed and the moneybags clubs are failing because they havent invested in the right way.

 

We are a prime example, whilst we do have money these days, we dont go out spending 50m + in each position, we have invested from the bottom up, buying young promising players and coach them through to become genuine world class talents.

 

Chelsea as well, with the enforced transfer ban, they couldnt get a top level manager, so they went for Lampard, who has done exceptionally well with the youngsters ignored and shipped out by other managers, but they have of course spent a lot of money as well, but they have the youth to back it up.

 

Man utd are washed up they are an absolute mess of a club, the supporters hate the owners, the owners hate the club it seems, im sure they put Ole in as a joke, they have some class players, but no real world class performers. Pogba is the biggest example of this, huge money, huge wages cant be arsed most of the time.

 

clubs need to move with the times or die, the bubble has burst in my opinion there is no way the fee's going around was sustainable, we seem to be in the right place at the right time, we sold Mahrez for a bucket load, Maguire went for a laughable amount, but we have ready made replacements in the squad already, we havent sold Maguire for 80m then go out and buy Ake for 75m, we looked what we had and said you know what what we have is more than good enough.

 

Spurs are screwed now, they will have a new manager bounce for 2 or 3 games, then spunk 200m in jan and then be a worse team for it, Jose will go middle of next season with them in a total mess, whilst Poch will be at man utd attempting to rebuild.

Makes sense 

[whoareyaaa]

10 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

When we’ve won countless trophies, won the league a few times and have 60000 fans at home games every week and done all that for 30 years, we may become a top 4 club. Until then we’re a bit, too new

30 years? Man City and Chelsea done that in about 10 years if not less

[Nicolo Barella]

19 minutes ago, Cujek said:

They already are.

 

you cant just throw money at players any more because it dont work.

 

you can buy all the top rated players in each position with enough money and of course they would win games, but it wouldnt be a team built from the ground up they wouldnt have the same passion and will to achieve, like say... Leicester.

 

Look at Man city, how much money have they spent playing football manaher, buying anyone that they like, with supposedly the top manager in the world, they cant dominate our league, they certainly cant dominate in europe doing that.

 

on the other hand look at Liverpool, whilst they have spent a lot of money as well, but they have done it in a sensible controlled way and bought the right players, they got a manager that had a vision and implemented it.

 

Football has changed and the moneybags clubs are failing because they havent invested in the right way.

 

We are a prime example, whilst we do have money these days, we dont go out spending 50m + in each position, we have invested from the bottom up, buying young promising players and coach them through to become genuine world class talents.

 

Chelsea as well, with the enforced transfer ban, they couldnt get a top level manager, so they went for Lampard, who has done exceptionally well with the youngsters ignored and shipped out by other managers, but they have of course spent a lot of money as well, but they have the youth to back it up.

 

Man utd are washed up they are an absolute mess of a club, the supporters hate the owners, the owners hate the club it seems, im sure they put Ole in as a joke, they have some class players, but no real world class performers. Pogba is the biggest example of this, huge money, huge wages cant be arsed most of the time.

 

clubs need to move with the times or die, the bubble has burst in my opinion there is no way the fee's going around was sustainable, we seem to be in the right place at the right time, we sold Mahrez for a bucket load, Maguire went for a laughable amount, but we have ready made replacements in the squad already, we havent sold Maguire for 80m then go out and buy Ake for 75m, we looked what we had and said you know what what we have is more than good enough.

 

Spurs are screwed now, they will have a new manager bounce for 2 or 3 games, then spunk 200m in jan and then be a worse team for it, Jose will go middle of next season with them in a total mess, whilst Poch will be at man utd attempting to rebuild.

You think Liverpool running away with the title is meritocracy? They've been pumped with money to their gills. To a lesser extent, most PL teams have been. At the end of each season, the richest clubs all accumulate at the Top of the table. Sure, unsubtle "throwing the cash" doesn't work perfectly, but that doesn't matter. It works often enough.

[Oxfordfox83]

11 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

When we’ve won countless trophies, won the league a few times and have 60000 fans at home games every week and done all that for 30 years, we may become a top 4 club. Until then we’re a bit, too new

We’ll be a Top 4 club while we’re in the top 4. We’ll be a Big 4 club when people who write and care about that kind of stuff say we are.

 

Personally, I’d prefer to be Top 4...

[yorkie1999]

8 minutes ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

We’ll be a Top 4 club while we’re in the top 4. We’ll be a Big 4 club when people who write and care about that kind of stuff say we are.

 

Personally, I’d prefer to be Top 4...

You know what i mean, man utd are classed as a top 4 club, we're not.

[boots60]

11 hours ago, yorkie1999 said:

When we’ve won countless trophies, won the league a few times and have 60000 fans at home games every week and done all that for 30 years, we may become a top 4 club. Until then we’re a bit, too new

There's only 1 club that ticks all those boxes & they have been in a state of decline for a few years.

[Guest Cujek]

17 minutes ago, Nicolo Barella said:

You think Liverpool running away with the title is meritocracy? They've been pumped with money to their gills. To a lesser extent, most PL teams have been. At the end of each season, the richest clubs all accumulate at the Top of the table. Sure, unsubtle "throwing the cash" doesn't work perfectly, but that doesn't matter. It works often enough.

Liverpool arent as bad as man city, the thing they have that others dont is direction.

 

without Klopp as manager (as much as i hate him) has a clear vision on what players he wants and how he wants to play, they have bought the players that fit that vision, not just thrown 50M+ in each position.

 

they for sure have been guilty in the past and perhaps still partly are.