Tomo

Mourinho kind of strengthens the point, he had to literally do as bad he did this season to be sacked, if we was as "high" as 10th he would still be here, because of his track track record Roman didn't pull the plug until there was literally no choice. AVB was another Roman wanted to give time to, he didn't even want to sack him and, like with Jose, didn't until there was no other option, 10/11 was such a shit season (despite finishing second) and it was clear AVB would have got time if he say finished 3rd and showed positive signs in a good direction, but he didn't. Carlo, although I would have at the time given him a last year to redeem himself, he fucked up that year, if there was ever a team in a false league position it was us in 10/11, the opening five games when we were still on a title rebound inflated the stats and made that season look better than it was, we are still feeling the effects of that season to this day. While I wanted him to stay at the time in hindsight I'm glad he went, he makes Rafa look flexible in terms of changing things from the bench, did he ever change a game with his subs once for us or even an in game tactical switch for that matter? I mean even Grant had his famous Belletti and Anelka moment vs Arsenal. I honestly believe a season or two without silverware will be accepted if progress is being made, for argument sake next season back in top four with a clear style and blueprint and season two get mid to high 80s but narrowly lose to City, can you see him losing his job? I can't.

To be honest, any other time I would agree a few games out would do him good, and even tho I'm not as big on Begovic as most he is very good cover. However, righlty or wrongly, dropping Tibo now would only likely to send him to the exit door, and given a lot of fans moan about short sighted, losing a world class keeper because we dropped him when we have nothing to play for would take short sightedness to whole new dimensions.

Roman won't be happy but lf Roman purely judges managers on whether a trophy is won or not, then Di Matteo would have at least got the full season after Munich. If Conte is showing genuine progression, I can't see any problems in terms of job security.

Our defense will hopefully be better next season, Cesar is getting upto speed again at RB and he will be fine, hopefully we will have a new experienced defender and Christensen back next year, which will give usa solid base for Kenedy to get some games there (he can compete with Ake, I am not convinced by Baba tbh). Defends for Robert needs some work, but many players can learn the trade, most attacking full backs you see today have been moved back from further forward because they didn't cut the mustard, i mean look at Dani Alves, looking at his game purely going forward for a minute Pep tried him on the wing once or twice, he was average at best, but at right back he is a menace, in my opinion Kenedy lacks the level of technical ability needed to be a winger/attacking midfielder at least as a starter, if that's the direction we are going with him ill give it four seasons max before his inclusion in a lineup is widely groaned at like Oscar and Pedros are this present time. Juan is good in Italy but the English game seems to really not suit him, I know it's harsh to judge an I will give him a chance if he returns but he's a player who needs a lot of time on the ball and the game in this country doesn't give that. There's nothing wrong with signing a player for 2-3 years (it's actually a really long time, Willian has only been here 3 years it feels like forever), we fucked up with that team because we didn't catch the signs early, the squad peaked In 07/08 (still agonises me that squad won nothing, if any squad was good and deep enough for a quadruple it was that one), we should have started rebuilding the moment the whistle went in Moscow. But main point is just having a good Pedro for a season is ok if we have a plan when father time calls. I think there are a couple more youth players than I would have in that squad you mentioned but overall it's quite decent balance only changes I would make is If we have enough space extend Amelia's contract, Blackman would have us pining for Turnbull's return. If possible Christensen back and Miazga on loan,Kenedy in defence and someone else covering Haz and Willy (be that Pedro or whoever). Probably Kante over Baker or Neves, to utilise Cescs strengths and hide his weakness we need a lot of muscle around him, i don't usually advocate going to such extreme lengths to protect a player but the creativity and forward thinking he offers is just off the scale and we would defiantly miss that if he goes. Pato I'm not too sure about, I would like Troy Deeney for reasons I've explained in the transfer thread.

I thought he was awful against Villa and just furthens my belief he should be a left back going forward. He needs to improve his defending but that can be worked on, a lot of players have done that in their careers, as a winger I haven't been convinced by him once all season, he lacks the close control and decision making to be anything more than a squad player in that area in my opinion. However at left back especially vs Palace and Norwich it was clear the potential for something special.

I watched the game just now and he had a good first half but was anonymous in the second to the point I forgot he was on. He's still young but overall involvement in a match is something he clearly needs to work on, I can understand why Jose subbed him at half time in the reverse fixture or Guus waited until half time vs Scunthorpe put it that way.

That true but we have drew 8 under Guus four wins and four in the would have us four more points which would probably still be too late for top 4. Also an unbeaten run even with a lot of draws can build positive momentum, if we can keep that record till the end it would be a good boost for Conte to come in too, we saw how Spurs subtly built up momentum with an unbeaten run (despite a lot of draws) back last year, so hopefully we can benefit similar eventually.

Why not? Castro gave up CL footy last summer to sign for Dortmund, like them or United we can probably hide behind this season (out of CL) as being a one off, if it's becomes a constant theme then it could become a problem.

