Merino, Ritchie or Lascelles are the ones in contention. In terms of match winning I'd have to go with Lascelles. Those goals against Stoke and Swansea are priceless. I think Ritchie has done what we expected, and delivered regular 7/10 performances as a minimum. If we had two or three more of him we'd be in a good place. Merino is just pure class. You could argue his ability to retain the ball has been match winning in itself. It has ensured we stay in the game. But I'd have to go Lascelles. He has done his job very well and then delivered match winning goals to boot. He is the one of the three who has done his job and then some.
Yeah Jamal is head of the list so far but then can't choose between Ritchie or Merino for second and third spot. Apart from them Elliot has made some good and important saves, Clarke has gone about his job quietly and (just to piss a few posters off...) Perez has worked his nuts off for the team.
Agree with the consensus that it's either Merino or Lascelles. I would probably opt for Lascelles simply because he's called Diame lazy and has acted, by the sound of it, just as a captain should. If he hadn't have got into the fight with Diame then I would have chosen Merino as he oozes class. Early days for Merino but fingers crossed he keeps his standards up to the level he has set for himself.
I feel like everyone's going a bit overboard with Merino. Okay, yes, he's done well and looks a decent player so far, but he's not had many games and the fans are doing their usual thing where they get all wide-eyed and talk a player up like they are the next big thing. I think everyone needs to take a few deep breaths. Saying that, he may be the best player so far. Personally I'd give it to Lascelles - he's stepping up to the mark as a player and as a captain. The over-hyping thing applies to him too though. As soon as either have a couple of poor performances it'll be "he's average" and "Championship at best".
Lascelles - he just looks he's significantly upped his game since last season, he was good in the champ, but made a few errors and Clark did a lot of the hard work for him. This season though he looks like a complete player, dominates our defence and looks like a real leader and inspiration. Merino looking very decent so far, but I need to see a bit more of him before I judge. Ritchie always a joy to watch, but Lascelles is the clear winner for me.
That's just normal for most sets of fans. They get carried away. Lascelles was being brutalised on here last year. He had a rough time but turns out he had a hernia problem. I kinda like the way he never revealed it or used during the season as an excuse. He led from the front. Indeed whereas he did underperform at times costing goals, Clark was being hailed left right and centre. Personally I thought he was making nearly as many mistakes, yet he had no excuse. Both seem to be getting better, Lascelles is really showing leadership qualities and obviously his goals have been very important. I like Merino - he has looked very very classy for a lad of his age. Still a long way to go. Both Merino and Lascelles would be helped massively if we had a quality holding midfielder.
Lascelles for me. If we could find a decent DM I think you could play them with merino and shelvey maybe.
I'd hope we will get a quality No.10 and use Shelvey sparingly. He is pretty average. Produces the odd telling pass but a lot of time the game passes him by, and there are of course other issues... Him and Mitro will find themselves limited under Rafa while their discipline issues persist. In the last game against Liverpool, you could see nothing had changed for Shelvey, he still looked to react a couple of times.
Disagree about Shelvey. Shelvey is a good mid table team player. There are issues re temperament and he needs to keep addressing these. I seem to recall reading something where he did say he was seeing someone about his temper issues. There are games which pass him by but that applies to most players and he does try the "Hollywood" pass too much. That being said he can pass, he can find space and does have a footballing brain albeit with a self destruct button. Also we do look a more positive team with him in it as he does look to pass the ball forward rather than the safe square or back passing too many players play.
I agree. To be fair to Shelvey he can't dribble, can't tackle and can't get out of tight situations. However, give him a small bit of time and space, a running player and you will get the goal against Liverpool. Its worth the risk whilst we're in this position. Moving forward he better **** or get off the pot otherwise this team will eventually pass him by. He could be ineffective with the right signings in january. Lucky for him that isn't happening with MA's funding
Just one of those things, some like him, some don't. I think he is petulant and lazy, not someone I'd want in the trenches with me. Throw in his propensity to leave his teammates holding the baby with his ill discipline, I can't really see the fascination. Looks like a player for a relegation outfit to me. Struggled at Liverpool and then after a bright start at Swansea, went the same way. I think he is ok this season for a club like us but he is definitely one player we need to replace over the longer term if we want to get safely into mid table and establish something to build from. When he is mentioned with England I don't know whether to laugh or cry. That he is even mentioned speaks volumes about England. I'd rather have Jordan Henderson - which says it all really given he is average and a mackem.
Agreed with most of this but can't agree with Henderson over a plank of wood let alone any other professional/semi professional/amateur footballer. All he does is run around a lot, play sideways or backwards passes and losses the ball. England have much better options at CM than Shelvey but he is most certainly a better player than Henderson of Scumderland.
Accept that some will like Shelvey and some not. Not quite a marmite player but is a player who will like his directness (at times) and those who can't stand his petulance. HOWEVER (notice that was a big "however") no sane man could say Henderson resembles a footballer even when dressed in replica kit. There used to be a prankster who would dress up in the relevant kit of a sports team and then attend a game and try and get into a team photo usually on the end. Think he did it to Man U once. The first number of times I saw Henderson I was convinced he was that bloke. The only persons who would say Henderson was a footballer of any description would be ones who had never seen him play. If Henderson is a footballer then Obi is slim, Chippy is fair, even handed and the best dressed man in the north east and No Chance is the essence of brevity.
