Dropping out of the top 4 - potential repercussions?

[Ric]

I think no matter how the last 9 games go more and more are coming to the conclusion that this current squad have run their race.

Mangala has had too much invested in him to cast off after one indifferent season.

Silva and Kun who while their form has dropped off considerably of late would still be stand out players when we revamp this squad over the next two years.

Hart probably keeps his place more by default and the fact he has still the best years ahead of him if he applies himself and realises he has a long way to go to be considered a class keeper.

Fernandinho should survive the cull over the next two seasons.

Bony likewise although I have been disappointed in his start with us.

Who else in the current crop will be with us in two years time?

Hopefully no one otherwise we will regress further.

That would be a hell of a turnover of players in a short space of time. I think you're in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

 

[BlueAnorak]

Every Jan/Feb/Mar since the current spine of the team arrived we have a bad run. The current run is as bad as 2012/13. I really do not understand it to be honest. But unless we buck up sharpish we will be out of the top 4.
If we drop out of the top 4 we really will be in deep shit.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

It's quite feasible that we could lose 3 and draw 1 of our away games + Soton at home. In such an event 5th may be the likeliest position.

I don't believe that this is feasible at all.

We've lost 5 games in 29 games apparently playing awfully. I suspect we're not going to lose 3 in 9 and draw 2.

We've won 3 of our last 11 games. I'd say that losing 3 and drawing 2 of the last 9 is far from beyond the realms of possibility

 

[mancity1]

I think no matter how the last 9 games go more and more are coming to the conclusion that this current squad have run their race.

Mangala has had too much invested in him to cast off after one indifferent season.

Silva and Kun who while their form has dropped off considerably of late would still be stand out players when we revamp this squad over the next two years.

Hart probably keeps his place more by default and the fact he has still the best years ahead of him if he applies himself and realises he has a long way to go to be considered a class keeper.

Fernandinho should survive the cull over the next two seasons.

Bony likewise although I have been disappointed in his start with us.

Who else in the current crop will be with us in two years time?

Hopefully no one otherwise we will regress further.

That would be a hell of a turnover of players in a short space of time. I think you're in danger of throwing the baby out with the bath water.

That's over 4 windows Ric and I think its necessary.

I have to state it but I really think we new a new captain next season and VK and Zabba need replacing over the next two seasons while they still have currency.

When you look at what we have currently Milner, Kolorov, Clichy, Fernando, MDM, Dzeko, Jovetic, Masri, Yaya, Boyata,and Sinclair can anybody really see and of these players being part of a side challenging for a title and playing winning football in Europe in two years time?

 

[Phil1]

Might save me about 4/5 grand next year so every silver lining..

 

[Damocles]

I'm still clinging to the belief we'll get our act together enough to finish in the top four. A lot of our rivals play each other in the coming weeks, so points will be dropped somewhere. A win against West Brom at home, coupled with our existing points (and goal difference) advantage will give us a bit of breathing space. It's too good a squad to completely capitulate, even though it seems hard to see light at the end of the tunnel at the moment. Big changes needed in the summer regardless though.

I should squeak this out today, but I just don't see it. A huge player turnover has never been helpful and our squad age has been overblown. 26-32 are the prime years of players, not the years that we should be looking at replacing them. AvB had this problem at Chelsea too where he thought anybody over 30 was dead weight and people like Cole, Lampard and Terry went on to have some of their best seasons in the shirt afterwards.

We're not on the level of Barca, Bayern and Real and no matter what we do outside of spending about a billion pound we aren't going to be in one window.

But we're better than this season has made us believe. For many reasons this year we haven't really had a settled squad and we've been a bit wobbly. Fernando and Mangala will be one year more experienced in our squad and league, which I think will help us a lot. Hopefully Zabaleta will go and have a bit of a lie down this summer as he played almost every game last year than a full World Cup then almost every game this year, and with his mileage covered in a game then he has to need a rest.
Kompany has been off his game, Yaya had his issues at the start of the year and hasn't grabbed games by the scruff of their necks, Aguero has been injured numerous times, Silva and Nasri have barely been on a pitch together.

I think evolution rather than revolution is all that's needed. A couple of signings to replace outgoings like presumably Jovetic and Milner, bring in Lopes, Denayer and maybe give a few more games to Barker and we'll be fine. I just don't see this big disaster that everybody else does. Our squad doesn't need this massive overhaul, just another year of tweaking.

