OneMoSalah

Jardim? Ffs, he will need time if the budget is going to be low so it wont work out. At least Enrique is sensible and knows that we need to spend a lot to compete considering the likes of City, United even Liverpool will likely go and spend. I don't think hes a great manager either but at least he is not a yes man and knows the low down. If he came here and only got 50-60m to spend he'd flop horribly because now a days that gets you maybe one top top level player and you could argue we need at least 4 new players of a pretty good level for the first 11.

Still concerned a bit, he has played a bit better than he has done in the last few weeks but for somebody who played as a more defensive minded player at Monaco the amount of times he let Pogba run off the back of him yesterday and even his carelessness of picking folk up at set plays was a major major issue. I still don't think he understands the whole box to box role, he never seems to truly know when to run forward and when to reign in it and it has been a common thing all season, along with mediocre ball retention, poor distribution and giving away constant fouls when there is no need. Next season might be different but I think we can do better and still thought we could of done better than him last summer. Whoever is in charge next season needs to light a fire under his arse at pre-season and say look if you don't improve 10 fold your not going to play/going to be sold because there are a hell of a lot of better players out there and for 40m its just not good enough to play maybe 3 or 4 games to a reasonable standard. He has shown he has something more than what we have seen recently but the impression hes left on me is that he thinks hes "made it" or that he can just coast games because he plays for Chelsea, we struggled enough in MF this season so for him to sit doing that, its so so so frustrating. Even Cesc struggles defensively but yesterday he actually did a job for us I thought and going forward he always offered something. So defos food for thought and even then we will 100% be looking into MF signings this summer, Drinkwater not good enough although he hasn't necessarily been overly poor in limited minutes but hes not better than Marco van Ginkel, although he cost about 27m more. Cesc has shown he can still play in a 3 man MF but hes not getting younger. Mason Mount is a promising youngster but I think he will make a mistake to reject a loan move to Ajax which is heavily being mentioned to sit on the bench here.

If Conte stays then there is potentially something to be discussed. I think Conte would want to keep him but petulant behaviour like that is daft. Especially after winning an FA Cup in a difficult season, where you can say that players and management both under performed in comparison to last season. I think it will be dealt with regardless of whatever situation, obviously Willian has been frustrated not playing as regularly as he has done earlier in the season in the last few months but that is football, it happens, if we lost the final then he'd maybe he could have a point but we won so?

Honestly I didn't think Martial did anything of great note that would encourage us to swap Willian for him other than show his pace. He can become this or that is too common a factor, hes struggled to really hit the nail on the head at United and to progress, even under van Gaal after his explosive start he has never really progressed and I don't think that any United fans would necessarily disagree although in front of goal he is a natural goal scorer I think, always manages to chip in with 7-10 goals a season, that would be a plus but for me if Eden stays where does he play? Right wing? Hes a wide forward, that would be a waste. As a 9? Not sure. I think the next wide player we sign needs to be more a creative player than a goal scorer, Eden is in the same make up but he cannot create every goal for us by himself, he needs help (although I still think Eden's goal output can improve and hopefully next season he will chip in with more although hes done alright this season considering how average the team has done). Suppose it all depends on the coach, formation, etc but if we do actually move for him or not but I don't think if he was to just be signed for a cash deal that he would necessarily play every week here, especially if Eden stays, because I can't see him excelling as a right winger as opposed to what he could do as a left winger. I don't see the next coach playing Eden as a number 10 either which I think has been mentioned. I think hes better coming from wider and roaming into more central positions, centre of the pitch gets pretty congested.

Get him on a new deal. Shown in games in the last while the keeper he truly is, I think if he was tied down to a longer deal he wouldn't be so open to considering a move in all fairness. Way he commands his box is world class for me, not many better at it than him. Every United cross and corner that came near him he was very authoritative and claimed it 9/10 times. Some impressive stops too, people who said he is average should seriously have a word with themselves, even for poor performances and talking of moving its obvious he is much better than average. I think next season, if him and Eden stay they will be much more motivated and play a lot lot better than this year. Even this season his performances were nowhere near as bad as that season under Jose.

Rock solid again today. Along with Azpi and Cahill imo. Pretty good first season. Just loves defending and getting into physical battles with players.

Lets kick on and get a second goal before HT!

Honestly not taking Wilshere and/or Shelvey will kill England's chances of controlling a match I think. Shelvey isn't a great player but hes demonstrated an ability to dictate the tempo of games for Newcastle and even at Swansea. I wouldn't say taking players who have only performed in the last few months of a season is a no no, you want players who are good but also players who are in form, I think he'd of been a worth while risk considering RLC has been called up.. could argue hes shown much more consistency than RLC the last wee while as well.

