Conor BRADLEY: 2024/25

Totally agree, Trent should have been taken out of the firing line especially at 2 - 1, being kept on made it worse for him.

Not making the sub is probably the only time I feel I can be critical of Arne

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Iā€™ve seen it often enough on these boards with various players.

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I saw Slot applauding him for trying to play a ball down the line, it wasnā€™t a great pass and went out for a throw, but I think he was trying to gee him up a bit. I wonder if there was a voice in the back of Slotā€™s head saying ā€œtake him off and there is no way he signs a contractā€.

That was the game. Sub was 60 minutes late but i understand you give player a chance. It was atleast 20 minutes too late. Was he hooked at 2-1 as you pointed out thats 3 points.

I think you might be right but not the right way to think about, the team comes first, but understandable, I bet Arne doesnā€™t consider the same if it arises again.

I also think Arne for the 1st time didnā€™t get the tactics right especially the 2nd half.

We donā€™t know what minutes Bradley had in him.

Overplay him and you may end up losing him for longer and at this moment we sort of need him.

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Bradley probably wasnā€™t ready for 30 minutes of football. Slot probably would have replaced Trent earlier if it was the case.

Amazing how Konate was out of action for the same period and was good for 90 minutes :wink:

I think the only shit thatā€™s going on is really in the minds of fansā€¦

Well also the fact that we didnā€™t give him a contract last year and now RM are putting in stupid bids before our big matches. We donā€™t know if there was any connection but his performance yday can only be described as a shit show

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Yeah but surely in that case the answer shouldnā€™t be to jump to conclusions?

I do think if Bradley is ready then he should be starting some games, but thatā€™s purely on the same basis that I feel the same about Tsimikas, that we need to rotate them. At least that would remove fatigue as an excuse.

We do agree on something, our full backs role requires a lot of running and rotation is massive to keep them fresh, both Robbo and Trent have dropped off when starting every game.

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Noticed something interesting, Bradley himself will have 2 years left on his deal next summer.

His last contract extension was December 1st 2023, until 2027.

Thereā€™s no doubt weā€™re counting on him to be at least among our first two RB choices over the next couple of years. If Trent leaves, possibly to be our 1st choice on paper at the start of next season.

Next mission will be obviously for him to prove he can be a starter for long(er) periods.

Heā€™s physically developed, so perhaps itā€™s that period when also Stevie got a few niggles as his body was changing. Hopefully it will be behind him soon, as he enters that ā€œnot a young player anymore at 22ā€ chapter.

Probably another one of the crop of players with deals until 2027 that weā€™ll have to decide what to do and sort out or not. Quickly to mention them: Alisson, Gomez, Bradley, Tsimikas, Endo, Jones, Elliott, Diaz, Jota.

Konate is until 2026 and hopefully a deal to be agreed/announced soon.

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You make a good point and itā€™s another factor in the contract negotiations. Do you give Trent what he wants to extend his deal and wat does that mean for extending Bradley, or extending anyone else who feels they are playing better than Trent is?

For the purposes of sustainability we are probably at a point in the process where hard decisions have to be made.

Particularly with the likes of Konate and Diaz coming up for renewals, Iā€™m not sure we are willing to set a precendent of giving a 25 year old a contract worth in excess of Ā£250k a week (if reports of his demands being north of Ā£300k are true). Even if they wouldnā€™t go that high in their negotiation anything Trent gets will be seen as a negotiation tool by agents.

It simply isnā€™t, or at least hasnā€™t been, our business model.

Which makes me think that Alexander-Arnoldā€™s contract situation will be one of the last to get resolved.

Thereā€™s literally very little incentive for any party involved to get it over and done with early considering what it takes for that to happen.

Different injury, and Ibou was absolutely blowing out of his arse with 20 minutes to go, at one or two moments looking almost jelly legged. That is a why a guy who is normally so effective for a CB in 1-1s was so unable to get close to Garnacho on their second.

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Arne should have removed him at 2-1, for sure. But I can see that why really doesnā€™t want to, because a hooking like that really sends the narrative into overdrive.

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He wasnā€™t. He looked fucked on 60, and while he canā€™t be blamed for that I donā€™t think he should have played last night. I donā€™t think he was ready. Trent didnā€™t help him by abandoning him to do two jobs, but I wonder if Trent might have been a bit more diligent if he hadnā€™t thought he had Konate there as a security blanket.

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https://x.com/_pauljoyce/status/1894314588553777162

Lad is made of glass, it seems, which is a crying bloody shame because he has the potential to be a proper modern right back.

He is still very young, and these kinds of injuries are pretty common and kids grow into their bodies. There is plenty of time for him to settle before writing him off.

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