15 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I wonder why he's got the home shirt on with the away shorts

Sucks to hear that he has a muscle injury. Really wanted to see him in preseason at least whilst the first teamers are getting their fitness in

2 hours ago, Deino said:

Sucks to hear that he has a muscle injury. Really wanted to see him in preseason at least whilst the first teamers are getting their fitness in

He's got a full time job translating for young Mr Estevao.

4 hours ago, dermott said:

He's got a full time job translating for young Mr Estevao.

I think Estevao speaks decent English.

He just doesn’t speak Palmer English yet.

Surely the club provided him with an English teacher this past year?

What a find. Diamond in the rough but he looked a perfect fit out there in the Caicedo role.

Whoever the scout that promoted this kid to us deserves a hefty bonus. It's like a baby Caicedo

Very good from Essugo. Hardly noticed that Caicedo wasn’t on the pitch.

I thought Caicedo had a pretty good 90 mins.

I kept having to remind myself it’s not Caicedo he looked so good.

So we have him Essugo, Santos, Lavia, Caicedo, Enzo f**k me that’s some depth in the middle of the park.

Was really impressed. Literally similar to Caicedo with his style of play and dominance. Very strong and powerful too. He looks at home in the double pivot. Look forward to seeing more of him.

He had a few minutes in Atlanta, and his recovery run (sprint) the entire length of the pitch was impressive. Anything in his way was going with him.

Pleased to hear a good outing today. To think, he was a sweetener to some degree in the Quenda deal. Good signings!

Glad we didn’t keep Ugochukwu instead of him!

Early days but nice to see people finally coming around. Knew he’d be a big bonus to the team and hopefully he improves as he goes.

Had Brighton replaced Baleba for Essugo once they sell him to United, he’d be another £80m central midfielder the Top 6 would be sniffing around in 2-3 years time.

If Lavia was able to stay fit you would have to wonder how much of a brick wall a midfield 3 of him, Essugo and Caicedo would be.

8 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

If Lavia was able to stay fit you would have to wonder how much of a brick wall a midfield 3 of him, Essugo and Caicedo would be.

They would only play under very specific situ tho. Would cause a big imbalance with so many defensive-minded midfielders.

Suspect the club has given up on Lavia for the time being.

14 minutes ago, acaeus said:

They would only play under very specific situ tho. Would cause a big imbalance with so many defensive-minded midfielders.

Suspect the club has given up on Lavia for the time being.

True. Though if your front 3 is Palmer, Joao Pedro and Estevao maybe the team has enough fire power.

21 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

True. Though if your front 3 is Palmer, Joao Pedro and Estevao maybe the team has enough fire power.

Dunno. The CMs/DMs play a big part in the link up these days: Vitinha for PSG now, or Modric for Madrid earlier, for ex.

That's why I still think Enzo is very important for this team to work. Tbh, Caicedo did surprise me, because I thought he was a simpler defensive mid, a pure ball-winning mid, but he's more rounded than that.

Still, Andrey/Enzo for that 2nd feels more balanced to me. Of course, it depends on who we play and where, so this is all Maresca's problem eh... it's actually a very good thing as he has a lot of options for the midfield now.

Done for the season by all accounts.

Hamstring successfully operated on.

3 minutes ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Done for the season by all accounts.

Hamstring successfully operated on.

Unbelievable. Dropping like flies again.

Maresca experimenting James in midfield not looking like a total travesty anymore.

He was injured? Another Lavia?

And this is why, despite many members trying to tell me otherwise, that we need to have 5 CMs.

Thankfully, we have Santos who can play deep and James who can also rotate with Caicedo if needed.

9 minutes ago, Zeta said:

He was injured? Another Lavia?

Lavia who surprisingly is back training, maybe it’s one of those things where we’re never allowed a fully healthy midfield. For one to be fit one must be injured.

Well, that's annoying, but not surprising given our luck. I couldn't find anything to indicate he's "done for the season" though. The club specifically don't give a time-frame, and most news articles are just repeating the club's statement. I did find one website claiming that Romano said he'd be out for "months", but Romano did not actually say that (he also just repeated the club's statement).

Thankfully, Caicedo is a machine and never gets injured or needs resting...

3 hours ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Done for the season by all accounts.

Hamstring successfully operated on.

The club statement mentioned is was his thigh.

3 hours ago, The Boehly Babes said:

Done for the season by all accounts.

Hamstring successfully operated on.

Thigh, I'm not seeing anything about being out for the season either.

These injuries are frustrating though. Injury FC is definitely back.