So we have just finished 4th and 6th with Longstaff playing almost every game alongside Bruno but he is not good enough to be demoted to his back-up?
Depends how much ambition you have.
We haven't even secured a european spot yet, if Man Utd win the cup we have no european competition to look forward to, and it will be ourselves to blame.
We finished 7th on goal difference alone against the ****test man utd side in a while and allowed Chelsea to catch us after a mostly **** season.
This season we were exposed. Our squad depth is piss poor and we need better.
Remember we benefitted massively 2022/23 from no european games, and certain teams losing form and being ****e. So 4th place, despite being a great achievement, is not going to be nearly as easy going forward.
This season it was a lot tougher and we proved how much our squad struggles with european demands. I know ECL is not CL but still.
We need to do better otherwise if we don't lose our big names this summer, we will definitely next summer.
Bruno to longstaff is a massive step down in quality. He's not a terrible player, but our first choice back up option? Nah. Not for me.
We need a better 4th choice CM because if a big injury happens in our central midfield it's back to another season of Longstaff and he's not good enough.
TL;DR - If we do manage to get that ECL spot, we've just scraped it on goal difference. Are we happy having the same thing happen again next season?
Remember we'll be without lascelles and botman until 2025 potentially. Who knows if Willock will ever return to what he was.