1 hour ago, Munkworth said:

Love Dave but he needs to starting showing more bollocks as the captain towards his team mates. Would the likes of JT/Cahill/Wise let the team carry on in this fashion? That grit, determination and leadership we used to have throughout the squad is unfortunately missing nowadays. 

He was never captain material to begin with, longevity got him the role, I’ll never forget how he reacted that night Kepa refused to go off. 

Mistakes against Arsenal, mistake plays Ronaldo onside, mistake today gifts Everton the win.

We have been hearing a lot about Kantes poor passes of late but Dave's form is in the toilet. If Trev made these mistakes he would be slaughtered on here.

29 minutes ago, Term_X said:

He was never captain material to begin with, longevity got him the role, I’ll never forget how he reacted that night Kepa refused to go off. 

You're definitely right here. Shouting at the ref doesn't make you captain material. Cahill was arguably better.

Give the captaincy to Silva.

42 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Mistakes against Arsenal, mistake plays Ronaldo onside, mistake today gifts Everton the win.

We have been hearing a lot about Kantes poor passes of late but Dave's form is in the toilet. If Trev made these mistakes he would be slaughtered on here.

Maybe he's also not focused cause he's leaving us like Rudiger and Christensen 😢

6 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Love Dave but he needs to starting showing more bollocks as the captain towards his team mates. Would the likes of JT/Cahill/Wise let the team carry on in this fashion? That grit, determination and leadership we used to have throughout the squad is unfortunately missing nowadays. 

Terry was a fantastic captain but 15/16 and the AVB part of 11/12 happened on his watch, and 3 goal humiliations to Bournemouth, Watford and Newcastle happened on Cahill's. Many performances a lot worse than what we saw today transpired in those years above.

Not saying Azpi's better than JT but this sh*t did happen with him here aswell.

4 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Maybe he's also not focused cause he's leaving us like Rudiger and Christensen 😢

Nah, Azpi always gives 100% unlike Rudiger and Christensen. His attitude is spot on but sadly he’s finished, not that he can help it.

I think what happened to Roman has really affected Dave quite badly. Last season after the CL final we saw how close they were.

Since Roman was sanctioned Dave has been worse than Brana was. He is a complete liability and it really saddens me to say that and see it.

13 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Love Dave but he needs to starting showing more bollocks as the captain towards his team mates. Would the likes of JT/Cahill/Wise let the team carry on in this fashion? That grit, determination and leadership we used to have throughout the squad is unfortunately missing nowadays. 

Nonsense. Terry was a great leader but where was this super captain when we were in relegation zone under Mou. 

This nonsense about Azpi as bad captain need to stop. Azpi is getting older, as you get older you make more mistake.

 

13 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Got Ivanovic syndrome it seems, rather see a youth player getting his minutes at the moment 

More like father time syndrome 

I wouldn’t be writing him off yet due to a couple of mistakes. I’ve been hearing The comparisons to ivanovic decline for about 3 years and it hasn’t come true yet. 

So this past 3-4 months of absolute mediocrity didn't happen?

I've written Azpi off for the last two seasons yet he always seems to bounce back.

He is also one of those players willing to have a crack when notable others are not up to it.

Feel resting in the end of season run up may be more applicable than dropping. 

He's not finished he just can't play at his top level as frequently as before

Azpi can go with my blessing. Time for some major changes and he should be one of them.

3 hours ago, strider6004 said:

I've written Azpi off for the last two seasons yet he always seems to bounce back.

He is also one of those players willing to have a crack when notable others are not up to it.

Feel resting in the end of season run up may be more applicable than dropping. 

 

2 hours ago, sonic90 said:

He's not finished he just can't play at his top level as frequently as before

We are genuinely going into our 4th season on the trot struggling for a Top 4 finish. The standards at this club have dropped immensely and posts like this prove it. 

We need to strengthen. All areas. Azpilicueta was and is part of the problem and needs to be moved on. 

 

I'm really torn on this.

On one hand, I realize Azpi's form has significantly deteriorated over the last few years, anyone who followed us closely could see it. Losing Reece for months this season was a harsh reminder that we can't rely on our captain to carry us if we were to compete with City/Liverpool for the title. Missing out on Hakimi was huge but we probably need to look again and bring a top quality wingback to share the duty with James.

On the other, experience and the right attitude aren't easy to let go. We need strong characters and battlers in this team. Rudiger is as good as gone, Thiago has one more season left, Jorginho is rumoured to be leaving too.  If Azpi leaves, where does that leave us in terms of experience and leadership?

1 hour ago, Sconnie Blue said:

 

We are genuinely going into our 4th season on the trot struggling for a Top 4 finish. The standards at this club have dropped immensely and posts like this prove it. 

We need to strengthen. All areas. Azpilicueta was and is part of the problem and needs to be moved on. 

 

We can't move everybody on. What are we going to do, lose Christensen, Rudiger and Azpilicueta all in one season? Who comes in to replace them all? Chalobah is not good enough yet and may never be, it was only a few weeks ago that he gave a clumsy penalty away and had a shocker against Newcastle. Colwill is inexperienced, Sarr is mid table level at best. Once we get the ownership issue sorted, we will likely be able to bring in one quality CB. If we move on Azpilicueta, that leaves us with Chalobah, Colwill, Sarr and a 38 year old Silva and no RB to cover James if he gets injured or when we need to rotate.

