Is 57 Points Enough For Europe

[SerbianLad]

Technically, we still have a chance. If we win both of our games, we'd need Brentford to win no more than two points from Palace and Liverpool(or 3 points but we manage to overcome their current goal difference advantage, which will be tough considering there are only two games left), we'd also need Chelsea not to win one of their games at least(a win and a draw is completely fine) from their last two against Spurs and Sunderland and finally, we need Everton to get maximum of 5 points from Palace, Sunderland and Spurs(or 6 points but we manage to overcome their current goal difference advantage). Alternatively, one of those 3 things doesn't have to happen, but Brighton would have to lose against both Leeds and Manchester Unitedo(the difference in the goal difference between our two teams is so big,+16 at the moment, so I dont think a draw and a loss is going to be enough even in theory)

[ron]

That appraisal began to lose something at "If we win both of our games..." on our current form...

[The Rock]

We would have won if Anderson wasn't a donkey.

It's out of our hands, but we aren't playing bad. The new "Sideways Marco", but not bad.

[SerbianLad]

That appraisal began to lose something at "If we win both of our games..." on our current form...

That's another part of the reason why I wrote "Technically". There are various unrealistic parts there. That being said, us winning the last two games, even in our current form, is probably the least unrealistic part, considering who we play.

[BestOfBrede]

Why oh why do posts go on about Europe qualification, when at the same time go on and on about how shite we are??

If we are as bad as many say, then getting into Europe will see us relegated with our limited squad!

We need to slowly improve year on year and then go for europe, surely?

Personally, I don't think we are ready as yet, although feel optimistic if we continue to build.

Kevin, ESR, King, Bobb, Muniz, Bassey etc all young and we can build around.
Older solid players Lukic, Berge, Cairney etc are useful whilst building.

We desperately need another striker and strengthen defence but it will take time.

[Coastwalker]

We would have won if Anderson wasn't a donkey.

It's out of our hands, but we aren't playing bad. The new "Sideways Marco", but not bad.

What.lol
We can't score,so how could we have won.

[SerbianLad]

What.lol
We can't score,so how could we have won.

Come on, we hit the crossbar two times today and Muniz hit a header inches wide. We were pretty close to scoring. It's not unimaginable that we'd score a goal if it stayed 11v10

[Coastwalker]

What.lol
We can't score,so how could we have won.

Come on, we hit the crossbar two times today and Muniz hit a header inches wide. We were pretty close to scoring. It's not unimaginable that we'd score a goal if it stayed 11v10

I'm afraid hitting the crossbar and headers inches wide,don't count as goals.

[ElRay]

Why oh why do posts go on about Europe qualification, when at the same time go on and on about how shite we are??

If we are as bad as many say, then getting into Europe will see us relegated with our limited squad!

We need to slowly improve year on year and then go for europe, surely?

Personally, I don't think we are ready as yet, although feel optimistic if we continue to build.

Kevin, ESR, King, Bobb, Muniz, Bassey etc all young and we can build around.
Older solid players Lukic, Berge, Cairney etc are useful whilst building.

We desperately need another striker and strengthen defence but it will take time.

I agree. We aren't ready for Europe.

Getting into Europe now would feel a bit like getting promoted under Parker. We got the results, but we were never truly convincing. Even if we had picked up the results needed during the run in to qualify, I don't think we would've gone on a special European run.

Sneaking into Europe through the back door would probably lead the club to view this season as a success and it would mean the bigger issues don't get addressed.

If we get the right manager, I do think there's a good base to build from. A new spine with Bassey, Sess, King, Bobb, Kevin and Muniz as key players could be exciting. But the club's overall strategy needs to change. I like that we're signing younger players, but too often it feels like we're paying big fees based on hype and potential resale value, rather than properly scouting whether they actually fit the style of football we want to play.

Next season has to be a year of change and transition. Realistically, I don't think we should be looking at playing in Europe  until 2028/29 and that's only if we get the next few decisions right.

[KentFulham]

Why oh why do posts go on about Europe qualification, when at the same time go on and on about how shite we are??

If we are as bad as many say, then getting into Europe will see us relegated with our limited squad!

We need to slowly improve year on year and then go for europe, surely?

Personally, I don't think we are ready as yet, although feel optimistic if we continue to build.

Kevin, ESR, King, Bobb, Muniz, Bassey etc all young and we can build around.
Older solid players Lukic, Berge, Cairney etc are useful whilst building.

We desperately need another striker and strengthen defence but it will take time.

I agree. We aren't ready for Europe.

Getting into Europe now would feel a bit like getting promoted under Parker. We got the results, but we were never truly convincing. Even if we had picked up the results needed during the run in to qualify, I don't think we would've gone on a special European run.

Sneaking into Europe through the back door would probably lead the club to view this season as a success and it would mean the bigger issues don't get addressed.

If we get the right manager, I do think there's a good base to build from. A new spine with Bassey, Sess, King, Bobb, Kevin and Muniz as key players could be exciting. But the club's overall strategy needs to change. I like that we're signing younger players, but too often it feels like we're paying big fees based on hype and potential resale value, rather than properly scouting whether they actually fit the style of football we want to play.

Next season has to be a year of change and transition. Realistically, I don't think we should be looking at playing in Europe  until 2028/29 and that's only if we get the next few decisions right.

