UEFA Europa Conference League - Alkmaar, Legia and Zrinjski

[Monty]

I think that Emery's distinct chance of winning the Europa League with us, and it Champions League football the following year, is fine by me.

Plus, big clubs in the Europa League! It would be fun! And I, me, I like fun.

[caster troy]

I think Liverpool will cruise to 5th now, in a way it might be best if they win every game till we play them as they may have it locked in by then and take their foot off the gas.

Spurs have Palace and Brentford at home who potentially won't have much to play for, and Leeds away who may already be down by then. My fear is they will now sack Stellini and scrape a few results together. We need them to lose the next three I think then beat them ourselves to be in a strong position.

Brighton should get to at least 59 points before they play Man City on the 24th of May and have superior GD, so by that stage it may be in their hands and we'll need them to lose to Man City and then beat them at home. Hopefully the title race makes it to the 24th.

We absolutely must beat Fulham, then one of United/Wolves away and Spurs at home to keep it in our hands. With our injury situation I think we will end up 7th/8th depending on whether Spurs now bounce back and whether Brighton can sustain their results playing so many games.

[ChicagoLion]

I think this is a genuine concern.
Only a few clubs manage domestic success with a European campaign and it’s hard to see how you build a squad capable of that in one transfer window.

[Risso]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

[Lastfootstamper]

By that logic, given that we've cunningly avoided Europe for over a decade now, we should be more than ready for an assault on all fronts.

[ChicagoLion]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

I get that , but I am sure that we will reach a point when something has to give if we try and attempt to compete in 4 competitions.
It will come down to priorities.

[PaulWinch again]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

Exactly. Get European football and then deal with it.

[Risso]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

I get that , but I am sure that we will reach a point when something has to give if we try and attempt to compete in 4 competitions.
It will come down to priorities.

Until you get to Man City squad levels, that's always the case. I'll take winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League though even if it means we only finish 5th.

[RamboandBruno]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

Completely agree. If we don’t make it now it will be disappointing, its the hope that kills ya etc, but in context not the end of the world, given the miracles Emery has been achieving. However, if theres a chance i don’t understand the hand wringing about not wanting to be in it yet. If theres a chance we have to grasp it, there are too many variables to think it’s definitely going to come our way next year.

[Chris Smith]

I think this is a genuine concern.
Only a few clubs manage domestic success with a European campaign and it’s hard to see how you build a squad capable of that in one transfer window.

I had the same concern when this thread started but the progress over recent weeks has caused me to reconsider. Emery is as experienced as they come in respect of managing on multiple fronts, I am sure he will be as prepared for that as he appears to be for everything else. I imagine they’ve got different plans for the summer transfer window dependent on whether or not we qualify.

[Flamingo Lane]

There's no choice. The higher up the league you finish, the more likely you are to be playing European football the following season, so there's no point doing anything other than embrace that possibility and the opportunities it would bring, along with the challenges.

[Simon Page]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

I get that , but I am sure that we will reach a point when something has to give if we try and attempt to compete in 4 competitions.
It will come down to priorities.

Until you get to Man City squad levels, that's always the case. I'll take winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League though even if it means we only finish 5th.

I'd take winning the Europa League and finishing 20th. Give me shiny pots now.

[paul_e]

Lets take a minute to look at the squad and what needs to happen to it to give us the depth we want:

Goal: Martinez is fine, Sinisalo is probably as good a 3rd choice as we'll get for now so we need to replace Olsen
RB: Cash and Young have both been good, KKH as a backup is ok. Maybe we'll need to replace Young in the winter.
LB: Moreno is excellent, Digne is probably too good to be cover, this is one of our strongest positions.
CB: Mings is fine, Carlos needs a chance now he's fit, Konsa and Chambers are ok as cover but we could do with replacing 1 of them.
DM: Kamara and Doug are superb, Dendoncker is decent as cover, Tim coming back should get a chance as well.
CM/WM: McGinn and Ramsey are good here, 1 signing and AJ Ramsey should be enough for now. Maybe Sanson can come back in?
AM/Wing: Buendia is fine, Coutinho can be a good option, Bert is good from the bench. Philogene might be worth a look as an option, replace Bailey.
Striker: Watkins is great, Cam deserves a chance to back him up, 1 more and we're good, could be the same player as the Bailey replacement.

I make that 4/5 signings in the summer (which is as many as I'd want regardless) to give us options everywhere without closing the door on the youngsters who have done well on loan.

[Brazilian Villain]

I couldn't disagree more. There's never an exact perfect time, but if you do well, you get European football then it's up to the owners/Purslow/Lange/Emery to put together a suitable squad. There's no guarantee that if we miss out that we'll achieve it next year, and what happens then if you get the likes of Martinez wanting to move on?

Agreed, I think young Dave summed it up well when he said something to the effect of "people don't want us to get European football this season, in case we slip down the league and don't finish high enough to get European football next season".

[Risso]

Lets take a minute to look at the squad and what needs to happen to it to give us the depth we want:

Goal: Martinez is fine, Sinisalo is probably as good a 3rd choice as we'll get for now so we need to replace Olsen
RB: Cash and Young have both been good, KKH as a backup is ok. Maybe we'll need to replace Young in the winter.
LB: Moreno is excellent, Digne is probably too good to be cover, this is one of our strongest positions.
CB: Mings is fine, Carlos needs a chance now he's fit, Konsa and Chambers are ok as cover but we could do with replacing 1 of them.
DM: Kamara and Doug are superb, Dendoncker is decent as cover, Tim coming back should get a chance as well.
CM/WM: McGinn and Ramsey are good here, 1 signing and AJ Ramsey should be enough for now. Maybe Sanson can come back in?
AM/Wing: Buendia is fine, Coutinho can be a good option, Bert is good from the bench. Philogene might be worth a look as an option, replace Bailey.
Striker: Watkins is great, Cam deserves a chance to back him up, 1 more and we're good, could be the same player as the Bailey replacement.

I make that 4/5 signings in the summer (which is as many as I'd want regardless) to give us options everywhere without closing the door on the youngsters who have done well on loan.

I agree with most of that, but would say:

I really hope we keep Digne, as he showed what he's capable of on Saturday. He's not as good going forward as Moreno (even though he helped set up the chance for the goal), but he's a better defender. Emery said last week he wants two players for every position, so when left back looks extremely well covered, why change it?

There's no way on earth that Sanson is coming back. I'd be surprised if Philogene is seen as being an option for the squad next season either so we definitely need two versatile forwards who can both cover for, and play with Ollie. It might be overkill, but I'd love to see a Guendouzi type sign as well.

I do wonder if despite being on the bench, that Carlos isn't a bit more fucked than we realise. 3-0 up at home to Newcastle and he still didn't get even a couple of minutes at the end, which I found weird.