Zatara
Player Valuation: £100m
Easy don't play 45m.
I'd drop Sigurdsson and play Bernard. That wont happen though because Silva has given Sigurdsson certain reassurances about what role he'll play.
Bernard can play left, right or through the middle, its up to him to take his chance when given.
Its a squad game, if Rico doesnt perform, he plays left, if Iceland doesnt perform, he plays middle, if Walcot doesnt perform, he plays right.
Given Walcotts injury record and Ricos ability to not do stupid stuff, he will get plenty of games.
Personally Dave I dont think Bernard has the tools to play through the middle, but time will judge that.
Well, Sigurdsson cant do the job. That's for sure.
Bernard could also play off the right side. We all know Walcott is due another injury and that would slot Bernard in.
He really cant. I have seen no evidence he has the tools to do that job. He hasn't got the vision or the movement to find space between the lines or that little burst of acceleration you need in that role. Bernard looks to me like he'd be able to cope there.
You would hope so given that he's also said he'll hand shirts and take them off people according to form.
Sigurdsson, btw, would be excellent out wide if we had the right attack for him to deliver to.
He has played out wide mate played up front played in the hole played in midfield and still does not produce,needs to be left out and we either played Bernard there or 2 up top,stop trying to accommodate him,he is not that good.
Big target man in there and he'd be pinging laser guided crosses into him all day.
TBH, I'm not a fan of his. I thinlk he's been a collossal waste of money, because he cant do the job he is supposed to do and feels he can do. I dont see it.
He won't though because his free kicks and corners are a mess,he has jogged along far too long because of what we paid for him.
Im not really defending him as such.
I said in his thread hes been poor overall for us, people are not alone in expecting more from him.
Hindsight tells me it was a terrible, terrible transfer.
I merely voiced my concerns as to whether Bernard could play centrally.
You see I disagree, he hasnt been terrible every game, hes had his moments and I still think hes a good player.
Which is why I said we need to find a system that suits him, cos as you keep pointing out, we paid 45m for him, so he needs to play.
You also asked earlier how long we wait, I cant answer that, Silva strikes me as somebody that isnt afraid to drop somebody he doesnt feel is contributing, so for now, Tosun and Iceland would be retained in the hope they can find some form, but im not Marco Silva.
You cannot keep shoe horning him in to the side because of who he is or what he cost he has not performed,and he is not good enough to build a side around in my opinion I'm tired of watching him stroll though games mate and his free kicks and corners are crap and part of his game was this big thing about his assists.
Seeing as this is in fact the DCL thread lol
I would say that if we want to to with a rapid counter attack then it must be;
DCL
Richarlison -- Bernard -- Walcott
If we have to play Sigurdsson then its;Richarlison -- Bernard -- Walcott
Richarlison
Bernard -- Sigurdsson -- Walcott
With this being the DCL thread(!!) id like to say that the idea of having that first front 4 with DCL as the target man looks very appealing indeed.Bernard -- Sigurdsson -- Walcott
Id like to hope that were still in the "assessment l" stage and with Silva saying Vlasic was loaned to get consistent games then he will be in the mix next season (seems to be stepping up for CSKA) and Dowell may also inpress this season...
Additionally Onyekuru could well have a big season in Turkey which would mean Lookman, Richarlison, Dowell, Walcott, Bernard, Vlasic and Sigurdsson for 3 slots...8 players!!!
Back to DCL...we certainly wont be seeing him on the left next season and i imagine Sigurdsson and Walcott are playing for their Everton careers this season.