If Courtois goes then the only (realistically attainable) keeper that would come anywhere near to sofening the blow would be Keylor Navas, although we need to boost our HG quota Forster represents a massive step down from Cech, Courtois and would be a hugely underwhelming signing. Decent, but if we are happy with decent we might aswell save the money and give Begovic the gig.

Really?

If Conte gives him certain guarantees I can see him returning. I'm not an advocate of guaranteeing outfielders a starting place (keeper is an exception for obvious reasons) but I wouldn't be averse to offering Christensen a run if games to nail a place down until Happy is back up to speed.

Of course it has to be put into account (how bad Villa are) but they still have to be beaten and 4-0 away from home is still impressive. To put it in perspective out of the current top teams in the league Leicester and City dropped points there, Arsenal and Spurs "only" won 2-0 and United by one. Also the last two teams in this league that were this bad were Derby 07/08 and Sunderland 05/06, with superior squads we made a meal out of winning the away games vs these teams. Of course no judgement on anything should be made on this, but it was an impressive result regardless.

Well tbh with Kenedy I see his future at left back so he doesn't even come to my train of thought at AM, and Willian is a good one to mention because he was getting wrote off this time last year, the general consensus was we needed an upgrade at right mid (which ironically after his debut Pedro was seen as that man) but look at him now. Also even if we do move to 4-3-3 by the sounds of it the main priority for Conte sounds like it will be defense and midfield, and I'd rather have Pedro on the bench as opposed to Cuadrado and Moses. Also Pep left when Pedro was 25 which is a bit too old for next big thing, also was he even considered the next best thing? I was always under the impression he was widely thought of as a decent if unspectacular player who works within a system, something I also believes watching him especially for Barca. I'm not saying build the team around him, of course not, but he brings something different to the table and could be a good asset for a season or two if he picks up abit of consistentcy, it's worth remembering Malouda was a lot worse in his first season here and look how he turned out in the double season.

Leicester worry me, they (and crucially Vardy) seem to be flaking a bit and Ranieri doesn't exactly have a strong record in the business end, only time I can recall any of his teams doing the business under pressure was our chase for 4th in 2003, and even then we were doing our best to blow it. They are still getting the results right now but I just can't help thinking the cream rising theory will still come up trumps and send them on a bit of a rut before the end. Although having said that if they can win tommorow they will have to have an unbelievable implosionfor it not to atlesst be in their hands coming here on last day, and you would think we wouldn't bust a gut for Spurs.

Rumour has it we are looking at a double swoop for him and Naingolan. Not a big source but I ain't creating this thread purely because of the rumour, what I want to ask to the avid viewersof Italian football is how good is he? And would he be good enough to be our main defender next season?

The old saying goes win you're home games and get what you can away. Hiddink is using that analogy in reverse.

Thinking purely for next season I think one of them will need to go out on loan (probably Miazga) purely because the experienced defender will play every game which will leave three fighting for one place so one will almost certainly be "doing a De Bruyne", especially with no European footy potentially. My ideal would be experienced defender, Christensen, Zouma and Terry/Cahill for next season.

Got to say, I'm glad Palace are on an awful winless run, the media loving towards Pardew for the whole of 2015 was cringeworthy, apart from a few honeymoon spells his record is abysmal.

He's never been a dribbler, like I alluded to the way we have used him this season would be like telling Willian to play on the shoulder, he's not completely blameless but he's a very useful player when used right. He's not Hazard, you can't expect him to skin five player's to score/assist, there's more chance of Costa doing that. You don't play for Pep if you're shit, Pedro's first goal in the 2011 CL final shows what he brings, I reckon he will be a decentfoil for Eden if/when he returns to his best, Pedro is use to combining with the likes of Messi, Ibra, Villa, so is probably best equipped to drum up a partnership with Eden. He's not world class but can be useful if used correctly.

It is no surprise he struggled a bit at the start, factor in the team being a mess and not utilising him properly was always going to happen. What I mean by the latter is Pedro's strengths are movement and combinations, and at the start of the season we were giving him the ball and hoping he will do something, that's not his game, it would be like telling Willian to play on the shoulder of the last defenders and score 20 or more goals this season, of course he would look bad.

What formation are we on since JCS came on? Is he in midfield or sce we gone three/five at the back?

5 youngsters playing, one almost certain to come on, but what's the betting their still be moans if Jake Clarke Salter doesn't come on at 3-0?

Get out of it, that type of thinking outside the box isn't allowed on here.

Because of Tibo injury he got more than he would have got otherwise. He didn't do too bad, how good he did depends on how you judge his run in the team, if i judge the spell as a number two filling in then he was as good as you can possibly hope from a back up. However if I look at it as what it takes to be a number one here, then I wasn't atall convinced, to me he doesn't have that bit extra the world class or even borderline world class keepers have, even Tibo making a few mistakes has been making world class impossible saves Begovic wouldn't have got near, prime example Martial at Stamford Bridge.

He should be the starting centre half (along with whoever we sign) until Zouma gets back anyway, then those three can fight it out for the two spots.