They are missing alot of players now. if they should drop points it will be now, otherwise when Mane, Rodriguez, Wanyama, Schneiderlin etc comes back they will be strong again.

If we can keep our key players fit, we'll finish third. We're clearly better than both Manu and Southampton. Chelsea and City are long gone however.

Kel Varnsen wrote:

If we can keep our key players fit, we'll finish third. We're clearly better than both Manu and Southampton. Chelsea and City are long gone however.

more so if we can find the balance with today's performance.

Me thinks that Citeh are not out of reach as yet. 
I don't care of CFC clear out if it means we can challenge for 2nd IF we strengthen in this window and then don't sit on our laurels based upon this 1 result.

Stinky spurs just won't go away this season

Anzac wrote:

Kel Varnsen wrote:

If we can keep our key players fit, we'll finish third. We're clearly better than both Manu and Southampton. Chelsea and City are long gone however.

more so if we can find the balance with today's performance.

Me thinks that Citeh are not out of reach as yet. 
I don't care of CFC clear out if it means we can challenge for 2nd IF we strengthen in this window and then don't sit on our laurels based upon this 1 result.

There is zero chance of us finishing second. Lets just worry about catch United and Southfuckinghampton.

Yaya is away for a month and will most likely not be at his best when he returns either. I think the loss of him may affect Man City quite a bit, especially if you also add in that neither Kompany nor Agüero look to be back at their best yet.

Personally, I'd wait a month before so decisively say that catching back Man City is impossible.
The most likely scenario, to me, is that we will finish third, which I have said since early October.

We can still catch City, but let's just focus on going on a run of games for now. I think we're a bit overconfident after the City match, they are a big team but also one we match up well against (they play open football) and one we have a winning record against over the last 8 matches (3-3-2 including the Community Shield). Let's see whether we can beat Spurs away.

I'm not convinced that the attack we played is actually the best way to go against teams that will look to play a normal defensive line against us. By that I mean that w looked to play the same pattern going forward as our normal possession style, whereas I think Welbeck when available would provide more in open play to attack space and play a high pressing line faster to force the opposition defence to have to play out hurriedly, rather than being able to play with the ball at feet and putting more pressure on our defence to restrict space.

The problem with that Anzac is that Welbecks not very good.

I wouldn't describe any of our strikers as "very good" tbh. Though I must admit that Giroud is the best available option. Welbeck didn't take his chance in the Frenchman's absence.

9 home games remaining, 7 away.
Chelsea the toughest home tie, Spurs and United the toughest away.

Both Southampton and United have 8 home games left, Southampton have already played all top three at home but have yet to play City and Chelsea away.
United have still to play us and City at home, Chelsea away.

If we're truly over our ropey patch, if that City result wasn't some kind of false dawn, then we'll get third.

qs! wrote:

The problem with that Anzac is that Welbecks not very good.

Was just thinking that Welbeck is better able to press high as AW said he wanted to do, and that Giroud requires us to play to him at Cf whereas Welbeck offers more in terms of exploiting and creating space & movement.

Agreed that we need a better goal scoring option at CF - I don't want the best attributes of our CF to be that he links and opens space for our toothless midfield whilst our other forwards open space in the area.

y va marquer wrote:

9 home games remaining, 7 away.
Chelsea the toughest home tie, Spurs and United the toughest away.

Both Southampton and United have 8 home games left, Southampton have already played all top three at home but have yet to play City and Chelsea away.
United have still to play us and City at home, Chelsea away.

If we're truly over our ropey patch, if that City result wasn't some kind of false dawn, then we'll get third.

I have a suspicion that Citeh could drop their bundle if they lose v CFC & things may become a bit of a struggle for them if they feel that they can not win the league.

Will be interesting to see how they cope without Yaya. Think that could be the deciding factor whether anyone can pip them for second.

Rex wrote:

Will be interesting to see how they cope without Yaya. Think that could be the deciding factor whether anyone can pip them for second.

Wasn't there a comment pre-game that they've failed to win whilst he's been gone/out this season?

They haven't won since April in the league without him. It's only 5 or 6 games, but that is still significant for a club fighting for the title.

Rex wrote:

They haven't won since April in the league without him. It's only 5 or 6 games, but that is still significant for a club fighting for the title.

Now they've lost in the FA Cup as well.  If they lose v CFC me thinks Pellegrini will need to win the CL to retain his job.

Man City coped well without Agüero, but they are struggling big time without Yaya. If they don't find an answer, fast, then we may as well hand Chelsea the PL trophy in a fortnight's time.

They were not really struggling against Boro though, could have should have scored 3 or 4 in the first half.