Champions League Contention

[Rigadon]

Fucking 6th is our glass ceiling and it needs breaking for once. 

[Drummond]

At the beginning of the season we'd have taken 6th I reckon (whilst hoping for more) and in many ways that's the minimum we'd have wanted.

Injury wise, I think we'd have done well to finish there. However, the bigger point is that barring a couple of results we were going way better than that, and the drop off in form we've had feels worse than it otherwise would have.

As such, I think anything less than a Champions League place may well feel like a failure.

[chrisw1]

At the beginning of the season we'd have taken 6th I reckon (whilst hoping for more) and in many ways that's the minimum we'd have wanted.

Injury wise, I think we'd have done well to finish there. However, the bigger point is that barring a couple of results we were going way better than that, and the drop off in form we've had feels worse than it otherwise would have.

As such, I think anything less than a Champions League place may well feel like a failure.

Yes I think it will.  It would be understandable with the injuries, but from where we are a massive let-down.  I also think it would lead to us losing some major players in the summer.

[rougegorge]

If we end up 6th or 7th, there is a chance we could miss out on European football altogether next season.

So we wouldn't want Chelsea to win the League Cup; that would give them the Conference League place, unless Liverpool win. Nor would we want a team outside the top 6 winning the FA Cup, so we would need Liverpool, Man City or possibly even Man Utd to win that one as otherwise the winner takes one of the two Europa League places.

[Brazilian Villain]

If we end up 6th or 7th, there is a chance we could miss out on European football altogether next season.

Not when we win the Conference League.

[ChicagoLion]

If we end up 6th or 7th, there is a chance we could miss out on European football altogether next season.

Not when we win the Conference League.

It’s go for broke in this or the PL, pretty sure Emery will focus on the PL.
Expect lots of youngsters and second string to feature.

[Risso]

We haven't really got a scond string as it stands.

[Jockey Randall]

If 5th does end up getting Champions League I'm hopeful 8 wins out of the last 14 will do it. With the goal difference basically counting as an extra point for us over Man United, if we get those wins you're asking them to pick up 30 points from an available 42 which you would have to hope would be beyond them on what we've seen so far.

8 wins out of
Fulham
Forest
Luton
Spurs
West Ham
Wolves
Man City
Brentford
Arsenal
Bournemouth
Chelsea
Brighton
Liverpool
Palace

Could be tight but hopefully something we can still pull off even with the injuries we've suffered.

[Neil Hawkes]

We are close to playing our second string; no choice with so many first team players sidelined.

[PaulWinch again]

We are close to playing our second string; no choice with so many first team players sidelined.

To be fair once Pau is back we have two first teamers out (Ezri and Kamara), not counting Ty and Emi B as they haven’t been involved all season. The team is still strong.

[LeonW]

With our injuries and current options, it would be an amazing achievement if we got 5th. We’re going to have to have a rejig our set up. I’m hoping Emery can come up with something new that catches our opponents out. I think if we win our next 4 games, it’s still feasible but that is asking a heck of alot. I think we haven’t given ourselves a big enough cushion to ride things out with the last 6 weeks. Ultimately, I think we’ll look back on several missed opportunities and the business we did in January as to why we missed out on champions league football.

[ChicagoLion]

We haven't really got a scond string as it stands.

I know what you mean.

[Demitri_C]

At the beginning of the season we'd have taken 6th I reckon (whilst hoping for more) and in many ways that's the minimum we'd have wanted.

Injury wise, I think we'd have done well to finish there. However, the bigger point is that barring a couple of results we were going way better than that, and the drop off in form we've had feels worse than it otherwise would have.

As such, I think anything less than a Champions League place may well feel like a failure.

You are absolutely correct. At start we all would have been happy with 6th. But now we have tipped our toes with the big boys and had a taste of what its been like challenging the bog boys in the top 4 we want it now. It would feel like a failure if we dont achieve top 5 now even though in theory its not a failure.

Id be massively disappointed if we finished 7th and didnt at least get to semis of conference league

[eamonn]

Realistically I think if we now finish in the top 6 it would have been a good season!

Feck that for a bag of spanners

[eamonn]

Re our profligacy:



https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/clubs/big_chance_missed

Big Chances Missed
   
1.    Chelsea       47   
2.    Brentford    46   
3.    Liverpool    46   
4.    Aston Villa  44   
5.    Everton      44   
6.    Newcastle United           43   
7.    Brighton & Hove Albion  41   
8.    Arsenal      39   
9.    Manchester City     37   
10.  Tottenham Hotspur 34