jim5000

Thing is, we don’t have a decent squad as the end of last season proved. We have a great first team but the backups drag us down to relegation levels if we have to play more than 2-3 of them together. With the Europa League this season, the Carabao Cup is the lowest priority so going out in the first round wouldn’t be such a bad thing, no point getting to the quarter finals before going out, knackering our squad by Christmas.

If Barnes could finish more than 1 in 20 shots he would be lethal

I imagine over the next few years he will take on a Morgan role. One or two more seasons as our main striker, and then back-up and mentor to the younger strikers coming through, and always a link back to the great escape, title, and european competion. That coupled with his development from non-league to scoring a goal for England at the world cup is a great asset and inspiration to have around the squad for several more years.

Those players not at the required standard during the run in comprise the backups of backup players and the youth team. Had Ricardo, Madison, Chillwell/Fuchs, and Calgar been available, we could have probably sealed the deal.

Need more from tielmans

Slight difference between the two players - Okazaki never stopped smiling, whereas I don't think Nacho would crack a grin if he scored a double hattrick tomorrow!

Also for the fact that Bennett has shown himself to be a complete liability.

So so dissapointing that we have to play this in an empty King Power Stadium. Given we lost the match at Old Trafford to a dodgy penalty and Bredan's nerves, I really feel that even with the broken first team we have available, having the KP rocking tomorrow would have really made a difference and pushed us towards success. If we let in a goal after 7 minutes, the fans would get behind the team whereas now they have to find it within. The fact so many subsitititions are allowed plays into the big teams hands as well, as they have larger, stronger, squads. I'm sure that under normal circumstances, the squad would have finished the job several games ago and we would be playing CL football next season.

Forgetting everything we've been through this season, as fans as well as the club, the massive highs, and the disappointing lows, the crazy lock format of the season, looking back, would you have taken a 5th place finish if offered it at the start of the season in August 2019?

To be fair, we only have one fully functional defender (Evans) available for selection.

Bredan will have to throw the current setup and formation out, he's seen that while it may get you a win at home to Sheff Utd, it is simply not up to facing top class opposition. So he will have to come up with something new, and who knows what on earth he will fashion out of the rags and bones that we have left from our non-injured, non-suspended first team players complemented by the youth squad. All he knows right now is that he can't line up with Bennett, Morgan, and Evans as a back three, flanked by backup and youth wing-backs. I think Mendy and Praet will have to feature alongside Tielemans and Ndidi, flooding midfield to protect Wes and Evans rather than going 5 at the back. Up front, Vardy has to be on it like the 5-3 like he's 29 again, and hope Perez pays back his transfer fee or Barnes is on it, or just gamble with Hirst. It's time to shit or get off the pot, and all we currently know is we can't use the same bedpan we crapped into at Spurs, we missed that one and made a right mess of the sheets. It's last chance saloon, the final 'boss' of the season with a ragtag bunch and somehow, Brendan has to fashion a win. It's that or the sack* and we get Pearson back in. (*sack = Second highest PL finish in clubs history, European tour next season, and potentially Vardy lifting the Europa League Trophy in June 2021)

The odds are certainly less than 5000-1

We’ve definitely fluffed up, but the season as a whole, whatever the result against Utd has been a massive success. But as per the thread title, completely a season of two halfs! remember it was this season when we spanked Southampton 9-0 away from home to set an all time record for biggest away win in the English football league!

play mendy or wes in a 4, anything to avoid buying Bennett. He is a truely awful defender and it’s clear why Wolves would loan him to a rival

I know it’s disappointing that we are unlikely to make the Champions League after such a promising first half of the season, but to call the season as a whole a failure is nonsense. Its our second highest Premier League finish ever, and we’ve secured European football for next season, only the second time we have got into Europe via league position rather than a cup. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a club our size competing in the Europa rather than the Champions League, and who knows, we might even go on a run a make it to the later stages or even win the thing! We’ve suffered by not having the squad depth to replace 4-5 of our main players who are injured for the run in, and the whole lockdown mid season break has made it a very odd year. But this season has been anything but a failure.