Also, all he said was that Azpilicueta is not finished, which is true. Azpilicueta certainly shouldn't be playing week after week anymore, but he's definitely not finished.

I see a lot of posts saying we need to upgrade this position and that position in the summer, but it's just not going to happen. Lukaku, Werner, Ziyech, Pulisic, Jorginho, Kante, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Sarr, Christensen, Rudiger, we can't replace all of them in one window.

Edited May 2, 20224 yr by Scott Harris

Certainly struggling for form and probably seeing his playing ability fade at the same time.  Don't want to be overly harsh on the consummate professional,  but he should not be starting next season, be it RB, LB, RWB or RCB.  We should absolutely keep him at the club though as he brings much needed continuity.

My greatest concern is he has stopped defending the ball (some time ago), and now defends the man.  At that point you are chasing and prone to costly mistakes.

42 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

We can't move everybody on. What are we going to do, lose Christensen, Rudiger and Azpilicueta all in one season? Who comes in to replace them all? Chalobah is not good enough yet and may never be, it was only a few weeks ago that he gave a clumsy penalty away and had a shocker against Newcastle. Colwill is inexperienced, Sarr is mid table level at best. Once we get the ownership issue sorted, we will likely be able to bring in one quality CB. If we move on Azpilicueta, that leaves us with Chalobah, Colwill, Sarr and a 38 year old Silva and no RB to cover James if he gets injured or when we need to rotate.

Also, all he said was that Azpilicueta is not finished, which is true. Azpilicueta certainly shouldn't be playing week after week anymore, but he's definitely not finished.

I see a lot of posts saying we need to upgrade this position and that position in the summer, but it's just not going to happen. Lukaku, Werner, Ziyech, Pulisic, Jorginho, Kante, Azpilicueta, Alonso, Sarr, Christensen, Rudiger, we can't replace all of them in one window.

I personally see us in the market for two CBs, not including Colwill and Ampadu coming in. One being a marquee signing.

Fact of the matter is, Dave was never gifted technically. His only saving grace was his defensive consistency, and that is now long gone. I want more players that are gifted on the ball in all areas of the pitch as that is where football is evolving to. We constantly complain about the recycling of possession but a large reason for that is our players lacking the confidence to perform any risk given their limitations on the ball. You look at City and Liverpool's entire backline and they wouldn't give a second thought in playing a progressive pass. A lot of Dave's defensive errors this season were down to his limitations on the ball and I am genuinely fed up.

I remember the outcry when Warnock made those comments about Dave but he has a point. Compare Dave to other successful Right Backs in the past decade such as Dani Alves or Philip Lahm, they dwarf Azpilicueta in terms of overall ability. 

Obviously there are a few others who should be seen as a priority but I for one want Azpilicueta sold this summer. 

Edited May 2, 20224 yr by Sconnie Blue

@Scott Harris

Only rumours but apparently the new owners have already discussed the CB issue with TT a they were left disappointed at not being able to keep Toni and want to make sure we are covered.

The two names TT apparently asked for to replace AC and Toni are Jules Kounde from Sevilla and Pau Torres of Villareal.

Fabrizio linking Alonso with Barca as well  what is with Xavi and his obsession with our defenders. I like Alonso but at 31/32 I doubt that he's getting another contract so maybe a sale could benefit us by adding to the transfer budget. Azpil I'm torn because he has been bad recently but to lose 4 defenders in one window is crazy especially since they're all starters.

 

30 minutes ago, LongtimerLurker said:

Fabrizio linking Alonso with Barca as well  what is with Xavi and his obsession with our defenders. I like Alonso but at 31/32 I doubt that he's getting another contract so maybe a sale could benefit us by adding to the transfer budget. Azpil I'm torn because he has been bad recently but to lose 4 defenders in one window is crazy especially since they're all starters.

 

I’m actually really intrigued about next season, it will be really interesting to see how different the team will be.

Azpi, Alonso, Werner, Lukaku, Jorginho, Pulisic, Rudiger and Christensen look like they’re on their way out. We could be much better off or a lot worse off next season.

I think Rudiger is the only one that will be really difficult to replace. The rest, we shouldn’t find it too difficult to find a replacement that gives us similar quality if not better.

Barcelona have reached an agreement with César Azpilicueta for a two-year contract worth $13.7 million a season, reports @diarioas pic.twitter.com/CKZkGzvLIu

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 7, 2022

3 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Barcelona have reached an agreement with César Azpilicueta for a two-year contract worth $13.7 million a season, reports @diarioas pic.twitter.com/CKZkGzvLIu

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 7, 2022

If that is what he wants then let's let him go.

Welp, I was about to say how Tuchel seems to be playing Azpi to convince him he's still an important player of the squad so he'd stick around for another year, but I guess that's that then. Bring in Trevoh and let him do his mistakes and grow into the role.