Jase

Pizy is not wrong though. Obviously Roman will splash that extra bit of cash to get us over the line if needed but all our summer purchases in recent years have been offset by the sales. So unless we know for sure that we'll get a good return by selling the deadwoods and players like Abraham, Loftus-Cheek, Kepa etc, it's unlikely that we'll spend big this summer. After all, don't forget about Roman's plan about making sure we're self sustainable and not just rely on his money.

Yeah. According to the stats, the team that take the penalty first in a shootout win it 60% of the time.

According to something of a throwaway line on The Athletic, there are Premier League clubs interested in Hakimi but no mention of the name of those clubs.

Didn't realize it when I turned on to watch the shootout last night but just found out Fernandes let Villarreal to take the penalty first after winning the coin toss. 🤦‍♂️

Who says anything about watching the celebration if/when they win? I always just turn the shit off if we don't win a final!

Rulli should have definitely saved one long before that De Gea penalty. Can't remember whose penalty it was but he got a decent amount of contact with it. In any case, the difference between the two keepers is one is supposedly a world class keeper while the other isn't. I don't know what Rulli's penalty saving record is like but for someone of De Gea's stature, that's bad.

Weren't there rumors that Guardiola wanted Lukaku? Would City go for him now instead of Kane given that Lukaku would be cheaper?

LOL

Didn't look like saving one tonight either.

You could say the same for the other attackers as well really. Our last 4 goals have been scored by two different WBs, CB (OFF HIS THIGH!) and midfielder from the penalty spot.

Maybe I'll feel different once we get closer to the final or on Saturday but at the moment, I feel like the final is a free hit considering it was totally unexpected that we would get to this point this season.

It's one thing that we want to sell those players. It's another whether clubs are willing to buy them, especially when Marina won't be selling them on a cheap.

If we get Lukaku, surely we won't go after Sancho too? If Tuchel intends to stick with the back 3 next season, then getting Lukaku could cause a big problem when it comes to keeping everyone happy.

This is bonkers.

This was before the shootout...

They should just rename Europa League the 'Unai Emery Cup'. Has won it/UEFA Cup 4 times, more than anyone else.

But it's not as if Inter have to sell everyone and their entire squad have to be broken up, are they? There will still be good players around. I gave the other clubs as examples of how one can still be competitive without necessarily having star players or being able to spend big every time. The difference between those clubs and Inter is that Inter will still have quality players around, even after potentially selling maybe 1 and they have a coach like Conte to make up that gap. In fact, one could argue that he has been the main difference between Inter winning the league and not winning the league. Also, let's not forget that Conte has partly contributed to the financial situation that Inter find themselves in. Instead of maybe looking at younger, better options, he wanted players like Young, Kolarov, Vidal etc and the club were "forced" to have them on big wages and they now have to get rid of them. Although he found a role for him in the end, Conte wanted Eriksen and got him but then almost binned him in January before making a sudden U-turn. Things like this is why I said Conte is stubborn and not being able to compromise. Inter fulfilled a lot of his demands during his two-year reign - e.g. getting Godin, Lukaku, Young, Eriksen, Sensi, Barella, Sanchez, Moses, Vidal, Kolarov, Hakimi, Darmian - but when they are in trouble, he is not willing to return the favor and compromise a little. If Conte is just gonna throw a tantrum or leave the second he disagrees with the club over players etc (it has happened 3 times now), then really, who is gonna appoint him? At this point, it really feels like he's not different to Mourinho apart from being able to perhaps still guarantee short term success. Given Conte's poor overall record in the Champions League, I'd say it's more down to his inflexible tactics than anything else. Remember his "You cannot go to eat at a €100 restaurant with just €10 euro in your pocket" quote? Allegri made Conte look like a fool by taking Juventus to the Champions League final the season after he left Juventus.

Yes but we don't know for sure if Inter will sell any of those four players you mentioned when they have a number of deadwoods or old players on big wages on their books like Vidal, Kolarov, Young etc. They will likely get rid of them first before potentially going to the big ones, which they might need to sell only one if they get big money for that player. The frustrating thing with Conte is that we know he is a great coach and great at improving players but he is also stubborn as hell and seems to think success is not possible without spending big money on big players or sometimes, old players. No manager will always get what they want all the time. Some times, one has to find ways to compromise, be smarter with transfers, focus on coaching and getting more out of players. We have seen how teams can be competitive at the top end of the league - e.g. Atalanta, Milan (this season), Leicester, Spurs under Pochettino - through great coaching, through intelligent spending/scouting on players etc. Considering that and his management style, hard to see where Conte will go next and which club will be willing to bend to his demands every single time, especially when clubs are still feeling the effects of the pandemic.

He has already left. I find it hard to believe Conte will go to Spurs when he just left Inter because of their precarious financial situation and Spurs are in a very similar situation. It's clear that Conte wants money, a lot of money, to spend on players. He won't get that at this time at Spurs. So god knows where he'll turn up next.

Inter did manage to find an investment from somewhere - https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/soccer-italys-inter-milan-secures-financing-deal-with-oaktree-funds-sources-2021-05-20/. But they still have to cut costs and Conte, in classic Conte fashion, wasn't having it.

Wonder if Mourinho regrets taking the Roma job now. Could have replaced Conte back at Inter! This is really typical BS, deja vu with Conte isn't it? Great coach but is stubborn as hell and unable to compromise. That's 3 jobs now he has left/has been sacked because of disagreement with the club over players. At this point, Conte is really a clone of Mourinho. Only difference is, Conte is not a washed up manager...yet.