I cant see any player leaving but i can see 2 or 3 players joining. As for taylor then i was a bit worried about him at first but he has not let us down and settled in his role nicely.
Given that we are solid defensively, I wouldn't mind seeing Amat deployed as a DM if and when needed alongside Leon and Ki.
Amat is too good technically not to be on the field somewhere. The obvious choice is as a full back or alongside Fed in the middle; or, with Fed and Ash in three at the back. But I'd really like to see Ki and Amat in tandem in midfield with anybody in front of them as #10. If only for a couple of matches ... perhaps try it in the FA Cup 3rd round if we get drawn against a Championship side to see how it works. I find it intriguing and you'd be hard pressed to find two more technically solid players in the midfield than Amat and Ki.
I thought we played Amat in the CDM at the end if last season and he didn't do so well. Maybe he would improve in time. He was certainly up to the CD before his injury and he and Fernandez would be unlucky not be playing. Is Amat our replacement for Ash as well as Fernandez (we won't drop Fernandez IMO) and if so where does that leave Bartley?
Amat was a disaster as DM against West Ham and played a big part of Laudrup's sacking while Britton sat on the bench. StranglyMonk also played Amat at DM soon after taking over for one start .
Roof you beat me to it, He was appalling when he played there last year. What is the fascination with trying to or wanting to play players out of position. If he is the best in his position then he starts. if there are better then he doesnt. he has been tried there and it didnt work. I can understand it if we have that many injuries that we have no one else. But we already have better than him in the DM position. He is a centre back and for me thats where he should stay.
Quite right, I thought my memory wasn't too bad. In fact I recall many calling for a reinstatement of José Cañas !!! (José Cañas getting regular football with Esponyol !!!!)
We lost the West Ham game because of a failure to negate the oppositions aerial strength in our box - the rest of the match we controlled possession and were on the offensive. Amat also played DM against Birmingham in a cup tie and was instrumental in both of our goals from the DM position.
While I agree with the Birmingham reference, I don't with the West Ham. From what I remember about that game, we barely had a shot on goal and never worked their keeper even after they went down to 10 men for 30 minutes. Amat was brought in to add depth, height and solidity to the midfield (due to West Ham's size) and he didn't really have the desired effect in that regard. However, I wouldn't say he was a disaster in there during that game, the whole team was a disaster in that game. I would still like to see Amat in the side once he's back and either RB or DM would be interesting. New season, new manager - things could work out differently this time. If he got injured playing midfield, you'd have to judge whether it was worth it though, as he is more than adequate cover for Ash and Fede when they need a rest or if they get injured.
We never had a single shot on goal in the West Ham game despite two thirds possession and West Ham down a man for 30 minutes
Bk at that time it was classed as the worst performance under ML and may well have been that game and the way we played that meant the board had enough and wanted rid of ML.
Which proves my point, we dominated possession and were on the offensive. It also just goes to show that a well organized 10 man defensive unit can shut up shop. Look at what we did against Everton this passed weekend when reduced to 10 men, or what Chelsea did against Barca in the UEFA CL. It doesn't mean that we were crap. It means that the other team, with their backs to the wall, organized well around their box and stayed in shape.
