EPL: Arsenal v West Ham - 9/8/15, 13:30 - SS1

[Godwin1]

No wonder we are doing badly in Europe. No mentality to do well there. Why bother, it is Barca, RM, Bayern competition anyway.

We have bigger priorities and more money. We aren't worried about staying in the league.

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

We have bigger priorities and more money. We aren't worried about staying in the league.

Well fair enough. Didn't know they were expecting relegation battle this year. Thought they signed good players, good manager and new stadium!

 

[Godwin1]

Well fair enough. Didn't know they were expecting relegation battle this year. Thought they signed good players, good manager and new stadium!

You could argue that we aren't be ambitious like West Ham by not blowing our 200 mil on some new players and winng the league and possibly compeating in Europe.

But we are are taking the sensibly more stable financial route. But when West Ham do it they are ****s.

 

[Rain Dance]

If you go into every competition thinking you have no realistic shot of winning it and starts to prioritise before the season even started, you would wonder what kind of football club are you running?

Think about it for a second from a smaller club manager point of view, would you rather try to almost impossible task (1 % chance or less ) with a big risk of losing everything or go for the more realistic target but give up on the 1 % chance.
It's not pretty, or chivalrous but choosing a priority must be done as soon as possible

 

[hydrofluoric acid]

People trying to make it sound like you can't play in Europe and stay up in the league. Dafug...

 

[Dokaka]

Since when did small clubs (no offence Dokaka ) like West Ham start to think Europe is not important to them?

When the monetary benefits of playing in the PL started far outweighing the benefits of playing in Europe's B-tier competition. Literally every club in the Prem operates on a budget that cannot be sustained for even one season in the Championship.

Not aimed at you, but it's easy for Arsenal fans to **** on us for not giving it "the old college try" when disaster for you is finishing outside the top 4. What would that scenario entail for you? Not being able to sign X player, probably, and some weaker financials for the seasons.

Disaster for us is relegation. We'd have to sell 85% of our starters, probably even most bench players, gel an entirely new team, rebuild for scratch etc. If we don't go up again right away, financial ruin would be next.

So please stop this whining and moaning about us not "representing England respectfully" and all that ****, some of you are sounding like privileged ****s.

Of course you are not likely to win it if you give up in first two games. So should we give up on Champions league?

What is West Ham goals anyway? top 10? How about in future? Champions league? Why do they believe experience in Europe is not important for their future goals?

Aye, Fulham's legendary EL run - where they eventually got beat by a far superior CL dropout team - is probably quite valuable to them in their battle against relegation from the ****ing Championship.

What the hell does "experience in Europe" even mean? It's the Europa League, not Champions League. It's a competition of tossers fielding reserve players until you reach the later stages.

 

[Dokaka]

The critisism of West Ham here is nonsensical. Thier priority is staying in the league, not buring their players out all over europe in a competition that they aren't likely to win, doesn't pay well and isn't that prestigous.

Exactly. We didn't earn this spot anyway. If we earned it the proper way by getting top 6-7, we'd more then likely have the platform to actually play in the competition without us risking our existence as a PL club in the process, like Tottenham in the last couple of years.

 

[clockwork orange]

Yep, you can only take the Europa League seriously if you can afford it. For me this means you've to be sure you don't relegate and you don't think you can qualify for the CL. Bilic's decision make sense. Koeman took unnecessary risks by playing a strong 11 in a 99% sure won EL tie. We/Wenger lost Podolski by playing an unnecessary strong 11 v Fenerbahce after winning the first leg 3-0.

 

[Pat Rice]

Strong sense of double standards here. Think we should be more critical of our own European performances than venting at a club who got in based on fair play!

Think we should give them a bit more respect too, clear direction and structure going forward with new stadium and progressive improvements. Good luck to them.

 

[BobP]

Yeah, don't blame the Hammers, have other priorities at the moment.

English teams have been abysmal in Europe for a few years, we're to blame.

 

[Clrnc]

Think about it for a second from a smaller club manager point of view, would you rather try to almost impossible task (1 % chance or less ) with a big risk of losing everything or go for the more realistic target but give up on the 1 % chance.
It's not pretty, or chivalrous but choosing a priority must be done as soon as possible

It's not like West Ham will get relegated this season anyway. They have strengthened very well, have a good squad and should surely take every chance to build their name in Europe. Look, they are not going to get into the UCL anytime soon so Europea League is their best hope as always. To turn their noses up the UEL for a club of West Ham stature is not really smart imo, not at this stage of the season.

Sorry Dokaka, I'm not whining or anything and it's not a big deal anyway, it's just strange that Bilic taken this decision ahead of an away game they are not likely to get anything out of anyway, before the season had even started. If West Ham wanted this, then why not play their reserve team against the Icelandic side in the first round and be done with it early? Fulham does happen if you actually try.

 

[BobP]

It's not like West Ham will get relegated this season anyway. They have strengthened very well, have a good squad and should surely take every chance to build their name in Europe. Look, they are not going to get into the UCL anytime soon so Europea League is their best hope as always. To turn their noses up the UEL for a club of West Ham stature is not really smart imo, not at this stage of the season.

Sorry Dokaka, I'm not whining or anything and it's not a big deal anyway, it's just strange that Bilic taken this decision ahead of an away game they are not likely to get anything out of anyway, before the season had even started. If West Ham wanted this, then why not play their reserve team against the Icelandic side in the first round and be done with it early? Fulham does happen if you actually try.

