We didn’t choose Freddie… it was mid-season panic to get rid of Emery without available options, period. The only question at that time was:
DO you wait to summer to vastly expand your options for the next manager or do you compromise on that and go with the few available (as it turns out Arteta was one)?
Put another way - had we gotten rid of Emery that summer when we should have, there is literally ZERO chance we install Freddie for even a second.
Three weeks is a long time in football. Emery was sinking like a stone by the week. Contact with Arteta would have started earlier than his dismissal imo if he was getting this job soonest. I think we went with Freddie and hoped to put off the appointment till the end of the season. It clearly became impossible and we were looking like being drawn into bottom 7 or 8 and then moved.
Anyway this conversation started on how ten points was the difference on missing out on top 4.
The games Freddie had were are an important set of games were points was dropped.
Still angers me that we didn’t get one of these 3 in.
I think if the club was genuine about Ljungberg as assistent they would have given him work to work with than Mertesacker as his assistent coach.
The gap stayed the same for the whole season I think. When Emery got fired it was eight with Chelsea, after the Everton game (his last) it was nine. Obviously thanks to Chelsea being shit too.
But we did end up going with Arteta in the end. And mid-season. It was never possible to just snap our fingers and immediately make that happen, even if that was the plan without looking at other options. I think they flirted with idea of waiting and panicked. As it turns out, it may end up being a brilliant mistake.
He didn’t get to hire a team at all. It was clear he was interim 100%.
Thoughts?
Absurd.
Way beyond us at this stage.
I think we have a realistic chance of being the most improved side in the league since last season which would indicate serious progress.
But even that still means we only finish between 3rd and 5th.
We need consistent progression season to season to challenge again.
Europa League is still our best chance of Champions League qualification.
I don’t think we will win the title, but it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds. A key thing is the lack of break between seasons and the general lack of normality surrounding the sport (and all sports).
I think there are going to be a lot of strange results this season and that means we might be in with more of a sniff than if this season was happening under normal circumstances. Could be a bit like when Leicester won the title.
My thoughts are that if David James was still a professional footballer, he’d be pulled straight in for a drug test.
I think we could be “in the title race” for a bit and maybe have a first half of a season like Leicester just did if we can keep this attitude and keep competitive in games with the teams around us.
I don’t think anyone is going to storm away with 100 points this year so it might be easier for weaker teams to keep up with the better teams for a while.
If James was still in goal for Liverpool he could be right.
If he really thinks that, then I would suggest he gets down the bookies and puts a few grand on it and retire on the winnings.
Yeah, that’s what I have predicted as well. I believe both Liverpool and City will have a slight drop in performance this season and us along with Man Utd being in the mix till our flaws start showing and we drop back into the Top 4 race.
I certainly didn’t predict Spurs would be investing this late in the market btw which for me makes them a threat for Top 4 as well.
We’d need both Liverpool and City to have an off season to have any chance, but I have no doubt we will be a tough side to beat this season as we have already proven in the last few months.
We should comfortably be in the top 4 race all season. Anything less is failure at this point.
Liverpool and Citeh will both be high 80’s to low 90’s points I’d imagine. We will be lucky if we’re wthin 20 points of the champions.
I think 70 points would be a pass mark for us.
That would be low imo. If you look at what Arteta did as point average per game last season that would put us on 62 - 66 over a full season. 75 - 80 is what is needed to make top four anyway I guess.
I don’t think 70 will be enough to make top 4, but I don’t believe our current midfield options are good enough to make top 4.