Timely reminder of whats going to be required in the champions league. Your not going far if you have to rely on the likes of vieira, Turner and Reiss Nelson.

We still have some way to go

It's very possible we can end up runner up. It's also very possible that Man Utd ends up 3rd with 2 trophies.
If that happens who will have had the better season? Is the answer the same if we finish with the title?

Yep. Reinforcements needed. The thing is it is easier do so when in the CL and after the high profile season we've been having.

Tierney is a really good player - the problem he and we have is his style and strengths seem completely at odds with the style and strengths Arteta implements in his team.

If there are prem teams interested in him (Newcastle) then you really could raise £40m maybe, and then buy a LB to better suit the team but any new signing is a big risk and the likelihood is you’re buying another young player to be back up to Zinchenko. It would be a hard position to truly and immediately strengthen in the summer if we did get rid of Tierney

Rice only has 12 months left on his contract and has shown he won’t sign a new one. This is West Ham’s last chance to get a few for him. Being in the last 12 months does drop your actual fee/value. I could see Dortmund wanting north if £130m for Bellingham. According to a lot of reports Rice is sold on us, if that’s true and we get a free run at him I think you could get him for roughly half of Bellingham’s price.

Patrick Vieira sacked.

Sunday will be interesting

Obviously disasppointing to go out, particularly after extra time/penalties and some injuries, but I was surprised how we struggled to control most of the match. I think Jorghinio and Vieira arent strong or quick enough to dominate the midfield together against quick and robust opponents. I heard someone say on a podcast that perhaps having had a less intense Europa league match after the crazy emotional win against Brentford allowed the team to reset and face Fulham with clear heads. My worry is that now we 'only' have the title to aim for and we are suddenly into 11 cup finals territory without any Europa League respite.
I guess the question is would you prefer the distraction, opportunity to rest players and the extra games of the Europa League or only have 11 season defining Premier league matches?

Given how poor we've looked when rotating I feel the only way we win the league is if we can virtually start our best 11 in every single game, that means no injuries, no illness etc. A big ask.

Well our forumites might be disheartened but it’s as nothing compared to the myriad of Facebook groups. They have turned on the team like a bunch of rabid dogs. Mind you the amount of actual knowledge and insight displayed there usually approximates to zero.

Heard talk about '11 finals'. I think the team need to approach it as they have done so far which is more like 'the next game' rather than 11 finals

Obviously disasppointing to go out, particularly after extra time/penalties and some injuries, but I was surprised how we struggled to control most of the match. I think Jorghinio and Vieira arent strong or quick enough to dominate the midfield together against quick and robust opponents. I heard someone say on a podcast that perhaps having had a less intense Europa league match after the crazy emotional win against Brentford allowed the team to reset and face Fulham with clear heads. My worry is that now we 'only' have the title to aim for and we are suddenly into 11 cup finals territory without any Europa League respite.
I guess the question is would you prefer the distraction, opportunity to rest players and the extra games of the Europa League or only have 11 season defining Premier league matches?

A very big ask. I'm not confident.

I think we looked like a team focussed on the PL last night. There was a 10% drop in our sharpness from the off. Frustrating but not a disaster IMO. The only thing that nags me is our continued under achievement in Europe for a club of our size. Our record really is abysmal

However, as Tim Stillman says this morning, go and look at our fixtures for April/ early May and tell me you're unhappy that we're not playing on thursday nights as well.

I've seen a lot of 'why didn't he play his best team' chat. Damned if he does damned if he doesnt.

If we deliver the title then every single decision is justified. If we don't then the decisions in many ways are still justified as we've given ourselves the best opportunity to win it.

Since we last won it 19 seasons ago we've only been in this position twice in 07/08 (1st) and 13/14 (2nd) seasons. Given the off seasons of Chelsea and Liverpool and Man U still slightly finding their feet under the new manager this is a big opportunity.

If we win the title but Man U win two trophies the better season is undoubtedly ours with no debate needed.
If we finish 2nd and they get two trophies and finish 3rd then Man U have had the better season but I still prefer us long term. We’ve got the younger squad and generally dominate games rather relying on games based on counter attack and transitions which is what Man U currently do.

