Top 4 race 2016/17

Not impossible but I think you lack a bit of quality

We can't finish, and it has cost us so many games this season. Poor goalkeepers like Lee fecking Grant end up having the games of their lives in what feels like a weekly basis. I'm very happy with Jose in general but making decisions like starting Fellaini today also costs us.
 
I like the fact we're capable of getting late goals. But the fact we need the late goals because we've struggled to score for most of the match is going to cost us top 4.
 
I've been saying for months now that we aren't getting top 4 and our best chance to get Champions League football is to win the EL. Got some weird nonsense replies about how "Spanish teams always win the EL" and something about if we were to win the EL we would basically have to throw in the towel in the league. Ah, can't forget the classic "PL is our bread and butter" shite.

Just win the League Cup, go for the FA Cup and focus on the Europa League. Finishing 5th as opposed to 6th really isn't worth all the effort.
 
We're not as good as we think we are, plain as day.
 
It's just the finishing. If that was any other team playing like us there, it's 3/4-0. It's going to cost top 4 though.
I like the fact we're capable of getting late goals. But the fact we need the late goals because we've struggled to score for most of the match is going to cost us top 4.
Pretty much. We're playing way better than last season creating more chances but have scored just five more goals in the league. The period of two wins in eleven games was costly and essentially required us going on a winning run of eight or so games to break in. We did very well to go on a six-match run given our finishing difficulties.

In 13 out of 22 games we've scored 0-1 goals.
 
We won't get into it at this rate. There are plenty of positive signs but equally there are as many negative signs to this side thus far.

Too many players just go anonymous.
 
Will probably be 6 points and goal difference behind Arsenal by tomorrow. Don't see us finishing above Spurs.
 
It's going to be Us, City, Arsenal and Liverpool fighting over 2 CL spots by the looks of it and it'll probably go to the wire. No win today but it's hardly the end of the world. There's a long way to go and plenty points to be dropped by everyone.
 
This result is not too damaging considering we gained a point on Liverpool and could gain another on City or Tottenham, alternatively we won't lose any points on them if they draw.
 
Those trips to Spurs and Arsenal at the end of the season are going to be tense aren't they?!

At the very, very least, Mourinho will want to be in reach come those games - because you can't assume either Spurs or Arsenal will be certain of top four.

Nor are City. Nor are Liverpool.

There's a lot of football left to play.
 
We won't get into it at this rate. There are plenty of positive signs but equally there are as many negative signs to this side thus far.

Too many players just go anonymous.

Get into what ? 4th ? Surely you must be joking. We are 3 points off with 16 games left.
 
He's got a decision to make whether to prioritise Top 4 or the Europa League. In the group stage he put out strong teams and we dropped points on the Sunday. No coincidence the bulk of our winning run has come with the group phase done and dusted.

Top 4 is still within our grasp but you're only one bad weekend from falling away. It's our own fault for not winning enough games. The Europa we should be favourites for on paper but you never know with knock-out competitions.

We simply aren't good enough to chase both down however.
 
Chances took a hit today, just have to see how the other results pan out.

Most important thing is to win our next 3 winnable matches now as they all coincide with a game involving teams above us facing each other. Hull at home, Leicester away and Watford at home. Leicester might be difficult, but we should be winning regardless.
 
Should have won today. Just not converting dominance into goals.

And showing little sign of doing so either. If Zlatan doesn't score, we are generally toothless.

Today's result has really shaken my faith that we have the balls to challenge. Every time the teams above us slip up we bottle it. Its starting to be hard to feel that this team, come April and May, will have the guts to take the pressure of having to win.
 
The fact we have been so wasteful this season in front of goal doesn't need repeating but it's a major flaw in our team. We are the most creative side in the league but probably the most wasteful. We won't get into the top 4 this season as I just can't see it changing. We keep hitting the woodwork practically every game. God knows when we last scored from the penalty spot or a set piece. The refs have been utter shite in our games both for but mainly against us. Just looking at the stats in this game and the reverse fixture at home tells us the full story: 49 shots on goal and 2 goals from it. Quite pathetic.
 
I just don't think we are all that good and I honestly feel 6th place is a fair representation of our abilities. There were quite a few of our players on the pitch today that I simply don't think are good enough. I know many disagree with that statement but it seems quite obvious to me.
 
The top 4 race is actually a race between the 2-6 positions in the table right now. Current form is not an indicator of future performance.
 
I said we need to get to 80 points before, which meant getting 40 out of the 51 available before today. That allowed us to drop 11 points. We've dropped two today, so i think we can only drop 9 more points (effectively 3 defeats) in the remaining 16 games. It's still doable, but dropping points in 'easy' games cranks up the pressure in the difficult games, and these players have shown in the big games this season they cant hack it.
 
We'll still get top four. Reckon we'll go on another winning streak now.
 
The top 4 race is actually a race between the 2-6 positions in the table right now. Current form is not an indicator of future performance.

It is an indicator, but not a guarantee.
 
This is an excellent set of results so far for Spurs now.

It means despite having the most difficult fixture of the top 6, even if we lose, we've not lost any points vs Liverpool and only lost one vs Man Utd.

If we win...:eek:
 
We could use this as saying we still got a chance, but realistic now... We have a fecking awful fixture left after round 26-28 or so and we still got Europa League, FA Cup and League Cup.

I say 10% chance left of top 4.
 
I just don't think we are all that good and I honestly feel 6th place is a fair representation of our abilities. There were quite a few of our players on the pitch today that I simply don't think are good enough. I know many disagree with that statement but it seems quite obvious to me.

I strongly disagree. We are 3 goals off - whether from the woodwork or otherwise - from being in 2nd.
 
Every time the teams above us slip up we bottle it.

what? we've taken 20 points from our last 24, and closed the gap significantly in the past 6 weeks. It hardly time to be reaching for the pills just yet.
 
This is an excellent set of results so far for Spurs now.

It means despite having the most difficult fixture of the top 6, even if we lose, we've not lost any points vs Liverpool and only lost one vs Man Utd.

If we win...:eek:
How do your fixtures look like in the coming weeks? With EL coming up I feel you will drop points a lot in the league unless Pochettino rest the big players there. You could afford it as you are in the top 4. We must go for EL as that's our biggest chance of getting a CL place.
 
I just don't think we are all that good and I honestly feel 6th place is a fair representation of our abilities. There were quite a few of our players on the pitch today that I simply don't think are good enough. I know many disagree with that statement but it seems quite obvious to me.
I think this too. For me it cant be a coincidence that we've finished 7th, 4th, 5th and now another possible 5/6th placed finish in the four seasons since Fergie left, under 3 separate managers (two of them among the best). Our defence is a mess (fullbacks), we rely on a 35 year old in midfield for composure and playmaking, Herrera isnt that good, our wide players cant score. THere's not much to commend this group of players at the moment.
 
I think this too. For me it cant be a coincidence that we've finished 7th, 4th, 5th and now another possible 5/6th placed finish in the four seasons since Fergie left, under 3 separate managers (two of them among the best). Our defence is a mess (fullbacks), we rely on a 35 year old in midfield for composure and playmaking, Herrera isnt that good, our wide players cant score. THere's not much to commend this group of players at the moment.

We haven't lost a game in ages, although you'd be hard pressed to remember that with this sort of near suicidal defeatism.
 
It isn't really. What happens today is no indicator of what will happen tomorrow. You still have all your work ahead of you and anything can happen.

You seem to be saying that whether or not a team is in good form and playing well has no bearing at all on their forthcoming games. That's a strange perspective.