Will Martinez ever lead us to the Champions League?

[MikeH72]

Baines, Stones, Coleman, Miralles, Lukaku

Fabianski, Williams, Sigurdsson, Ki, Moreno, Cork

Christ. Stop planet earth, I'm getting off

 

[davek]

I think yes. He's capable of turning a good season into a very good one by pressing for wins rather than ever going cautious. It's basically why Moyes fluked a CL spot on 60 odd points one season but could never get us over the 70 point total required to even have a sniff of a CL place.

 

[ijjysmith]

How can you argue against that with a straight face?

I really really want to meet you and have a chat.

 

[toffeeblue9]

No, not really a reflection on him but usually the teams who spend the most money occupy the top 4 positions.

It is a rare occurrence that this doesn't happen

Our problem is that there aren't just four teams with bigger budgets than us. There are six clubs with comfortably bigger budgets and then there's us and a number of other clubs with similar budgets.

It's simply very unlikely and would require a lot of luck to happen again.

Wouldn't matter if it was Moyes, Martinez, Mourinho or Matthew The Apostle who was in charge

 

[Seamus Colemole]

Well until they change the qualifying criteria to "whoever played the most passes" he stands no chance.

 

[davek]

Well until they change the qualifying criteria to "whoever played the most passes" he stands no chance.

72 points qualifies a team most seasons.

 

[Seamus Colemole]

72 points qualifies a team most seasons.

Hopefully he'll be more concerned in future with winning more points than winning more passes and we might get 72 points again.

Unlikely though.

 

[Eggs]

....we are a top priced 20-1 (Ladbrokes) to finish top 4 next season, generally about 14-1. The likes of West Ham and Stoke are 100-1.

 

[ijjysmith]

....we are a top priced 20-1 (Ladbrokes) to finish top 4 ne t season, generally about 14-1. The likes of West Ham and Stoke are 100-1.

Can you forward this to whover does our transfer negotiating mate?

 

[Blue 1]

Chelsea
Man City
Man United
Arsenal
Liverpool
Spurs
Swansea
Southampton

that's a fact. Everton are only slightly ahead of Stoke and West Ham on paper. West Ham will likely overtake you soon, too.

 

[JammyP]

Yes. This season.
Power of positive thinking. We can all do this together.
Ommmmmmm.......................

 

[edge]

bit of luck along the way , who knows?
cant see it realistically, Chelsea ,man city, arsenal , then we have unt, l,pool, spurs and a few others if they have a decent season.

 

[marty mcfly]

I think two things have to happen. We need to have an awesome season to beat the likes of Spurs and Liverpool and one of the top 4 needs to implode.

Both are possible however both happening in one season is very unlikely but we live in hope.

That said I think next year will be interesting. There's a lot of attacking talent entering the league which should make every game more competitive which hopefully might mean the top 4 drop more points than normal which is what we need. There's no way we can realistically score more than 75 points, even over 70 was a miracle.

 

[GwladysStreetHero]

2 quality signings and two other potential ones then I don't see why not

 

[marty mcfly]

I think these three posts answer the OP's question comprehensively. Looking at the money Utd have allowed LVG to spend after one season outside the top 4, I think it's clear that we lack the financial muscle needed to get 4th place. Our best route to CL football now is via winning the League Cup and then the EL.

Especially with the premier league growing in strength relative to the other leagues.