If Man U get their recruitment right and spend as they did last summer they will/should be title challengers next season

Man Utd and us aren't leagues apart. They have a lot of talent and we are better managed. Ten has put in some very good managerial feats for them this season, is consistency he lacks. Beating City at home, Barcelona in a cup tie, the only team to beat us in the first half of the season.

If the Qataris buy them its game over. No one will see a title between the Manchester sides for a while except for Liverpool. We will compete, beat either of them once in a while, but over a season won't be able to match either club with all the money at their disposal to buy players like Casemiro and Haaland.

Then add Newcastle to the mix. They will be a top 4 side annually in a year or two, challenge for the title in less than half a decade is my guess.

Alternatively, we could mix up the tactical approach. I'm not really a fan of Zinchenko's free role but I can see that there are games where it works exceptionally well. However, there's no reason why we couldn't switch to an orthodox back 4 for some games or during games. Tierney is a better defender than Zinchenko and also links up better with Martinelli. Zinchenko can still play in midfield and would be a better option there than Vieira.

I find it very difficult to see the benefit in selling Tierney and as you have said, getting a replacement who plays the same way as Zinchenko will be very difficult.

Xhaka's celebration with the thumb on the nose was for his daughter. Strange that one of the Sporting players then mocked it at full time and has also put it all over his social media of him doing it again with Xhaka in the picture. Was there some sort of falling out on the pitch? Even so I always find it a strange thing - of course things go on in the heat of battle, but they won the game just celebrate with your team. I find the 'bad winner' far more distasteful than any tantrums of players when they've lost.

I don't understand last nights performance at all. What makes a team normally defined by the quality of its passing suddenly be unable to keep possession and give the ball away at every available opportunity? Was it purely that we couldn't cope with Sporting's intensity or something else.

One thing is clear, you cannot play Xhaka and Jorginho as the central midfield pairing, far too slow on the turn and Sporting just ran through them at will. Only the introduction of Partey and latterly Ødegaard enabled us to gain some measure of control in the middle of the park.

Also, Zinchenko's defensive weaknesses were really undone last night, on the occasions he was actually in the LB position. Let's be honest, he's a technically great footballer and vital to the way we play but his moves into midfield leave us wide open down the left and its really hard for Gabriel to try and deal with against sides who break quickly.

Things did get very heated at one point and Xhaka-surprise surprise--was at the center of it.

We have more than just a first 11. Tierney, Tomiyasu, Jorginho, Emile Smith Rowe, Trossard, Nketiah. All very good players who don't make our first 11. Nelson has come in and made some vital contributions. Holding is limited but is a great guy to have when you are hanging on for a win. We have nobody at Partey's level in his position. Likewise with Ødegaard. But you could say the same about Rodri and Haaland at City.

Alternatively, we could mix up the tactical approach. I'm not really a fan of Zinchenko's free role but I can see that there are games where it works exceptionally well. However, there's no reason why we couldn't switch to an orthodox back 4 for some games or during games. Tierney is a better defender than Zinchenko and also links up better with Martinelli. Zinchenko can still play in midfield and would be a better option there than Vieira.

I find it very difficult to see the benefit in selling Tierney and as you have said, getting a replacement who plays the same way as Zinchenko will be very difficult.

...When you see when those Europa games are played - a potential semi being between Newcastle (a) and Brighton (h) it really is crucial for our league hopes that we went out...

Let's wait and see if losing helps us! Losing isn't often the main ingredient of the recipe for success.

Xhaka's celebration with the thumb on the nose was for his daughter. Strange that one of the Sporting players then mocked it at full time and has also put it all over his social media of him doing it again with Xhaka in the picture. Was there some sort of falling out on the pitch? Even so I always find it a strange thing - of course things go on in the heat of battle, but they won the game just celebrate with your team. I find the 'bad winner' far more distasteful than any tantrums of players when they've lost.

You'd prefer to have the five extra games? I always think back to 1980, when, after 70 endless matches of a heroic campaign, fighting on several fronts, for the FA Cup, European Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup qualification, we ended up with ... well, I'm sure you remember!