I'm following Austria and not just because of him, there's another player there I'm interested in. I never said he was taken out due to performance, all I'm saying is they're looking better without him.
And that's a theory blown out of the water: Austria's looking like crap today with EPB benched and the just-back-from-injury Mike Madl playing.
You can't be serious. You aren't right that he wasn't injured just because he didn't start today. Whether he plays in this game has no relevance to what you claimed. He either was injured last week or he wasn't. I'm also sure you know that sometimes players who are injured don't come straight back into the lineup right away. You insinuated that he was benched (not injured) a few weeks back, and then you claimed he was left out of the 18 last week entirely and it wasn't due to injury. If you'd like to provide some evidence that he wasn't injured, go ahead and do so. I provided evidence to the contrary of what you said.
I'm pretty sure he was referring to his own theory (being better w/o EPB) when he said it was blown out the water
CV The numbers seem to favour your interpretation. EPB signed after two league games had already been played, and work permit issues delayed his debut for another two rounds. The remaining 8 games read Game 5: started, went 90' Game 6: suspension (per Transfermarkt) Game 7: started, went 90' Game 8: started, went 90' Game 9: started, went 90' Game 10: started, went 45', injured Game 11: not in the squad Game 12: on the bench It's not too shabby and better than portrayed by some parties (which includes yours truly), as long as we keep the level he's playing at in mind. Let's hold our fire and see if he can regain his starting place.
I'm pretty sure Game 5 was a red card at 76th, which led to his suspension for Game 6. Erik Palmer-Brown has been sent off in the 76th minute with a straight red card. Austria Vienna still lead 2-1 https://t.co/3WPdtk8Uiz— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) August 25, 2019
Well remember his first ever mls game? Red card. Then we got hyped bc he played at Porto B Then apparently juve was going to offer seven figures. Then apparently Porto were in such bad financial shape they couldn’t afford him... but they REALLY wanted him Then a weird signing to CFG Then some interesting loans. And now here we are, a squad player in Austria.
Starts: #Veilchen vs @LASK_Official:13 Lučić 🖐🏼 4 Jeggo7 Sax10 Grünwald [K]14 Monschein15 Serbest17 Klein23 Palmer-Brown24 Borković28 Martschinko30 Madl👥 Bank:32 Pentz 🖐🏼 16 Prokop20 Edomwonyi22 Cavlan26 Turgeman27 Ebner39 Sarkaria👏🏻 FORZA VIOLA! 💜#faklive pic.twitter.com/QNupxu5n7K— FK Austria Wien (@FKAustriaWien) November 3, 2019
Starts: #Veilchen gegen Mattersburg13 Lučić 🖐🏼 4 Jeggo7 Sax10 Grünwald [K]14 Monschein17 Klein23 Palmer-Brown24 Borković27 Ebner30 Madl39 Sarkaria👥 Bank:32 Pentz 🖐🏼 15 Serbest16 Prokop20 Edomwonyi26 Turgeman28 Martschinko36 Fitz👏🏻 FORZA VIOLA! 💜#faklive pic.twitter.com/dBoKd25OdF— FK Austria Wien (@FKAustriaWien) November 10, 2019
2-1 win, and EPB picked up an assist on the second goal. I'm assuming a flick-on from a corner. Austria Wien up to 7th, but still 6 points shy of the championship playoff.
How is this path helping EPB's or Man City's interests? Just seems like they should cut their losses and sell to someone at home or abroad who want to invest in EPB long-term, preferably at a different position than he's currently playing because it seems he's already peaked there. Will never understand how teams could see him win u20 CCAF player of the tournament at the 6 and then try him exclusively at center back. If I was one of these MLS expansion sides in recent years I'd have inquired about a loan w/ a buy option for that purpose because it's not like they should be trying to play silky football, and even Man City usually has more of a destroyer type there to protect their back line.
Starts: #Veilchen vs Admira:13 Lučić 🖐🏼 4 Jeggo7 Sax10 Grünwald [K]14 Monschein17 Klein23 Palmer-Brown24 Borković27 Ebner30 Madl39 Sarkaria👥 Bank:32 Pentz 🖐🏼 8 Zwierschitz11 Pichler15 Serbest20 Edomwonyi28 Martschinko36 Fitz👏🏻 FORZA VIOLA! 💜#faklive pic.twitter.com/tYjxJVE0xe— FK Austria Wien (@FKAustriaWien) November 24, 2019
Tied 0-0 with next-to-last Admira away at Mödling, so now they're 8 pts. from the Championship Round teams (upper half of the 12 team table). Still #7.
EPB's getting $$$$. Lots more than anyone else was willing to pay. And lots more than he's shown he's worth.
He's stunting his development and will make less money in the long run due to this strategy. Too many managers and players willing to sacrifice long-term career success and riches due to short-sightedness of getting paid a little bit more in the interim. "And for what? A little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money don't you know". - Frances McDormand, Fargo The loan armies are the newer versions of third party ownership like we saw at Traffic Sports. Thankfully there have been rules to curtail the practice, but EPB got in right before the deadline. Lucky guy. Anyways, the move to the 6 like I've suggested would be best for all parties, because this positional direction has seemed to reach its peak and it ain't Mount Everest. More like Space Mountain.
You're saying that without anybody trying him at the position where he won player of the tourney in u-20's. Easy to say now. I've been saying he was a pedestrian cb prospect all along while being high on him at the 6. His size is mediocre for a cb while he has a mental lapse or two per game that cost a team. As a 6 that's mitigated by having help in behind and not having to deal w/ aerials against big strikers. While his great range and defensive aggression can be accentuated. Not loaning him to clubs where he's going to play a position at which he has more potential is organizational malpractice and influenced by Man City's rather small club affiliate network. Also him being one of many in a loan army w/out them having long term plans for him so they'd pay attention to detail.
Do you think many people in Europe have seen, read about, or heard of the U20 CONCACAF Championships? Cause I don't.
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic. Just in case not, there were numerous scouts from major clubs there scouting EPB and others. Question is then, why would they not try him at the other position when he's been a mediocre cb and it worked so well with him at cdm in the u20 CCAFships? To my knowledge he's never played it in a pro game. He switched back to his normal position of cb in the u20 WC, played it w/ SKC, and he's remained there ever since.
The question would have to be: what would have been the better path? And why have 6 different pro clubs tried him at CD? I mean, he's what, 22? Played at 6 different pro clubs already. MLS/Sporting (CD) Porto B (CD) Austria B1/Wein (CD) Belgian Jupiler/Kortrijk Ered/Breda (CD) Man city bought, supposed Juventus bid for him as well. It's not an amazing career yet, by any stretch, but he's also not Adu yet either. But it is becoming disconcerting that he has not made a bigger impact in any of these league, though the Wein loans seems to be going fine, aside from the table position (which is not as big a concern for him.) He's getting games and decent reviews.