Hopes & expectations for 2024/25 Season

[Keeno]

I've compared the fixtures we've played so far this season to last season and looked at those games where the results were different.

Substituting the three promoted clubs for those that were relegated, these are the games where we got different results

West Ham A           +2
Arsenal H                -3
Man U H                  +1
Ipswich A                -2
Bournemouth H      -2

So 4 points worse off compared to the same fixtures last season.

Thanks and i would argue fixtures have been easier. Dont think we have scored as many either

For me tough ask for top 4 again i think mainly because we leak too many goals

Will continue to say this every time I see this same fixture comparison post on here: this is a fools errand given that the relative quality, personnel and form of the teams played changes significantly from season to season. Even more so when you're subbing in totally diffferent teams who have been promoted. It also doesn't account for fixture runs, post-European matches, when in the calendar the corresponding fixtures occurred (e.g. over Xmas/NY) or how good a form we were in when we played them. It's not Football Manager, fixtures don't happen in the abstract.

Not saying everything is perfect but this specific issue is really not worth hand-wringing over.

On top of this, you'd also expect that with the extra squad depth we now have (and just a little bit more luck with 1/2 less injuries in the New Year) players will be less tired for the run-in and we'll outperform our PPG across the final 15 or so fixtures in comparison to last season, across which we were 9th in the league last season and really not good.

Between 1.8-2 points per game (which is what we've averaged with Unai across his entire tenure thus far) and it'll see us on between 68-76 points, which will certainly be good enough for 5th place unless we're in a freak year. We're currently on track for that and have had a better start than all of our rivals for 4th/5th. Relax.

[Accent Guy]

Top 5 is what I think we are aiming for and I am still confident we can get it. The next 2 games will tell us a lot.

I expected 5 points from Fulham (1), Bournemouth (3), Spurs (1) and Liverpool (0) and I think that's what we will get.

Although that makes it 7 points from 18, it should leave us in the top 8 still, with a couple of the trickier games out of the way.

I still can't believe there are people claiming Man City aren't on a different level to us. Totally absurd (and wildly incorrect) viewpoint. Same goes for Liverpool and probably Arsenal if we are honest. (The fixtures they have had compared to us have been far more difficult.)

5th and CL qualification, along with a trophy of any kind would be amazing and certainly not impossible.

Really, REALLY need to beat Palace twice in the next few weeks.

[Mellin]

Yeah, the last four games have seen me check my ambitions a bit. Top five target, get back in the CL. Try and do something crazy in it this season. Improve the right hand side in the summer.

We're still progressing at a phenomenal rate, but consolidation and improvement when you get to a certain level are fine too. Newcastle more than once, Everton, Leeds, Leicester and others have all failed to do that.

[Demitri_C]

I said 7th in league and i still think thats where we will finish thia year

[danno]

I said 7th in league and i still think thats where we will finish thia year

Why tell us again then? 

[Demitri_C]

I said 7th in league and i still think thats where we will finish thia year

Why tell us again then? 

As i havent changed my mind. Was hoping i would but i cant see us finishing top 5 unless our home form improves and we stop leaking goals. We are conceding way too many goals at the moment

[ez]

3rd or 4th I reckon. I can't see who's going to displace us. We are still better than Spurs, Newcastle and Chelsea.

[Villan82]

Discounting Chelsea, we haven't really lost any ground this weekend.

[Ads]

I said 7th in league and i still think thats where we will finish thia year

Why tell us again then? 

As i havent changed my mind. Was hoping i would but i cant see us finishing top 5 unless our home form improves and we stop leaking goals. We are conceding way too many goals at the moment

We're 4th now?

[algy]

I think it’s symbolically important that we finish in the top 4 again. Doing something once can look like a fluke, but the more times you do it the less it can be put down to luck. We as a club need to be spoken about as a constituent part of a Big 4/5/6.

