The kind of player me and @Scout73 been talking about left footed can cover the 10 and both wings only issue for me here is AFCON, good player though
Ill not get too ahead of myself with this Adli link, West Ham and Wolves still have more pull than us
I don't believe he'll still be here, at that time, unless he signs a contract. I can't believe we'll let him start his last season on the contract he has, or similar, because it's throwing money away. In my mind he was gone the moment he lifted the trophy at Wembley. That meant Le Fée was signing and he'd just be the start. Players like Browne, O'Nien, Moore, etc, would've all got home and thought, 'Is that me done at Sunderland' imo ... ... I like them all but, as I recently said, there's been a big noisy clunk in the mechanism at the SOL and sentiment will be in short supply.
Same in any job really. Not everyone is cut out to be in charge of others. It can actually be a bloody thankless ball ache at times!
I don't like the idea of a new lad coming in and being captain immediately. Just a personal opinion. Nowt to do with Dan Neil in this instance as I believe he is leaving. In my opinion a captaincy is earned in an environment, not brought into an environment. Whilst I am 100% behind the signing of Xhaka as the key man in our midfield, I would have liked to have seen Regis have someone on the pitch who is his right hand man in that environment. Maybe the fact we are seemingly going for a whole new 11, give or take, makes it irrelevant. Generally though a captain is someone who knows the players, staff, culture etc well. The role is significant enough in my opinion to warrant a bit more care with it. But it really is only an opinion that isn't important in anyway outside of my own little footballing bubble.
According to sportsmole - Who? He is a Moroccan International who can play right across the front 3, although he is described as a left footed right winger. In his time at Bayer, he has 23 goals and 24 Assists in 142 games.
we have a leadership group, a team captain and a club captain. O9 will be that club captain and you'd assume Xhaka will lead the team on the pitch
Adli mainly played as one of the two 10's for Leverkusen but can also play on both wings. A lot of versatility. left-footed too
I can totally respect that mate I don’t think you’re alone in thinking that. But I’m also not sure Neil really earned it, I think it was given as a sweetener and I remember saying at the time it’ll come back to bite us on the arse if he doesn’t perform. For me, what Xhaka is bringing ie the level he’s played at, the several captaincies before the international experience etc it makes sense because we really don’t have a lot of experience in the squad at a decent level still. Two years of championship football isn’t a great deal to me. Brentford done it with Jansson when he signed from Leeds and got promoted his first full season as captain iirc. Here’s hoping it has a similar effect and we can stay up!
Could be. The lad has let a lot of cash slip by last season by staying on his old deal, and it would be more now. It all mounts up. He is at the point now where he must literally dread getting an injury. I know what his agent should be telling him, but an agent has two priorities, and the player is not always at the top of that little list.
I agree and I don't think there'll be cliques permitted by the club. But we have foreign coaches now who can be linguistically specific in individual or group training. Xhaka, Le Fée, etc will also be able to help the new lads settle in as well ... ... all English banter is fine but sometimes a manager/captain needs to get the message across clearly and quickly. I've no problem with instructions, on the pitch, with whichever language gets the best results.
I think he could go abroad and take 30-40k a week and get a decent sun tan, can't really see him staying in england.
Not something I would know this, ( along with much else) but how many leagues would support that kind of wage? Apart from the bigger clubs that is.
I can see your issue, however, by the end of this transfer window who, of the team promoted will be guaranteed a starting birth. Still think Hume will be replaced as well as the CBs