That is, of course, a very reasonable concern. He's not going to play -- for anyone -- until he's cleared all medical evaluations. It's just not gonna happen that he'll look poor in performance/medicals and Jose goes with him anyway. What we'll have, once he's cleared to play, is a vastly better backup striker than any other club on the planet and a striker who's better than most other strikers on the planet. Amigos, we're not looking at Zlatan like a footballer who might be here 3-4 seasons from now.
Apparently Pereira is going on loan to Valencia for the year. With Matic coming in and Herrera, Carrick, and Fellaini still mainly on the bench, it makes sense. Still sad to see him go but at least it's not a wasted year.
I think it would curtail much of our directness and countering. I see that as our best way forward. I think it also increases the chance of both martial and Rashford being on the bench together for said game.
Agreed. And if used appropriately, I'm for it too. But he's got to realize he's not top dog, or even second or third dog.
It may not be up to him and by that I'm not just referring to Jose (even if he will have the last word in terms of his usage). Zlatan could be recovered and fit, but it still remains to be seen how he will look upon returning. It could be weeks or even months before he's truly back to himself (if it happens at all). The fact remains that he will not be indispensable as he was dat season, so there's absolutely no reason to run him to the ground by constantly playing. He probably will be at his most effective in spurts and I trust that's how Jose will see it that way as well. Unless, by some miracle he manages to return at the same level he was pre-injury right away (which is unlikely).
He is, which is why there is talk that if United were to get him, they'd allow him to say to Fulham this coming season on loan.
i wonder how much palace would ask should we try to buy back zaha - and whether he would want to come back.. lvg gave up on him too soon, we could really use a right winger that doesn't try to come inside at every opportunity.
That may well be the case. But the particulars of the injury and the surgery can significantly change recovery times. They may have used a synthetic ligament for example, which will drastically reduce recovery time. Which isnt to say that more aggressive surgical and rehab approaches arent without downsides and negatives. Or that an injury at the end of the professional lifespan isnt harder to recover from. But its probably excessive to say Zlatan has a 0% chance of coming back at reasonable form before usual 10-18 months of treatment and rehab.
In a market where there so few decent right sided options, much less available ones, Zaha really would not be the worst choice. He's taken his game to a different level last season and if other options fail, we could do worse. With things as they stand though, provided we don't make a move this summer and we still have a clear need for a right sided forward after this season, I would love for us to make a move for Carrasco. I get that he's got a €100mil release clause on him, but he'll still be just 24 by next summer. Would be worth it, should he have another good campaign with Atleti.
If he can play effectively on the right, I would most definitely. The problem is that I haven't seen him play in that role for a very long time now and the positions Arsene keeps playing him in are not ones of need for us as far as he's concerned.
Thanks. It was pretty rough. Cutting and turns felt fine but straight line sprint was pretty rough. I don't think my quad strength is quite there yet. Good luck on the return.
I now question you suitability as a mod. If you can't keep up with the physical side, you probably can't keep up with the mental and emotional strength needed for the position.
When I say my quad strength isn't quite there, I mean compared to my good leg. Compared to the rest of you, my bad leg quad strength is superhuman.