Hayden

Made all the difference again.
He just fills me with confidence every time he plays.
He has a big future with us.

 

Still has a lot to learn and needs some experience alongside him to help him develop, but there is a lot of promise there. I think he has the potential.

 

His engine is immense. The lad has impressed me.

 

We've looked so much better in midfield since he came back in - far less pedestrian and always looking for a forward pass.

Second goal scored if Colback was in there???

 

Hayden was man of the match.

 

He has good pedigree, I guess from coming through the Arsenal youth system. Good touch and awareness. Hasn't reached his potential yet but I have been wondering since he came back into the team whether he would actually be good enough to be first teamer in the Premier League. Certainly good enough to be in the squad anyway.

 

Class player. Loves him from the moment I saw him play. Easily my 2nd favourite player. He's one for the future for sure

 

The problem in our midfield is Shelvey. I just don't think he's all that. Hayden bosses the midfield. Shelvey just goes missing. He also tends to play far too many Hollywood passes for my liking.

 

Can't help thinking that we'd have already clinched the title if Hayden had been fit the whole season, he's only started 25 league games.

When we started that run of 5 wins at the start of the season, Hayden was immense, esp the 2-0 home win against Brighton when he completely ran the show. He's got back to this form now, but we needed proper back up this season, Colback clearly wasn't up to it.

 

Colback will hopefully be moved on in the summer along with the likes of Anita, Diame, Gouffran, Haidara, Hanley and Sammy.

 

Anita? I'd keep him, he's done pretty well this season, and always did well in the Prem.

Gotta ditch - Diame, Colback, Sammy, Hanley, Sels, Gamez, Lazaar, Haidara
Probably should ditch - Mitro, Gouff, Aarons, Good, Murphy
Sell if anyone's daft enough to give us good money - Gayle,

 

Anita has been alright this season. I just don't know if we should be relying on him in the PL. I missed Dummett off that list actually.
Mitrovic - I would personally keep him. I think he's far better suited to the PL than the Championship.

Two players I would like to see us bring in - Sigurdsson and Gibbs.

 

Because Hayden cannot play 38 matches, we need a dedicated DM. I'd have Colback as a fourth choice, no point in selling squad players off - you get no money, they're not paid much, and you struggle to sell the club to someone who's expected to play second fiddle. We need a DM to play with Shelvey or Hayden, depending on form/availability. Hayden is box-to-box, Shelvey is deep-lying.

Weirdly, I think our main problem in defence is not having someone decent in attacking midfield. Diame's woeful, Perez is a striker (I've said it all along, he proved it again yesterday). De Jong's not suddenly going to become the answer, but we need an outlet who can take the ball, keep the ball and is aware enough to bring others in.

 

hmmm, Mitro just doesn't fit Rafa's style, as Rafa always plays 1 up front, and Mitro just doesn't get enough goals to play in that position - we saw yesterday he was great at taking out defenders and making space for others, but the end product just wasn't there, he needs a regular goal scorer to play alongside. Rafa's well known for dismantling squads and getting rid of players he doesn't want, I'd be surprised if Mitro's still there next year.

Think Sigurdsson would have better offers than us, Tom Cairney would be my no.1 priority signing.

 

Cairney would depend on whether Fulham get up via the play offs. I think they will.

 

Mbemba would fit into that.

 

I thought Hayden was really good last night. Would love to see him fulfil his potential with us. He needs someone to learn from though Getting in a real quality DM would take the pressure off him and would also help Shelvey develop, who I think does have the makings of a good player when he doesn't feel like he needs to do everything and force situations that aren't there.

MItrovic is a funny one. Would absolutely love him to succeed. His goalscoring needs to improve but agree that he is one of our players who is probably better suited to the Premier League - along with Mbemba, Perez, etc. He's a genuine fan too and does play with passion. He is desperate to succeed with us. You see that when it comes to him wanting to take penalties and free kicks. And yet when it comes to open play he is one of the least selfish strikers I have ever seen. He is great at bringing the ball down and bringing others into play. With the right creative players alongside him I still think he could be immense - like he is for Serbia. I hope Rafa keeps him, but that doesn't take away the fact that we need a proven goalscorer desperately for next season. I'm not sure if Gayle is the answer in the PL. Mitro could be a very good option though when we need a big man up front.

 

He has been fairly inconsistent but he did a good job last night. He is a young lad in a role which generally players don't come of age in until at least 23-24 as they learn the game. He's 22 so the best is yet to come. The big question is do you bring in the holding midfielder you'd quite like to get him to learn from, or try to get through a couple of years of learning. He'll certainly learn more on the pitch. Tough one for Rafa to be honest. Its a role I'd always want the finished article in really but at the same time I'd like to see him given a chance.

He makes a big difference with his physicality and ability to get around the pitch to Colback. His passing is an obvious concern, as he gives the ball away far too much. Training, lots of it, will hopefully sort that along with game time. Much of passing in that role is instinct and knowing what is the right pass. That comes from game time and good coaching.

 

I have to say I'm completely not convinced by Shelvey when we go up. He is a good option to have along with Hayden but ideally I'd like another option in both roles. Shelvey is 25 and has played a lot of games. He should be better at decision making than he is. He is decent but he doesn't half slow us down at times.

 

It's a lottery trying to pick players. Of what I've seen, Cairney, Mooy, Abraham, Sessegnon, Barkhuizen, Swift, Jansson, Osborn and Saiss all worth a punt from the Championship. I think it's a fine line and a lot of players in that league could do good, if unspectacular, jobs. I'd rather take a good half a dozen Champ players, then add in two or three wildcards from Europe. There's talent out there - look at the lad Mbappe. Nowhere a year or two ago, just like Kante or Mahrez, now all world-beaters. We somehow need our glorious scouting network to pull a rabbit out the hat, because one or two of these players can be the difference between everything (Leicester) and nothing (Mackems).

From history, it's probably best to avoid those whose heads were turned by big clubs - the likes of Rodwell, Sinclair, etc., never got the magic back. So a few young 'uns - Barlaser, Gibson, Woodman, Heardman - probably need to be blooded in the cup.