New manager with no experience in the league is a gamble, add to that an unfortunate run of injuries and you have yourself in a relegation battle.

 

[BobP]

Also where the **** is Alex Song?

 

[Dokaka]

Sorry Dokaka, I'm not whining or anything and it's not a big deal anyway, it's just strange that Bilic taken this decision ahead of an away game they are not likely to get anything out of anyway, before the season had even started. If West Ham wanted this, then why not play their reserve team against the Icelandic side in the first round and be done with it early? Fulham does happen if you actually try.

Nothing happened with Fulham. They're now relegated and in deep ****. They gained absolutely nothing from going to the final because no one gives a flying **** about the Europa League unless they're in it. The sponsorships are laughable, the monetary gain is even worse. There's barely any coverage of it until the late stages.

And we did field very poor starting XI's in all of the Europa League games. What people don't realize is that we started the EL campaign on July 2nd. It completely disrupted our pre-season, a pre-season with a new manager and a lot of new players. We literally had to have two separate pre-season squads as there was just no way our team could prepare for every single game collectively, and it made it a complete nightmare for Bilic having to travel between both squads.

It's just a case of a good opportunity being presented at the worst possible time. Like getting a chance to **** Anna Kendrick the day after you got a vasectomy. You might still give it a go but there's just no way you can put your best effort into it.

 

[Dokaka]

In all honesty though I'm very worried about this season for us. Allardyce teams have historically done very poorly after he'd left, mainly due to his very rigid style of football and the player he brings in to support that playstyle. Our horrendous pre-season form hasn't done much to encourage me either. I know it's just pre-season, but still.

We're not an established PL side yet. It wouldn't be shocking to see us go down, compared to clubs like Tottenham or even Everton. The danger is always there, and the consequences of doing so have never been worse.

 

[ArsenesNO1Fan]

In all honesty though I'm very worried about this season for us. Allardyce teams have historically done very poorly after he'd left, mainly due to his very rigid style of football and the player he brings in to support that playstyle. Our horrendous pre-season form hasn't done much to encourage me either. I know it's just pre-season, but still.

We're not an established PL side yet. It wouldn't be shocking to see us go down, compared to clubs like Tottenham or even Everton. The danger is always there, and the consequences of doing so have never been worse.

I'd be shocked if you went down with the squad you've amassed over the last couple of seasons.

It's a pity the EL isn't financially viable, it seems final league position brings in more cash than going far in the EL. I remember Martin O'Neil saying something about resting players for the EL so he could qualify for the EL. It just makes it all pointless for the fans, when 4th or 7th place is the target instead of say a cup.

There's now a huge gap between the middle table teams and the likes of Watford, Sunderland, Leicester, Norwich, Bournemouth are all a clear couple of levels below the others and they'll suffer for it, while West Brom and hopefully Stoke being dragged into it. Villa have done very well in the market imo

So no I don't think there was a chance you'd go down but you may finish 4 places lower and lose out on cash that way.

 

[Dokaka]

I'd be shocked if you went down with the squad you've amassed over the last couple of seasons.

It's a pity the EL isn't financially viable, it seems final league position brings in more cash than going far in the EL. I remember Martin O'Neil saying something about resting players for the EL so he could qualify for the EL. It just makes it all pointless for the fans, when 4th or 7th place is the target instead of say a cup.

There's now a huge gap between the middle table teams and the likes of Watford, Sunderland, Leicester, Norwich, Bournemouth are all a clear couple of levels below the others and they'll suffer for it, while West Brom and hopefully Stoke being dragged into it. Villa have done very well in the market imo

So no I don't think there was a chance you'd go down but you may finish 4 places lower and lose out on cash that way.

Leicester, Watford and Bournemouth have all spent more than us in this transfer window.

 

[Clrnc]

Nothing happened with Fulham. They're now relegated and in deep ****. They gained absolutely nothing from going to the final because no one gives a flying **** about the Europa League unless they're in it. The sponsorships are laughable, the monetary gain is even worse. There's barely any coverage of it until the late stages.

And we did field very poor starting XI's in all of the Europa League games. What people don't realize is that we started the EL campaign on July 2nd. It completely disrupted our pre-season, a pre-season with a new manager and a lot of new players. We literally had to have two separate pre-season squads as there was just no way our team could prepare for every single game collectively, and it made it a complete nightmare for Bilic having to travel between both squads.

It's just a case of a good opportunity being presented at the worst possible time. Like getting a chance to **** Anna Kendrick the day after you got a vasectomy. You might still give it a go but there's just no way you can put your best effort into it.

Fair enough mate, although Fulham's relegation has got absolutely nothing to do with their UEL run 4 years prior to it. Sometimes I just wish the perception of UEL changes in England, because its a big thing for many of the other European countries. Clubs in Italy, Spain, Germany takes it seriously.

Oh and Anna Kendrick is droolworthy for me. Like winning the world cup.

 

[BaZZe]

I hope Bielik leapfrogs Flamini in the pecking order and makes the squad ahead of him in Wilshere's absence for tomorrow.

 

[Doom]

I hope Bielik leapfrogs Flamini in the pecking order and makes the squad ahead of him in Wilshere's absence for tomorrow.

Is Bielike anywhere near match fit? Did he not miss all preseason with an infected wound on his foot?