• Dear Guest, Please note that adult content is not permitted on this forum. We have had our Google ads disabled at times due to some posts that were found from some time ago. Please do not post adult content and if you see any already on the forum, please report the post so that we can deal with it. Adult content is allowed in the glory hole - you will have to request permission to access it. Thanks, scara

2017/18 Season - Expectations/Predictions

billyiddo said:
we rotated players for the CL (and domestic cups) last season, why wouldn't that be the case this season?
Click to expand...

The post which I replied to said that the guy though we had 'every chance' of winning the league, but would struggle in the CL unless we had more depth.

Hence my reply asking why he thought not strengthening would impact our CL performance but have no impact on league performances
 
AdamB said:
The post which I replied to said that the guy though we had 'every chance' of winning the league, but would struggle in the CL unless we had more depth.

Hence my reply asking why he thought not strengthening would impact our CL performance but have no impact on league performances
Click to expand...

because we dont rotate in league unless forced so squad depth isnt as important there compared to the CL where we seemingly rotate in the squad players - so stronger squad players = stronger team in the CL, no?

or having stronger squad players would allow us to rotate more in the league games surrounding CL fixtures, meaning we could play our strongest team in Europe and not weaken our team in the league too much
 
billyiddo said:
because we dont rotate in league unless forced so squad depth isnt as important there compared to the CL where we seemingly rotate in the squad players - so stronger squad players = stronger team in the CL, no?

or having stronger squad players would allow us to rotate more in the league games surrounding CL fixtures, meaning we could play our strongest team in Europe and not weaken our team in the league too much
Click to expand...

And this!
 
billyiddo said:
because we dont rotate in league unless forced so squad depth isnt as important there compared to the CL where we seemingly rotate in the squad players - so stronger squad players = stronger team in the CL, no?

or having stronger squad players would allow us to rotate more in the league games surrounding CL fixtures, meaning we could play our strongest team in Europe and not weaken our team in the league too much
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure we did rotate in the league actually dude. Trippier for Walker, Son for someone. Lamela(when fit)/Eriksen. Dier/Dembele/Wanyama/Winks. Some of it was tactically and some of it was fatigue/rest.
 
GinolaGinolaGinola said:
I'm pretty sure we did rotate in the league actually dude. Trippier for Walker, Son for someone. Lamela(when fit)/Eriksen. Dier/Dembele/Wanyama/Winks. Some of it was tactically and some of it was fatigue/rest.
Click to expand...

In the league wasn't it mostly reactionary rotation to tired legs in the second half /final third of the season as opposed to rotating to keep players fresh for other competitions, which is how I see the CL and domestic cup rotations (rotating players out to save them for the league - giving squad players minutes outside of our main priority competition)
 
Unlike in the previous couple of seasons, I think all the chasers for the PL title will be involved in European competition, , so that's a plus.

But this season, I'm hoping we can be the front runner, rather than the chaser.

Let's disappoint tv punditry and sports scribe alike, by smashing the champions in our first home game and cast aside any doubts regarding Wembley.

Let's start well, beat Saudi Sportswashing Machine away , then beat Chelsea at Wembley and an unstoppable belief will grow in the minds of our players and fans, that this season the PL title can be ours.

Minimum I'm looking for is top three in the PL, 80 ish points
Make the knock-out stage in the CL.
An FA Cup or League Cup or both, why not? Would be nice on our home turf and have the fans of other clubs moaning, home advantage!
 
4th in the league

a cup final

Sadly,Janssen doesnt make it; his teammates don't rate him enough and a vicious circle ensues of him trying too hard and not getting the ball enough
 
Having seen our first pre-season game, it looks like the team is picking up where it left off at the end of last season. So if we can hit the ground running, I think top 4 should be achievable again.

And assuming a relatively injury-free season:
  • CL: round of 16
  • FA: who the fudge knows - will depend on the draws, but it would be nice to win it
  • LC: same as FA
 
If the squad stays as is with that 70m+ from outgoing transfers burning a hole in our pockets and no real Walker replacement to speak of - I suspect we'll probably juuuust about make top four. If we spend wisely to strengthen, we should finish in the top four more comfortably, maybe top three if we can get the dreaded Wembley factor out of the way early enough. Beyond that, no major expectations to speak of on my end - my previous approach had been to demand constant improvement, however small, and that correspondingly entailed a degree of moral inflexibility that I regularly got into arguments over (like AVB's 72 points possibly being better than Poch's 71 in 15/16, for example :p ).

But now, I'm not sure it's possible to *demand* an improvement over last season's tally - it would be churlish and ungrateful in the extreme, especially if we don't spend any money. So, league-wise, all I expect is 72 points or more - basically my unchanged expectation for last year, which was surpassed so magnificently. I think we can do that.

I do, however, also want us to focus on a cup competition - and actually go out and win one this year. No excuses. Both domestic cup finals will be on 'home' ground, if we get there, and we have gone far, far too long with a dusty cabinet gathering cobwebs as our history slowly fades away.
 
My expectations for this season are limited although I have no issue with that as per se given the general upheaval of having to play at Wembley for the season. We definitely need a little refreshing with 2-3 signings just to give us some more depth and extra quality and if we get them then we have a stronger chance of making the top 4 in spite of the relocation.

I think we will finish 6th but a reasonable chance of 3rd/4th if we have a better season league wise at home than I expect. It would be nice to see a better showing in the CL this season, Last 16 or Quarter finals would be nice and winning one of the domestic cups. If that's what we achieve this season then I will be pretty happy, just desperate for a trophy again after 2-3 near misses post 2008.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back