Malc Dugdale says…
I’d agree with Mark — the centre backs omitted for Chelsea have a lot to do to get back into the starting eleven, but along side them I’d like to see growth and development from young Dayann Methalie as it’ll benefit both himself and the club.
I think he’s been a bit of a casualty of the recent defensive problems, rather than being a cause of them.
The lad has pace and ability in spades but to turn the corner Régis Le Bris went to his trusted past players and proven approaches. And against Chelsea,
that worked. Finally.
Methalie is a star for the future in my view, and this run up to Xmas is where he can further improve his relationships in the team, his understanding of our tactics and shapes, and he can show he is more than an understudy to Reinildo — who stepped up very well against Chelsea but is over 30 and will need some rotation.
It’s up to Methalie to show us he’s the right choice, especially when athleticism and youthful hunger are needed more than settled experience and decent pace.
There are plenty games to go around and I’d love to see Methalie ‘do an Ahoka’ and just grab a few games by the scruff and show us what he can do.
He’s a massive talent and is almost ready, for sure.
Mark Ryan says…
Omar Alderete and Kevin Danso.
When virtually his first touch was a gloriously nonchalant turn and eight minutes later he assisted Mayenda’s season-opening goal, I was immediately in love with ‘El Tripode’. And during his first couple of appearances, I thought we had a steal in Danso.
Both came with reputations for being less than great on the ball, but Alderete mostly put that to bed last year and Danso was clipping passes all over in his first two starts. But Alderete has been a mess since Falorin Balogun sent him to the shadow realm — and a later injury — in the World Cup, and Danso’s confidence is in a canyon somewhere.
Their abysmal form plus Dan Ballard’s injury leaves us with Nordi Mukiele and prayers Luke O’Nien stays solid at centre back.
They’re better than they’re playing and if they can improve from “frightening” to “unspectacular” (hopefully they’ll regain some confidence during the international break) the back line gets more formidable as the fixture congestion sets in the next two months.
Owen Sara says…
I’d go with Kevin Danso.
He started really well and looked the real deal then somehow his form dropped off a cliff. It could be unfortunate in that we have opted to be more possession-based, which doesn’t suit him.
When he signed, we were told we’d signed a very good box defender who’s very good at winning first contacts. He was surprisingly very good on the ball for the first few games and then he suddenly looked hapless as his dip in form coincided with our dip in form.
He’s clearly lacking confidence but he’s come out and spoke about how he wants to prove us wrong and show us how good he can be.
He has a lot of work to do to shift Luke O’Nien and Nordi Mukiele out of the team and his Europa League performances certainly haven’t helped. However, there must be a player there if he starts for Austria and has played in European competition for Spurs, so there’s the potential for him to turn this around.
Will Patterson says…
For me it’s Habib Diarra and Dan Ballard — both for the same reasons, but with a slightly different twist.
With Diarra, I’m not sure we quite yet know who he is or what he’s good at or even capable of.
When you look at the three young central midfielders we have in Noah Sadiki, Jules Ahoka and Habib Diarra, you’d say that Diarra was the most highly rated of all of them and remains our record signing.
Florent Ghisolfi has his doubters but Kristjaan Speakman had a great track record. For Diarra to remain our record signing, I’m convinced there’s a player there. He needs to get himself into the team and show what he can do, otherwise time could be running out for him.
With Ballard, it’s also fitness-related.
Every time he seems to get a run of games under his belt, something new crops up, and at this stage of his career, his level could be miles above where he is currently.
When I look at the squad planning that will need to happen over summer, I’d imagine a large amount of the overhaul could be in the backline. Ballard recently signed a new contract but I’m sure he won’t want to spend his time playing as a backup because his body can’t be relied upon.
I’m almost certain he’ll stay, but for his own sake, he needs to get fit and stay fit.