Honestly other than Southgate having worked with him at U21, I dont see how he warrants a place in that squad. He has 2 goals and 3 assists in 25 appearances for the whole season (throw in his fitness issues where he rarely plays a full match too), if that were any other attacking midfield/wide player their would be massive questions asked and if I were English I would 100% think its a huge risk. If England perform badly people will wonder why the likes of Wilshere (hasn't missed anywhere as many games as previous seasons and has the ability to go past players, control a match from a deeper position and will take the ball anywhere on the park) and Shelvey (really surprised he wasn't called up, hes not a world class player by any means but he is more what England need in MF, able to play forward, not scared to take risks) didn't get called up who have been better than Ruben this season.

Great team with a great manager. People slag their playing style off but they know they aren't Barcelona or Man City so play to their strength and are "killers" when they get chances in front of goal. Just shows that you can be very competitive and win playing a less expansive style if you can get that aggressive, every man working for each other attitude ingrained into your team and have that reliability that you know you might only get minimal amounts of chances but trust that you can be clinical with players like Costa, Griezmann, Gamerio etc up front. I'd take Simeone here in all fairness but I think Sarri is going to be the main choice to try go another way with the playing style. Simeone would get everyone working incredibly hard and although it may not be a quick process I think he could be a success here. Although he is similar to Conte and Jose which is maybe another reason why we are looking at Sarri or Enrique firstly but I think he's got another side to that Conte and Jose teams are quite reactive where as Atletico in some games I have seen are very proactive, get in the oppositions faces and don't let them settle. Also big games you wouldn't see us shirking challenges or playing poorly, he'd tear right into players regardless if they were Hazard or Bakayoko or Cahill without hesitation. Love watching how animated he gets on the side line too, just goes mad as fuck.

I think it could ruffle a few feathers. Especially the new guys who were signed in the last year because it is in a way pointing to say last summers recruitment wasn't good enough. Although he is right to say we need good players in, anybody who thinks otherwise is nuts, but I think for him to say that publicly in the media is a bad move if it is picked up on by some of the players, I would imagine some people will be thinking "does he mean we need somebody better than me or player x or player y?" and I wouldnt be surprised if somebody took it to heart or takes offence. Conte having said about new players being needed earlier in the season it is a different story, a manager is a bigger and more authoritative role than being a players, he can say look hes not good enough get him out, or hes a good player but not as good as player X.

I was under the impression it was one year. Still its a similar situation. He has all the bargaining power. If he was so keen to stay he'd have resigned in December that is the harsh reality.

I'm sorry but Bakayoko had been earning rave reviews all season in France so how you or nobody you know never heard of him before, I am not sure, especially when watching the champions league that season too (although I wasn't completely impressed with him as a player). Bigger clubs had been looking at him, PSG (although I doubt he'd be regularly playing there I mean Kryochiawak or whatever was one hell of a player at Sevilla and got loaned out as he was not playing), Juventus, Manchester United... but we got him. He was actually highly thought of in France and perhaps still is I don't know. Just because you hadn't heard of him doesn't mean nobody else had not. Many people on here who had watched him last season had said he was better than Matic already and had much more to his game etc. I didn't agree and still don't agree that he'll ever be better than him but. Morata is hardly a one season wonder either. I get it hes struggled this season but hes hardly a one season wonder, he had a pretty good year at Juventus when they got to the CL final under Allegri as well as the previous season at Madrid, fair enough its not exactly a huge difference but one season wonder? Hardly.

I'm sorry but it is getting pretty indefensible when you see his quotes regarding him not wanting the fans to want him to go etc although he said he wouldn't discuss his future to after the World Cup (if he does want to leave and has a good world cup, you would normally assume with any other player any other contract the club would get a pretty good fee but hes got 1 year left on his deal so if we don't deal in this summer he can just say look, I'm going for fuck all) along with all the other tedious bullshit about if Courtois signs I'll sign etc and whatever stupid little soundbites hes used in the media in the last season or so. You either want to play here or you don't. There is no middle ground. Don't see why this isn't the case when speaking about Hazard but when its Courtois it is hugely talked about. The board know we've underachieved this season there is no doubt about it but if he said I want to stay to the club or to the media or whatever obviously it would ease huge anxiety around the fan base and the club would probably go and offer him a deal pronto but even then he was offered one months ago, which he rejected, which his father confirmed mentioning Real Madrid interest as a possible reason as to why.

Not sure. I thought Conte and Emenalo were butting heads over transfers and taking the club in whatever direction. Emenalo did sign some absolute shite players this summer though, Drinkwater, Bakayoko, Zappacosta.. a lack of quality didnt help.

Its been a recurring theme throughout the middle and second half of the season in certain games. For instance the effort and application in the Man City game was almost as bad as yesterday.

