[Albion] Levi Colwill

[Triggaaar]

Nothing against the rules at subbing keepers before pens start, as long as the original keeper is on board.

If you had one keeper who was clearly better during a match, and another who was clearly better at stopping penalties, that would be a decent option. But I'm not sure which one is better during the game, and I don't know how Sanchez does with penalties in training - purely from what we've seen though, maybe Steele is better?

 

[Jimmy Grimble]

I agree as well but you can argue from an optimistic point of view too. Say we are so wonderful now that either game has a 50:50 chance of us winning that would give us a 25% chance of winning the FA cup.

Our chances of finishing 7th (or higher) in the league are much greater than that, we are on course for over 60 points and only 6 other clubs are currently predicted to get at least that much - being pessimistic I'd say we have a greater than 50% chance of finishing 7th or higher (some prediction models currently give us over 80%).

Of course this could all go tits up and Wham or the Chavs win a European trophy meaning 7th no longer gets a European spot. Or worse, Chelsea solve their issues and go on a winning streak in the league (on paper this should be possible).

Mainly though the odds of Europe don't matter to me compared to how much I really, really, really want us to win the FA cup!

I still can’t find anything which confirms what happens if WHU win the ECL. They are favourites to win it so we could quite easily end up needing 6th…

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

I still can’t find anything which confirms what happens if WHU win the ECL. They are favourites to win it so we could quite easily end up needing 6th…

I just read this a few times: https://www.premierleague.com/european-qualification-explained

I'm not entirely sure but I think wham get Champions League as an extra team making 8 teams getting European football from English league.

Then if Chelsea win Champions League too, 4th in the league only gets Europa but 5th still gets Europa too and the usual rules about the 2 domestic cup positions give 6th and 7th European places. Meaning 9 teams would get European football in total.

So I think this means only Sheffield United can stop 7th in the league getting European spot this season. Or us of course if we won the FA Cup but tanked in the league.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

If we win the F.A cup we qualify for europe no matter where we finish in the league.

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

Edit' It's not that good a post it needs saying twice.

 

[Javeaseagull]

Watching young Colwill playing for England in the U21s friendly and the thought occurred they he won’t sign for us if he wants to play for England.

 

[nwgull]

Our best chance of Europe right now is top 6 or 7 in the PL.
13/2 to win the cup, but about even money to finish top 6.


As others have said, I think the evidence is that Steele is better at saving penalties.

Is it a fair comparison when all pens Sanchez has faced have been against a premier league first-choice penalty taker? I think Steele’s saves have all been in shoot-outs, so not regular pen takers, and against non-PL teams, haven’t they?

 

[Goldstone Guy]

4-0! We can actually beat France at something (still upset about the rugby).

 

[Javeaseagull]

4 nil to England! Scorers coming from Champions League teams. That Southgate really knows what he is talking about when he moans about shortage of English players.

 

[Sheebo]

I just read this a few times: https://www.premierleague.com/european-qualification-explained

I'm not entirely sure but I think wham get Champions League as an extra team making 8 teams getting European football from English league.

Then if Chelsea win Champions League too, 4th in the league only gets Europa but 5th still gets Europa too and the usual rules about the 2 domestic cup positions give 6th and 7th European places. Meaning 9 teams would get European football in total.

So I think this means only Sheffield United can stop 7th in the league getting European spot this season. Or us of course if we won the FA Cup but tanked in the league.

Thanks. I would really like someone who knows to 100% clarify this… Basically, it shouldn’t matter, but to be safe we hope Chelski and WHam don’t win their European comps… I think. Is there any way 8th in the league could get into Europe some how though..?

 

[Triggaaar]

Is it a fair comparison when all pens Sanchez has faced have been against a premier league first-choice penalty taker? I think Steele’s saves have all been in shoot-outs, so not regular pen takers, and against non-PL teams, haven’t they?

Yep, so the jury is out. Presumably the club get some idea from training. I'll trust whatever call Roberto makes.

 

[Swansman]

Is it a fair comparison when all pens Sanchez has faced have been against a premier league first-choice penalty taker? I think Steele’s saves have all been in shoot-outs, so not regular pen takers, and against non-PL teams, haven’t they?

I think its still a fair comparison. In front of a penalty spot the difference between a League Two player and a Premier League player isn't massive.
Think its a confidence issue: when you've let 10+ penalties in in a row, you're going to be insecure in that situation. Once he has a bit of luck and manages to save one, I think it will be first of many penalty saves.