Agree with exception of Muniz, he needs to go, there is no decent footballer there. We also need to improve in terms of selling at the right time

[SerbianLad]

What.lol
We can't score,so how could we have won.

Come on, we hit the crossbar two times today and Muniz hit a header inches wide. We were pretty close to scoring. It's not unimaginable that we'd score a goal if it stayed 11v10

I'm afraid hitting the crossbar and headers inches wide,don't count as goals.

But it means that we were very close. We've had more shots and more xG than them. If it stayed 11v10, I'm pretty sure we would have scored at least once.

[Coastwalker]

What.lol
We can't score,so how could we have won.

Come on, we hit the crossbar two times today and Muniz hit a header inches wide. We were pretty close to scoring. It's not unimaginable that we'd score a goal if it stayed 11v10

I'm afraid hitting the crossbar and headers inches wide,don't count as goals.

But it means that we were very close. We've had more shots and more xG than them. If it stayed 11v10, I'm pretty sure we would have scored at least once.

That's living in a hypothetical world,if if if..
They managed to score with ten men,you forgetting that.
If we played till midnight Muniz wouldn't have scored.

[john dempsey]

How is it possible that for every 3 fouls by FFC we
 got a yellow card.
 But Bournemouth only got a yellow card for
every 11 fouls ?
this seems a bit strange to me.

[alfie]

We would have won if Anderson wasn't a donkey.

It's out of our hands, but we aren't playing bad. The new "Sideways Marco", but not bad.

"Might" have won.

[SerbianLad]

That's living in a hypothetical world,if if if..
They managed to score with ten men,you forgetting that.
If we played till midnight Muniz wouldn't have scored.

They scored with 10 men against 10 men. 11v11 or 11v10, they didn't look like they were going to score a goal, and I'd bet they wouldn't have scored a goal if Andersen didn't get sent off.

[SerbianLad]

The Palace-Everton score keeps our, albeit minimal, chances of Europe alive.

Palace have shown they still have some fight left in them, at last, so hopefully they'll put on a similar performance vs Brentford later on.


We need Everton to lose or draw at least one of their final two games against Sunderland and Spurs, coincidentally, we need the exact same thing against exact same teams for Chelsea. A draw and a win is completely fine. Additionally we need Brentford to win 2 points or less against Palace and Liverpool (or 3 points if we somehow managed to overcome their goal difference advantage). Obviously, we would need to win both of our games.

It's not ideal that we are relying on Spurs, Sunderland, Palace and Liverpool, but today's result made me optimistic again. There is definitely still a chance for us.

[Lordedmundo]

Even if we win our last two games - I have a bad feeling that Brentford will finish above us on goal difference and take the last European spot.

This being the case I think I would prefer we draw at Wolves and then a win on the last day, so we don't have to suffer that degree of misery of missing out by such a fine margin!

[Carborundum]

How is it possible that for every 3 fouls by FFC we
 got a yellow card.
 But Bournemouth only got a yellow card for
every 11 fouls ?
this seems a bit strange to me.

Part of the difference was how scared we were of their pace and cutting edge on the break.  Once one of their players got goalside of ours, out would come the arms and a yellow was taken "for the team".  Bournemouth weren't especially scared of our players ability to break and did this far less.

Incidentally this seemed also the underlying reason Cairney played so deep, sometimes as the very last man, because if a Bournemouth player got goalside of him there's very little chance he could do anything useful about it, arms or no arms.

Much of the shape of the game seemed dictated by how every player on the pitch knew how much more potent Bournemouth were.  Their midfield ability to carve through, slipping clever balls just out of reach was impressive.  This is probably what too European teams see in Bournemouth players and it's one heck of a business model.

[SerbianLad]

How is it possible that for every 3 fouls by FFC we
 got a yellow card.
 But Bournemouth only got a yellow card for
every 11 fouls ?
this seems a bit strange to me.

Part of the difference was how scared we were of their pace and cutting edge on the break.  Once one of their players got goalside of ours, out would come the arms and a yellow was taken "for the team".  Bournemouth weren't especially scared of our players ability to break and did this far less.

Incidentally this seemed also the underlying reason Cairney played so deep, sometimes as the very last man, because if a Bournemouth player got goalside of him there's very little chance he could do anything useful about it, arms or no arms.

Much of the shape of the game seemed dictated by how every player on the pitch knew how much more potent Bournemouth were.  Their midfield ability to carve through, slipping clever balls just out of reach was impressive.  This is probably what too European teams see in Bournemouth players and it's one heck of a business model.

I'm sorry, and this isn't just you I've seen multiple people say similar things, but Bournemouth definitely didn't carve us open or been better than us. They've scored a long distance deflected goal and had one good chance late on. Even in the second half, we created more and better chances(if you look at xG that is true too, we've had 0.69 compared to their 0.66 xG in the second half, and in the first we had 0.64 compared to 0.14). I don't recall Leno making a big save or something.

We were the better team overall, even if we weren't amazing in the second half.

[SerbianLad]

West Ham playing decently. We could use a West Ham win today. It would keep Spurs in a lot of trouble which is good for us as we meed them to get something in their last 2 matches.

Added bonus for me is it stops Arsenal from winning the title.