I think that was the season where Benitez was moaning about 'facts'. If so, we fell behind in mid January with a few draws against some crappy teams.
The race
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I think that was the season where Benitez was moaning about 'facts'. If so, we fell behind in mid January with a few draws against some crappy teams.
I wouldn't even call 2013/14 blowing it. We went on an 11 match winning run from February, to put us in the position from which we supposedly "blew it"
That was indeed 2008/9 I meant to say 2018/19.
I fucking LOVE this
They scored 5 without him on Saturday
That Palace game was an aberration. They played their best team back to back ( cup and league) with 3 days apart. I watched the game and you could clearly see that they were tired, just like Spurs were yesterday (confirmed by Kulusevski after the game).
Brentford and Brighton dont play in Europe. They'll give Arsenal a problem imo.
That's actually a pretty sweet schedule considering the number of games being squeezed in. I imagine Arsenal's and City's are worse.
Looking at the 3 day turnarounds :
We have Leicester where we could rest a player or two, and if we play well we'll bring players off early, before West Ham.
Cup matches Vs Spurs and Acc. Stan. where we could play a reserve team if we wished (and should with Forest Away next up).
Lille at Anfield where we could rest a couple and put them on the bench. Slot may want to win that to secure top spot in the CL, and we should. But it's Ipswich at Anfield 3 days later so we should be fine.
PSV midweek before we're away at Bournemouth. If we beat Lille we can rotate heavily for this and be well rested for a tough test at Bournemouth.
Early February : 2 more cup ties.
If we play Everton on the 12th or 13th February then next up is Wolves at Anfield.
We then have a whole week's rest before City at the Emptihad. And Newcastle 3 days later at Anfield where they will have had at most 1 day more rest - but have to travel to us.
It's just about as good as it could be - for sure a fellow Red drew up this schedule.
It’s nice that the FA cup games are straight after each CC game. Great for minute management and also consistency for those who do feature heavily
As long as we avoid any major injuries, I don’t see why we can’t build on our current lead by February. That would be ideal, especially with Chelsea likely to be better rested once the later stages of the Champions League roll around. I was expecting Arsenal to come back strong, but with Saka injured, that feels less certain now.
What worries me most is Slot going too strong in the FA Cup. If Gravenberch, Konaté, or Jota pick up a serious injury, it could really set us back. Still, if we can steer clear of that, I’m feeling confident. I think it's looking very likely that we are the best team in England this year and we've done that whilst missing arguably our best finisher and our best GK, which is pretty ridiculous. We've received loads of plaudits but I think there's better, and more clinical, performances to come at both ends of the pitch.
The bottom line is Slot needs to not let the FA Cup affecting what matters. Klopp spread us too thin in 23/24, we haven't really added to the squad and the players are a year older. It's a lesson that needs to be learned because for all the brilliance of Slot and Co, there will be questions to answer if we fall away at the end of the year.
What worries me most is Slot going too strong in the FA Cup. If Gravenberch, Konaté, or Jota pick up a serious injury, it could really set us back. Still, if we can steer clear of that, I’m feeling confident. I think it's looking very likely that we are the best team in England this year and we've done that whilst missing arguably our best finisher and our best GK, which is pretty ridiculous. We've received loads of plaudits but I think there's better, and more clinical, performances to come at both ends of the pitch.
The bottom line is Slot needs to not let the FA Cup affecting what matters. Klopp spread us too thin in 23/24, we haven't really added to the squad and the players are a year older. It's a lesson that needs to be learned because for all the brilliance of Slot and Co, there will be questions to answer if we fall away at the end of the year.
Salah is our best finisher. Slot better play the kids in the cup. Surely people within the club can highlight the idiocy of Klopps approach last year (regardless of StevieM’s rubbish take that we weren’t burnt out)
100% - we may not win the league or CL but I would sooner enhance our opportunity to win those by forgoing those cups.
2022 and 2024 showed us this
The fact that Forrest are in the mix for second says it isn't a great year for the rest. A lot can still happen over the next 20 games, but usually City would be the one that you'd see putting into a massive run of games and that won't happen this year.
It's turning into more of a canter than a race.
It's turning into more of a canter than a race.
this is what happens when you run a player into the ground.
Very early days for this kind of chat. Arsenal are 6pts behind us and we haven’t had a sticky patch yet which will come at some point surely.
City are out of it yes, which is great but a long long way to go.
Not even Ramos?
Had a quick look at Arsenal's fixtures in the second half of the season. It's a lot more favourable than ours. They for instance play at home against all the top teams in the league except us.
The good thing is that they're still involved in all the cups and that they have "tougher" opponents than we do, so fewer opportunities to rest their best players.
January is going to be a hectic month for them, could be a good opportunity for us to pull away even further.
Arsenal's January fixtures:
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Away vs. Brentford
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Away vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Home vs. Newcastle United (League cup)
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Home vs. Manchester United (FA cup)
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Home vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Home vs. Aston Villa
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Home vs. GNK Dinamo Zagreb (UEFA Europa League)
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Away vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Away vs. Girona (UEFA Europa League)
If they get through this without a hitch, then cudos to them. They'll be a problem.
The good thing is that they're still involved in all the cups and that they have "tougher" opponents than we do, so fewer opportunities to rest their best players.
January is going to be a hectic month for them, could be a good opportunity for us to pull away even further.
Arsenal's January fixtures:
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Away vs. Brentford
Saturday, January 4, 2025
Away vs. Brighton & Hove Albion
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Home vs. Newcastle United (League cup)
Sunday, January 12, 2025
Home vs. Manchester United (FA cup)
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Home vs. Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday, January 18, 2025
Home vs. Aston Villa
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Home vs. GNK Dinamo Zagreb (UEFA Europa League)
Saturday, January 25, 2025
Away vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Away vs. Girona (UEFA Europa League)
If they get through this without a hitch, then cudos to them. They'll be a problem.
They’ve been boring shite all season. Now they’ve lost their most inventive player they will be worse.
Our second string should be able to cope with Lille and PSV. Same for Accrington. Send them out against Spurs and spurs can always spurs.
They’ll drop another four points by next Sunday for a start…
