Realistic expectations for 2020-21?

[shoggy33]

Since Jose took over we've been a top 4 side on points, whilst playing pretty terribly with an unbalanced, knackered squad with injuries to our best players. We've now totally rejuvenated the squad, and are looking devastating in attack and much more solid at the back. We should defo be aiming for top 4 and a trophy. Can't see us getting anywhere near the title with our current CBs though. Biggest competition looks like Arsenal to me, aside from Man City and Liverpool obviously. Arteta seems to be an annoyingly good manager and I certainly think they will be in the mix for at least top 4.

 

[Thenewcat]

We've been close many times in the last 5 seasons, and this is looking like our best squad yet. Ye of little faith.

I think the jury is very definitely out on whether this is our best squad yet. We have nothing approaching peak Jan/Toby and while I loved Hojbjerg’s performance on Sunday it’s too early to say we can match the Dembele and Wanyama/Dier axis in midfield. 2016-17 didn’t have the depth up top we have now but it had real steel

 

[arunspurs]

I am certain we will finish in top4, as long as we are of to a good start.To finish in top4 we need 2 points per game which is our avg post-lockdown.

Key for Jose is to start well. Start of season - I dont expect home crowd. So, he has to make it count and get the results and keep a cushion. So style talk goes out of the way when home crowd start filtering in. Moaning will contain as long as results come in.

I also expect Kane to start the season well and in form with full sharpness. If a DMF is done and had a decent preseason, I fully expect 2 points per game through the season.

As for as cups - we will get into atleast 1 or 2 semis - from then its up to Jose's experience and magic

Since this post here, we have signed & upgraded our RB, DM, no9,LB and got in Bale as well.
As I expected, Kane has started very well and things are going well - infact far better than expected in term of style.

My Expectation with the new signings now :

i) Post lockdown last season we finished with 2 points per game in the 9 games. Assuming, we will improve 10% minimum from end of last season, meaning 2.2 points per game. That should translate to 83.6. So, My expectation is we should get anywhere between 80 & 90 points this season. Such a haul should translate to 2nd or 3rd.

ii) With Stoke in cup QF and with Liverpool out and we will face one of Arsenal/City,Everton/United. I would be disappointed if we dont win the league cup

iii) Europa : This is Mourinho targeted cup. Realistically expect us to reach QF. Depending on luck of draw of injuries, later rounds are anyones guess

iv) FA Cup : Expect us to not take this seriously this season

 

[TheTanguy]

iv) FA Cup : Expect us to not take this seriously this season

I think it would be very unlike Mourinho to take the FA Cup not seriously, especially now we have got more than enough quality and depth.

 

[JCRD]

I think we will win the title, I said this at the start of the season but generally im just always saying that - one of them is bound to stick.

I think Carabao cup is up for grabs.

Europa we will win

FA Cup semis

 

[Kingellesar]

I would love the Europa League and a domestic cup. Greedy but bring it on!

Having said that, I think we can get top 4 now this season with the business we have done, we have made sure we can have 2 teams to cover the amount of fixtures we could be dealing with. Bring it on.

 

[Montalbano]

We have the ability to be taking every competition seriously — and we will. Look at our potential completely rotated 2nd XI:

Bergwijn Vinicius Lucas
Dele Winks Sissoko
Davies Tanganga Toby Doherty
Hart
Subs: Gazzaniga, Cirkin, CCV, White, Gedson, Lamela, Clarke
​

There is a genuine reason to be extremely excited about this season.

 

[BPR_U16]

Easy scoring with 20/20 hindsight.
We have now invested seriously (and creatively) in the squad after a long period of just treading water. We've refreshed a stale squad and thereby completely changed the atmosphere and vibe surrounding the club. Gloom has made way for optimism.

Of course I've reconsidered my forecast. Top 4 is the goal and hopefully a trophy as well. At the time of writing that post however (13 sept - well before the arrival of Bale and Reguilón), nothing like that seemed in the offing... So glad things have changed!

Sorry mate but your tone was we NEVER invest in our squad - if you had tempered your post then would not have reacted.

We invested last summer in Gio, Tanguy and Ryan. The start of a transition.

In January we added Bergwjin.

By the time you passed remark we had already addressed 2 main areas with Doherty and PEH with talk of incoming striker and window still having 2 weeks to go.

Pleased you have re-assessed but in future if going to pass judgement before everything is complete then just caveat your replies and dont state things as matter of fact when not factually coreect.

 

[ukdy]

Money where my mouth is.

 

[rossdapep]

We absolutely need to be aiming for the title and Jose will certainly be.

With City well off the pace this is a chance to get over the line. They are in a transitional period and with Aguero likely to be replaced next year they may well target Messi or Haaland or someone of that calibre. They will likely spend a further chunk of money and whilst there are never guarantees I do think they'll be desperate to get back on top.

Liverpool could easily win the league this year but I'm also not 100% convinced. Gomez is struggling a lot. VVD hasn't been his best and they have Adrian for a few weeks which shows they may leak more goals.

