Is it any wonder we never win anything when you think the players mentioned are good enough.
The first 2-3 years under Poch we were very good and none of the players mentioned would have got anywhere near the first 11.
We have gone from Walker to Trippier and now Aurier a massive decline.
Prime Toby to Sanchez.
Dembele to Ndombele.
We have been declining for the last 2 years and the Champions league final papered over massive cracks.
Whoever the manager is next season will fail if the players I mentioned are part of the fist 11
I don't disagree we have been declining under the last 2 years.
But of the 8 players you listed only 2 have been bought in the last 2 seasons, one is plying his trade in Germany, one I disagree as being bad. The rest were part of Top 4 winning squads.
The reason I believe we are going backwards is because we have a manager that has ostracized many of our players, created an awful atmosphere within the squad, is playing tactics that accenuates our weaknesses and under utilises our strengths.
The real shit show has been that our current manager is performing probably the worst with the resources he has, since Terry Neill.
Now I am not saying some of the players don't need to go, a couple will have regressed through age anyway, and you need to always refresh the dressing room even in good times. however I do believe that none can be judged fairly based on the disastrous 16 months that has been Jose.
The ideal solution is he goes in the very near future, and the leash can be taken off for remainder of the season, in a system that suits us, ostracized players can be reintegrated, so we can see which players that are being written off still may have something to offer.
We are at the stage where almost the whole squad is being written off, exactly the same at then end of the AVB/Sherwood season. Walker, Vertonghen, Rose, Dembele, Eriksen etc. were all in the shit and sell bracket then.
I am certain that a lot of the "shit" players will all of a sudden look decent again when, not if, Mourinho goes, and we play to our teams strengths, rather than to its managers outdated tactics.