How close are we to challenging City & Liverpool ?

[vegassd]

this season we took all 6pts from city and 2pts from the scousers. If we can do this regularly (also lost twice to a poor united and twice to the chavs for example) then we can close the gap and/or at least be part of the conversation.

we finished 22pts behind city but with 11 defeats. cut that to 6 with wins in games we could easily have won.....

It's an interesting one isn't it... because even with those 5 extra wins we are still 7 points behind them having beaten them twice. I don't think we can bank on beating City twice every season.

Like you say, consistency is the key and beating those lower teams is the "easiest" way to climb the table. There will always be the odd Ronaldo masterclass or Burnley away type results, but if we can score more and concede fewer (easy, ha!) we will hopefully turn those Brighton/Southampton/Wolves games into wins more often.

The other thing is mentality. We need to be able to grind the results when we have to, and I also think we need that bit of fortitude to accept that maybe it doesn't all click next season, but we are going to be the team to pick up the pieces should either of the top 2 have a wobble.

 

[mil1lion]

City will get stronger with Haaland and pool with the midfielder they’re buying

How much better can they really get? They'll struggle to get many more points in the league. I think getting around 95 points would really challenge either of them. What we might see from them is more of a push to try and win all 4 trophies as Liverpool just fell short and City are desperate for CL. In the league I think at most 100 points.

 

[Serpico]

For me, Erling Haaland will elevate City to a supersonic level it’s frighting . He is Son and Kane combined. We can compete with both Liverpool and Chelsea . Next season Utd will be back in the mix.

 

[Serpico]

Apparently we spent more days top of the PL than Liverpool.

 

[DogsOfWar]

At the moment not even close.
But, if we could pick up the likes of Kostic, Bastoni, SMS, Eriksen, Sterling then the answer is not very far away.
We have the infrastructure, the manager, and now the money but do we have have the pulling power?
I hope if we can land one or two of that level of quality early on then it has a domino effect on further targets to take us seriously.

 

[spurs mental]

Next season Utd will be back in the mix.

No chance. They're an absolute mess.

 

[Boots]

Realistically, we are a full season if and only if we have the calibur of players coming in that can supply the consitenency and appetite their squad displays. These two teams have a defined style of play, and an adherence to it. They have a team that compensates for each others weakness. Once we have the talent and a full season for them to learn to play and anticipate each other consistently well challenge them. That I believe will take a minimum of one full season.

 

[spurs mental]

The other thing is mentality. We need to be able to grind the results when we have to, and I also think we need that bit of fortitude to accept that maybe it doesn't all click next season, but we are going to be the team to pick up the pieces should either of the top 2 have a wobble.

This makes sense and I think you're right about grinding out results.

But what I hope we have learned and Conte has alluded to it, we're understanding how to control games better, and sometimes we know its better to make sure you don't lose if you can't win the game.

I expect there will be games like Brentford this season, where we are struggling to get our mojo, but make sure you get at minimum a point in those games, 5 games like that a season, 5 points could be the difference.

 

[austinfh]

No chance. They're an absolute mess.

yeah, I think their squad needs a serious overhaul, but apparently they don't have a huge budget this summer

 

[newbie]

It’s difficult to look beyond City next season after they signed Halland but you never know. Everything depends on our summer recruitment but due to Conte’s ability to get the most out of his players, we might be able to spend a bit more to bring in our top targets without having to worry about replacing some of the fringe players.

If teams sit deap and counter Haaland could find it tricky isn't the false 9 style of CF the lad has pace and power and is a bargain for 57 million don't get me wrong but City style could mean he struggle to begin with.

ofc i think he will score shit loads and they will win the title but you never know

 

[bigpalacios]

For me, Erling Haaland will elevate City to a supersonic level it’s frighting . He is Son and Kane combined. We can compete with both Liverpool and Chelsea . Next season Utd will be back in the mix.

Questionable if Utd will be back in the mix as they have a manager unproven the prem and the squad requires a lot of surgery.

 

[wadewill]

Questionable if Utd will be back in the mix as they have a manager unproven the prem and the squad requires a lot of surgery.

Agree with this, unless he brings in a lot of players that know his system very well they are going to struggle next season

I know he did amazing with Ajax but coming in to a club like United, in the PL, in the state they are in. I do think someone with his personality could struggle.