Being part of a “Big Top Half of the Division” is no good, we need it so that 4* Champions League spots are just assumed to go to Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and us. That’s not so far from reality - the first 3 of those will almost certainly qualify for the CL in most people’s eyes. We need that to get bigger sponsorship deals, attract the very best players, and generally act like a club that belongs where we currently are - in the top 1% of club teams in Europe, and so therefore the world.

* let some lucky competition winner have the occasional 5th place - I don’t want us to be reliant on how other clubs do in Europe

[Richard]

I said 7th in league and i still think thats where we will finish thia year

Why tell us again then? 

As i havent changed my mind. Was hoping i would but i cant see us finishing top 5 unless our home form improves and we stop leaking goals. We are conceding way too many goals at the moment

2 goals against in the last 5 games is not way too many.

[Meanwood Villa]

I think it’s symbolically important that we finish in the top 4 again. Doing something once can look like a fluke, but the more times you do it the less it can be put down to luck. We as a club need to be spoken about as a constituent part of a Big 4/5/6.

Being part of a “Big Top Half of the Division” is no good, we need it so that 4* Champions League spots are just assumed to go to Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, and us. That’s not so far from reality - the first 3 of those will almost certainly qualify for the CL in most people’s eyes. We need that to get bigger sponsorship deals, attract the very best players, and generally act like a club that belongs where we currently are - in the top 1% of club teams in Europe, and so therefore the world.

* let some lucky competition winner have the occasional 5th place - I don’t want us to be reliant on how other clubs do in Europe

Agreed and a good point. I was quite pessimistic before the season that we could replicate it again but I have been pleasantly surprised with our start and that it looks like another top 4 push is on the cards. An improved Chelsea is a worry but I am hopeful Arsenal or Liverpool may yet falter and we look to have maintained our superiority over Tottenham, Newcastle and Man Utd.

Like you say, the aim is for us to be in the CL running as the norm rather than an exception.

[boozey182]

I've thought for a while now that we will get better as the season goes on, the opposite of last season. With a fair amount of (managed) upheaval over the summer, and with plenty of players coming back from injury, I thought we'd start slowly and grow into the season as new signings got used to playing under Unai, and as those coming back from injury got fit again.

I think that's still the case. I think our performances so far this season have been okay - not brilliant, but not awful. Our results have been generally decent, but we haven't played many good teams yet. Individually, I would say that only a few players have been playing above what is expected of them (Tielemens and Duran - maybe Digne?) whereas the rest have been just okay. Players like Ramsey, Rogers and Bailey have an extra gear to go up - Ramsey and Bailey in terms of general performance, and Rogers in terms of converting good displays into more goals and assists.

I'm feeling pretty positive about everything, even though I think we are maybe higher in the table than our performances suggest. The fixture list has been kind to us so far, but we have some much tougher games coming up and I think we may find ourselves slipping down the table a little. That's not the end of the world though, because I can see us finishing very strongly after Christmas.

We're fourth in the league (top of another one) and I don't think we've got going yet. There is plenty of room for improvement.

[Nii Lamptey]

This next couple of weeks will be a good indicator of where we are.

Not too fussed about Palace midweek, as it just adds more demands on the squad, but if we get past them with a skeleton crew, then I guess it's time to start taking it seriously.

The Bournemouth setback could be just what we needed with Spurs and Liverpool away coming up. IMO, we're a better drilled outfit than both of them, and I'm optimistic we can beat Spurs and at least get a draw out of Liverpool...... Just depends on how we fair against Brugge.

[London Villan]

CL qualification again - which could be 5th place - is pretty much essential to keep the squad together and for the obvious financial implications of NOT finishing in a CL spot. Not getting in the CL next season will see far more upheaval than we had this summer.

Unai will want to go deep in the CL - we are on for a top 8 finish and with a good draw we could reach the quarter-finals - then it's a lottery.
We won't win the league - we just aren't quite ruthless enough, as Saturday showed.

So then we have the two domestic cups. These have to be of higher importance now. We "should" win on Wednesday, but Unai, so far, has not been overly bothered by the League Cup and FA Cup.