May 14, 20214 yr I don't think the players are on the beach, I just think Ole got his rotation wrong. Think he could have put together a weaker line-up at Villa and a stronger line up against Leicester and probably come away with more points than 3/9. That said, I just think we were better last night. Not sure it highlights all of Man Utd's weaknesses, I do think that is an overreaction somewhat but it probably does prove that Utd struggle to win the big games on a regular basis with their current set up. Suspect it may have been a different game had Maguire and Greenwood been able to start. I did find it amusing how Neville was trotting out Man Utd without Maguire was tough.. try missing you entire CB roster for the majority of the season! The rules were changed, countries can have a maximum of 5 teams in the Champions League. If the winners don't qualify through their domestic league, they qualify as winners of the Champions League (this was made more official after Everton were bumped out of the CL in 2005 as Liverpool won). So if Liverpool finished 4th and Chelsea won the CL, both would qualify. If both Arsenal and Chelsea finished outside of the Top 4 but both won their respective European competitions, Liverpool (or Leicester/West Ham etc.) would not qualify for the CL and would qualify for Europa. Complicated, but I'm an expert on it after the early Klopp years. Very complicated indeed! I find the permutations around it all quite fascinating. Although on your Everton 2005 point - I'm pretty sure Everton did qualify but lost in the pre-qualifying rounds? It was just unprecedented at the time that a CL winner wouldn't qualify through league position so they gave Liverpool a 'wildcard' entry in order for them to be able to defend their title.
May 14, 20214 yr Author Very complicated indeed! I find the permutations around it all quite fascinating. Although on your Everton 2005 point - I'm pretty sure Everton did qualify but lost in the pre-qualifying rounds? It was just unprecedented at the time that a CL winner wouldn't qualify through league position so they gave Liverpool a 'wildcard' entry in order for them to be able to defend their title. I think you are right actually - now the 4th teams don't qualify, I forgot they were ever a thing! Pretty sure they reckon they got done over by Collina when he was reffing the game. I remember there was a whole load of controversy at the time, but suspect it was because Liverpool ended up in the 1st qualifying round rather than the 3rd, you're right as a wildcard entry. But since then, I think the rules have been fleshed out a little. I remember it happened with Real Madrid somewhere in the late 90s/early 00s too iirc.
May 15, 20214 yr One Scott Carson in goal for Man City. Didn't he used to play for West Brom and moved to the Turkish League?
May 15, 20214 yr More good news for Leeds with a 4-0 win over Burnley! Great to see them picking up some consistency towards the tail end of the season.
May 16, 20214 yr Author Football bloody hell eh! I wish there were fans there for that - unbelieveable!
May 16, 20214 yr I wish there were fans there for that - unbelieveable! I know unreal still can’t believe it! Had a hard few months too! Still need a draw on Tuesdays game though imo!
May 16, 20214 yr Author I know unreal still can’t believe it! Had a hard few months too! Still need a draw on Tuesdays game though imo! We're down to the bare bones of our team now and thought our CBs looked really shaky today but that was massive today.. just got to hope we have enough in the tank for the final two games! Not sure there is a bad result in the Chelsea-Leicester game, although a Leicester win would be preferable over a Chelsea one. Fans are back this week too so there could be some curveball results that go against form as well.
May 16, 20214 yr Yeh if Chelsea win they will be on 67 and Leicester 66 so will be three points ahead still!
May 16, 20214 yr Everton's European hopes have taken a bit of a dent. Didn't see that coming. So 5/6th go into the Europa league groups and 7th into the Europa preliminary playoff!
May 16, 20214 yr Author Yeh if Chelsea win they will be on 67 and Leicester 66 so will be three points ahead still! Although we play twice and Leicester arguably have the toughest fixture of the three teams. Spurs will need to get a result and Kane is after the golden boot - at least there is likely to be something interesting going on on the final day of the season!
May 17, 20214 yr Must admit that Alisson goal brought a smile to my face! Such an incredibly rare moment and loved his interview afterwards. Now I'm thinking you should start playing him up front lol! Makes the top 4 battle way more interesting going into the final week than if you'd have drawn that match (where a Chelsea win would have confirmed all top 4 places).
May 17, 20214 yr Although we play twice and Leicester arguably have the toughest fixture of the three teams. Spurs will need to get a result and Kane is after the golden boot - at least there is likely to be something interesting going on on the final day of the season! Yeh I do think we will be like yday vs Burnley on Wednesday though as we struggle away against the poorer teams this year so will be interesting. Hard to believe the Euros start in 3 weeks!
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