Where do we go from here..?

Mr.D said:

What was the question again?

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thfc1973 said:

Clearly, for 2 seasons in a row now we have come up short. And by short I mean noticeably short. Anyone who thinks we are close to CFC and the rest of the big spenders needs a reality check.
Their squads are far more superior than ours. They have the money to spend on quality players to sit on the bench for most of the season and they can call upon them when the team are tiring to inject the fresh blood needed to push them over the line. And its not even scraping over, their quality squad players are very good players who get them easy 4-2, 3-0 wins...Whereas our squad players make absolutely no difference to the outcome of a game.

The question is where do we go from here as a club if we want to win 'big things' as Poch remarks..?

In my opinion we have a conundrum. If we had made top 4 last year and this year rather than push till the last few games for the title NONE of us fans would be screaming.. But the fact of the matter is (as with most fans) now we've tasted a couple of title-challenging seasons we aren't happy with top 4 now. We want to win it!

So how can we win it with our setup?

I think we have to wipe the board for a minute and think about it, can we ever achieve the title with our team and squad? The answer has to objectively - No.
We've had a large amount of player injuries that couldn't be replaced with like quality, therefore that's the 1st problem. Upgrade is needed for a few players. Davis is clearly no Rose and Trips is no Walker when Walker is playing great.
When Toby or Jan are out we will have problems. We need a quality CB to cover 1 or the other. Its impossible to have 2 quality CBs sitting on the bench. Wimmer clearly isn't Poch's fav.
Sissoko is no replacement for Lamela. And Jansen is no striker that fills any of us with confidence when Kane is out.
My concern is we clearly wont be replacing all those players this summer in 1 hit. So we will have to accept that for 1 reason or another our wing backs will be an issue next season - just like it has been evidenced at this late stage this season. The only issue is with Walker quite possibly leaving I cant see who can replace him for like as a starter..

Then theres the issue with poch. Last season he ran the players into the ground, this season he hasn't rotated enough to keep them fresh.When our defense was so solid high profile players could and should have been subbed in earlier games I feel to keep them fresh later into the season. Kane, Deli, Eriksen and even Son all looked very slow tonight against West Ham. Could those players have been rested more in games we were winning comfortably? I think so. And I feel for all Poch's greatness he is still not a world class manager to see it.
Conte rested big game players like Willian, Pedro, Fabregas and even Eden and Costa for seemingly big games, only to bring them back into games just at the right time to make a difference.
Poch has got zero acumen in this area. Why? Is it because our squad is so thin that he has no choice?

Then comes the bit about Poch that is all about inexperience. I really think he (all too regularly) picks players based on what he thinks their ability is vs what our opposition are likely to play. And this results in the wrong players being picked with the wrong skillset for the opposition. This results in a 2 prong resulting mistake;
1. The player(s) picked wont get any joy against certain opposition
2. It knackers the player(s) out cos they try too hard with no success and thus makes them more fatigued in the longer run.

If he played the right players for a certain game we would have more of a chance of winning and it will also give the other starter that got dropped a chance to rest and recover.

With the last 2 years' worth of unexpected CL revenue and TV money in the coffers are we to expect good quality incoming players? Or will Levy take the piss and use the money too frugally again or worse - waste it on useless players?
These last 2 seasons we have over-achieved, but sharp management in my opinion, would use those unexpected bonus seasons as a springboard to propel us to the next level. I think we actually need to spend big this summer and throw caution to the wind, regardless of the fact we are building a new stadium - and buy quite a few top quality players. That risk is worth it as we could realistically get top 4 again next season which would offset any outgoing money spent on players. The risk of not spending big is more dangerous imo as we could just as easily end up as a Europa League qualifying team again next season if our competitors spend big and get top 4 at our expense.

I think the only thing we can and should do is give Poch the money he needs to overhaul the squad. I repeat squad - not team. If we sold some players we should be able to recoup 50-80M and then add on another 60-70M and I think with the 150M spending money we could get the extra quality needed to keep us in the hunt.
I think next season could be a make or break season for us and we really must use sense and carefully look at what we have to lose rather than win. We'll be playing at Wembley, we'll be under more pressure to win, so we cannot allow any weakness the drag us down next year. Having to play in CL again, at Wembley all season - to me it strikes as a red flag straight away, and the only way we can give ourselves any chance is to spend big to get the players in we need to keep us near the top and with a real chance of winning trophies.

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thfc1973 said:

To be an elite club one must win a title. Not sure what your understanding of elite is but to me elite is not a domestic cup winning team. Its a team that wins league titles.

We need to be winning cups yes, and by Cups I mean FA and at worse League cup, but our goal has to be winning the league. Forgive my ignorance but you cant be classed as an 'elite club' by winning the FA or League cups.. That should be something that we should be winning like Arse does - even when they're having shit seasons.

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sim simma said:

@thfc1973... Oi mate, are you on the old billy whizz or summit. I think your flux capacitor is truly fucked cos I've got no idea where you're coming from.

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Khilari said:

I respect that you've probably supported us longer than me through more bad than good.

But I worry that you don't have enough love, hugs and cuddles in your life.

We have the best first XI in the league, play the most exciting football, challenged on 4 fronts and started getting used to playing in a full 90k stadium. We have the best manager, striker, defenders, DM, CM, no 10 and wing backs in the world. Probably.

We have a new stadium on its way, the best in the world.

Enjoy it.

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• We hope none of our core players have their heads turned and we keep this group
• We make minor tweaks to the squad
• We attempt to bring in one or two players of real quality but understand we are still extremely strong without it
• We continue to go from strength to strength

St José Dominguez said:

Have all these big spenders squads performed incredibly well? Swear we've had shit loads of injuries and yet sit 2nd.
Is there a better squad player in the league this season than Son?
I agree we need more squad options but suggesting all the top teams squads are streets ahead is nonsense. All those teams are gonna spend the summer attempting to improve these squads, just like they did last year too. Just cos a player is expensive and sitting on the bench doesn't mean he hasn't been a pile of shite.

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millsey said:

All very good, but we also need to win things!

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Khilari said:

Next season.

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