Spurs, Liverpool or Arsenal for Top 4?

I don't see how it won't be Spurs this year especially with Bale staying and Arsenal bringing no one of note in.

AVB has put together a powerful and pacy team built for a 38 game season.

Spurs certainly appear to have the most well rounded and deep squad of the competitors, but don't underestimate Arsenal's experience and the psychological effect of Arsenal's continued success in maintaining their CL status under Wenger.  Personally, I think Arsenal remain favourites, especially if they do manage to sign Gustavo and/or another defender to give them some much needed depth in the backline.

That said, the "gap" between the two London clubs is as small as it's ever been under Wenger and you could definitely make a solid case for putting Spurs as the favourites.

jibers wrote:Liverpool?

Kept Suarez. Made their most crucial signings of the year in January (Coutinho, Sturridge). I don't see why not....

There chances depends on how well Gerrard holds up for another year and if Sterling, Ibe, Alberto, Allen etc continue to improve rather than stagnate or...even worse.

2008: i don't see arsenal making top 4
2009: i don't see arsenal in top6
2010: same shite
2011: same shite again
2012: ya all don't shut up
2013: this shite again?

Please actually contribute to threads rather than posting random images/gifs. If you can't provide something actually constructive to the thread at hand then don't post.

Aleum, you're awfully defensive/aggressive/rustled from this...maybe you should realize (and it didn't go back so far as 08 or 09) that the last couple years there has been a question mark over Arsenal's ability to finish fourth, yes they were able to do it, but you act as if Arsenal have had it in the bag the whole time...which isn't the case  

I think, regardless of if Bale stays or goes (if Bale goes I'm guessing a guy like Willian or Lamela will come in), this is as good as ever a year for Spurs to break the top 4. I fancy them to do even better, actually. Spurs have built a pretty deep squad and has worked out a lot of the weaknesses that have plagued Spurs in years past. A few weaknesses remain, but every team has them. The depth Spurs have built is much better than ever before. Sandro gets injured again? Capoue can fill in, and even Paulinho if needed. An injury to Bale or Lennon is no longer a problem, as any one of Sigurdsson, Chadli, Holtby, even Townsend can fill in. Kaboul is back, Capoue can play CB, Dawson and Vertonghen remain, Spurs won't have to play with a makeshift backline like half of last season.

It's AVB's second year, and the squad looks better than ever. I fancy Spurs, but anything can happen I guess.

When I watched spurs last season they were always limited creatively and in front of goal. No idea why they are stockpiling on physical beasts instead of adding the artistry they need. Holtby, sigurdson, dembele, lennon, are ok but not a top 4 attack imo. Bale is not enough

Chadli, while not the star that some make him out to be, WILL add another creative attacking outlet... and how can you forget about Soldado?

Bale, Chadli, Lennon, Dembele/Holtby, and Soldado is certainly a solid and potentially very proficient attack.

Don't forget Siggy as well.

There is no 'star creative player' and I agree there that is something Spurs lack... but it seems to me the Spurs attack will be less about pulling off a creative and brilliant pass from someone like Cazorla or Coutinho, and more about pace and quickness of the attack, with one or two touch football and a lot of movement up front, and trying to carve out chances that way. That's simply my theory, and the game against Espanyol in preseason pointed that way, however I'm waiting until the EPL starts to make a solid opinion on that one.

The way the team is set up certainly points to it. Whether Rose or BAE starts at LB will be an indicator of how the team will play IMO.

Problem with that one is it will still be hard to break down the types of teams that are like Espanyol, who will sit back deep at White Hart Lane and foul a lot in the midfield like Stoke. In those cases Bale will be a big factor.

I'm not sure though, I'm personally excited to see how AVB sets up the Spurs squad to play this season...almost as excited as I am about Tata.

It's possible that more than just one of those three will make top 4. As of right now Tottenham have the best chance, but the window isn't closed so we can make any realistic predictions until then

Never seen chadli tbh. Soldados an upgrade for them but I don't see him really helping their creativity and technical level of their midfield and attack. Which was and still is their major problem from my perspective.

CBarca wrote: more about pace and quickness of the attack, with one or two touch football and a lot of movement up front, and trying to carve out chances that way. That's simply my theory, and the game against Espanyol in preseason pointed that way, however I'm waiting until the EPL starts to make a solid opinion on that one.

You've done that before and the team looked physically drained by the end of the season, where upon it stopped working and you went so off form it twice let very big leads slip away. End of the day the saying is true, there's no substitute for class

It might help the thread for fans of the clubs in question to include likely starting XIs/matchday squads for the season.

...Then again, that could simply devolve into infighting between fellow supporters who disagree over their own clubs.

 Arsenal yes -Liverpool and spurs , dont think so

Well that makes sense, considering only one of the three can make it. I'd be pretty confused if you said "Arsenal yes, but Spurs and Liverpool too."

