As Gessa said, if Rapha is to be sold then sell him abroad. I'd hate to see him play for Liverpool and come back and destroy us next season.
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For me I would keep Cooper as club captain but have him on the bench. I would sell Sruijk whilst his value is high and slot Hjelde into the LCB spot as he is left footed. Sell Llorente and have Cresswell as back up for Koch
Are you judging Shackleton on his RB appearances? Be similar to judging Meslier as a CDM. Until Shackleton gets a run in MF, not one fan will be able to judge him based on the skills & attributes he has (or hasn't). What he does have going for him is that he stepped into a alien position he had no grounding in, & tried his damndest when others weren't. He's still young & the last notable run he had in MF was a few years back in the u23s. He must have had something which kept him at ER under Bielsa.
You shocked me with the 'sell Struijk', matey! I see him & Cresswell as the future. Hjelde too. Struijk to me is the new van Dijk, but perhaps 2 season away from that target. Sadly for him, I think he was overplayed this season, & it's beginning to show. He's still young & if it wasn't for our injuries, he would have continued being developed by playing an increasing number of games each season. Sadly, due to the injuries of others, he's jaded now & tbh, hasn't been the quickest picking up the new regime. Keep Cooper? Yup, no doubt in my mind. I've stated before that our defensive frailties went unchecked after he went out injured all those months ago. He must remain Club Captain, be there for the team, & turn out as his manager requires. I don't see him being first pick if we can find a solid CB partnership, whoever it might be. Happily sell Llorente. His demise is related to my Cooper remarks. When Coops got injured, Llorente started to crack. No idea what the reason was specifically, but crack he did. He's not the organiser we require - Cresswell is better at that IMO. Koch? Some seem to rate him as a DM. I don't deny he's had his moments, but he's not a natural. He rarely, if ever, springs an attack as you'd expect KP to. Still prefer Forshaw, myself. As a CB, I haven't seen anything to convince me that he is our future. He's a fairly average stop-gap, imo. Right, off to the crapper now with my tin hat on in readiness for the barrage after I've read a few chapters of my book.
Probably his ability to slot in at right back. Sorry but if Forshaw can return from the dead to get in ahead of him, you have to doubt he’ll make it.
Hopefully someone will want him on loan if we can't sell him. Sadly, we don't employ the best salesman in the world, which is a pity, as he'd be about the only person who might have a chance of offloading Kiko.
Your comment doesn't make sense to me, as Forshaw for me has been one of our best & consistent players since his comeback, so I would expect him to go right into the team - which he did, ahead of Koch, Struijk & Dallas. The flaw in your assertion is that Forshaw & Shackleton both play CDM. Shacks has probably played there no more than once a season, on average during Bielsa's time, so I don't get what you're advocating.
I wasn’t having a dig at Forshaw, far from it, I meant considering his time out, together with other injuries, if Shackleton can’t get a run in midfield, then he never will as injuries clear up.
You missed my point - Shackleton just isn't a DM, so why would Forshaw replace him? Totally unrelated. I may be wrong, but Shacks for me has always been a #8. Ironically, & to totally undermine everything I've said - Forshaw is a better #8 than #4 (LOL). Basically, Shacks is a youngster, still developing, & will hopefully rise through the ranks to take that #8 slot himself. Sadly for him, he has a lot of names well ahead of him, all of a similarly advanced age for a footballer. And all of them better than him. For now. I'm really not sure if it's in Shacks' best interest to stay with us, tbh. I would advocate a full season Championship loan for him next season (in 2 halves, just in case a recall is required), unless he's already caught JM's eye on the training ground.
I quite like Shackleton. But what is his natural position? If Marsch plays his supposedly preferred 4-2-2-2 he wouldn’t be one of the front four. So do you see him as one of the DM’s or as cover for them? EDIT: just saw your post above
I don’t really know what his position is because he rarely plays. Not sure of his age to know if he will get in. My feeling is he won’t but you’ve seen more of him than me.
