In our games against Arsenal, Zinchenko’s flaws at fullback have been cruelly exposed, with Walker having the aggression, height, pace, and muscle to perturb him, and the lack of those same attributes meant he could never cover Rodri and he just wasn’t creative enough to displace anyone further forward. A good player, no doubt, but one who had reached his ceiling with us.
It is very difficult to find players who are comfortable making the next step up. Some might relish the opportunity but find the climb too steep, while others might prefer to remain at a more comfortable zone and stop reaching for the summit. Suspect we might now have a few hit and miss targets as go about trying to find who has what it takes.
