Are Arsenal in danger of missing out? Are Nottingham Forest the real deal? And can Aston Villa or Spurs make the top four this season? Our expert panel takes a look.
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00:00Hello, I'm Matthew Gregory, and welcome to the Premier League panel. Today, we're going
00:08to take a look at the increasingly chaotic and unpredictable race for the top four to
00:12help me figure out whether Nottingham Forest are the real deal or whether Arsenal are in
00:16danger of missing out the Champions League and much more. Besides, I'm joined as always
00:20by an expert panel. London World's Dylan Oakley is here, as is the Sunderland Echoes' Jason
00:25Jones. I think one of the best places to start is probably last weekend's game between
00:30Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa, fifth and fourth in the league last year respectively,
00:35but Spurs notched up a resounding 4-1 victory. Dylan, there's been some pretty up and down
00:39results for Spurs so far. What does Sunday's game tell us about whether they're serious
00:44contenders for a Champions League spot? Well, I think Sunday was a weird one because realistically,
00:50as you say, it's been very much up and down for Spurs so far this season. I mean, if you
00:53look at their form, their form has basically been win-loss-win-loss for the last however
00:58many games. I think that's just the nature of the way they play under Postacoglou though
01:03really, but the game at the weekend was, I mean, it was a great performance. The first
01:07half was, they weren't as good, but they seemed to really turn it on in the second half, especially
01:11obviously they'd gone one down. And it just showed actually the attacking quality that
01:17they do have and they can show when it's their day. I mean, obviously they brought Solanke
01:22in over the summer to really, let's be honest, fill the void that was left by Harry Kane.
01:27And I think at the weekend, there was just that slight showing of actually, he can sort
01:33of do this. I mean, we saw it at Bournemouth because his form at Bournemouth, especially
01:36last season was brilliant. So I think he's probably quite a big factor in their top four
01:41hopes to be honest, but the way that they play, because they do play with that sort
01:45of attacking intensity, even against a tough team like Villa, if they really get into their
01:49stride, as we saw, they can just be, they can be really quite devastating going forward.
01:55So I suppose the question then is, you know, let's say they have had some great games.
01:57I mean, the 3-0 win at Old Trafford comes to mind as well. They were brilliant that
02:01day. And then they followed that up by, you know, collapsing against Brighton. There was
02:05the 1-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. What's causing them to have these up and down performances
02:09Dylan? Why are they good one week and bad the next?
02:12I'll be honest. I think it's just because of the nature of the way that Posse's Cogley
02:16wants to play. I mean, you brought up the Brighton game, which is a perfect example.
02:21He's always sort of said that he wants to try and play this high intensity attacking
02:25sort of almost we're going to score more goals than you type of football, if that makes sense.
02:31But it showed them in the Brighton game, they went 2-0 up. And at that point, the obvious
02:35thing to do really, even not necessarily completely sit back, but like, if you've got a two goal
02:40cushion, you want to try and protect that a little bit. And the fact that they were
02:44left themselves vulnerable to conceding three goals and then a late, you know, win by Danny
02:49Welbeck. I think that might be where the inconsistency comes from. And I think because even if you
02:55look at their defence, they haven't particularly been more leaky than any sort of the other
03:01teams that are around them in the table. It just so seems that those things can happen
03:06at them at the wrong times as it did against Brighton. So in that sense, I'd maybe, I wouldn't
03:11want to criticise Pastor Coggley too much, because I do think he's a good coach. And
03:15I think he's, you know, trying to obviously play a certain style of football, which when
03:19it works, it works brilliantly, as we saw at the weekend. But I think it does just leave
03:24them that little bit vulnerable on certain occasions as it did against Brighton.
03:27How do you see Spurs, Jason? I'll bring you in on this. I mean, because yeah, you do see
03:33there's two teams there, isn't there? There's two sets of results, and they're not far off
03:37the top four right now. I think they're only one point out of it. So they're very much
03:40in the race. But do you think that vulnerability is going to cost them a chance of making the
03:44Champions League next year?
03:46I think that the key with Tottenham, as it has been since time immemorial, is consistency.
03:53You know, it's, I hate the word, I really do. I think it's a sort of simplistic tag
03:59to put on them. But there is this, this albatross, this Spurs-y-ness to them.
04:03Four minutes, there we go. Four minutes into the show. I knew it was coming. We're talking
04:09about a sweepstake before we started, Jason.
04:11I don't like the word, and I do think it is perhaps, like you say, a touch simplistic.
04:16But at the same time, there is a reason that it has dogged them for so long, and it's because
04:20they lack the consistency. There's no doubting the quality, you know, and I do think that,
04:25you know, the acquisition of Solanke over the summer has gone somewhere towards plugging
04:30the gap that they so clearly needed to plug ever since Harry Kane left. But they do need
04:36to find a way of, you know, like you said, they've had some wonderful results over the
04:41season. They need to be able to find a way to ensure that those are, you know, happening
04:45on a weekly basis. I know, obviously, it's not as simple as doing that. If I was to have
04:50the answer then, then you would assume you'd be doing it. But there is an element of perhaps
04:56pragmatism having to come into effect at some point, you know. It's all very well having
05:00this style of play that you want to implement, this high intensity, this, like, you know,
05:04like we've said, this, this, I'm going to score more goals than you mentality. But if
05:09it's ultimately costing you points in games that you should be winning, then maybe there
05:15has to be a reassessment at a certain point. I think Spurs, you know, undoubtedly have
05:20the quality to make a really good challenge for a top four finish, whether they are going
05:24to be able to, you know, string together the sort of run that they need to to ensure that
05:28actually is that is a reality, especially considering some of the strength of the teams
05:32around them. I'm not so sure. And I do think that if I were to sort of make a prediction
05:37right now, it wouldn't surprise me if they are perhaps one of the teams who ultimately
05:41just fall short of that top four finish.