Will we qualify for the CL?

[LeeS]

To miss out on Champions League we'd have to lose to Liverpool, Man City and Freiburg. Bournemouth would need 4 pts from Man City and Forest or Brighton 6 from Leeds and Man Utd.

5 results all need to go against us. If we fuck this up from here it would be a disaster. Namely because we'd be losing another cup final.

This is the only positive. For those of us who like an emotional hedge bet, there is very big money to be made on that combination. Get in now before we lose to Liverpool

You had us losing both games this week I seem to remember

I always bet against us and for our rivals. Every single week. It costs me a fortune but I’m doing my bit

[PaulWinch again]

We can point to injuries all we like. But 1 point from the last three league games we’ve played is an atrocious return. We did fantastically in the Europa League and hopefully that will ultimately deliver us silverware and a route to the Champs League. But we are one of the worst performing teams in the league right now, that’s just piss poor with the players we do have available.

[Beard82]

I dont think our problem has been injuries - its lack of squad depth.  Expecting the same players to perform week in and week out is a big ask.  We really need to get the next window right and getting in to the CL one way or another will make that much easier. 

[RamboandBruno]

I dont think our problem has been injuries - its lack of squad depth.  Expecting the same players to perform week in and week out is a big ask.  We really need to get the next window right and getting in to the CL one way or another will make that much easier.

I agree to a large extent, but sometimes one or two can be integral no matter what the squad size. Man City aren’t as good without Rodri.
We’re not as good without Kamara.

[PaulWinch again]

No, but we should be good enough to get more than 1 point against Fulham, Spurs, and Burnley. That is a dreadful return regardless of Kamara’s injury.

[dorsetvillian]

If we don't qualify from the league it's not the injuries. Just one win over the last 3 games against piss poor teams would have done it. We just haven't played with the intensity and desire required. It's almost a full squad, so no excuses.

[Dick Edwards]

No, but we should be good enough to get more than 1 point against Fulham, Spurs, and Burnley. That is a dreadful return regardless of Kamara’s injury.

Indeed it is. We've put ourselves in an awkward position now whereby we have to go strong against Liverpool, only five days before the Freiburg game. I think we're going to have to win the Europa League Final now.

[RamboandBruno]

No, but we should be good enough to get more than 1 point against Fulham, Spurs, and Burnley. That is a dreadful return regardless of Kamara’s injury.

Don’t disagree at all, but if we hadn’t lost Kamara and then Tielemans and McGinn in quick succession, it would of all been mute. Everyone has injuries, but losing our midfield, with the restrictions we’ve had anyway, should of been catastrophic. The fact is, it hasn’t been as of yrt. We are largely running out of steam, but proved on Thursday we can still raise it. Hopefully, we can raise the game twice more. 

[eamonn]

No, but we should be good enough to get more than 1 point against Fulham, Spurs, and Burnley. That is a dreadful return regardless of Kamara’s injury.

Don’t disagree at all, but if we hadn’t lost Kamara and then Tielemans and McGinn in quick succession, it would of all been mute. Everyone has injuries, but losing our midfield, with the restrictions we’ve had anyway, should of been catastrophic. The fact is, it hasn’t been as of yrt. We are largely running out of steam, but proved on Thursday we can still raise it. Hopefully, we can raise the game twice more. 

To quote the departed Bad English, "Tsk!"

[Ianu]

If we don't qualify from the league it's not the injuries. Just one win over the last 3 games against piss poor teams would have done it. We just haven't played with the intensity and desire required. It's almost a full squad, so no excuses.

I don’t think it’s the injuries either. I think it’s poor recruitment.

We have very little money to spend, yet have managed to spend the little that we do have in a very haphazard way. This has also been compounded with letting go players that could have still played a role this season.

Debatable decisions:

Sancho’s wages. What has the opportunity cost of this decision been? Not getting Asensio? Other more high profile players in January. 

Harvey Elliott’s wages.

The peripheral signings we have made for the future, but have had little or no impact this season.

Bringing back Tammy in January for big money.

Bringing back Luiz. Couldn’t Lindelof have moved into midfield in January?

Letting Malen go.

All of this makes me wonder how successful the squad overhaul that everyone is talking about will be?

[rougegorge]

To miss out on Champions League we'd have to lose to Liverpool, Man City and Freiburg. Bournemouth would need 4 pts from Man City and Forest or Brighton 6 from Leeds and Man Utd.

5 results all need to go against us. If we fuck this up from here it would be a disaster. Namely because we'd be losing another cup final.

This is the only positive. For those of us who like an emotional hedge bet, there is very big money to be made on that combination. Get in now before we lose to Liverpool

You had us losing both games this week I seem to remember

Losing our last three games isn't the only way we can miss out though.

If we dont beat Freiburg, then drawing one or both of the last two league games would mean that Bournemouth would overtake us by winning both of their games, so we would finish 6th...assuming Liverpool didn't lose at home to Brentford.

[Skipper_The_Eyechild]

No, but we should be good enough to get more than 1 point against Fulham, Spurs, and Burnley. That is a dreadful return regardless of Kamara’s injury.

Don’t disagree at all, but if we hadn’t lost Kamara and then Tielemans and McGinn in quick succession, it would of all been mute. Everyone has injuries, but losing our midfield, with the restrictions we’ve had anyway, should of been catastrophic. The fact is, it hasn’t been as of yrt. We are largely running out of steam, but proved on Thursday we can still raise it. Hopefully, we can raise the game twice more. 

To quote the departed Bad English, "Tsk!"

You'll be here a while if you're correcting that mistake.

[LeonW]

We may end up getting champions league football but this team is not champions league level.

[PaulWinch again]

See I don’t buy that at all. I suspect we’ll get there and we’ll have earned it in the round. Depth is an issue, and of course we wouldn’t win it, but with a competent summer window we’d be pretty competitive.

[aj2k77]

We may end up getting champions league football but this team is not champions league level.

Newcastle got out of the group stages and we are better than them.

We need an added threat.