From arsenals perspective, if we don't strengthen through signings, I do think we have at least improved internally. In terms of form, fitness, and development we're much stronger currently than at the start of last season. Considering that I do honestly think we'd still get 4th place as things stand

arsenal do always seem to be on the verge of falling out of the top 4 yet they have remained.

but this spurs team... if they can keep bale they will be a force next season.

i honestly think soldado could be the extra scoring option they need. plus the depth they have invested in will be the difference

Spurs might break into the top 4...but Arsenal will win the title.

Spoiler:

Eman wrote:Seriously though, we're still stronger than Spurs and Liverpool IMO, and despite both of them signing new players, most of their signings don't appear to be any better than the players we already have. We are also obviously going to sign some players because we're close to Gustavo, we only have 2 fit CBs, and Wenger has said several times that we will sign another striker. Anybody who says we 'need' more than players in those 3 positions is underestimating our players in our other positions; another GK or AM is just a luxury signing, although we've been linked with players in these positions too.

I truly cannot understand why our current squad is so underrated despite putting in nothing but good performances for months now. If our almost completely revamped attacking lineup had any chemistry at the beginning of last season, we wouldn't have struggled for top 4. I don't expect to win the title, but I definitely predict a title push.

Boy do I know that feeling.

Diego Armando Maradona wrote:

CBarca wrote: more about pace and quickness of the attack, with one or two touch football and a lot of movement up front, and trying to carve out chances that way. That's simply my theory, and the game against Espanyol in preseason pointed that way, however I'm waiting until the EPL starts to make a solid opinion on that one.

You've done that before and the team looked physically drained by the end of the season, where upon it stopped working and you went so off form it twice let very big leads slip away. End of the day the saying is true, there's no substitute for class

That's where depth comes into play. This Spurs squad is the deepest I've seen in years. The greatest thing about a lot of the signings made in the last couple years is that Spurs have acquired a lot of versatile players, so not only is their depth in every position, but players can be moved around to accommodate positions in need as well. Last season the killing blow for Tottenham was that Sandro got injured and Spurs had to play Parker of all people next to Dembele. That won't happen again. The only spots that really need depth is the RB spot (if Walker is injured...Naughton ffs), and striker (after Soldado is Ade and Defoe, Defoe being streaky and Ade being...Ade).

All good in theory, we'll wait until the season starts to see how deep this squad is. On paper, it's as deep as I've ever seen it and that's what makes Spurs the odds on chance for fourth the most in my opinion.

Liverpool will NOT get top 4 with the current squad we have at the moment. I'm always very optimistic, and deep down I'm obviously going to be looking to finish top 4 but the simple truth is that we are not as good as Spurs or Arsenal.

However 2 starting caliber players will change all that. We are in dire need of a starting CB and a quality attacker.

Is there a reason why Chelsea should be excluded from this? They only finished three points ahead of Spurs last season and I don't think Schurrle and Mourinho alone makes them better placed for a top four finish than the other candidates.

Spurs, for me, are looking pretty strong. They've addressed one stand-out problem by signing Soldado and they've got some good depth for their midfield and frontline. If they keep Bale, a genuine match-winner, on top of that I can see them getting into the top four.

If there's one thing they need to address, though, it's how they handle the pressure during the run-in. In the last two seasons, they were above us with a decent lead with 10 or so games remaining yet ended up finishing behind us both years (I'm aware one of those years they did actually finish fourth, but by all accounts they still should have finished above us). By contrast, Arsenal have shown they can handle the pressure well and have been able to pick up results when it matters and it's for this reason you can't write us off, even if we don't strengthen as we should do.

My concern with us is that if we don't strengthen, which is looking increasingly likely, is that we won't be able to keep the pace for the whole season. While we've improved a lot defensively and are able to grind out results, it's always by doing just enough on the day. We won't be able to do that for a whole season, and right now we're literally one injury to Arteta away to being royally screwed.

I'm not entirely sure about Liverpool right now. I don't think they'll be as dependant on Suarez for goals with Sturridge and Iago Aspas but I'm not convinced by their defence.

You don't get top four by aiming for a European spot.
You get top four by aiming on winning the league. (Even if you fall off 10+ points, there is a good chance you're playing in Europe next season.)

Arsenal will clinch the top 4 spot.

Liverpool aren't close to the other 2 imo. Spuds have added even more depth to their midfield and added the much needed striker. If spuds players can settle then they should take it over Arsenal, their team as a whole is better imo but if some of them struggle to fit in and Bale keeps up his antics then I'd say the gunners will clinch it.

I don't know, people go on about Arsenal's second half of the season performances but Liverpool's sort of go out of the window... we were up there in the second half as well. I think we only lost 2 of out last 15 games.

Mignolet is a massive signing for us. We lost games because of Reina's inconsistency. So he's an improvement, but he's the only real improvement in the starting XI. Aspas and Alberto are simply there for depth.

I have no faith in Kolo Toure. If we sign a new CB, I can see us challenging the others and surprising a few.  Not to say we will get there, but I can see us putting up a fight.

We also have improved from last season.

This is the first Liverpool team to in 4 years or so to play a consistent playing style from the prior season. Players have matured (Sterling etc) and Lucas looks back to his best. We also kept Suarez, who will put in 100% to those that have their doubts.