Pizy

File this in the "too good to be true" category. Smacks of a player threatening interest in leaving in order to get more money off Bayern.

I know he had a disappointing season for us but hasn't he performed and scored well off Spain recently? Thought for sure he'd still make the squad.

I can see Lewandowski going to City, unfortunately. With Griezmann looking nailed on for Barca and with Torres also leaving them they'll be after a forward. I read something not long ago about the possibility of Aguero returning there and can definitely picture that. Pep doesn't seem to fancy him as much as their previous managers have for some reason. Pep has said as recently as a week or two that they "might" be in the market for a new forward. Probably replace Aguero with his former player Lewandowski.

Hire Sarri and allow him to bring in Jorginho + K2 with him as two of our big signings. Jorginho is being linked with just about all of our rivals who can obviously offer CL football so I doubt we can sign him, but maybe if we take his manager we'd have a leg up on everyone else. He looks like the perfect Fabregas replacement.

Wasn't comparing their status or ability but rather just how I feel about them as players. Willian has been one of my favorites here just as Mata was at the time. Like Mata, I would be sad at first to see Willian playing for a rival but would get over it eventually since he's not good enough to elevate them to a whole new level.

Think if Willian goes to United it'll be a lot like Mata. Painful at times to watch a player I've loved but not consistent enough to make us truly regret selling him. I would love a Willian for Martial swap. Even in Martial's brief cameo yesterday you see exactly what he brings. With consistent game time and a manager who isn't an asshole like José he can become a world class winger/hybrid forward. Willian can still provide moments or small stretches where he's top class but he rarely sustains it.

Yeah.... Seems Conte doesn't get on well with the Brazilians we've had. Fallen out with all of them. Diego, David Luiz, and now clearly Willian. And we know what happens when the players are unhappy with the manager.

Almost universal thinking amongst the journo's that he's off. Think in the end it's comments from our players like Hazard today that will do him in. I'm sure quite a few of them are sick of setting up defensively and playing like a small team.

We seriously look like a Championship side who Cindarellla'd into the final against a big team. Embarrassing.

This is just pathetic football. Zero attacking quality. Like the commentator just said, Cesc is dead on his feet. He's so unbelievably unathletic that he's a total liability.

We're surrendering far too much possession to them and showing them far too much respect. Cesc needs to get on the ball and start linking play. So far our whole attacking approach is to smack the ball up to Giroud and hoping he can bring Hazard into play. It's not working well because Giroud is often being double marked. We also haven't been able to get our wingbacks into the game offensively at all. We need to show a bit more ambition going forward or we're just inviting a mistake or freak goal.

I was confident bore both Hudderfield and Newcatsle and was obviously let down massively. I'm confident here again before this game as well for some reason. Send Conte off on a high so we can remember his time here fondly rather than our players surrendering meekly. If we go a goal down early we'll really get a good picture of who still cares. See which ones go into "fuck, let's just get this over with" mode and who mans up and gets stuck in.

Seems like all of our rivals are already busy and are being linked with very good players. Only rumors that concern us are about key players leaving. This is probably the worst possible summer to need a new manager and overhaul due to City, United, Liverpool, and Spuds all having managers that are now fully settled and on the same page as their boards.

I hope not. I'd even have Enrique ahead of him.

Just offer Poch a Pep or Mou-like salary, a lengthy contract, and tell him he's completely safe in his job for the duration of it no matter what happens. Allow him time to do for us what he's done at Spuds - develop a great style of play that's both solid defensively and exciting going forward, improve and coach up players to fulfil their potential, and integrate young players. I think if we were to show to him that we are more ambitious in the market than Daniel Levy is he'd consider it. That's the biggest problem, though.

Jardim, maybe. I'm not 100% sold on Allegri. Admittedly, I was the same with Conte before he came here. I have to see how he does away from Juve where he doesn't have by far the best team.

Luis Enrique rumors heating up again. I just don't see how we play Barca style football without a massive overhaul of the squad. He would be a gamble on the level of AVB. It's a risk that's too great for me.

Pochettino would be unbelievable but unless we offer him the moon and the stars I don't think it's possible. We'd have to not only give him a huge budget but we'd also have to sell him on the idea that we want to change as a club. If Sarri isn't available, Allegri (who I don't believe is even an upgrade on Conte at all) and now that Tuchel are off the table I think we'd be best off just sticking with Conte for another season and hope our summer recruitment is great. There isn't a real standout candidate that I feel would do a better job.

With the decision making around these parts lately I wouldn't be surprised if we hire Brandan Rodgers and sign some average English players.

Fair play to him with these latest comments. The exact mentality I'd have in his position. He's probably sick to death of going from mountain top to valley every other season. We win the league, have a disastrous summer and finish miles off of a title challenge. He won't want to waste the rest of his prime years here if we continue to sign the Drinkwater's, Bakayoko's, Barkley's, and Zappacosta's of the world. Especially when he's watching rivals sign world class talents. Hopefully these comments light a fire under our clubs ass and they bring in some top class. Otherwise I fear he'll either force his way out or do the unthinkable and run his contract down and leave for nothing.

So which of our former players will score a late winner against us here? Mata, Matic, or Lukaku? Already imagining Mou smugly smiling as he wins the FA Cup and sees Conte get the sack straight afterwards.

It would be really worrying if he doesn't sign an extension soon. It would be suicidal to allow his contract to run down. If he's dead set on going then it has to be this summer. We can't allow a player who is worth £150m run down his contract and either let him walk for nothing or only get relative peanuts for him.

We'll even have to think about refreshing some of our players the fans like but simply aren't good enough anymore. The likes of Willian, Cesc, and Pedro. All players I really like but who are/will be 30+ and on the decline. Pedro and Willian are wildly inconsistent and Cesc has somehow become even less mobile than he was when he arrived. None of those 3 should be every match players for a side with title winning ambitions next season. Then we have players who are straight up average and wouldn't look out of place at a 8th-12th placed side like Cahill, DD, Zappa, Barkley. The club would have to sell off so many just for us to start to get better. And while considering all of that we also have to think about Hazard and Courtois going. This summer is going to be insane.

Much as I think he has to go after the cup final, I just don't see what Sarri or anyone else is going to do with many or our players who seem unmovable in the summer. Bakayoko ain't suddenly going to develop a silky touch and be able to pass like Busquets. He's not going to develop football intelligence in a single summer. And I can't even fathom the club selling him 1 year after buying him for £40m. Drinkwater cost 35 fucking million and unless the club take a massive bath I can't see him being sold right away. I have this bad feeling that we'll do just a couple of deals and the club will hope our next manager can suddenly turn our current average lot into title challengers. Like, I'll be very pleasantly surprised if there is more than 1 new player in our best XI on opening day.

No new manager coming in is suddenly going to transform some of our players into top footballers. Many are just average and will always be average. Major overhaul + coach with an attacking philosophy needed.