You all know the situation. Chelsea v Wolves Palace v Tottenham Tottenham 1 point behind Wolves heading into the final round of matches. I personally think it would be beneficial for the Spurs if Chelsea lost against Liverpool, leaving them in dire need of a win to end the season v the Wolves. Not going to go crazy with the writing as i dont think this forum is active enough to warrant my time being spent as such, so, ill leave it to you guys. on a side note, Sakho seems to be out Sunday after the hamstring injury he picked up today v Wolves. Hopefully Kante is back and ready to go v the Wolves. Gotta make it as difficult as possible for the Wolves to take points in their final match. What do you think happens? Do Spurs grab 6th and a spot in Europe?
If things don't go right Sunday, we are counting on Scum West to beat Scum North in the FA Cup to be sure we get into the EL. Too much reliance on Scum West. I think we can beat Palace, FWIW.
I definitely think Spurs can beat Palace, but, fate isnt in the Spurs hands. It is all dependant on what the Wolves do against Chelsea. If they win. It doesnt matter what Spurs do, they will remain 1pt above for 6th spot. If Wolves tie, Spurs need to win. If Wolves loose.. Spurs need a tie and would advance via tie breakers (GD im assuming?)
As I said in the Newcastle thread, Spurs will be Spursy, lose 6th, and then get kicked out by London Red.
The difference between 6th and 7th is that if you finish 6th you go straight to the group stage, 7th has to play qualifying fixtures. Personally, I hope we miss out on Europa, it will remove one of the many built-in excuses Mourinho will have for next season if it goes pear shaped.
A whole sequence of things have to go wrong for us to miss out on Europe. Chelsea have to decide to lose 2 games, and in so doing miss out on a trophy and risk missing CL. I'm not a big believer in the benefit of no European football, unless you're a bona fide title contender in which case it maybe could give you an advantage, like Chelsea a few years back. But if the worst happens, 7th and an Arsenal fa cup, it won't hurt anything like 2012 or lasagnagate or whatever. It shows the diminished stature of both north London clubs to be scrapping over a Europa place. I did read a tweet the other week, when CL became impossible for us, that we had the longest steak in that competition of any English club except City.
I always like finishing above them, though it's something I'd sacrifice in a heartbeat for a trophy. So if they win the Cup it's hardly as though we will have had a 'better' season. Whatever though. There will, as ever, be a final table, and you can only be above them or below them. This year - for the fourth time in a row - it's the former. Take your joy where you find it.
Apparently we would still get into EL if ManU or Wolves win it this year. I don't even know how many teams are left in the EL at this point...
Here is the explanation: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/footbal...s-can-qualify-europe-champions-league-europa/
Circumstances always dictate, at least a couple times a year (and as unsettling as it is), that I pull for Chelsea on a given matchday. That I will now find myself pulling for them twice in the same week is more than a little disconcerting.
Exactly. The result in some ways is what Spurs fans would have wanted, to ensure that they are in a 'must win' situation, meaning an effort will be given on their part. Spurs still have their own work to do.
Another reason why I would be happy to see us finish out of Europe is that the PL has announced that next season will start September 12th and end May 23rd, which means that the league program and the two domestic cups will be crammed into 9 months instead of the usual 10, and that doesn't include all the international fixtures. The PL and FA are also discussing having all FA Cup ties take place mid-week. Additionally, if we finish 7th and Arsenal win the FA Cup, we would start in the qualifying round, which means a shorter summer break for the players. If we were going to miss out on Europe, this would be the season to do it, we have already seen what an extended rest has done for Harry Kane's form. If he gets run out 3 times a week, it is just a matter of time before he breaks down again. I would rather us miss out on what would be a closed-door European competition, to return to the CL in 2021-22 when hopefully COVID will be a thing of the past.
Regardless of whether we make it into Europe I think something long term needs to be done about the cups, league fixtures and international fixtures. Trying to cram all that into 10 months without any kind of break is difficult to begin with, now cut a month from that. Either cut something or bump up the squad size. Personally I would lean towards cutting the League cup (do we really need two domestic cups for PL teams?) and suspending international team fixtures for the time being. CL/EL at this point is a moot point. A 2nd wave of COVID this fall anywhere in Europe will wreck both competitions.
Killing the League Cup would be fine with me. I like replays in the FA Cup, though. To be honest, I like all of 'em; even if Europa group stages and League Cups games just mean getting some first team experience for the kids (or whomever needs the minutes). It's not like you have to play Harry Kane every time we suit up.
In regards to the League cup I had some time to think about it. If it was up to me I would exclude all PL teams from it permanently and make a lower tier only cup. To compensate the lower teams for doing that I would make the prize of winning it be automatic promotion to the next tier. So if a L1 team wins it then positions 21 to 24 would be relegation positions in the Championship. If a Championship team wins it then the 17th position in the PL is a relegation position. Adds a bit of excitement and what-if factor to each season.
That's interesting. Though I suspect that a moving yardstick for relegation would make it a non-starter. Then again, lots of folks thought a fluid yardstick for promotion (read: the playoffs) would be unacceptable - and in terms of pure fairness, it is - but they went ahead and did it anyway. So who knows? Interesting concept ... What am I saying?! That plan would mean lost (however relatively miniscule) revenues for PL clubs and greater monetary opportunities in the lower divisions. It'll never happen.
Looks like a pretty solid lineup. Dier in for Sanchez, otherwise same as last game. Quite a few injuries for CP. COYS! And Come On, Chelsea!
Looks like a good solid line up. On a side note.. Traore on the bench for the Wolves in a must win match. Interesting.