The chase for 4th place (not top 4)

That Spurs v Arsenal game is getting bigger and bigger. Big blow to the loser of this one.
Our bench today was full of kids and Nketiah. I know the January transfer window is a tough one to get right but doing nothing would ruin all the efforts/luck we've had so far.
 
Interesting to see the discrepancy between Spurs and Arsenal being much more favoured than United for 4th in analytical models such as 538’s and United being slight favourites over Spurs at betting exchanges and bookmakers for 4th.

Arsenal look a fair value bet.
 
TMDaines said:
Interesting to see the discrepancy between Spurs and Arsenal being much more favoured than United for 4th in analytical models such as 538’s and United being slight favourites over Spurs at betting exchanges and bookmakers for 4th.

Arsenal look a fair value bet.
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I'd trust the bookies more than the analytics tbf, they are the money men and have us favourties for a reason!

We should get there, we just have too much quality not to, combined with the inconsistencies of the others.
Arsenal could well get a nose bleed if they are 4th in March.
 
Statue of Limitations said:
I'd trust the bookies more than the analytics tbf, they are the money men and have us favourties for a reason!

We should get there, we just have too much quality not to, combined with the inconsistencies of the others.
Arsenal could well get a nose bleed if they are 4th in March.
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Arsenal and Spurs both have no European football to worry about. Arsenal don’t even have the FA Cup either.
 
Chelsea will definitely fight for their 3rd spot and doesn’t look like a top 3 team.

It’ll be us, chelsea and spurs fight for 3rd and 4th place.
 
Every man and his dog knew Spurs wouldn’t get anything at Chelsea, they never do.

Games in hand, no midweek Europe and Son to return ….for my money, Spurs will get top 4.
 
Wilt said:
Every man and his dog knew Spurs wouldn’t get anything at Chelsea, they never do.

Games in hand, no midweek Europe and Son to return ….for my money, Spurs will get top 4.
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True but theres going to come a point where Tottenham will have a fixture pile-up - maybe similar to last season where we had 4 games in 8 days. Not sure if they have the squad to cover all those games.

Whatever happens i think it will be two of Chelsea/Tottenham/Us for the top 4.
 
Spurs have a pretty rough list of fixtures coming up. Hopefully we kick on and get the points in the next 3 games to put additional pressure on them.

Arsenal on the other hand look threatening .. I think the game at the Emirates will decide who gets top four.
 
As long as Conte keeps shitting on the spurs players, this is good news for us. These bunch of softies won't be able to handle the constant criticism and will fold.
 
Ayoba said:
As long as Conte keeps shitting on the spurs players, this is good news for us. These bunch of softies won't be able to handle the constant criticism and will fold.
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My optimistic view is that the more he works with those players, the more frustrated he'll get, he'll keep on throwing them under a bus, his relationship with Levy will sour once he starts demanding top class transfers, and they'll basically implode before he walks off in a huff. :drool:
 
It'll be interesting to see what happens before the window closes this week. United are only looking to offload, while Spurs & Arsenal both want to bring players in. The right signing could give either of those two clubs some mojo
 
Bilbo said:
It'll be interesting to see what happens before the window closes this week. United are only looking to offload, while Spurs & Arsenal both want to bring players in. The right signing could give either of those two clubs some mojo
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Hopefully neither of those 2 clubs strenghten over next 7 days because that could just make the difference in the end.
 
BorisManUtd said:
Hopefully neither of those 2 clubs strenghten over next 7 days because that could just make the difference in the end.
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Arsenal seem to be chasing lost causes, but Traore could add another dimension to Spurs play if they land him
 
BorisManUtd said:
Hopefully neither of those 2 clubs strenghten over next 7 days because that could just make the difference in the end.
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I know we got Lucky with Fernandes signing in January which helped us get top4 that season but calibre of player who could make the difference to fortunes of the Club's midway through the season straight away hardly moves during the January window . Not concerned with any business of Arsenal or Tottenham at all .
 
Spurs don't have the bottle right now to get into the top 4 and actually stay there.....every time they come up against a top side they go into the Conte Italian Defensive shell and just don't open up to attack
 
Zaphod2319 said:
We are done in the league for three weeks. It will be interesting to see where the table is when we play our next league game against Palace on Feb 19. Then after that game we don't play another league game until March.
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Nice to sit back and watch to be honest, especially as we've already played Liverpool, City and Spurs twice already.

I'd imagine we'll be 3-4 points inside the top 4 when it resumes
 
Will be spurs.

We're far too inconsistent, drawing against shite. Yet to play city away, Liverpool away, arsenal away. Spurs and Chelsea at home to come too. Nah, ain't happening.
 
