Indeed. It was not so long ago we had the likes of Fonte, Toby, Lovren and VvD in these roles. Now it’s a question of the best options with what we have at our disposal.
He came off Saturday with a reoccurrence / continuation of his hamstring problem I thought. Not surprised he’s not training yet if that was indeed the case. Frustrating, but to be expected in the circumstances.
The murky world of football agents
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/sportsnews/article-6661473/Emiliano-Sala-pawn-sordid-transfer-shames-football.html
This is the crux of it. Yes he’s good with the ball at his feet and adept at bringing it out and setting up play, but, first and foremost he is a defender whose job is to prevent goals. That’s where his weakness is - as a defender.
Harsh to blame him entirely for the pen but he really isn't a very good player and the fact that he is a regular says a lot about where we are with our squad.
An interesting article on Deadline Day with agent Kiko Rodriguez (Jay's dad)
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/02/01/sports/soccer/01reuters-soccer-england-agents-feature.html
Ralph H also said, on several occasions, that we were looking to bring people in. That would suggest he wanted additions but let's pretend that never happened.
Why does it need to be a panic buy? We’ve known that the January window was coming up so our team responsible have had plenty of time to target acquisitions in a calm and measured manner. That is their job. There should be no ‘panic’ about the process whatsoever.
Why does it have to be a 'risky' buy? We have a department responsible for identifying targets and conducting due diligence is part of that remit. 2 spots could be the difference between maintaining Permier League status and free fall relegation. Ralph has given the impression that we are bringing people(s) in. I'd be more worried if we are having him over and the consequences of that.