 

[dontcallme]

I think they are levels above everyone else in the league. Their recent signings continue to be good. They have systems in place, are buying players that fit that and they have the money and pulling power to mostly get who they want.

If we focus fully on the league we might be able to challenge if we make 3/4 good signings that make as quick an impact as Kulu and Bentancur have.

But we still have a way to go to make the right signings and for them to settle in.

 

[Spursh]

They both have second XIs capable of beating teams outside of the top 6. Of course it’s rare they would change their entire team - but they both rely on rotation in order to compete on all fronts.

And when they do rotate, the team performance hardly drops. I believe this is in part to the strength of their established tactically systems, but it’s also because their squad players are of a very high standard.

I don’t think we’ll be able to achieve this squad situation this summer, but it would be good to have some key positions we can aptly rotate.

 

[spurs mental]

I don’t think we’ll be able to achieve this squad situation this summer, but it would be good to have some key positions we can aptly rotate

Yeah we won't have the depth they both have, but as you say, the systems both work well and its ingrained on the players.

We've seen that start under Conte towards the latter end of the season. Look at how well Royal performed when Doc was out (Brighton and Brentford aside), I think it's safe to say we'll be able to rotate better when CL and cups start, and along with the 5 sub rule, a good squad with every player understanding their role when they play is more important than just the quality of the player.

 

[Finchyid]

It's an interesting one isn't it... because even with those 5 extra wins we are still 7 points behind them having beaten them twice. I don't think we can bank on beating City twice every season.

Like you say, consistency is the key and beating those lower teams is the "easiest" way to climb the table. There will always be the odd Ronaldo masterclass or Burnley away type results, but if we can score more and concede fewer (easy, ha!) we will hopefully turn those Brighton/Southampton/Wolves games into wins more often.

The other thing is mentality. We need to be able to grind the results when we have to, and I also think we need that bit of fortitude to accept that maybe it doesn't all click next season, but we are going to be the team to pick up the pieces should either of the top 2 have a wobble.

I agree but I think everyone is behind City including Liverpool even with them pushing them close. City lost 2 us twice and Palace
If you take contes time and ignore Nuno, we had 5-6 games which were silly defeats or poor draws. if we can get 5-6 players that have the quality to unlock 10 men behind the ball teams (which city do) the gap closes

 

[jt hotspur]

On squad strength we are away off city Liverpool and Chelsea. With champions League now we definately need another 4 or 5 players that should be measured not only on wether they have the quality to demand a place in our starting 11 but they should be players that would also demand a place with Liverpool and city.
My opinion, that where I think we are at.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

When we played them and matched starters vs starters it didn’t look that far but the season is an absolute marathon and we’ve definitely got to find some solutions to unlock certain teams. We definitely don’t have the depth although I think we’ll address a lot of that this summer.

I definitely see us stepping up a level or two and could see us challenging our highest points total but that might still be 10 points short given how dominant these two have been. They also have created a fear factor with smaller clubs that just roll over for them in a similar way to Norwich did against us. We’ve shown we can cough up points if teams are just stubborn so I don’t expect some of the easier rides that the top two will get.

 

[vegassd]

I agree but I think everyone is behind City including Liverpool even with them pushing them close. City lost 2 us twice and Palace
If you take contes time and ignore Nuno, we had 5-6 games which were silly defeats or poor draws. if we can get 5-6 players that have the quality to unlock 10 men behind the ball teams (which city do) the gap closes

Yep, being able to beat those bus parking teams will see us take a huge stride forwards. But my point is that we don't exist in a bubble here. We could convert 6 of our losses into wins and that closes the gap - but only if we manage to take 8 points off City and Liverpool again next season.

It's all ifs and buts really, however I don't think it's out of this world to think those two can take more points off us next season which makes the gap a little larger again. All we can really do is improve our own performances, score more, concede fewer, and then the league positions will take care of themselves.

Mad to think that City only lost 3 games and 2 of them were to us! HA!

 

[Serpico]

No chance. They're an absolute mess.

I don't feel they are that far off. We turn it round in a season so can they. They have some decent players and trouble. Its all how good ETH is for me.