Indeed a top half finish rather than a top 6 finish seems beyond them. The fact they kept hold of Aubameyang in the transfer window was good business. I suspect they will be lucky to do the same in the summer.
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The 2019-2020 Football Thread
- Thread starter Lord Blackadder
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The situation in the top half of the table is still relatively fluid. While a top 4 finish is probably not possible, a Europa League sport or FA Cup win are still something to shoot for. This season has to be a free hit for Arteta anyway.
I can’t see a top 6 finish personally. I think there are better teams. Mind you that will depend on who they have to play.
Sadly I’m more concerned with the other end of the table!
Our next two games are City and your lot. Great timing!
West Ham are in a tough spot, but the next 3-4 teams above you are far from safe. It really comes down to who can put together a little bit of consistency (and even grab a slice of luck) going forward.
Well, they are not leaking quite as many goals as was the case earlier, perhaps a little bit of strengthening of that defence is underway; and, while victories are a bit thin, defeats are less frequent than had been the case prior to Arteta's appointment.
We could do with some luck. Just don’t understand why we signed two midfielders and no defenders.
I love the Bruges football team. Club Brugge and Cercle Brugge. I go a few times in an year to watch at the games in a stadium. I'm from Belgium.
So the Liverpool kids got through. Shame really. I’d have loved to have seen Shrewsbury get through. It would have been a great FA cup story.
Ah, still something of a football romantic at heart, then.
I would sincerely hope so, not least because so much of the football league's income has funnelled upwards since the Premier League was first established.
Welcome to the thread!
I'm torn on this. I agree that Shrewsbury would have been the romantic's choice in many ways. On the other hand, Liverpool's youth team clearly earned their place through their performances - this is not just some throwaway stunt by Klopp (though he is using it to make his own argument about breaks etc).
If we want to see more cup runs by lower division teams, we need to either get the big teams out of the competition altogether or force them to play youth sides. Otherwise 9/10 cups will be won by one of four or five clubs, as has been the case for a very long time.
According to the Shrewsbury manager, they earned less than half what they might have if Liverpool's first XI had played due to reduced ticket prices at Anfield and the TV companies not prioritizing the match.
Shame. But I’d imagine it was still a far amount of money in half.
Yes the big teams will win most of the time, but every now and then there will be an upset.
Dead against youth teams or b teams in the FA cup. I think it cheapens the oldest football component the world.
Agreed.
Precisely because of its history, and traditions, I like to see the FA Cup taken seriously by teams;as a trophy, it should still be worth something to have won it.
Actually, for that matter, to a certain extent, I still haven't forgiven Manchester United for their arrogant decision to forgo competing in the FA Cup during the 1999-2000 season.
For what it is worth, I don't feel at all as strongly about the League Cup (Carabou Cup), and would happily see that particular competition transformed or abolished or somehow re-imagined.
Agreed. It’s definitely the second cup competition. Although I usually refer to it as the milk cup.
I am inclined to agree with you, but that puts things at an impasse. "Big" teams are already playing too many matches and the FA Cup is not held in the same regard as European competitions (and these continue to expand) as well as international tournaments. Even so, the big teams will keep winning the cup, because even when they treat it as a secondary priority they have the talent to win it anyway 9 times out of 10.
So in that sense the competition has already been cheapened, and I must admit I'm at a loss how to rectify this as long as higher-profile, more lucrative European competitions have a bigger hold on the imagination of the increasingly international profile of clubs' ownership and fan base.
Remember all those alleged millions of fans in Asia that Manchester United (for example) like to brag about? They are far more interested in watching their team face Real Madrid or Juventus in Europe than swatting Tranmere aside in the cup. Globalization, TV, and the money sloshing around as a consequence of those phenomena have changed the footballing landscape forever.There is just not as much room in the game as there used to be for the cups.
The same forces that cause some in the English media to claim that the Premier League is the "best league in the world" have also devalued the FA Cup.
Logically, rationally, intellectually, I agree completely with you, and your case is very well made and difficult to argue against. In fact, I can't dispute what you have written.
However, personally, privately, and emotionally, I would prefer to see the FA Cup respected and treated seriously - it is a wonderful tournament with terrific traditions and a venerable history.
Vincent Kompany left. But you are not wrong. He was plagued with injury though. I think they have missed him this year.
Agreed.
Actually, I suspect that they have missed him more than they thought that they would.
Definitely. Good news is Stirling isn’t fit to play against us. Bad news is they won’t exactly need him!
Well, yes, on current form, while the absence of Sterling is a loss, I cannot see this as presenting too much of an issue against West Ham.
Sadly agreed. But a couple of new signings so there is hope. Just wish they were a couple of defenders.
And that ("new") stadium could do with some way of creating an attractive atmosphere, as well.