The thing with the Martinelli upgrade or Xhaka upgrade is that Martinelli can actually improve on what he is lacking, and that’s his end product.
Xhaka on the other hand won’t become a more dynamic midfielder at 29(turning 30 in September).
He is what he is.
This whole FW or MF debate shouldn’t even be a thing though. We need both.
ESR is a crock, Pepe is not trusted, Marquinhos is an unknown still and Nelson…fuck Nelson.
If we needed a goal yesterday the only player I would feel confident bringing on to change the game is Eddie, and that’s a big issue.
The two you mentioned were supposed to be fit a month ago, then it was week after, then the week after, then the week after, and then the season kicked off and they haven’t even made the matchday squad.
Can’t really count on them until they prove to be fit. Be interesting to see if either of them play some football in August.
Tierney played 30 minutes against Nurnberg. He was apparently taken off early intentionally that day and then missed almost a month before playing again on Friday.
ESR was the same, he played that game and he’s still not back. He was also suspect to this last season when he kept coming back only to miss the next match because of a “niggle”.
It’ll take more to have faith in them being genuinely fit I’m afraid.
Can’t stand the guy, but like the sentiment and agree with him… hopefully he stays out of stupid trouble this season and let’s the talent around him shine.
But it’s only a matter of time before he gets sent off for something no one else would. And then the narrative will be all about how Xhaka lacks discipline, rather than him being singled out.
Sure, but none of his bookings or penalties conceded was unwarranted.
If he was singled out for something that didn’t warrant booking, I can sympathise.
