The Mail Bag
So that's 40 points then...
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With the way the points are being shared out below, we'll probably need a few more points to ensure safety but with a fairly easy run in it looks like Premier League status is assured for another year... *Rejoice*
When I look at the table, I still see Villa as being the team to overtake into 5th spot. Between now and when we play Villa in the league on 11 April, they play Chelsea, Man City, Tottenham, Liverpool & Man U as well as a few Uefa Cup games. Are those games enough to make up the 11-point deficit? Or at least to make that game a 6-pointer? After playing us, Villa have a string of very winnable games so that game could be key.
That said, with our run-in, I honestly believe we'll either match or catch everyone above us, someone's bound to drop points and Arsenal are looking ripe for the pickin.
When Everton have climbed the table under Moyes, they've beaten the teams they should beat, which seemed to relate to not performing against the Sky 4 (until lately) but now it appears it was just one of DM's traits. Consistency is his key, once the players have showed him a performance, he's demanded the level be maintained... which has meant we've ground out results while not playing so well.
We're an injury-kind & uninterrupted-by-late-transfer-dealings season away from having a fantastic season in my opinion, a few of the boys are 26, 27 this year and Cahill's approaching 30, with the healthy spattering of kids, maybe the time's right for a tilt at the title...
The ever optimistic...
Simon Walker, Posted 07/02/2009 at 20:11:05
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As for easy games closer to the end, if those teams are fighting relegation, they wont be walkovers... Tell you what Chelski and the RS both look shite ATM.
I think we could be heading for another long and demanding 3 games with them to see who comes out on top. Hopefully we?l dump them out like we did Liverpool and knock their confidence whilst boosting our own.
Arsenal will be interesting. Let?s see how their game goes tomorrow, and more importantly, how Arshavin looks.
Hopefully United will win the league cup and sixth will get us in the Uefa Cup ? or even better, we?ll win the FA!
I honestly believe, eleven against eleven, we?re better than Villa. I guess we?ll find out next Saturday. I?m confident.
If we?d had a little more luck and held out (i.e. not had the goal chalked off against Chelski, held out for the win over the Arse and got at least a draw against Villa when they scored from all three shots they had all game) then we?d be looking at a table (Pld GD Pts) like:
1. Liverpool 25 25 54
2. Man Utd 23 30 53
3. Aston Villa 25 16 49
4. Chelsea 25 29 48
5. Everton 25 6 45
6. Arsenal 24 13 42
With 4/5 points I?d be very confident we could catch and overhaul Villa and Chelsea too with the respective run-ins.
Then again ?if? my auntie had bollocks she?d be my uncle ? she doesn?t, we didn?t, and in the run-in for 4th we?re 9 points off Chelsea and 11 points off Villa with a vastly inferior goal difference and with Arsenal also in the way. Even assuming we can take all the points from the head-to-heads (and I definitely fancy us for revenge against Villa), we?d still be looking at 8-point and 6-point gaps from the remaining 12 games.
Sure we do have the easier run-in and we really do have the quality to win the majority of these games, but we?d still need a major collapse from Villa in their next month to overhaul them ? though a run of Spurs / Liverpool / Man U / Us from mid March could offer a glimmer.
Oddly enough, it?s actually Chelsea who I reckon represent our best chance ? even with the stars, they?re just not performing at the moment and there seems to be growing discord in the camp. With Champions League/FA Cup to distract them further and a match against Villa next week, it could be enough to give us a shot.
First up though we get a chance to deflate their confidence, keep our cup run going and secure a little revenge against the Villains ? COYB!
Villa will finish top 4 definitely and that has to be a great think for those of us who despise the SKY 4 set up.
Chelsea are pretty poor too and could be overtaken if Everton finish the season strongly. Unfortunately they always seem to fade at the death.
Next season will be interesting. Arse and Chelski falling away and possibly replaced in the SKY4 by teams like Everton, Spurs and Man City ?
It’s a major pity, because all the Sky 4 have stuttered this season, evan ManU don’t look convincing. Had we (Moyes in particular) not ballsed up early season, if we had just half the luck that Villa have had, then we could even conceivably have been in with a shout of winning the fucking thing.
We’ve also got 2 or 3 clubs closing on us for 6th, so all in all it could prove to be a very interesting 3 mths.
Think you get my gist though..
The teams ahead 1 to 1 i’d fancy us to take any of them [ apart from Manure ] Chelski drawing at home to Hull looked awful, Drogba looks like Anichibee ! . But it’s not in our hands we need 2 of those teams to have real mares , and to maintain our own form. WIN it not without MONEY
Whilst I wouldn’t rule out toppling Villa, I do get a feeling that Chelsea may be a more realistic target - and I can’t imagine having said that six months ago. That has to be our challenge - we’ll see in the coming months if we are up to it. I do feel pretty confident of overtaking Arsenal however - as long as we don’t get any more injuries.
Playing the Sky 4 so much lately seems to have lifted us. We now know the standards needed to compete and if that level becomes the norm then beating all the other teams may become as routine as it seems to be for the Sky 4.
All pure speculation (and perhaps wishful thinking) I know, but if you can’t be optimistic now, then we never will be. And by god, do we deserve a dose of optimism (and luck for that matter).
What Moyes has done is nothing short of remarkable, and we need to congratulate him for that.
When he came in, the target was to reach 40 points to avoid relegation. We now regularly do that with 10 games to spare, and not only that, but with the budget of Bolton, challenge for a European place.
Name another team that 5 years ago were praying to stay in the league on an annual basis, to one where fans and players alike are disappointed with draws against Chelsea and Arsenal whilst challenging them for European positions.
I hope Moyes will be given some money in the summer (though it is unlikely to be significant). I can see next season being very tight, and fully expect to see Spurs and Man City in the mix as well.
Dropped points are a fact of life for every team. We should aim to take a reasonable tally over the remaining games and try and get into 5th, or make a more convincing challenge for the FA Cup.
BTW - I think we should be looking at O’Neill and Villa as well, who have been magnificant this season, and could well be challenging for the title in the next couple of seasons.
I think if Moyes can add a couple of speed-merchants to the team, then we could be well up there.
The North London Derby?s finished goal-less so we?re only 4 points behind the Arse now. Getting ahead of myself... maybe. Dreaming of Champions League... definitely.
The start of this season done us, loosing to Blackburn and Pompey and drawing with Newcastle was a complete waste of 8 points, which I suspect will be more than the difference between us and 4th at the end of season.
WE can't afford to mess around next preseason, Moyes must get his men early and take a squad of 20 Premier Leaguep players to wherever he tours.
And I?m absolutely convinced that we?re going to take out Villa in the cup. Let?s just hope that Moyes is given the money to buy players like Jo in the summer so we can compete even more strongly next year.
Jags
Baines
Arteta
Jo
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1 Posted 08/02/2009 at 01:54:18
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However, I feel we can have a right go at what is left and challenge for fifth or fourth. If Jo can score a few more and we can remain free of the awful injuries we had early on in the season we surely should give Arsenal a run with their "youth team" that is now in the mid twenties and average...