United are not currently a threat and I still don't think Lampard knows what he's doing at Chelsea.

Everton I think will do very well and may continue to stay near the top whereas I think Arsenal's squad isn't deep enough and Arteta still needs to work out how to get them to create more without opening the doors at the other end.

Which is why this is a massive opportunity. We have the firepower, we have the depth, we have a coach who knows how to manage and reach these objectives. We have momentum, we have confidence and we can blow any team away when we are at it.

Whilst I think we'll go from strength to strength under Jose, I also believe this is may be our best chance to win it because of the other circumstances. Imagine what a title win would do?! We would start to be able to attract the very best players, gain an advantage over City (unless salary comes into it) that could allow us to stay on top for longer and have a very successful period.

 

[Thanksandy]

I don't think anyone can be ruled out for the title this season, it seems quite open at the moment, but we are only 4 games in.
I think the media are getting a bit overexcited about Everton, even if they have had a good start to the season.

We have a great chance in the League Cup. I would expect us to beat Stoke and once we reach the Semi Finals and on neutral ground, we can beat anyone on our day.

We shouldn't have a problem getting through the Europa League Group stage. The knockouts are difficult to predict, as we don't know who were are facing yet and which of the CL clubs will drop down into the Europa League. We certainly have a good chance, but it depends if we sustain any injuries in the coming months.

At the moment the squad is looking quite strong, but we are one injury away to Reguilon or Hojbjerg, to having the same issues as last season (no speed at left back and no defensive midfielder.

There are still a lot of questions still to be answered i.e.

1. Will Vinicius make the transition to the English football and step up in Kane's place or can play alongside him?
2. How will Bale play, can he get back to his former self and still perform in the Premier League?
3. Is the defence good enough to make us title contenders or competing for trophies? Would Skriniar and/or Rodon make a difference?
4. Can Ndombele and Lo Celso stay fit and keep their good form throughout the season?
5. Will Dele Alli find a place in the team and any kind of form anytime soon?
6. If Lloris is out for any time, are Hart and Gazzaniga good enough to cover him?

I still think we need a top centre back like Skriniar to play LCB and offer more pace alongside Dier or Alderweireld. I have my doubts about Sanchez.
We rely on Ndombele and Lo Celso for creativity, so they need to play regularly. If they are out, it causes issues, so we may need another creative midfielder. The same could be said about Hojbjerg, as we don't have another DM like him.
We have cover for Son and Kane now, but the likes of Moura, Lamela and Bergwijn need to contribute more goals, especially Moura.

If we don't have too many injuries, have some luck and other teams don't perform, I really believe we will win a trophy this season.
I expect a strong challenge for the top 4, but I don't think we have the depth in the squad right now, to mount a title challenge.
I hope we learn from Wolves experience last year, as we will likely play more games than anyone else. I am pleased we are doing the high press and showing great energy, but Wolves started to fade towards the end of the season and we also saw that in the first two seasons under Pochettino, which may also be due to his intensive training sessions
One of the reasons we stopped doing that high press under Pochettino, was due to results towards the end of the season, we just lacked the energy by February/ March.
Mourinho will have to be more selective about which games to play a high tempo and press teams, so we don't burn out, which is my concern. If he does that, bring in 1-2 players in January, then Europa League and League Cup are definite possibilities and a finish in the top 4.

 

[Spartanspurs]

Money where my mouth is.

View attachment 75859

Should have had the faith earlier, some of us got 80/1

 

[floydiohead]

I think we look at our squad after the transfer window and consider that we have the talent and depth to go all the way and win the title. But I think we are perhaps being too slow to remember just how consistent a team needs to be to win it. We've already lost one game out of four, and we are five points behind Everton who are top. Add into the mix the fact that we haven't had a clean sheet in any competition for a bloody long time (that's the technical way of me saying I can't remember the stat).

Do I think we ought to be doing very good things this season with the team we've got and Jose in charge? Absolutely. Do I think we will have the consistency across a 38 game season plus the added strain of the other competitions to win the league? That's where I'm not sure. The other thing that concerns me is that we will have come off the back of a 2 week break going into WHU following our good result against Utd, and all of our expectations, probably because of that result, are sky high. If we don't beat them we will probably all come crashing back down to earth!

 

[Pat Rice Spurs fan]

5th in the league
or 6th in the league and a cup final
or 8th in the league and win the Europa cup

Reviewing this after the transfer window, I think we now have a good chance of top 4. I'd say 3rd or 4th but with City's miserable start, who knows.
Let's be positive and make the top 2, won the FA cup & Europa League

 

[jondy1]

The way we are starting to gel and all the wierd results I don’t think 1st is a pipe dream

 

[markt]

Personally I predict 3rd. No one to run away with the title this year. I think Liverpool city will join us top 4 and annoyingly Arsenal who have improved under Arteta.

I see lampard not lasting long at Chelsea and United's unreasonable optimism was destroyed when goal number 6 went in.

 

[Fergus]

Could someone please clarify for me why this thread is in the Transfer Rumours forum? I am genuinely confused as there are no more transfers to be rumoured about.