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

I just read this a few times: https://www.premierleague.com/european-qualification-explained

I'm not entirely sure but I think wham get Champions League as an extra team making 8 teams getting European football from English league.

Then if Chelsea win Champions League too, 4th in the league only gets Europa but 5th still gets Europa too and the usual rules about the 2 domestic cup positions give 6th and 7th European places. Meaning 9 teams would get European football in total.

So I think this means only Sheffield United can stop 7th in the league getting European spot this season. Or us of course if we won the FA Cup but tanked in the league.

If West Ham win the Conference League they qualify for next seasons Europa League not the Champions League.

The only way 4th wouldn’t get a spot in Champions League is if both the CL and the Europa League are won by clubs who finish the league outside of the top 4.

For us the risk is Chelsea winning the CL and West Ham winning the Conference League and not getting into Europe via their league positions as it would take England over the permitted number of teams in European competition so the team qualifying for the lowest ranked tournament would miss out. However if we win the FA Cup that wouldn’t be an issue and it would be someone else missing out.

 

[Sheebo]

If West Ham win the Conference League they qualify for next seasons Europa League not the Champions League.

Is there any possible was 8th can qualify for Europe do you know?

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

Is there any possible was 8th can qualify for Europe do you know?

No as far as I’m aware (other than winning a cup competition and finishing 8th but they wouldn’t actually be qualifying for finishing 8th). We only have 7 places available in a normal season. There is a remit to add a 8th team but that is only if a team winning one of the European competitions doesn’t qualify through their league positions.

 

[Swansman]

Maximum number of teams that England could have had in European competitions this season would have been 9 if the "perfect storm" had happened last season. However, it is not possible to qualify solely through finishing 8th in the league.

 

[Sheebo]

No as far as I’m aware (other than winning a cup competition and finishing 8th but they wouldn’t actually be qualifying for finishing 8th). We only have 7 places available in a normal season. There is a remit to add a 8th team but that is only if a team winning one of the European competitions doesn’t qualify through their league positions.

If West Ham win the Conference and Man C or a foreign team win the Champs league, would 7th still get into Europe (assuming Man U or C win the FA Cup? My take is yes - it seems to all come down to the cup winners for 7th on the whole (unless like you say Chelsea and West Ham win those comps but don’t coke top 7…?)

 

[Joey Jo Jo Jr. Shabadoo]

If West Ham win the Conference and Man C or a foreign team win the Champs league, would 7th still get into Europe (assuming Man U or C win the FA Cup? My take is yes - it seems to all come down to the cup winners for 7th on the whole (unless like you say Chelsea and West Ham win those comps but don’t coke top 7…?)

Yes 7th should still get European football in that situation. I think my previous post was wrong though and the only way 7th could potentially miss out (or League Cup winners miss out if they don’t finish top 6) would be if all 3 European competitions were won by English clubs but none of them finish in the top 6 or win a domestic cup.

 

[nwgull]

I think its still a fair comparison. In front of a penalty spot the difference between a League Two player and a Premier League player isn't massive.

I disagree strongly. The difference between a recognised PL penalty taker - someone like Harry Kane or Ivan Toney - and an irregular pen taker from a league 2 team is vast. The latter are far more likely to put a nervous shot in a saveable area.

 

[ConfusedGloryHunter]

If West Ham win the Conference League they qualify for next seasons Europa League not the Champions League.

The only way 4th wouldn’t get a spot in Champions League is if both the CL and the Europa League are won by clubs who finish the league outside of the top 4.

For us the risk is Chelsea winning the CL and West Ham winning the Conference League and not getting into Europe via their league positions as it would take England over the permitted number of teams in European competition so the team qualifying for the lowest ranked tournament would miss out. However if we win the FA Cup that wouldn’t be an issue and it would be someone else missing out.

You are correct. If west ham win the conference then they get a europe spot next season. My bad.

However I believe this is also an additional spot for English league teams that still does not affect 7th in the league claiming manure's conference spot.

In a perfect storm of 3 English teams winning the 3 European competitions but all finishing outside of the top 5 (plus the two domestic cups being won by any teams other than the European winners) there could be 10 teams qualifying. 5 in champions league, 4 in Europa and 1 in conference. Extremely unlikely to happen of course.