Dont know. Allegri came out and said he wont leave Juventus unless they fire him. Don't think he'd say something only to go. I doubt they'd fire him either. Theyve repeatedly said they want him to stay as well and now hes came out and said that I think its more than likely. I think Arsenal will go another way and appoint a young manager with little experience and let him try build the club up.

True perhaps but I think of Lampard as a MF player he was ice cold in front of goal, he repeatedly said about he'd do extra training etc too to improve that stuff, finishing and getting into goal scoring positions etc to a point where it became natural. Others just have it straight away but I don't think its a thing about age, I think you can improve things at any age as a footballer so I think for somebody like Morata who always seems to get repeated chances, can become lethal in front of goal, hes coming upto his peak years so he will improve regardless if he manages to follow the progression hes had in his career the last 3 or 4 years anyway so hopefully he can get that or even just work on his finishing. Although I think its also a confidence thing with him, I think first 3 months here he was playing very well, he scored a lot of our goals, looked confident but now he looks a bit sort of defeated if not for a better word. I honestly don't think Icardi would come here and be a major improvement on him either, hes a pretty good footballer who can still grow but we all said the same of Morata last summer so it just shows that it is not as easy as that.

Probably be one of the most boring cup finals in history. Can see United going for the standard Mourinho cup final/big game set up of a low block and we'll probably be doing the same or something similar.

Surely that has to be a joke. Not saying Faria won't make it as a manager because I think hes clearly an astute guy and has good footballing experience as an assistant but he worked with AVB years ago, would have seen the club chew him up and spit him out 9 months into a 3 year deal, there is not a chance hes coming here as a manager looking for his first job. Dont understand the Jody Morris in for the FA Cup final shit either. Conte is going anyway I'd be surprised if he probably hasnt already offered to resign or knows his fate, so why sack him when he has one more game to play, a cup final in which he guided the team to?

Mate its been doing my nut in all season. The amount of times him Willian and Pedro have all lost the ball doing fucking silly backheels when we've been under pressure and struggling to get a foot on the ball in games this season is unbelievable. It works every now and then but its just infuriating today we struggled for possession as it was. Fair enough perhaps if they came off it would have led to some better solutions in the final third but it didn't.

Perhaps but also you can't say that the likes of Drogba, Cech, Ballack, Terry, Lampard.. these older generation of players were also a lot stronger mentally and had a greater desire to win that helped them get over the line in a lot of games even when playing poorly. Except that year under AVB that was bad. I look in the squad and yes there are players who have won lots of trophies from their career here and at other clubs and that is not in dispute but I think mentally some of them are a bit soft, when shit gets tough they seem to hide or just think well fuck it as evident from the second season under Jose and this one. Fair enough other shit went on change of managers, speculation of futures and that but it must be a day to day thing for most of these guys anyway considering there always something. We had to win every game in the last few weeks to try and qualify for the CL, although the odds were against us anyway in terms of the chances of us getting in but could you imagine if we had guys with that sort of mentality that Cech, Drogba, Ballack, Terry, Lampard etc all had we would probably have qualified.

Again, I love how people think changing managers is the way to solve the problem we have at our club. Change some people upstairs. Keep Conte/change manager whatever and back him. Keep players who are committed to the cause (Courtois & Hazard, are they committed are they not? Maybe they are but no movement with contracts really says it all) and get rid of the duds like Moses Bakayoko Cahill Zappacosta etc. Spend wisely on some better players. Have back up targets for back ups so we aren’t left short in the market. 5th place isn’t the worst of finishes but for defending champions who just had a similar title defense 2 seasons ago with the same bulk of players more or less I am not surprised one bit that this has occurred again. It was Jose’s fault then and now this season is Conte’s fault... some of these players need to look in the mirror the effort today was shocking. Unsure about the mentality of some of the players too. If we had a Terry, Ballack, Drogba or a Lampard in the side, they’d be telling people what they thought of that today. Hope Conte had a good go at them too.

For me it’s nothing to do with Conte today why we haven shown up it is a lack of effort and a lack of balls from the players. It’s been inevitable all season that Conte will go and this sort of performance from the players is reflecting that. No fight, no passion, no will to win.. just weak mentally. Forget a philosophy or whatever too many of the players this season have been like this in several games. Newcastle have run rings round us and are fighting for every ball every second ball etc etc. They are an inferior team on paper but have outrun and outplayed us. Hazard Barkley Bakayoko Giroud Moses... what are they doing? Strolling about? At least Kante is trying to do what he does, he’s not played well but he’s trying. Azpi the same.

Exactly. And there will be folk on here delighted with it too by the looks of this thread the last few weeks. Obscene.