We're in bad form yet remain second in the league and still in the Champions League (though it would obviously take a minor miracle to get to the next round). The world isn't falling, we're just on a run of bad form. We need to be composed and rational rather than making big changes to what is already a squad which at its core has won two Premier Leagues.

I put this down to people getting carried away with the age thing. It went from Mourinho saying our squad is old, to people then using words like "tired" and "needs refreshing", to now people suggesting overhauls.

We're fine. Let's not panic and bring in a bunch of new players.

 

[Bluekiwi]

There's a shit storm coming but i'v supported this club for 55 years, it's nowt I aint seen before, still support them when they put me in a wooden box

60+ years and counting. My wife's going to put a TV and a smartphone in my box and a dish as a headstone so I can continue to watch us and my son can ring me to talk about the games.

 

[IWasHere]

No top 4 = no Silva, Yaya and Aguero

 

[mancity1]

I'm still clinging to the belief we'll get our act together enough to finish in the top four. A lot of our rivals play each other in the coming weeks, so points will be dropped somewhere. A win against West Brom at home, coupled with our existing points (and goal difference) advantage will give us a bit of breathing space. It's too good a squad to completely capitulate, even though it seems hard to see light at the end of the tunnel at the moment. Big changes needed in the summer regardless though.

I should squeak this out today, but I just don't see it. A huge player turnover has never been helpful and our squad age has been overblown. 26-32 are the prime years of players, not the years that we should be looking at replacing them. AvB had this problem at Chelsea too where he thought anybody over 30 was dead weight and people like Cole, Lampard and Terry went on to have some of their best seasons in the shirt afterwards.

We're not on the level of Barca, Bayern and Real and no matter what we do outside of spending about a billion pound we aren't going to be in one window.

But we're better than this season has made us believe. For many reasons this year we haven't really had a settled squad and we've been a bit wobbly. Fernando and Mangala will be one year more experienced in our squad and league, which I think will help us a lot. Hopefully Zabaleta will go and have a bit of a lie down this summer as he played almost every game last year than a full World Cup then almost every game this year, and with his mileage covered in a game then he has to need a rest.
Kompany has been off his game, Yaya had his issues at the start of the year and hasn't grabbed games by the scruff of their necks, Aguero has been injured numerous times, Silva and Nasri have barely been on a pitch together.

I think evolution rather than revolution is all that's needed. A couple of signings to replace outgoings like presumably Jovetic and Milner, bring in Lopes, Denayer and maybe give a few more games to Barker and we'll be fine. I just don't see this big disaster that everybody else does. Our squad doesn't need this massive overhaul, just another year of tweaking.

We're in bad form yet remain second in the league and still in the Champions League (though it would obviously take a minor miracle to get to the next round). The world isn't falling, we're just on a run of bad form. We need to be composed and rational rather than making big changes to what is already a squad which at its core has won two Premier Leagues.

I put this down to people getting carried away with the age thing. It went from Mourinho saying our squad is old, to people then using words like "tired" and "needs refreshing", to now people suggesting overhauls.

We're fine. Let's not panic and bring in a bunch of new players.

I would agree with you up to a point Damo but if we are to make a decent tilt at Europe this squad needs overhauling , the vast majority of the current crop have shown they are a level below what is required for a number of seasons now and the gap will only widen.

You could argue lets tweak and hope that some of the players headed for the chopping block find their old form and are good enough to do what Arsenal continue to do year in year out but is that what we want for us.

We have the spending power to do much better and while it doesn't guarantee success surely we must and will get better and getting in the right kind of player to make us more competitive consistently on both fronts.

 

[Damocles]

I certainly don't want us to become Arsenal, but giving people like Mangala a season to find his form after a £32m move is probably the right decision. Same with Fernando who could yet prove a useful signing if either he finds a way to fit into us or we find a way to use him properly; he did come quite highly rated from Portugal and he couldn't have been lucky for 6 seasons there.

I'm not saying that nobody needs to leave, just that it's more sensible to make continuous and rational tweaks window by window than it is to splurge everything then potentially have to start all over again if that fails.

Small improvements of the quality of the squad every season is the key. Most people on here I imagine would agree that this isn't a squad currently performing at its potential so I'm not sure how you would square that with wanting to sell someone. Either they are good enough for us and just out of form which means we should keep them, or they aren't good enough for us which means we shouldn't be getting upset that they're only playing as well as they are talented. It's a bit of a contradiction.