Even if he makes mistakes, having a defender with some genuine pace would mean we could push up the pitch and those mistakes could be further away from goal. As a result, our pressing could see us squeeze the other team. We saw that having Dier and Davies there meant the whole team got sucked backwards and the press became irrelevant.
What's he like on set-pieces? If he wasn't ready for the Championship, how have we made him Prem ready within a few months?
We won't know if he's a teen prodigy without trying him. He's not being asked to start every game anyway. I would just like to see him come in for Romero until he returns. Just because he hasn't played much in the Championship doesn't mean he can't play yet. Its all part of his growth and he has to start some time. With the issues we have now there's no expectation so maybe now is the best time.
Do you really believe that football coaches don't know a top talent until they've watched them in a Prem game?
That is the truth of the matter.
Yeah I don't see how a manager can know until they see them tested at that level. They can of course tell a lot from training but until they play in a true game you can never really know. There's nothing like the real thing to prepare a player. Kulusevski suggested he looks good in training and the level is high so that sounds promising. A true match is where you really see where they're at though.
Again, we won't know until we try him. Dier's always been shit at set pieces anyway, fallen asleep countless times over the years, so it's not much of downgrade.
Don't put everyone in same basket Not everyone thought Skipp was next best thing If a youngster is ready give him a chance Yes Manager should/ will know not necessarily us on a forum
I didn’t say everyone thought Skipp was the next best thing.
No one is saying with any degree of certainty he is ready, but it's very clearly a horses for courses answer here. You say he wasn't ready for the Championship playing the way Blackburn play, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have been more ready playing a different way.
2 seasons late.
Dier was different then. He moved a bit better and was good in midfield at the time. He seemed to never be the same after his abdominal issue. He wasn't able to cope in midfield anymore so got moved to centre back by Jose. I also think the game changed over the years and players have to be a lot more press resistant now. The game just seems to have passed him by at this level. He had a good run under Conte season before last. That should have been the time to sell and have him leave on a high note. Yet just as with others like Lloris and Vertonghen we keep him too long so he ends up a shadow of his old self. It's not a nice note to leave on but it's not really the players fault. Even Moura was like that too, he was good for a couple of years but then we see him at the end looking so poor it's hard to watch. At least he got that nice goal to cap his time off but offered nothing for too long and his moment of madness at Liverpool was hard to watch.
