FA Cup or Top 4?

[Raziel]

The question is phrased wrong

- What would suppporters like to have at end of season? obviously a cup, would be great on any number of levels
- What is best for the club right now and our chances of long term success (multiple cups)? the answer is equally obvious, the money and additional exposure associated with CL

I feel so many people are falling for media/internet narratives now

- Oh, we are not supposed to feel happy or enjoy or club because we haven't won anything?
- Yet Liverpool has won exactly the same number of trophies in the last 12 years and finished below us in the league 8 out of last 9 seasons?

I've learned to enjoy the fact that we play the best teams in the world with some regularity, and when we have a fit first 11, we can take them on ...

7 years ago, we would have all laughed at being CL regulars, outplaying Barca at Camp Nou, actually challenging for the title, yet here we are … patience, we will get there ...

 

[billyiddo]

Disagree, cups are more likely to be hoovered up by well established super sides eg City as they exercise thier squads superiority.

Cups are now much harder to win due to the supremacy of the City’s and Man U. of this world especially in the last five seasons imo.

You disagree that clubs which go on and win the league are more likely to pick up a cup or two first?

 

[thfcsteff]

The best solution to this question would be if the 4th CL place went to the FA Cup winners. That would be amazing for the game

That would be a great development TBH.

 

[thfcsteff]

Winning a trophy > not winning a trophy, of course, however i think it's in the better interests of the clubs development to not miss out on 70m or whatever of CL money and experience the knock on effect that would come about as a result. I can put up with some lean years if it means we become a club capable of matching the likes of Chelsea Arsenal and Liverpool for wages and transfers as that would mean we're a club capable of fighting for all honors, consistently.

If we keep our top 4 position, and one of Chelski or Man U take 4th, we will have comfortably overtaken Arsenal in all aspects. They are in a bad way right now IMO. Not a super-young squad, several players about to run contracts, no money to buy (and targeting a 29 year old loan), another years of EL for them would kill them. We have already beaten them to several sponsors inn the last 24 months...

 

[Bullet]

YES! Hopefully the Gooners will all "Visit Rwanda" permanently

 

[Bullet]

This question is like saying "We've got £Xk in the bank, shall we put a deposit down on a house, or shall we stay at the Ritz for a week?"

OBVIOUSLY the former is the only answer that makes sense, but the latter is more fun and would only be considered if you are a sociopath.

 

[nelto]

Maintaining top 4 is the priority for me for the next couple of years, i.e. until the stadium is finished and the finances are ironed out. If we don't start winning something after that I'll consider moaning, but the last few years have been amazing for me, I can't help but remember when I thought we were doomed to never get into the CL, let alone catch up with and pass Arsenal. So steady as she goes DL and MP.

 

[nayenezgani]

It isn't an outright, mutually exclusive choice though.

You think the club are saying right let's get top four and forget even trying to win a cup? The notion is so ridiculous it bends my mind.

Rotating the squad doesn't mean you're not trying to fudging win. How many times does Poch have to say it? It's not that hard to figure out.

He wants to win things. To win things in the future we need to protect the squad and maintain our CL status. End of.

 

[90291Spur]

Mr. Levy??
Mr. Poch??

Either of you care to answer to put this debate to bed?

 

[mephitis]

Interestingly Leeds and Saudi Sportswashing Machine both had a small run of CL appearances at different times in the PL era and neither managed to win trophies either - perhaps the key lays somewhere in the difference between having a brief period at the top and having a more sustained period? Where we are now is similar to where LU and NU were before they slipped away and plummeted, only that's not likely to happen to us thanks to the self sustained growth we have achieved over the last decade or so and the reinvestment of funds in to infastructure - as a result of this approach we'll likely continue to be in and around the top 4 for a good long while to come, which should in turn increase our chances of winning trophies in a way neither of the aforementioned clubs were able.

> or

 

[scaramanga]

https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20080910/delayed-gratification-intelligence-linked

 

[Legohamster]

That would be a great development TBH.

