Your assessment of Kieran Tierny is accurate. His suitability to the club in the long term is in doubt and one suspects that a mutual parting of ways is imminent, especially since Zinchenko is often injured, so a suitable option must be sought. Tierny is also unlikely to accept an extended stay as deputy. To a different system, he is first choice.
I expect Fabio's output to increase as he adapts to the team & league. He missed the pre-season & is in a new league. We'll see how he develops this second half of the league.
The lack of trust in Eddie is clear. He is a clear back up & though he can be relied upon against most teams, I doubt he can be the pillar of the team alone and for 3 months. An emergency acquisition is needed here.
I'm more curious about your assessment of Lokonga. It appears that you reviewed him amongst the attacking midfielders whilst he has been deployed as a DM in place of Partey most of the time. Having said this, I fear that the conclusion may not be much different. His output in defense hasn't been up to par. I would give him a season loan to find himself then assess whether he suits the club or not.
Clearly, what we do in January will determine a lot, especially the extent of our title challenge. But we should be able to do enough to secure top 4 comfortably, at least second place.
As far as Lokonga I was comparing him to Partey but his attacking output has been awful. He plays essentially as a center back in a couple ways so far: he doesn’t receive progression so ball must come back to him instead of up, and he doesn’t get involved in shot buildups at all (under 2 per 90 vs partey over 5). It’s a tiny sample but that’s what I was referring to
Lovely work, informative reading.
Your assessment of Kieran Tierny is accurate. His suitability to the club in the long term is in doubt and one suspects that a mutual parting of ways is imminent, especially since Zinchenko is often injured, so a suitable option must be sought. Tierny is also unlikely to accept an extended stay as deputy. To a different system, he is first choice.
I expect Fabio's output to increase as he adapts to the team & league. He missed the pre-season & is in a new league. We'll see how he develops this second half of the league.
The lack of trust in Eddie is clear. He is a clear back up & though he can be relied upon against most teams, I doubt he can be the pillar of the team alone and for 3 months. An emergency acquisition is needed here.
I'm more curious about your assessment of Lokonga. It appears that you reviewed him amongst the attacking midfielders whilst he has been deployed as a DM in place of Partey most of the time. Having said this, I fear that the conclusion may not be much different. His output in defense hasn't been up to par. I would give him a season loan to find himself then assess whether he suits the club or not.
Clearly, what we do in January will determine a lot, especially the extent of our title challenge. But we should be able to do enough to secure top 4 comfortably, at least second place.
Thanks for your comment, really appreciated!
As far as Lokonga I was comparing him to Partey but his attacking output has been awful. He plays essentially as a center back in a couple ways so far: he doesn’t receive progression so ball must come back to him instead of up, and he doesn’t get involved in shot buildups at all (under 2 per 90 vs partey over 5). It’s a tiny sample but that’s what I was referring to