Will we win the Premier League

[ChicagoLion]

I am struggling to understand how we are equal 3rd.
We are not playing that well, we seem to be scraping results and giving the opposition lots of opportunities which fortunately they are not taking or because of Martinez magnificence at times.
I think our summer transfer business will be our major setback, Elliot Guessand and Sancho ffs.

[Brazilian Villain]

I’m going to start a ‘Will I Have A Threesome With Emily Blunt and Scarlett Johannson?’ thread.

I've had two. You haven't had one?

You were drunk, it was Emily Bishop and Scarlett Moffatt.

[cdbearsfan]

Can we get this merged with the Champions League one, please?

I abhor all this jinxing.

[eye digress]

And the “critical games” thread.

[Steve67]

We lack pace and natural width. Address those issues, alongside a dominant centre half and we might compete. I think Unai needs two or three more transfer windows of permissible spending. Also, by that time one or two others may need to be upgraded too.

[Sexual Ealing]

Can we get this merged with the Champions League one, please?

I abhor all this jinxing.

I will never not agree with this.

[Andy_Lochhead_in_the_air]

We're about 150/1 with the bookies. Sounds about right.

[Brazilian Villain]

We're about 150/1 with the bookies. Sounds about right.

We were 300/1 with PP during the week. Sunderland were 200/1.

[eamonn]

Jinxing should forever be abhorred. Ban this sick stunt.

[144 Hard Boiled Eggs]

We'll probably beat Brazil in the World Cup Final with Emi in goal.

[Demitri_C]

I am struggling to understand how we are equal 3rd.
We are not playing that well, we seem to be scraping results and giving the opposition lots of opportunities which fortunately they are not taking or because of Martinez magnificence at times.
I think our summer transfer business will be our major setback, Elliot Guessand and Sancho ffs.

Alot of it is because how bad everyone  else. Liverpool, spurs and newcastle  all not having good seasons in the league thus far. I think that will change.

Like you i dont think we have been playing well either- a good thing though. Also we have been a tad bit fortunate  with injuries  thus far.

I seriously  doubt this squad will finish top if we dont sign any players in January.  Elliots done here it seems, Guessand  doesnt look close to scoring a goal, sanchos shit and ollies on terrible form. The team needs support thats for sure

[paul_e]

Probably not but the idea that scoring the goals we have been is unsustainable is, in my opinion, ignoring how we're scoring those goals, we've scored a lot from outside the box but they haven't been speculative. Tielemans had a couple of genuinely pingers yesterday and those efforts have little in common with goals like Kamara, Onana and Rogers have scored from the edge of the box recently (and I don't mean the free kick).

A big part of the reason we're not getting more chances in the box is that we're often outnumbered by 5-6 defenders to 1-2 of our players, which creates time and space around the box and we've clearly been working on ways to take advantage of that, which means lots of efforts from just outside the box where the player has the time to really concentrate on a clean strike and picking a spot. If these chances were a couple of yards further forward and we were scoring loads from just inside the box I doubt anyone would be saying we can't keep doing it.

[usav]

I am struggling to understand how we are equal 3rd.
We are not playing that well, we seem to be scraping results and giving the opposition lots of opportunities which fortunately they are not taking or because of Martinez magnificence at times.
I think our summer transfer business will be our major setback, Elliot Guessand and Sancho ffs.

One of the complaints from last year and beyond was that we let in way too many goals.  He has fixed that for sure - the stats back that up, there is no disputing that. 

I think we are playing a little more pragmatically and are able to grind out results knowing that we aren't going to have to score 3+ goals.

[Demitri_C]

Probably not but the idea that scoring the goals we have been is unsustainable is, in my opinion, ignoring how we're scoring those goals, we've scored a lot from outside the box but they haven't been speculative. Tielemans had a couple of genuinely pingers yesterday and those efforts have little in common with goals like Kamara, Onana and Rogers have scored from the edge of the box recently (and I don't mean the free kick).

A big part of the reason we're not getting more chances in the box is that we're often outnumbered by 5-6 defenders to 1-2 of our players, which creates time and space around the box and we've clearly been working on ways to take advantage of that, which means lots of efforts from just outside the box where the player has the time to really concentrate on a clean strike and picking a spot. If these chances were a couple of yards further forward and we were scoring loads from just inside the box I doubt anyone would be saying we can't keep doing it.

I was suprised the pundits used that yesterday to sort of beat/criticise emery for. I mean if its that easy to do why are no other sides capabale of doing it consistently  like we have?

I mean i do think Paul, that we  will have to adapt our game as this way of playing can only take you so far. We desperately  are lacking from pace in this side ans i think fundamentally  thats why we take so long to get the ball forward

[paul_e]

Probably not but the idea that scoring the goals we have been is unsustainable is, in my opinion, ignoring how we're scoring those goals, we've scored a lot from outside the box but they haven't been speculative. Tielemans had a couple of genuinely pingers yesterday and those efforts have little in common with goals like Kamara, Onana and Rogers have scored from the edge of the box recently (and I don't mean the free kick).

A big part of the reason we're not getting more chances in the box is that we're often outnumbered by 5-6 defenders to 1-2 of our players, which creates time and space around the box and we've clearly been working on ways to take advantage of that, which means lots of efforts from just outside the box where the player has the time to really concentrate on a clean strike and picking a spot. If these chances were a couple of yards further forward and we were scoring loads from just inside the box I doubt anyone would be saying we can't keep doing it.

I was suprised the pundits used that yesterday to sort of beat/criticise emery for. I mean if its that easy to do why are no other sides capabale of doing it consistently  like we have?

I mean i do think Paul, that we  will have to adapt our game as this way of playing can only take you so far. We desperately  are lacking from pace in this side ans i think fundamentally  thats why we take so long to get the ball forward

We wwill have to adapt but so will our opponents. We're getting a reputation for these goals now, and that's going to mean teams start trying to occupy those spaces, which creates space elsewhere. We just need to have the players be composed and confident enough to adapt their play to the game and start exploiting the new gaps that open up. I think that's exactly what we're training them to do because we can score the simpler goals when we see a less crowded box as we've done a couple of times.