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Was 7th Place Really The Holy Grail Or A Poisoned Chalice?

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Mon, 22/04/2019 - 11:35

Much has been made of why teams just below the top six clubs of the Barclays Premier League have struggled to make 7th place their own, Everton, Leicester, Watford, Wolves and West Ham have all flirted with securing what will probably be a slot that guarantees European football next season. Every time West Ham have had the opportunity they have failed to secure the points needed, which leads us to the conclusion that, despite publicly stating his desire to take his club in to the opening qualifying rounds of the Europa League, Hammers manager Manuel Pellegrini will be relieved to have fallen just short of the mark, and here are the reasons why.

Following Saturday's results it became mathematically impossible for Hammers to be relegated, and while ninth or tenth may not seem much of a reward for the club's expenditure, it still represents solid progress. Given this season's insane injury list some would say tenth is a remarkable achievement, never the less it is still a work in progress, and does the club have the resources to put a full team out just after the season ends in order to go through the pre-qualifying stages of the Europa League?

Finishing in seventh might be the holy grail for some teams, but the collateral effect of keeping players fit when they would normally be on holiday can have far reaching consequences, look at how Burnley have suffered this season, they went from being a comfortable mid table team to one that has flirted with relegation.

Next season Pellegrini will have a squad that he has moulded together and he will expect progress, as will the board, but for now West Ham fans will have to be content with the promise of success, but a success achieved by a team playing football that is pleasing on the eye and a foundation that can be built on for the future. For the time being UEFA can keep their 'Holy Grail', because playing six games before the real competition begins is much more of a poisoned chalice. - Ed

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Anywhere between 10th - 13th is about right,helped massively by the 4 wins on the bounce in december...next season will be the test where we are going I reckon

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moore 6 legend's picture

Does seem we avoided 7th at all cost,did we ditch out the fa cup for that reason too,i mean we don't want to go and win the bloody thing,that means were be in Europe ;)

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Dartford Bhoy's picture

I think 7th would be great. However, i do think you need either a large good squad or fortune-ate with few injuries and the latter is just not West Ham!

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We are no where near being ready for Europe,in my opinion we should be pleased where we are now in the league,and haven't had to go through a relegation fight,real shame with the cups though,we have the ability to of done much better,but no that showed it was a bridge too far also.If we don't sort out the squad properly in the summer,and buy wisely,we will be stuck in the bottom region during the first quarter of the season,which is familiar territory at that point anyway......You heard it here first.

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