Reasons to be cheerful

[sean]

Fernando Torres

Steven Gerrard

Javier Mascherano

Ryan Babel

A fit and ready Dan Agger

Martin Skrtel

Pepe Reina

Kewell's off the books

 

Obviously a few quid promised to the manager, where he'll look to strengthen the wide positions and up front.

[robfar1]

I'd add Carragher to that list...

 

Still not enough to mount a serious title challenge though and the Mancs and Chelsea are sure to strengthen in the summer so hopefully the owners are feeling generous.

[Benitez]

Another reason to be cheerful, for the first time in years, we seem to have some genuinely talented young players coming through.

 

Ah I remember the days when John Welsh and Richie Partridge where the great hopes

 

It may not be a major issue, cos after all, what we want is first team success, but the progress made in getting better quality young players, and building a reserve team that is actually a B team, not a stage for rubbish first teamers, well it's a good thing.

 

If 2 or 3 of these players can progress and work their way into the first team squad in the near future, then it means the money the manager does have, can be used on other areas. Down the line, it could mean the difference between having to spend £20-30m on 5 or 6 players, or £20-30m on 2 or 3.

[psl]

I'm finding it hard to see a 'title challenge' (cue Cobs/MFletcher) next season but then few would have seen Arsenal having the season they just did.

 

Be interesting to see how the summer plays out.

[Andy @ Allerton]

Great start. Bit of a wibbly bit in the middle (Not, IMO, helped by the antics of our esteemed owners) then a very strong finish.

 

Overall an improvement and with a bit more umph next season I'm confident we'll be closer.

 

We'll have got rid of some of the dead wood and will certainly have improved the squad. Plus we've got some very, very promising youngsters coming in and we may even have a little bit of money to improve the wide positions further.

 

I'm positive for next seasons competition. We'll hopefully continue onward and indeed, upwards.

[Ed the Wool]

Great start. Bit of a wibbly bit in the middle (Not, IMO, helped by the antics of our esteemed owners) then a very strong finish.

 

Overall an improvement and with a bit more umph next season I'm confident we'll be closer.

 

We'll have got rid of some of the dead wood and will certainly have improved the squad. Plus we've got some very, very promising youngsters coming in and we may even have a little bit of money to improve the wide positions further.

 

I'm positive for next seasons competition. We'll hopefully continue onward and indeed, upwards.

 

Pretty spot on that Andy. Be interesting to see who Rafa brings in now. A signing like Torres or Mascherano and I think we'll be very close indeed.

[Barnes' left foot]

Fernando Torres

Steven Gerrard

Javier Mascherano

Ryan Babel

A fit and ready Dan Agger

Martin Skrtel

Pepe Reina

Kewell+Riise off the books

[RP]

... but then few would have seen Arsenal having the season they just did.

 

 

Oh, I dunno.

 

 

They played some pretty football, came 3rd in the League and won f*** all. All fairly predictable really.

[Gomez]

Oh, I dunno.

They played some pretty football, came 3rd in the League and won f*** all. All fairly predictable really.

 

I really don't see how some people think Arsenal achieved something this year that we should be aspirational to.

[Wardy]

Still being in with a shout of winning the league in April would have been nice.....

[urban]

11 points gap between us and the title winners (much better than last year)

119 goals scored in all competition (top scoring team in all of England)

6 scorers with more than double digit goals (team is dangerous, not just Torres)

Countless hat tricks

Unlucky circumstances leading to CL exit

Rafa still with us.

 

All give me plenty to be cheerful about.

[Gomez]

Still being in with a shout of winning the league in April would have been nice.....

 

Arsenal's realistic title hopes had well gone by April.

[Cobs]

I really don't see how some people think Arsenal achieved something this year that we should be aspirational to.

a title challenge and a higher points total than any Liverpool side has achieved in the last 20 years ?

[RP]

a title challenge and a higher points total than any Liverpool side has achieved in the last 20 years ?

 

They won f*** all - your points total is irrelevant if someone gets 1 point more than you do.

[Cobs]

They won f*** all - your points total is irrelevant if someone gets 1 point more than you do.

they challenged for the League and got more points than any Liverpool side in the last 20 years - would you say those two facts were things Liverpool should aspire to next season or not?

[Gomez]

they challenged for the League and got more points than any Liverpool side in the last 20 years - would you say those two facts were things Liverpool should aspire to next season or not?

 

I'd rather aspire to what Man u achieved than to what arsenal nearly achieved.

 

And who decided on what is a title challenge anyway. They fell away alarmingly, the title has been between man u and the chavs for a long time now.

 

We challenged for the title in 1997 and 2002, we didn't win it so who the f*ck cares?

[RP]

We should be aiming to win the League - I don't care how many points we get, as long as it is at least one more than the team that comes second.

[Cobs]

I'd rather aspire to what Man u achieved than to what arsenal nearly achieved.

 

And who decided on what is a title challenge anyway. They fell away alarmingly, the title has been between man u and the chavs for a long time now.

since about April 13th

 

We challenged for the title in 1997 and 2002, we didn't win it so who the f*ck cares?

 

our team Captain for one

[Cobs]

We should be aiming to win the League - I don't care how many points we get, as long as it is at least one more than the team that comes second.

to win it you have to challenge for it

[RP]

to win it you have to challenge for it

 

So why would you set your sights on "a title challenge"?

 

Surely they should be fixed on winning it. A challenge would be nice but eventually a waste of time if unsuccessful.

[Cobs]

So why would you set your sights on "a title challenge"?

 

Surely they should be fixed on winning it. A challenge would be nice but eventually a waste of time if unsuccessful.

 

i think we're going to need to challenge for it before we can win it

[RP]

Well, as the famous old saying goes : aim for the stars and the seagulls will follow the trawler.

[Hassony]

i think we're going to need to challenge for it before we can win it

 

Do you consider yourself to have challenged for the title in the YNWA prediction comptition?

[Cobs]

Do you consider yourself to have challenged for the title in the YNWA prediction comptition?

within 100 points with 3 weeks to go - i'd have to say yes

 

 

defending the title is always harder than winning it.......

[Gomez]

since about April 13th

By the time we played then, on Apr 2, they were already clutching at the same straws we were clutching a week earlier. 'If we beat man u etc, etc'

 

If that was a title challenge, it wasn't even as good as our 2002 one, and that wasn't brilliant.

 

our team Captain for one

Well, great footballer as he is, I think it's been established that he's not the sharpest tool in the shed? As Shankly said, First is first, second is nowhere. It really doesn't matter to me if we lose the games that cost us the title in January as we did, or in March / April as Arsenal did. The whole point in the league is that you all play the same matches as everyone else over the course of a season so these things even up.