Hopes & expectations for 2024/25 Season

[Accent Guy]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.

I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.

As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.

Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.

Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?

If so, I respectfully disagree.

[eamonn]

The lack of pace, with Bailey being off form and Diaby gone, is a problem. Rogers has a lot of positive attributes, but he's not scoring regularly based on the chances he is getting(yet).

I agree with this. We look slower as a team going forward since diaby left

Jadens had a mixed start so far. Diaby hit the geound running straight away before hitting poor form towards end of season. Think fatigue played a role in that

He wasn't fatigued, he struggled with the physicality here. I don't think we miss him half as much as we do Bailey's form of last season.

[Risso]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.

I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.

As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.

Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.

Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?

If so, I respectfully disagree.

The Champions League is more likely than the Premier League. There's absolutely no way we're going to end up with more points in the league than all of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Champions League is unlikely, but possible. If we qualify for the last 16, and then get some favourable ties, who knows? We can beat anybody on our day, which is entirely different to getting enough points to win the league over 38 games.

[Accent Guy]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.

I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.

As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.

Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.

Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?

If so, I respectfully disagree.

The Champions League is more likely than the Premier League. There's absolutely no way we're going to end up with more points in the league than all of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Champions League is unlikely, but possible. If we qualify for the last 16, and then get some favourable ties, who knows? We can beat anybody on our day, which is entirely different to getting enough points to win the league over 38 games.

I agree it's possible to win the CL, it's just not realistic which is what my original post was about, whereas the Carabao Cup absolutely is realistic and we should do everything we can to win it. 28 years is far, far too long.

[Mister E]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.
I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.
As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.
Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.
Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?
If so, I respectfully disagree.

The Champions League is more likely than the Premier League. There's absolutely no way we're going to end up with more points in the league than all of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
The Champions League is unlikely, but possible. If we qualify for the last 16, and then get some favourable ties, who knows? We can beat anybody on our day, which is entirely different to getting enough points to win the league over 38 games.

I agree it's possible to win the CL, it's just not realistic which is what my original post was about, whereas the Carabao Cup absolutely is realistic and we should do everything we can to win it. 28 years is far, far too long.

One person's realism is another's pessimism.
I'm certainly not optimistically deluded but your earlier was so definitive I felt it needed challenging.

[Ads]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.

I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.

As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.

Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.

Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?

If so, I respectfully disagree.

The Champions League is more likely than the Premier League. There's absolutely no way we're going to end up with more points in the league than all of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.

The Champions League is unlikely, but possible. If we qualify for the last 16, and then get some favourable ties, who knows? We can beat anybody on our day, which is entirely different to getting enough points to win the league over 38 games.

I agree entirely with you mate, but how much of a grin inducing thought is it to be able to seriously consider winning the European Cup?!

[Accent Guy]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.
I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.
As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.
Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.
Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?
If so, I respectfully disagree.

The Champions League is more likely than the Premier League. There's absolutely no way we're going to end up with more points in the league than all of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
The Champions League is unlikely, but possible. If we qualify for the last 16, and then get some favourable ties, who knows? We can beat anybody on our day, which is entirely different to getting enough points to win the league over 38 games.

I agree it's possible to win the CL, it's just not realistic which is what my original post was about, whereas the Carabao Cup absolutely is realistic and we should do everything we can to win it. 28 years is far, far too long.

One person's realism is another's pessimism.
I'm certainly not optimistically deluded but your earlier was so definitive I felt it needed challenging.

It is quite clearly not realistic that we will win the league or Champions League this season. I think that is an objective truth, rather than just my opinion.

That is not to say it's impossible, just that it's not realistic.

The Carabao Cup however, is realistic and that was my only point. Nothing pessimistic about that whatsoever.

[Meanwood Villa]

The strange conundrum of modern football. The League Cup is the easiest to win on paper but we give ourselves the slimmest chance by playing the reserves. Not saying it's not the right decision, just that it's odd.

[RamboandBruno]

... 3 ties from Wembley and our one realistic trophy ...

Why is it our one realistic trophy? - we're still in four competitions.
I'd love to win a trophy but I'm not quite as fatalistic about it as you seem.

If you think winning the Premier League and/or the Champions league is realistic then I think you need to take your claret tinted glasses off.
I'm not being fatalistic, I am being realistic.
As for the FA Cup, which we haven't won in nearly 70 years, I will mark that down as realistic when/if we reach the latter stages.
Beat Palace and we are into the last 8, in a tournament the top teams often play weakened teams in. It's there if want it.
Just to be clear, you are saying that it's realistic we will win the league or CL this season?
If so, I respectfully disagree.

The Champions League is more likely than the Premier League. There's absolutely no way we're going to end up with more points in the league than all of Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal.
The Champions League is unlikely, but possible. If we qualify for the last 16, and then get some favourable ties, who knows? We can beat anybody on our day, which is entirely different to getting enough points to win the league over 38 games.

I agree it's possible to win the CL, it's just not realistic which is what my original post was about, whereas the Carabao Cup absolutely is realistic and we should do everything we can to win it. 28 years is far, far too long.

