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"Champions of 3rd place, we know what we are"

The Utd game is the big one for me. Take it at game at a time.

Lose that and the gap to catch them is 11 points. Win it and its down to 5. At home we really have a chance (even with Sanchez) but we need to get over the Saints performance and remember that we're a decent team. Confidence in football is key and that's Poch's biggest challenge, reinstalling that confidence. Plus bringing Wanyama and Eriksen back and getting Sissoko off the pitch.
 
awesome dawson said:
The Utd game is the big one for me. Take it at game at a time.

Lose that and the gap to catch them is 11 points. Win it and its down to 5. At home we really have a chance (even with Sanchez) but we need to get over the Saints performance and remember that we're a decent team. Confidence in football is key and that's Poch's biggest challenge, reinstalling that confidence. Plus bringing Wanyama and Eriksen back and getting Sissoko off the pitch.
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I was thinking about the confidence factor as well and what a knock it might have taken and then I thought.. we beat Everton 4-0 a really good performance, whilst Arsenal deservedly lost to Bournemouth in a very poor performance, following games we’re awful against Saints and the goons smash a resurgent Palace!

Basically, looking at the positive side the Saints performance doesn’t have to derail us.
 
Gazza Dazzla said:
I was thinking about the confidence factor as well and what a knock it might have taken and then I thought.. we beat Everton 4-0 a really good performance, whilst Arsenal deservedly lost to Bournemouth in a very poor performance, following games we’re awful against Saints and the goons smash a resurgent Palace!

Basically, looking at the positive side the Saints performance doesn’t have to derail us.
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This, each match seems a very poor predictor of the next match. It is almost an inverse predictor, because a team rests on its laurels and doesn't perform well in the next game. Liverpool will destroy whichever poor saps are in their next game.
 
AjaxDeSuperYids said:
I still think we've got it all to do and we really need this team at anfield: Lloris, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Rose, Aurier, Wanyama, Dembele, Eriksen, Son, Kane.

We need Rose and Aurier playing relatively deep and no playing it out short from Lloris. We need to adopt an overall cautious approach.

If we pick sissoko or Dele (who will dance around thinking it's all about him, trying to nutmeg people and constantly losing the ball igniting devastating pool counter after counter) then we can forget about it.
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Or Loris could maybe just sit that one out, it's like he is allergic to the place..
 
alekaras said:
Because we will not set up to play counterattacking football, unfortunately. Not in Poch's DNA. From interviews and what players have said it sounds like we play counterattacking football by accident and not by design. Poch sets us up to play possession football, regardless of the opposition. Hopefully this is one area that Poch changes his tact on.
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We topped our CL group playing a less attack-thrusted game. You could argue we stung teams on quick counters. He can do it.
 
thfcsteff said:
One other thing...can we cease with this nonsensical "we've blown it" every time we do not smash a side? This is going to the wire. Anyone who thought 65 million Van Dyk was going to instantly transform Liverpool into automatic top 4 must actually be a scouser!
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It's what makes this league the success that it is, anyone can take points from anyone, great entertainment.
 
Cochise said:
I genuinely thought that tonights game vs Swansea was points in the bag for Liverpool. I still think that they have the quality to make 4th ahead of us though.
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In the same way that we have the quality to make top 4 ahead of them. We still look forward to the return of Alderweireld and several others who are either currently out or still coming back from injury over the next couple of months.

Long way to go yet but we can certainly do it. And maybe even win an FA Cup trophy along the way - it's far from beyond us.
 
Libero said:
I think for the most part we need to avoid getting beat and losing ground. I think Liverpool especially will drop more points that you don't expect but not many more. Its absolutely a DO NOT LOSE game at Anfield for me and the manager had better make sure he prepares and sets up the team properly for the task this time.

Its going to need a minimum of 7 points I think from our next 3 with the wins preferably against Liverpool and Utd tbh.
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Two points behind Liverpool in fourth right now. Five points behind Chelsea in third.

