Will we qualify for the CL?

[brontebilly]

Disagree. I thought Chelsea's one touch passing was very good and their direct, quick driving attacks and overlaps out wide overwhelmed us. They looked a much more accomplished side.

Easy when they had an extra man in there.

[Beard82]

Monty's post got me thinking.  The thing that makes everything so crushingly disapointing is the existential dread that comes with everything - this feeling like its all a house of cards that could come tumbling down at any point.  Dont get CL and will have to sell our best players / Unai might have enough / The owners might lose interest.   That yet again its another false dawn.

That nagging feeling that in 10 years "what if Unai could spend money", is added to "what could have been if Doug Ellis ego wasnt so big" or  "what if MON..."

Football is no longer escapism, what were watching is a refelction of society - nepotism dressed up as meritocracy.  The "product" of the PL is basically unwatchable - endless delays and cheating, rank poor referees and mostly unlikable players.  Clubs being forceed to sell their souls and integrity to try and comply with financial rules designed to protect the the interest of selected clubs.  If a society we gets the politicans it deserves, the same goes for football

[eamonn]

Not sure about that. Watch a game from 1990, compare it to now. It's faster, more skillful and generally much more enjoyable to watch nowadays albeit with more diving too.

[TheToffnar]

Monty's post got me thinking.  The thing that makes everything so crushingly disapointing is the existential dread that comes with everything - this feeling like its all a house of cards that could come tumbling down at any point.  Dont get CL and will have to sell our best players / Unai might have enough / The owners might lose interest.   That yet again its another false dawn.

That nagging feeling that in 10 years "what if Unai could spend money", is added to "what could have been if Doug Ellis ego wasnt so big" or  "what if MON..."

Football is no longer escapism, what were watching is a refelction of society - nepotism dressed up as meritocracy.  The "product" of the PL is basically unwatchable - endless delays and cheating, rank poor referees and mostly unlikable players.  Clubs being forceed to sell their souls and integrity to try and comply with financial rules designed to protect the the interest of selected clubs.  If a society we gets the politicans it deserves, the same goes for football

Very well said. We'll get called sore, dour losers by other fans perhaps with the exception of Newcastle, but it's true.

Fans shouldn't have to prioritize financial stability over the prospect of glory. We've been put in a position these past few years where most of us are willing to throw a good cup run away if it means prioritizing a league position to guarantee revenue income. The prospect of actually playing Europe's best teams next year is almost secondary to that. It's depressing.

[Rigadon]

Losing in the way we have lately clearly makes me a miserable bugger.  But I always used to think that qualifying for the CL would be the springboard.  But nothing much changed when we actually did qualify for it.  I'm not convinced that qualifying for it a few times would massively change much either.   

The cards are stacked against all clubs outside of a few.  There's next to zero jeopardy for Man Utd et al, and there isn't any realistic or sustainable way for the also-ran clubs to do more than just take part.  Every other club is effectively there as an extra in the TV show.  That's ALWAYS been true to an extent, but not in a quite so grindingly obvious way, I don't think. 

Have a good season, lose you best players.  Have a shit season lose your best players.  Qualify for CL, sell your best players to comply with the rules.  At some point you do start to wonder what the actual point of it all is.  It's supposed to be enjoyable after all!!!!

[eamonn]

Maybe but a few years of it consecutively and we'd become part of the elite we hate. Surely that's worth striving for?

[Percy McCarthy]

We’re in a position where everything has to be nigh on perfect, but if we were just a bit better at recruitment it could have made the world of difference.

[brontebilly]

Somehow, results have not gone against us in this series of games. Liverpool losing to Wolves and Man United losing to 10 man Newcastle. The table still looks positive for us. If we could settle ourselves at all it's still within our control.

Chelsea will continue to concede lots of goals based on what we saw last night, Liverpool fans are consistent in saying all season that their performances are nowhere near good enough to deliver consistent wins. Carrick had a flukey run of results, he's still reliant on likes of Shaw, Maguire and Casemiro. He has Fernandes into his best position but their run of results was never going to continue.

[tomd2103]

Losing in the way we have lately clearly makes me a miserable bugger.  But I always used to think that qualifying for the CL would be the springboard.  But nothing much changed when we actually did qualify for it.  I'm not convinced that qualifying for it a few times would massively change much either.   

Yep, but we're stuck in a position where not qualifying for it is very damaging.

[cdbearsfan]

Does "CL" mean Conference League?

[Beard82]

If we dont qualify, it will be because we have had a very long and sustained downturn - the type that Unai has never overseen in his entire managerial career.

I hope we can fix it - Chelsea looked very beatable last night, and the villa team of December would have.  He turned us round at the start of the season I am sure he will again its just a matter of when.

[Villan82]

We are fortunate that the three clubs around us all have bad results in them. But we are running out of road.

I think 4 wins with a draw or two might just do it so if we can nab those in April you just never know. With Youri and McGinn back in the side, in a full Villa Park in May, that will be a tough game for Liverpool.

[Rigadon]

Does "CL" mean Conference League?

I was using it to mean Champions League, but I guess it works for both (albeit very different competitions). 

[Rigadon]

We’re in a position where everything has to be nigh on perfect, but if we were just a bit better at recruitment it could have made the world of difference.

Yes indeed.  But being nigh on perfect every season is not possible and we’ve been hit and miss in the transfers - standard for all clubs but in a ‘has to be perfect all the time’ environment it’s another thing that fucks us over. 

It’s not all doom and gloom, it just feels like it at the moment.