Of the teams in the bottom, I really want both Leicester and Burnley to stay up. I agree the foxes don’t have a chance, but (having never watched the Championship I can ignorantly say) that they will be back up again soon. Lots of good things happening on that team and a season in the Premiership should give them enough money to keep those good things happening.
Likewise, Burnley are a fun team. They are punching above their weight but I feel like if they can hold on this year, even though they are going to lose Ings this summer, they should be able to sick for a while.
As for AVFC. Let em drop. Serves em right for hiring on Tim Sherwood. I’m happy to see QPR go back down as well. In my world of perfect mental justice it would be QPR, Hull, and Villa going down, but the world isn’t perfectly just.
Chin up! Spurs could always tank the last few games badly enough to be surpassed by Swansea and avoid all that nasty and embarrassing old Europa League footy again.
So, what do you think has happened to the team? My theory is fitness has gone. They are just worn out from playing so high tempo all season and being rotated so little. Combine that with the fact that Mason doesn’t know how to play his position and you have serious problems.
The blogs (and podcasts) I follow are split on this being Pochettino being to stubborn to make changes to his system (I sort of agree) and him just not having the right players no matter what system he plays (also sort of agree). But it’s a pretty stunning collapse after they seemed so dominant a month ago. That last game was like watching mls, which is not good.
Ugh, the derby, the derby… Well, City will be the most dominant Europa League team in history, I have no doubt.
(I’ll also say that the Chicago MCCFC Supporters’ Club were a fun lot, and I plan on coming up now and then for other bit matches. Helps a bit after a loss like that to have a nice rousing chorus of “MCFC OK!” and “Who the fck are Mn Un*ted!”)
Seems odd that fatigue would be a big issue NOW, given that when they were playing better they were simultaneously engaged with Europa League and League Cup; I know that for some time Spurs led the league in games played. It may be that they have lost enthusiasm after falling out of the Champions League race (which would reflect poorly on coaching). I think a big part of it is that they were simply over their heads for much of the season, earning many more points than would be expected based on goal differential and having several poor performances bailed out by last-minute magic by Kane or Erickson. What we are seeing now may just be expected regression to the mean.
Interesting article on a (desperately needed) Optimistic Perspective on Spurs Season, arguing that a clear line can be drawn after the Stoke loss on November 9, when we had 14 points in 10 games and stood 12th in the table. At that point, Poch blew up the lineup (Kaboul, Capouie and Adebayor out, Bentaleb, Vertongen, Dier and Kane in) and since then:
Here’s the Premier League table for that 20 game stretch (in other words, this is what the table would look like if we only counted games played since November 23).
Arsenal 46
Chelsea 41
Man U 41
Spurs 40
Man City 40
Liverpool 40
C Palace 30
Granted this table doesn’t include last weekend’s atrocity, and as I said above some of those wins were quite lucky, but still it leaves me thinking that things could well be looking up for next season.
Obviously you’re all failing to take into account the impact of a resurgent, Klopp-led City Kloppity Klopp Klopping to the Premier League title, maybe an FA Cup and… oh, Europa league glory. Heh.
Indeed, I take no solace from knowing that there have been significant stretches in past seasons where Arsenal were the best side in the Premier League. Truth is, it’s extraordinarily difficult to maintain top form over so many matches, but that is nonetheless what you have to do to win it all.
Right, but the fact that there were significant lineup changes coinciding with the improvement suggests that there is more going on than just deciding not to count the weeks when they played crappy.
Ugh, tough loss to City today to completely ruin our top 4 chances. Cue the Thomas Dolby – “EU…ROP…A!” Watching the game I felt we completely dominated but looking at the stats it looks more even. Still, a lot of energy and determination from Spurs and if we keep that level of intensity up should get 9 points out of our last 3.
So Spurs aren’t playing in America this summer because they need to rest and practice for next season…disappointing but makes sense. Oh wait, now we’re playing the MLS All-Star game. Well, it’s just one game. Oh, and then but also, three days after the EPL season ends, we are playing in Malaysia. What?
With three games left, the relegation fight is high drama. I have a friend who is inexplicably a Newcastle fan and we are fascinated by the pending train wreck. The clubs behind them all gained ground this past weekend with strong efforts while the Maggies looked like a team that didn’t want to be there.
The PL will start the 2015-16 Champions League tournament about three points ahead of a resurgent Serie A in the league coefficients (and behind Bundesliga). Should the four contenders have another disappointing tournament while the Italians continue their strong play, PL could fall a place in the league rankings and lose a berth effective with the 2016-17 regular season. That will make for a tense season indeed.
^
There is no English side who looks anywhere near Champions League Material. Unlike the last decade, where you could have bet on anyone of the top four to go all the way.
I simply can’t explain why the CL teams didn’t go a little further in the current tourney. The semifinals were probably too much to ask for, what with the talent concentration at Bayern and at the Big Two in Spain but the early round flameouts were disappointing nonetheless. And then there were the even worse performances in Europa League, which also count in the coefficients and where the Italian clubs made up lots of points (Napoli and Fiorentina made it to the semis, for example).
