Massive fan of this deal. Think he’ll be our left back. Playing full back in an attacking team with structure will be easy for him. Playing wide left in an unsettled team with 3 different Managers isn’t the one.
Also think this would be a great move for Onomah. Hope he makes it. You know our club is really on the up when someone of his talent isn’t getting a sniff.
This. There are a lot of ways to accommodate an intelligent player, and he looks like an intelligent player.
I have concerns about his defensive ability (or lack thereof). But we don't actually need to use him in a defensive role, if (as I suspect) we're planning trying something like this -
--------------------Lloris-------------------
Foyth-----Sanchez-------Verts---Sessegnon
----------Ndombele---------Sissoko--------
Son----------------Alli---------------Lo Celso
--------------------Kane---------------------
That's what it would look like on a team sheet. But in possession, it could very easily look like this -
----------------------Lloris--------------------
--------Foyth------Sanchez-----Verts-------
--------------------------------------Sissoko--
----------Ndombele-----Lo Celso-------------
Son------------------Alli-----------Sessegnon
----------------------Kane---------------------
Where Foyth, Sanchez and Verts switch to a back three, Sissoko holds back on the left to cover Sessegnon, Ndombele, Lo Celso and Alli form an interchanging triangle in the middle, Kane stays up front, and Son and Sessegnon essentially roam down the flanks providing width.
That fits both the contemporary tactical trend of having four at the back (back three + Sissoko) to deal with counters, the new Liverpool-inspired trend of having a central midfielder drop into the flanks to cover for a marauding full-back, *and* a wide, balanced formation that uses both flanks.Plus, with four at the back, all six forward players can press at will, and with Foyth and Verts both back there, a lot of accurate long passes can be sprayed from deep to Son/Sessegnon at will, forcing the opposition to keep them marked.
Long story short, I think, if he does sign, he offers a lot of tactical options given his intelligence and general spatial awareness. I hope he does sign.