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A more open Premier League

lemonjelly

lemonjelly

Housecoat, la
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51362472

Given several of us posit we have a chance of breaking the top 6, and many people feel arsenal, man u, possibly spurs are on the wane, this article was interesting.

Nice to see we get a mention!
Nice to see wet spam don't get a mention!

Although:
Leicester, Wolves, Everton and possibly Newcastle and Aston Villa have got most of the building blocks needed to make the 2020s potentially the most egalitarian decade since the 1960s
Click to expand...
:eek:

Thoughts? I anticipate mass consensus...
 
I don’t think Villa have got most of the building blocks in place yet. If they survive this year then maybe that will be closer to truth as the owners certainly are pretty rich.

The difference from a few years ago is that teams such as ourselves aren’t that vulnerable to their squad being plundered by the big six as we simply don’t need the money.
 
Newcastle won't do anything while Ashley owns it and Bruce is in charge of the football side,if they get bought by decent owners (like we appear to have) then they stand a chance of being top half,villa need a clear out and start again,that'll take a decade or thereabouts,by which time football has moved on again
 
Keef said:
Newcastle won't do anything while Ashley owns it and Bruce is in charge of the football side,if they get bought by decent owners (like we appear to have) then they stand a chance of being top half,villa need a clear out and start again,that'll take a decade or thereabouts,by which time football has moved on again
Click to expand...

No reason why it would have to take a decade - we have done what we have sufficiently well enough in 3 yrs after being taken over to be written into this as possible additions.

Not a guarantee that Villa will be able to replicate, but it's not beyond the bounds of reason.

A few of the previously untouceable top 6 are vulnerable just now, but there is a need for others (inc us) to take advantage of consolidating our position (& financial muscle) whilst they are.
 
the big six are still the bench mark and one swallow does not a summer make. We have finished 7th once. Leicester finished top once. Villa are in a cup final. Newcastle have flirted both ends of the table. For me Everton are worthy of a mention as too Southampton. I do not see however , how that points to a more competitive league with champions outside of the big six. The big six are all still left in the FA cup. Liverpool could win the league, FA cup, World championship , supercup and champions league. At present Liverpool and Man City are 10 and 9/10 respectively, Chelsea Spurs Leicester 8/10, Arsenal, Man Utd , Us , Everton 7/10. I dont see anyone doing a Forest 1978-81 for instance.
 
If some of the 'big 6' drop out of the Champions league often enough it will level the playing field a bit as revenue drops, but others need to be able to get in there for more than just 1 year to be able to compete.

Europa adds a bit though nowhere near what the Champions league will (which is why some want to try & make that a closed shop)
 
The gap is closing, but in league position terms not too much has changed this season. Every chance the Top 6 will be the usual with the exception of Leicester for Arsenal. For example we are having a decent season but are still below all of Chelsea, Utd and Spurs who are having poor ones by most people's reckoning.

As has been pointed out those lower down the league don't have to sell any longer, but while there remains that pull on the players it'll remain a Top 6 with maybe one exception a season. Maguire to Man Utd didn't make sense on footballing grounds, but he still agitated for the move based on prestige and salary
 
Utd and Spurs are one result from being below us. Arsenal are below us. Chelsea are in range. But it will stay a big six until a team is consistently in there. And if that is consistently at the expense of Utd, they will simply call it the big seven, or the super 8 if two teams manage it. Commercially they need Manchester United to be considered top table diners.
 
I think it would be great to have 10 or 12 really good sides rotating the silverware and league positions, but I wonder whether it would be sustainable for more than a season. Top players will demand CL, or at least EL, football, so those teams finishing outside the Euro slots are liable to see their big guns departing in the summer, which would weakens them for next season and strengthen their rivals, which would put us back to a top 6/7 situation again.
 
Fair point. 6 into 5 doesn't go now (assuming that those five places account for both cups as is usual)

The biggest number of teams we can get into European football is 7 anyway, by my calculations.

IF

Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester qualify for CL by League Position, Spurs win the Champions League (bantz), Wolves win the Europa League and don't qualify for the Champions League elsewhere. City win the Carabao, Liverpool win the FA Cup, and the final League positions are:

Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester, Chelsea, Wolves, Sheffield United, Manchester United, Spurs

THEN: CL Qualifiers: Liverpool, Manchester City, Leicester (league position), Spurs (Champions League winners), Wolves (Europa League winners). THIS IS THE MAXIMUM 5 TEAMS FOR ONE COUNTRY, so...

Europa League: Chelsea (drop from Champions League qualifying position so into group stage), Sheffield United (group stage as they would take the place of our fifth place finish), Manchester United (second Europa qualifying round like we had this year)
 
Sorry, had to amend the title. The lack of any capital letters was sending my OCD crazy.
 
For me its a dilemma.The weakest big six teams are played in the carabao cup. That's a fact up to semi final stage. So ideally you want to draw a big six earlier in the competition and knock them out. That remains the best way to get to the latter stages and decrease the chance of facing a big six in the final. Same with the FA cup. We took two out last year but no one else followed suit so Man City were there at the end. I truly believed last year it was our cup . Our citeh record recently backs that up.

Leicester did it the hard way by winning the league from nowhere but it cost them Kante and Mahrez. Maguire too last year. They look very good this year and should get top 4. They have bought well too. They have been closest this year to making it a big 7. Arsenal man united have been poor by their recent standards. Spurs and Chelsea inconsistent. For whatever reason we have managed to beat Man City but none of the others draws against united twice arsenal once Leicester once and defeats to Liverpool 2 , Chelsea, Spurs and even Everton if you're looking at the original 10 list with a further two draws against Newcastle. So it is a mixed bag for us that can do with improvement in the last third and needs too if we want a European place via the league.

I just don't think we are good enough yet to win the Europa league. I can see away goals doing us given our defensive generosity this season. But its still been fun so far to see how well the small squad has coped. Let's hope they have enough tuff left for twenty more games.
 
Here's Sky embracing a team breaching the top six. ONE player in his club's kit and a SEVEN year old picture of a striker. Utter cunts. And that's seven months into the season.

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