Now we are nearing the end of the season weve all got a good idea who can cut the mustard and who is way out of depth in the best (maybe) league in the world. Some of them are borderline and worth another go and others get rid - here is my choice and ive only gone for those who have played this season. 1 Michel Vorm - a big YES! central to our survival and a must have for next season - crosses are his only weak point 2 Ashley Williams - YES. has been solid all season with the odd really rash challenge thrown in! 3 Neil Taylor - YES. hes improved as hes gone on and considering he was playing non league football not that long ago his progress is remarkable. his performance against Bolton was superb 4 Steven Caulker - YES. wish we could keep him but wish him and Ash would chip in with some goals occasionally! 5 Alan Tate - Cant really see it but he can do a job filling in when need be 7 Leon Britton - YES! Leon for Engerland! 8 Andrea Orlandi - I would have laughed a year ago but after his performance against AV he prooved most of us wrong, maybe he can fill in. 10 Danny Graham - YES. hes done enough for me despite being very isolated at times. works tirelessly and has netted a decent amount 11 Scott Sinclair - YES. hes frustrating at times and in some respects the most dissapointing in terms of potential this year but hes really started to come good recently, hopefully thats a sign of things to come 12 Nathan Dyer YES.when hes on fire he can embarrass class players like Evra, needs to look up occassionally and give the ball - 15 Wayne Routledge Hmmm - had good games and bad but is frustratingly inconsistent, good cover I think 16 Garry Monk - Dont want to say NO to such a massive player for us. Like Tatey he can do a job coming in but not a regular, would like to see him behind the scenes to maintain the continuity of the club. 17 Josh McEachran - NO Not for me, looked light weight, maybe its not the right time, club for him? 18 Leroy Lita - NO, his time has passed in the Premier, hes put in a few decent performances but not enough to convince me 19 Luke Moore -MAYBE again i would have laughed a year ago but hes looking a lot more assured and working harder than ever. his goal against City was class, still see him as cover though 20 Federico Bessone - NO - championship level. 22 Angel Rangel YES shaky at times in defence but supports attack well 24 Joe Allen YES. really pleasing to see how hes come on 25 Gerhard Tremmel i dont like to judge on a few games but NO! 26 Kemy Agustien YES looked good before his injury and adds a physical presence to our lightweight mifdfield 27 Mark Gower YES. divides opinion but I see him as good cover 29 Ashley Richards NOT YET. in a few seasons I think YES Stephen Dobbie. The only really dissapointing thing about this season is that noone knows if hes Premiership class 42 Gylfi Sigurdsson OH GOD YES!!!
I'd take issue with you on Jazz. He has the tools to play in the Prem and has stepped up and been solid when called on. He's moved back into midfield in the reserves which is going to make it tougher for him to break through. At right back I think he could have competed with Rangel next season - but this now seems to be Obeng's job.
yes he did a decent job when Rangel was out but he got exposed i think in the Spurs game - i agree he has the tools but he needs some more time at least another season before hes ready i reckon - Obeng is a mystery to me
In fairness, he was thrown in at the deep end having to face Gareth Bale lol. Don't disagree with any of your points above. Tate and Monk should stay, as cover, and then get a behind the cenes job simply for their loyalty to SCFC. Have to say, Taylor has done awesomely. As you say, non league just 2 or 3 seasons ago and now a PL first teamer. His performance against Bolton was a 10/10 for me.
can't really knock any of the first teamer's after the season we've had,but now we have to look for better player's in those positions
yes Taylor is growing all the time, thankfully we kept hold of him last summer - 1 million my arse! the issue of Monk and Tate is largely sentimentality for me, they can do a job when we need them but for a club like ours we always need to maintain the core squad cos we rely so much on team spirit. QPR are a good example of the effects of disloyalty.
Monk didnt help his cause. Change is afoot this summer as we cannot count on Caulker and surely cannot cosider Monk/Tate (who will always be Swansea Legends)
Monk is shocking at this level and Williams is hanging onto his well earned reputation by his fingertips. I don't disagree with most of the rest except maybe Gower who isn't consistent enough. Brilliant one minute and rubbish the next. Literally. Tremmel has been vilified for one bad game. That can't be right. Routledge has done well this season imo and is one of they few players we have with prior Prem experience. He seems to actually make more chances for others than Dyer. A few key signings are required and I'm particularly worried about the defensive positions based on recent performances. If it was not for Caulker things would have been a lot worse.
I wouldnt say Monk is shocking hes done a decent job on a number of occasions (admittedly not today) but no we cant rely on him (or Tatey) for cover - weve got to bring in some new faces. Orlandi though is worth another look. I would also have liked to have seen Routledge more often he was playing well before he was dropped
I disagree. Monk has had the odd decent game but has generally looked woefully out of his depth. I agree that Orlandi has been a surprise and that Routledge should have been given a spin yesterday.
Orlandi is no surprise to me. I advocated giving him more game time last season but got repeatedly shouted down. I maintained then, and I do now, that anyone given a chance at Barcelona has to have genuine talent and ability. I seem to remember that Lone Rangel was one of his biggest critics but then he tended to sneer at everyone. The lad has no physicality to speak of so the NPC was never going to be his best shop window. I predicted that the higher quality football in the PL would better suit his game - if we ever made it. Now we have, he has shown glimpses of what he can do at this level, albeit in sporadic cameo roles. If the guy muscles up a little (easily done) and gets some regular starts, we may find we have a quality player on our hands.
Orlandi - showed good touches yesterday, the only one who actually went past Wolves players with the appearance of ease - isn't his contract on a year to year at this point