Glad people have started to accept the ugly truth. We play nowhere near the level required to finish top 4.

Saves you disappointment at the end.
 
the_cliff said:
Glad people have started to accept the ugly truth. We play nowhere near the level required to finish top 4.

Saves you disappointment at the end.
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The worry is finishing in the conference League.

Well, I say worry, that would mean we'd still have to win a few games and knowing us we're incapable of winning :lol:
 
Ayoba said:
The worry is finishing in the conference League.

Well, I say worry, that would mean we'd still have to win a few games and knowing us we're incapable of winning :lol:
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Letting Conte go to Spurs killed our season.

I'd rather not have Europe at all than that shit.
 
We won't make top 4 and I'm not bothered at this point. A lot needs to change before we could actually show up at the CL. The current group of players won't get us there.

Spurs will make it because they got 1 decision right. Conte will get them there.
 
Spurs are probably getting that 4th place in the end. Conte is one of the best league managers around and much better at picking up points even when his teams don't play well. We drop points now even when we actually perform.
 
Spurs have to be huge favourites.

We still have to face Arsenal Away, City Away, Chelsea at Home, Liverpool Away and Spurs at Home.

Absolutely zero chance, we are making it.
 
Volksie316 said:
Spurs have to be huge favourites.

We still have to face Arsenal Away, City Away, Chelsea at Home, Liverpool Away and Spurs at Home.

Absolutely zero chance, we are making it.
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Agreed
 
Latest top 4 odds (approx)

Spurs 6/4

Man Utd 2/1

Arsenal 9/4

West Ham 8/1

Wolves 33/1
 
Firstly, we will not make Top 4 due to several factors (poor finishing, referee decisions purposely given against us, maguire, etc etc..)

And personally I don’t rate Conte and his philosophies so I prefer Ralf to steady the ship for next manager even if it means missing out Top 4.
 
Do people still think we'll catch Chelsea? We'll be closer to 8th than 4th.
 
Still think we will finish in the top 4 personally, we are playing much better just maguire last night, refs & finishing, arsenal & West Ham won’t last the distance & spurs have not really impressed me, there’s still 15 games left & I believe we will get going, just my opinion, I know positivity goes against the grain on this place though
 
cabbs1989 said:
Still think we will finish in the top 4 personally, we are playing much better just maguire last night, refs & finishing, arsenal & West Ham won’t last the distance & spurs have not really impressed me, there’s still 15 games left & I believe we will get going, just my opinion, I know positivity goes against the grain on this place though
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I agree, we are playing better. Need the ball to bounce our way as they say....and bench Maguire.
 
Cantonagotmehere said:
I agree, we are playing better. Need the ball to bounce our way as they say....and bench Maguire.
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Yeah there is still twists & turns to go I mean if arsenal drop points to wolves away , then spurs have wolves next after Southampton they should win both those, weat ham have Leicester away, we have saints at home and Brighton home the following Tuesday, get 6 points out of them and suddenly things look more positive, something has to give with our finishing & agree dropping maguire for lindelof would be a huge improvement! There are so many twists and turns left
 
Alot of people seem to have a weird obsession with declaring we have 'no chance' which is just total nonsense.

Will likely go down to the final few games and how we handle Spurs at home and Arsenal away. You'd think we can't lose either.
 
We will click. Also think we will surprise people against better teams. Quick transitions from defense with pace upfront will be a good weapon against better teams.

Wish we could finish better. Don't know if we will finish in top 4 but we will certainly get better.
 
Leftback99 said:
Do people still think we'll catch Chelsea? We'll be closer to 8th than 4th.
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It is possible but it is not about catching Chelsea (8 points behind with a game in had, potentially 5. Not impossible bit higly unlikely). It is about the 4th place.

IMO none of the teams involved can win their games consistently but I'm fully expecting Arsenal and Spurs to be worse at it. So we'll definitely finish 4th or 5th. More likely 4th than 5th.
 
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RedSky said:
We had a decent chance had we got the normal new Manager bounce. We didn't. Looking at the fixture list we needed to hit the ground running under Ralf and we didnt.
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I still think the chance was there in January. You could (& still can, imo) see signs of us progressing into a somewhat cohesive team. All we needed was a cm to add some composure and control and I think we'd have finished 3rd or 4th.

Instead, we continued to let the midfield rot, and lost Martial and Greenwood without replacing either. Regardless of how much we continue to develop as a team now, our lack of depth will ultimately cost us.
 
We certainly don’t seem to want it. If by some miracle we do find ourselves finishing 4th then it will be down to teams around us being even more shite than us.
 
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