Kane has only had one sub appearance. I'm hoping I'm right though and it's not because Xisco doesn't think he's good enough
Most people on here are saying that Serrialta is the only PL standard defender we have got, but could be that WE have got it all wrong and he is now looking more like a one season wonder? I sincerely hope not
Surely any sort of opinion along those lines can only have been formed on about one week of pre-season training?
Sounds like he did OK tonight, so hopefully The kid has just been giving him more time to recover from his very busy summer and he will carry on being the player he was last season, only this time in the PL
I thought Sierralta did well today, except from one a time in the second half when Benteke beat him in the box by knocking it round him and then hit the post.
So good to see Sierralta back. He was immaculate, although Mateta did barge him off the ball while on a dangerous run. Should have been a goal for them. Apart from that, he won everything in the air, and was solid. Really makes a difference to WTE's performance as well. Makes him a much better player too.
Scratch that......it was Troost-Ekong who got rolled and pushed off the ball in the first half.......my mistake.
Don't worry, Sierralta is the numero uno, as last night's performance demonstrated. Easing him back in after taking a longer break following Copa America. Hopefully will start on Sunday but wouldn't be surprised if he's not back fully until after the international break, especially as it looks like the Premier League is standing firm and collectively blocking South American players from travelling for the September fixtures.
Seems he’s accepted the call up for Chile despite Premier League clubs agreeing to refuse them: https://twitter.com/josuelaval/status/1432347966421995520?s=21 If true that’s him out of action for about a month. Should be back just in time for the next international break.
Seems to have crept up on people that our CB's will not always be available to us this season because of WC qualifiers and AFCON. We've only got 4 CB's now Pollock has gone out on loan. Cathcart is currently injured, and IF Sierralta plays for Chile he'll be in quarantine for a while. We're just left with Kabs and WTE. Maybe Kucka or Masina could be emergency CB's but that's hardly what we should be doing. However, I'm confident we'll sign a CB. Maybe not a brilliant one, but we'll get someone in as we just don't have the numbers to cover this entire season. Pollock going on loan virtually confirms (to my mind) we'll be getting one.
Ok....we'll have Kabs running around on his own against Wolves. Who needs centre backs anyway. They are very overrated.
They should simply not be allowed to go. We pay their wages. FIFA has said the clubs have the right not to release players who will then have to isolate and miss matches on their return. We need to put our feet down on this nonsense.
It was the Premier League who said that, not FIFA tbf, and Premier League clubs seem to have relented on that
Obviously I feel for these countries on the red list, many of whom won't have rolled out the vaccines as quickly as us, but...******* hell CONMEBOL, what a gigantic ****-up the Copa America format was, 20 games, 4 games each in the group stages, to eliminate 2 teams. If you were that worried about getting through these crucial World Cup qualifiers, maybe you could have come up with a better format!
You never stop a player playing for their country unless they are injured. Full stop. If he wants to play, he plays.
But the PL got permission from FIFA first before they made that announcement. Other European footballing bodies have done the same. Many players have accepted the decision, but it seems in particular the Argentines haven’t (Villa for example will lose Martínez and Buendia for one match..not two games because both players are flying home before the 3rd international fixture). Personally, as I say, I don’t think it’s acceptable.
Pretty sure FIFA weren't on board. It's their rules the national associations are using to circumvent the position taken by the leagues and call up their players regardless.
He's not going on international duty. He's said he'll just have to support from here. Edit: RS2 beats me to it by a whisker!
His English is improving, he may only have given his club interview after the game in Spanish, but Ben Brereton says he has good English
https://www.latercera.com/la-tercer...vieran-en-la-roja/OV2O2KR5JVASBGMA4SMNTL4YCY/ FIFA are apparently suspending Sierralta and Brereton for 3 club matches...