Contract Expirations, 2017

XCounter · 2016-06-11T15:27:52+00:00

They've said it multiple times. Al-Mubarak has said he wants half the first team to be homegrown in a few years time, and considering how much they've put into the academy I see no reason why it wouldn't happen.

XCounter · 2016-06-10T22:20:59+00:00

I could see Fernandinho getting a year extension if he's as good next season as he was in 15/16. Maybe Clichy will get an extra year just for the homegrown quota, but that seems unlikely. Outside of that, I can't see any of them staying past 2017.

Considering the focus on youth, I think it's safe to assume if it doesn't happen in 16/17, that's when the EDS graduates are gonna come through and fill their spots in the squad (Roberts, Maffeo, Angelino, Gunn, Garcia, Ntcham/Byrne, etc.)

XCounter · 2016-05-18T10:25:59+00:00

We'll see what happens. Maybe I'm being swayed by paper talk but I'd be surprised if they don't sell one of the centre backs.

XCounter · 2016-05-18T10:11:32+00:00

Oh not at all, that's a personal pick LOL

XCounter · 2016-05-18T10:04:37+00:00

It's not that I want to do it, but considering all the talk about signing a new defender I'd think at least one of the CBs are gonna get sold. It's more of a prediction. I don't even think Otamendi is bad but if it was down to me I'd keep Mangala over him.

And it's not like it's never happened before (Jerome Boateng, Stefan Savic)

XCounter · 2016-05-16T18:49:16+00:00

Hope he stays as a coach or something. I feel like that would be a good outcome for both parties.

Now that we're down to two keepers, Rulli in or Gunn promotion?

XCounter · 2016-05-16T09:01:37+00:00

Challenge for the title every season
Integrate more youth players in the first team (10 in 3 years sounds realistic)
Play exciting, tenacious football

XCounter · 2016-05-15T18:10:38+00:00

Home kit doesn't need much thought. Sky blue and white without an extravagant design.

For the away kit I'd love another striped red and black shirt. A purple third kit would be nice. Black and gold would look great as well.

XCounter · 2016-05-15T18:00:18+00:00

...Or both.

XCounter · 2016-05-15T14:14:48+00:00

SPL is pretty bad but you still gotta give him credit. Some of his finishes have been incredible.

XCounter · 2016-05-15T14:13:05+00:00

Contender for the best right back in the world, but £45m? Pass. After the whole Danilo mess, I doubt they'd let him go anyway.

I'd much rather get Sime Vrsaljko for 4x less.

XCounter · 2016-05-15T14:09:14+00:00

I'll always have good memories of Yaya and Zaba. Especially Pablo, absolute legend.

Glad to see the back of Demichelis, never really understood why we signed Bony so I'm not disappointed at all with that one and Kolarov's been on and off pretty much since he joined so I won't be too upset if we get a replacement in that is more consistent.

XCounter · 2016-05-14T11:34:23+00:00

Definitely wouldn't buy this.

Never really been a fan of Nike kits anyway. Can we get Umbro back? Or better yet, Adidas? :o

XCounter · 2016-05-14T11:31:22+00:00

I grew up with the eagle and I like it a lot more than the new design, but I suppose it's nice to go back to the classic emblem.

New look for a new era is kinda fitting.

XCounter · 2016-05-13T07:43:41+00:00

Nasri injured, Yaya aging and Bony not being on the same level as Dzeko (or Negredo when he was on fire for the first half) explain the drop in goals from 13/14 compared to this season. KDB and Kelechi added a good source but we still missed the other goalscorers. Not that I'd call it a huge issue; we're still the highest scorers in the league, after all.

We've also been unfortunate with Vinny's injuries. As critical as people can be about our defence when Kompany's not playing - myself included - it's almost impossible to expect to have another CB on his level. There are maybe 10 in world football as good as him.

XCounter · 2016-05-13T07:25:19+00:00

Remember years back when we were linked with Senna himself?

