It's annoying hearing about from a few people in various conversations that Leicester, West Ham and Tottenham didn't deserve their place in the Champions League compared to so-called giants. Look at Wolfsburg 8th in the Bundesliga and beating Real Madrid 2-0 in the quarter-finals they deserve their place.

 

If they get their on merit, they deserve their chances. How they perform is totally different however.

 

The big teams have all been well below-par this season. Can see most of them struggling next season as well.

I, for one, am happy to see someone other than the 'giants' of the BPL having the seasons they're having (i.e. Leicester, Tottenham, Bournemouth). Makes for much more interesting football to see some of the 'underdog' clubs doing well for a change.... :) :)

I, for one, am happy to see someone other than the 'giants' of the BPL having the seasons they're having (i.e. Leicester, Tottenham, Bournemouth). Makes for much more interesting football to see some of the 'underdog' clubs doing well for a change.... :) :)

This is how I feel as well (apart from the flop of Manchester United). There's not much evidence at the moment to suggest that things will go back to normal next season either.

There's no reason whatsoever why Leicester can't win the title next season either. For sure they'll strengthen due to the attraction of European football.

There's no reason whatsoever why Leicester can't win the title next season either. For sure they'll strengthen due to the attraction of European football.

 

 

Wouldn't right them off, and they will strengthen, but I don't think Mahrez will be there. And a lot of teams will play different tactics against them. I think they've benefited massively from the lack of games the squad has played.

 

But it will be wide open again for me next year. City/Chelsea/United could go either way. Expect Liverpool/Arsenal to be largely the same. Big summer ahead.

Fully well deserved place in the Champions League for Leicester City.

 

I would fancy West Ham to beat Man Utd in the replay.

 

Nah I think LVG will win the cup - he's always said he wants a English trophy for his collection!

Nah I think LVG will win the cup - he's always said he wants a English trophy for his collection!

He probably wanted to finish in the top four this season as well.

He probably wanted to finish in the top four this season as well.

 

United just can't seem to find any consistency. They imploded against Spurs today, up until then they were actually doing decent. But they just lost the game over 5 minutes. There's just a real lack of quality throughout the team and you have no idea what they're trying to achieve. It's very square pegs in round roles, and until they sort that out, I can't see them challenging for the title again.

 

The game midweek is absolutely massive. West Ham should rightly be favourites.

I almost don't care 4th place, really what is the point? we'll just end up being the team to take the number of participants from 31 to 32 and then get knocked out in the group stage or the last 16. The obsession with being in the top 4 alone just shows how far our standards have fallen, Fergie would NEVER have aimed for just finishing 4th.

 

And I don't get some of our fans who would prefer finishing 4th over winning the FA Cup, if we were to actually win the Champions League after finishing 4th the previous season in the Premier League then maybe I would jump on board that bandwagon as well but what is the point if we're gonna have nothing to show for it at the end of the season. When the players have retired and are talking to their grandchildren or great grandchildren about their careers where will the medals for finishing 4th be?

 

Winning trophies should be the be all and end all for footballers not finishing 4th or 3rd if you're lucky and then getting knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage. The match against Tottenham symbolised how bad are season has been, 0-0 at half-time with barely any attacking threat in the first half, being carried by an 18 year old defender and then as soon as he went off injured we conceded 3 goals in the space of a few minutes.

 

If we lose to West Ham in the replay then we may as well put our reserves out in the final six matches.

With some teams you can see that they have the quality, they just aren't implementing the right tactics, or the manager isn't up to the job. Liverpool earlier this season, for instance. Whereas United don't have the quality. A lot of their first-team players really are subpar, even prior to the injury spate their typical starting XI was very weak contrasted with City, Arsenal or Chelsea.

 

I really don't think the likes of Smalling, Schweinsteiger, Young, Fellaini, Darmian should be there next year. Blind is very shaky most days. Depay has serious potential but LVG doesn't seem interested. Januzaj should be given a real chance, but again LVG could not give any fewer sh*ts. A complete clear-out is needed.

With some teams you can see that they have the quality, they just aren't implementing the right tactics, or the manager isn't up to the job. Liverpool earlier this season, for instance. Whereas United don't have the quality. A lot of their first-team players really are subpar, even prior to the injury spate their typical starting XI was very weak contrasted with City, Arsenal or Chelsea.

 

I really don't think the likes of Smalling, Schweinsteiger, Young, Fellaini, Darmian should be there next year. Blind is very shaky most days. Depay has serious potential but LVG doesn't seem interested. Januzaj should be given a real chance, but again LVG could not give any fewer sh*ts. A complete clear-out is needed.

 

It's been a problem for about 5/6 years for Man Utd. They have lots of average players on high wages, being a Liverpool fan I'm used to this. Rojo/Darmian/Fellaini/Young/Lingaard should be nowhere near the first team I like Smalling a lot, but he's not a top class centre back. Just littered with average players. I look at their first XI and there's only really De Gea/Martial who are in that ilk. Mata maybe, but he needs two solid central midfielders. Depay.. who knows. I don't think he's really settled and playing in a team struggling for form is not easy.

 

Man Utd fans expect success, and you can't blame them, they're used to it. But a lot of the players imo don't have the right mentality, or just cannot hack the pressure that comes. It's funny, however much Man Utd fans don't want to admit it, they really are turning in to Liverpool in the 90s.

 

Smalling has been good this season but that's partly because he's one of the few players who Van Gaal's tactics have suited. He was excellent earlier on when United had some concept of a gameplan (albeit an exceedingly dull one) and he's clearly had a big confidence boost from being one of the first names on the teamsheet.

Smalling, Martial & De Gea have been our best players of the season. Juan Mata was right up there in the early part of the season (during September in particular) but he's been a bit inconsistent since then. Memphis Depay has been a disappointment barring a few European performances and the performance against Watford away and Arsenal at home in the league.

He probably wanted to finish in the top four this season as well.

 

Of course but fortunately they aren't consistent enough - they reverted to their 1980s type good cup team terribly inconsistent!

Referee Kevin Friend had to be pulled out of refereeing Monday's game between Stoke and Tottenham due to his Leicester allegiance.

 

 

Norwich doing their best to keep Aston Villa in the Premier League :lol:, the 2nd week in a row they've helped them.

Villa to win all there remaining games and relegate Norwich, Newcastle and Sunderland? Stranger things have happened?

I don't think anything that strange could possibly happen :P

A very feeble Aston Villa go down after a 28-year stay in the top flight. It'll be very hard for them to bounce back up.

 

 

On the cards for years... Bye Bye Villa!