It wouldn’t I hate this argument.

How about having no relegation for the team that wins the league cup to improve that.

No way should you be rewarded with a CL spot for winning the cup

 

[Gutter Boy]

It wouldn’t I hate this argument.

How about having no relegation for the team that wins the league cup to improve that.

No way should you be rewarded with a CL spot for winning the cup

Why be rewarded for being the 3rd placed losers?

This would be returning more to the original premise, where the European Cup and ECWC were considered to be of equal value. Those two tournaments effectively got merged, so it would have made sense to merge the qualifying routes too

 

[Baleforce]

Why be rewarded for being the 3rd placed losers?

This would be returning more to the original premise, where the European Cup and ECWC were considered to be of equal value. Those two tournaments effectively got merged, so it would have made sense to merge the qualifying routes too

They were never equal value.

The ECWC was merged with the UEFA Cup if anything.

 

[StephenH]

You disagree that clubs which go on and win the league are more likely to pick up a cup or two first?

Doh!
We agree

 

[Legohamster]

Why be rewarded for being the 3rd placed losers?

This would be returning more to the original premise, where the European Cup and ECWC were considered to be of equal value. Those two tournaments effectively got merged, so it would have made sense to merge the qualifying routes too

The CWC merged with EL, that’s why the cup winners went into that and expanded massively.

Last season before we got knocked out we played

AFC Wimbledon/Newport/Rochdale/Swansea/united

How would that deserve CL football?

Plus UEFA would never allow it.

 

[glorygloryeze]

It should not be an either/or thing at all.
A top 6 club like ourselves needs to be able to aim for all the available trophies; prioritising PL/CL should NOT mean we see FA/League Cups as "only for those who want to massage their egos". The whole quest in sports is for that; the reason fans turn up week in, week out is for that.

It's poor form for Poch to come out with that comment and it actually defies all he's been trying to build within the club since he got here.

We are a top 6 club and as such we should be like the others looking to do our best in all competitions and if we fail in those quest analyse it from a forensic point of view in terms of learning and growing as a squad.
It's no disgrace per say to go out of two cups in four days but to actually state that after nearly 5 years in the job is indeed massive deflection from the fact that when all is said and done he still doesn't have anything tangible to show for all his undoubted good (perhaps not great?) coaching/managerial skills.

Not sure how we are going to showcase our club as one that young ambitious players should sign for after these "Trophies are just for egos" comments..perhaps that's why we are said to be being turned down these days by several of our supposed targets...

 

[Kandi1977]

Being among the top clubs in the league (table) takes hard work and skill on and off the pitch. Winning a cup is equal amount of skill and luck. I'd rather be good than lucky.

 

[nayenezgani]

It should not be an either/or thing at all.
A top 6 club like ourselves needs to be able to aim for all the available trophies; prioritising PL/CL should NOT mean we see FA/League Cups as "only for those who want to massage their egos". The whole quest in sports is for that; the reason fans turn up week in, week out is for that.

It's poor form for Poch to come out with that comment and it actually defies all he's been trying to build within the club since he got here.

We are a top 6 club and as such we should be like the others looking to do our best in all competitions and if we fail in those quest analyse it from a forensic point of view in terms of learning and growing as a squad.
It's no disgrace per say to go out of two cups in four days but to actually state that after nearly 5 years in the job is indeed massive deflection from the fact that when all is said and done he still doesn't have anything tangible to show for all his undoubted good (perhaps not great?) coaching/managerial skills.

Not sure how we are going to showcase our club as one that young ambitious players should sign for after these "Trophies are just for egos" comments..perhaps that's why we are said to be being turned down these days by several of our supposed targets...

What an utter load of gonads.. Talk about cherry picking quotes to suit your well worn agenda.

 

[glorygloryeze]

What an utter load of gonads.. Talk about cherry picking quotes to suit your well worn agenda.

Well-worn agenda...LOLZ and YAWN