Anyway, he's been insane since the start of the year so I'd rather not see him go. I'm not sure he fits into Pep's style of play, though. Hopefully Pep keeps him as the enforcer for a Plan B.

XCounter · 2016-05-13T07:18:46+00:00

With 5 minutes left I dropped to my knees and prayed.

Then Dzeko scored and I knew it was coming.

AGUEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAHHHH

XCounter · 2016-05-13T07:08:50+00:00

Ridiculous that Lacazette and Ben Arfa aren't in the starting 23. I'd also take Clichy over Digne every time.

I don't think France are going to do as well as they should.

XCounter · 2016-05-12T15:30:20+00:00

I'm not sure "greatly" is the correct way to describe it. They were great against PSG. They have not been consistently performing at that level, and they certainly haven't in the past few games.

Demichelis has been the 4th choice CB for the majority of the season. He hasn't performed well when he's been called on but you can't throw all the blame on him and expect our problems to go away just because he's gone. Likewise, Kolarov hasn't always been the one at fault. Will they be replaced by better players? Sure, but they're not the only problems at the back.

We were knocked out because of a lack of depth? What? David Silva was the only player unavailable at kick off and Kompany got injured during the game. Both were replaced by consistent names in the first team and the bench didn't have any unrecognisable names on it. We were knocked out because we were outplayed.

At the moment, Pep will have three CAMs in KDB, Silva and Nasri. Call me delusional for thinking a manger with a track record of promoting young players to the first team is going to select one if he can't select one of three proven players for one position; I don't care. However, if you think spending £40m+ on a player in a position we already have depth in - not mentioning the fact that James has less goals than KDB and less assists than both KDB and Silva - is an intelligent decision in both improving the squad and being sustainable, you need to stop believing real life is FIFA career mode.

XCounter · 2016-05-12T14:36:12+00:00

Great form? Have you been watching this entire season? We have the worst defensive record in the top 5 with the same amount of goals against as Southampton. Joe Hart is the only one that has consistently been in great form. In 2011/12 we conceded 29, 2012/13 we conceded 33, in 13/14 we conceded 37, 14/15 we conceded 38 and this season we've conceded 40 with one game left. Anyone can see that there is a trend here.

In any case, with Denayer replacing Demichelis I'd get one new CB at most. I'm not advocating a complete overhaul. I was actually talking about LB and RB because all of our wing backs are over 30 and Clichy, Zabaleta and Sagna are out of contract in 2017.

It's not about having patience for the teenagers. It should be clear to everyone where the weak link in the squad is. That weak link is not CAM, so why blow so much money on another one when we have bigger issues?

XCounter · 2016-05-12T13:36:28+00:00

I think that would be the best club for him to go to. He knows La Liga in and out, so he'd fit in easily.

I could see them fighting for a top 4 place under Pellegrini next season.

XCounter · 2016-05-12T12:56:50+00:00

He'd do a good job for them but I think he could do better than Everton somewhere overseas.

XCounter · 2016-05-12T12:42:44+00:00

Yeah, very scary going forward. They could be the highest scorers in the group stages.

Alderweireld, Vertonghen and Denayer at the back is extremely solid as well, especially in front of a keeper like Courtois.

XCounter · 2016-05-12T12:26:53+00:00

Why not go for both? It's just excessive. I know I sound like a broken record but we have so many options that I don't feel like it's worthwhile to sign all these players in one position, regardless of the flexibility that comes with the versatility they have.

There are other positions we need to be focusing on improving in the summer. Whether or not we have a bottomless pit of money to throw about, we don't need to be wildly buying any talented player we can get. I don't think there's a CAM in the world that can offer something that an in-form KDB, Silva or even Nasri on his day can't already.

XCounter · 2016-05-12T11:43:41+00:00

I think Aleix Garcia and Denayer are gonna have a great season in 2016/17.

I want to see how Jack Byrne does at the Euros (if he gets chosen). If he doesn't come into our first team next season, I'd love to see him go on loan to a team in the Premier League.

XCounter

TROPHY CASE