One person's realism is another's pessimism.
I'm certainly not optimistically deluded but your earlier was so definitive I felt it needed challenging.

It is quite clearly not realistic that we will win the league or Champions League this season. I think that is an objective truth, rather than just my opinion.

That is not to say it's impossible, just that it's not realistic.

The Carabao Cup however, is realistic and that was my only point. Nothing pessimistic about that whatsoever.

The draw defines how realistic it is. If we beat Palace and then draw Man City away, its probably not realistic anymore.

[eye digress]

I thought we’d start slowly compared to last season, and I think that’s been borne out, albeit not quite how I imagined. Performances have been up and down, often within a single game. We’ve not yet put in 90 minutes of domination - aka “giving someone a twatting” - that I can recall.

But we have nonetheless accrued points at quite a lick and, quite impressively, avoided defeat for the most part.

Whereas last season we came into late November/early December on fire (only to smoulder rather than burn for the rest of the season), if we can pick up results in the next few league games, it seems that we could get to that same period while actually growing in strength, in absolute terms and relative to our opponents.

Lastly, our form in Emery’s first half season was top 4ish. Our actual results last year were top four. We’re in the top four after a quarter of the season this year. In other words, we’ve been there for two years non stop. It’s not a fluke.

That’s why I’m pretty confident that we have what it takes to finish fourth, or better.

[Villan82]

I get prioritising the league and I always defend it.

That said, as a club, we have a serious trophy itch at the moment and I would be happier if I saw us go all out to win a trophy sooner rather than later.

Yeah, I get it we're going to win the league/Champions League etc. But seriosuly, a league cup win would be massive for the fans

[Smithy]

I get prioritising the league and I always defend it.

That said, as a club, we have a serious trophy itch at the moment and I would be happier if I saw us go all out to win a trophy sooner rather than later.

Yeah, I get it we're going to win the league/Champions League etc. But seriosuly, a league cup win would be massive for the fans

I'm the same, but then you look at someone like Ten Hag who won the FA Cup five months ago (his second trophy with them) and he's out on his ear.  I don't think many managers get the sack for going out of domestic cup competitions quite early.

I wish we took every competition seriously, and tried to win everything we enter,  but I also accept that this is an unrealistic expectation.

[Villan82]

I get prioritising the league and I always defend it.

That said, as a club, we have a serious trophy itch at the moment and I would be happier if I saw us go all out to win a trophy sooner rather than later.

Yeah, I get it we're going to win the league/Champions League etc. But seriosuly, a league cup win would be massive for the fans

I'm the same, but then you look at someone like Ten Hag who won the FA Cup five months ago (his second trophy with them) and he's out on his ear.  I don't think many managers get the sack for going out of domestic cup competitions quite early.

I wish we took every competition seriously, and tried to win everything we enter,  but I also accept that this is an unrealistic expectation.

I understand that, I got pelters last year and the year before defending The selections against Man U and Everton. I just felt that having achieved the CL promised land at last we could next focus on a trophy. Win 2 or 3 games in the league cup and all of a sudden you are near the business end. An FA Cup run is way more tricky to manage.

[PaulWinch again]

I wouldn’t read much in tonight’s performance. It’s disappointing, but we treated a bit like a friendly.

I think my broader niggle is that in the league I think our form, in spite of our position, is pretty modest. Across the season we’ve been quite porous at the back, and going forward we’re often not particularly ruthless. The fixtures we’ve had have been very kind on the whole and now it’s where it starts to get tricky. Hopefully we’re going to kick into gear, but we need to hit a consistently better level than we have done.


Champions League has obviously been brilliant and I have complete faith in Unai (well duh!), just hoping we raise our level a bit in the league in the coming weeks.

[algy]

We all saw how knackered we looked towards the end of last season. We have to pick our fights, and tbh I can't see either of the domestic cups being fights that it's worth us picking right now. (Clearly the League Cup wasn't anyway!).

IMO neither are really worth the effort for us.  There's probably 8-10 very decent teams who - if they decide to put out a strong side - we will only beat if we also put out a strong side and play reasonably well.  Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea, Newcastle, Manc Utd, Spurs, Brighton, Fulham, Bournemouth.

I'd argue that in reality, we're as likely to do well in the European Cup as we are in the FA Cup, provided we finish in the top 8.  We'd get a bye in the first knockout round, and be seeded in the Last 16, so would be favourites to get to the quarter-finals.  Of course, we might also get to the quarter finals of the FA Cup but at that stage, we're still going to have to end up being better than teams like Manchester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal to win it ... so why not go for the bigger prize?

I don't like the way the FA Cup has been downgraded to such an extent as it has.  It's wrong.  However, the hard facts are that finishing 4th in the Premier League is better for us than winning the FA Cup - better financially, better competitively, better for European qualification .... it's wrong, but that's the way it is.  We have to concentrate first and foremost on the League, and then on Europe.  If our stiffs do well enough in the domestic cups, great.  That proves we have a squad strong enough to compete on multiple fronts.  But we mustn't sacrifice the things that are going to give the club a material advantage in the future for them.