We have three very tough games coming up now. 7 points would see us at worst staying two points off fourth. We're very much still in it even with worse results than that. A win at Anfield and two home losses would see us at worst five points off fourth. After this though run we only have games against Chelsea and City remaining of the top teams.

Of course we should try to win every game, and a poor run over the next three games could see us with a very difficult gap to overcome.

5 points over the next three should see us in a reasonable position for the rest of the season, though losing at Anfield would be a blow. Any less and we could be 6+ points off fourth and that would be a big ask for the rest of the season, though possible.

One game at the time, a win against United would be great. A draw puts more pressure on us. A loss and we're in trouble heading into the Liverpool game, not a good place to be.

Very much one game at the time.
 
Libero said:
We need some fresh legs, that's the reality. Someone to come in and just get people on their toes because its competition.......and proper competition not gambles from Ligue 1 that have squandered £20m or so, its a false economy.

I've a lot of respect for Levy and he has done a lot of very good stuff but this season it is going to cost us badly if he doesn't attempt to invest.

...

And if we sign no one and subsequently miss out on the top4 then Levy deserves to be heavily criticised imo just as Poch will do if he plays at Anfield the same way as he did last season.
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Is Tino Asprilla still playing and available? :)
 
City's title obviously, and I suppose you should never rule Arsenal out, but it is beginning to look like 3 from 4 for the other spots
 
Man UTD have strengthened with Sanchez, but I don't know how he will do playing as a wing forward. At Arsenal he always seemed best being used as the lone striker, but with Lukaku leading the line for UTD he will have to adapt. It might also see UTD lose a bit of fluidity with the omission of Mata. The way we used the space left by Pogba might also be something other teams do.

Chelsea have maybe strengthened. Barkley can play in a couple of roles for them, but he hasn't played in their 343 before and Chelsea have tended to use their attackers more like wingers than midfielders. This was the biggest difference between us and them last year, where we played the same formation but Alli and Eriksen played completely differently. In this Barkley would've found a better fit with us. Giroud for Batshuayi is an upgrade though.

Arsenal are a difficult one for me. They have bought two quality players in, but how they fit with Wenger's style of play is another thing. Will he go to a 442? I don't think so, nor do I think he can incorporate both new signings and Lacazette into a functional front unit. If Abaumeyang settles early, then they will net 3 points from all of their "easy" games. However they have not addressed their back line. Xhaka isn't a holding midfielder, nor are Ramsey and Wheelchair. Elneny was bought for that job, but Wenger doesn't seem to rate him so I'd expect the better sides to still take points off them.

With Moura, we have made a noticeable upgrade. We needed an attacker, and I'm already happier knowing that we can start games with both Lamela and him on the bench. The fact that we haven't lost anyone also means that the squad is settled.

The same goes for Liverpool. VVD is a solid upgrade on their defence and even with the loss of Coutinho, they have a lethal front 3 that will consistently get goals.
 
Chelsea are looking very funny, they tend to have one good season then one bad by their standards. It is like the players can not be bothered half the time.

I think towards the end of the season we are likely to see a lot of players who expect to go to Russia ease up a little how that will effect the different teams I am not so sure.

Madrid and Bayern have big rebuilding jobs to do and some players might be hoping not to get injured for the summer transfer window, Hazard for example.
 
United have added a quality player but it’s a square peg job until they work out how to fit him in
Chelsea have IMO not asked any quality ti their side but more squad depth which was shocking previously
Pool have taken away their creative diving force it seems and now are just relying on their posh long ball and the pressure of attack, VVD has been bang average so far but that’s the effect when defenders go there
Arsenal have made some top signings but not addressed their BIG issues on any level.
We have added one player, post none and if he can perform anywhere near to his maximum for us we have actually pushed onwards and upwards
 
Poch flagged in the post game press conference the need to rotate over this busy few weeks. Wanyama, Lamela, Rose, Toby, Moura, Sis..., are all ready to step in but with such tricky opponents it's not ideal to be changing the winning team against Utd.
 
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