If he could score a goal as important as Pratley's against Forest, eg the winner to lift a cup or save us from the drop, then he can bloody crawl as far as I'm concerned....
We've all got our opinions but I don't think the issue with Mesa is physical fitness but getting used to the faster tempo in the PL. The bits I've seen of him suggest this because he seems a tidy footballer.
Routs is a well respected senior player who has saved us from losing more than once.....Our defense had one of their better games but are not consistent enough in my view and we still need better but i give them credit for the job they done against a team on our level......What they will be like against the bigger sides then i have my doubts.. Clucas had a great debut so we have to wait a few games yet to see if he can handle playing better sides, So again he deserves credit for fitting in quickly and doing a good job.. As for Mesa then nobody on here knows diddly squat what the reasons are but he is not the first or will be the last player to take his time before he is comfortable playing premiership football....Bony took ages before he found his feet when he started and fans were saying what a waste of money. 4 points in our first two away games is a great return and losing at home against a potential champions is not all doom and gloom and we are in the top half of the table.......I and many on here did not expect a good start so we must be pleased so far and i hope Clem can bring in a couple more players before the window closes...
"he can still keep the opposition wondering what he's going to do" Most games, he certainly has me wondering what he's going to do!!.. Routledge adds nothing to our playing 11 at all...
We've all been crying out for a quality CB addition to the squad for a long time. But with what we've got at the moment, it's the best solution for Clement to choose, as we get opened up at will, with a 'flat back 4'!! Our defence is just not up to it, to cope with that formation. I posted a week ago, that it'll need the right wing-backs to work & hopefully if 'Arias' is a done deal, he might just be the player to complement Olsson 'on the left side'. Didn't see MOTD so don't know, but thought for all the talent they had at their disposal (Man U), we gave a good account of ourselves until the subs & consequent 'switch' on 67mins... They're all 'buttering up' Lineker's team too...
If you leave the last 22 or so minutes out of it ( when Clement decided to appease the jeerers he met at the Southampton game by trying to bring in players for attacking ) against Man U , we've given a a single goal in 3 games .
You know what's coming Breezy Pratley was a natural box to box midfielder, so was Jo, so is Britton, Carroll too. What they have in common is a 90 minute engine and Fer doesn't. He is a versatile central midfielder, that's where he is at his best and most effective. He doesn't have any pace in his legs though so it would be right or fair to ask him to roam, play out wide or run box to box because he would not be as effective doing that as he is in his current role. I'd put Clucas in the same boat, skilful, talented but lacks the pace to play out wide and doesn't have the engine to be a box to box 90minute midfielder. We argued against playing Siggy out of position and the same applies to Fer, he is most effective in his current role so there's no need go changing his job description.
