Maureen has said Mata can leave the club this window. He'd be a fantastic player for us (as he was for the Chavs, before the Not-Quite-So-Special One came back). I really do not know what the issue is between those two, but there is clearly a problem and it's one that we should definitely be looking to capitalize on. Mata coming in could enable us to sell Holtby. I'd see that as a fair swap.
Roo, thats a lazy article from Goal! but probably not far off the truth as Holtby needs to move to further his career, he has a good footballing brain, sees runs other players don't but I can already sense the majority of support aren't fully behind him. Hes a great Pro though and if he does move on that doesn't mean he won't be a success elsewhere yet in a 442 Sherwood has other players he prefers, as you mention and the seat is just being kept warm for the return of Tom Carroll!
you know me Boss, any old speculation will be posted on here. And knowing you'll bite makes it even better! I think he's got immense passion for the club and seems like a top lad. But when it comes to football, he's not done enough on the pitch IMO. Maybe that applies to training too, which is why he isn't getting the chances? I dunno.
You be surprised to know he's the only player that stays behind to do shooting practice! which paid off agaisnt Fulham with that great strike. Which means he slated them when he left and now bigging them up as he may want back, typical footballer!
I remember seeing this. Very true. I guess he's just down the pecking order because there's other who are in form or preferred then! It doesn't help that we're not playing a formation that really suits his preferred role, either. The change has now resulted in an abundance of midfielders and not enough strikers. certain players from our midfield will be gone soon. - if not in Jan, it'll be in the summer. There's no way we can keep everyone happy. Even if we were in the CL, we'd struggle.
Eriksen, Holtby, Siggy, Capoue, Sandro, Bentaleb, Carroll (next year), Paulinho, Dembele Have i missed anyone? Townsend, Lennon, Chadli and Lamela for the wings. Thats now a problem with 442 as the squad was assembled with a 4-2-3-1 in mind but now with 4-4-2 it leaves players unsure of their future. But Eriksen is safe for the time being.
Holtby has played left wing, for Mainz i believe. Could be a good backup for Eriksen who seems to have found a modric-niche out there at least temporarily. But then we also have the brick ****house that is Chadli. Hmmmmmm
There's two in that list I wouldn't be bothered about if they were to leave? anyone wanna have a guess?
Sherwood is a big admirer of Veljkovic, so I anticipate him featuring as soon as Tim feels he is ready. The player Sherwood really rated was Massimo Luongo, but of course we sold him.
I believe he has impressed. Even though he has only been there a short while, several championship clubs are rumoured to be looking at him. That we sold him doesn't mean we didn't think highly of him, more that we couldn't see a situation where he would get regular games with us.
He and pritchard have helped massively replace the loss of Matt Richie's quality. Without them, Swindon would be struggling.
I'm convinced Holtby will be a big player for somebody, and I'd rather it be us. Assuming Ade is hurt, I wonder about playing him as a kind of striker when we have the ball, and covering the left wing for Eiriksen when we don't. It would take advantage of his willingness to run, and get him in the part of the field he needs to be in. I think he's excellent in and around the box, pedestrian farther back.
Carroll recall perhaps? He'd be cuptied if he was allowed to play... http://www1.skysports.com/football/...-for-qpr-as-spurs-ponder-recall-of-midfielder
Sherwood may well be continuing the disciplinary track with BAE, while Carroll is at least still a possible if Spurs progress further in the FA Cup and a real CM injury plague occurs.