Joshua Wilson-Esbrand

supercity88 said:
I hope this thread grows and grows (with positivity). I liked what I saw against Wycombe and I liked what I saw in pre-season. I've said too many times now, I wanted to see him tested against Salah to give him a real insight into what the top level is like. I understand the reason why we didn't.
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Well actually, to be fair, it was literally the least important game in which he could have been pitted against Salah. Otherwise, it's either of the league games (I don't think), a game in either of the domestic cups (not a very good idea, if we get knocked out with a brilliant Salah goal or two responsible), or the CL (out of the question, if a senior player is available).
 
If we don't get a LB, he'll get some important minutes. Obviously Cancelo/Walker would be the starters, but we play with one very offensive and creative FB and a more defensive focus one, so I don't think Walker/Ake will ever start together. For me:
Starters: Cancelo/Walker
If Walker gets injured: Ake/Cancelo
If Cancelo gets injured: JWE/Walker
 
Lovebitesandeveryfing said:
Well actually, to be fair, it was literally the least important game in which he could have been pitted against Salah. Otherwise, it's either of the league games (I don't think), a game in either of the domestic cups (not a very good idea, if we get knocked out with a brilliant Salah goal or two responsible), or the CL (out of the question, if a senior player is available).
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It was the perfect scenario to test him, but Cancelo needed the run out. Pep clearly saw it as another pre-season game (despite claiming it as a trophy when we last won it). Regardless of JWE's performance, it would have been Cancelo starting against West Ham so the match fitness was needed.

Hopefully with 5 subs he gets opportunities off the bench. Whether we sign a left back or not, we will need to rotate and rest our fullbacks as a priority if games are won. I know we can shuffle Ake into a LB slot but with Laporte injured and Stones' fitness always a worry we should get to see Wilson Esbrand in the first team more this season.
 
He might not be a starter, but he will be on the bench and be a rotation option which is all I ever wanted.

Anybody who expected him to be first choice LB had too high expectations.
 
If we don't buy a left-back then this season could be his breakthrough.

Looks like Cancelo's our first choice LB and our second choice RB and that puts a huge amount of pressure on him to stay fit and in form.

Luckily Walker's pretty solid but if he were to get injured or suspended it's either move Cancelo or use Stones at RB.

And if we have to move Cancelo to RB, or if he gets injured or suspended, we can maybe use Ake or Laporte at LB.

So apart from JWE, all our full-back cover means taking someone from our centre-back pool, and reducing our options in the middle. We've got four great CBs but we saw at the end of last season the horror scenario of them all being injured to different extents. Only playing two of them at any one time should help avoid that.

I'd like to see Josh stake a claim for the second choice LB spot. Give him the early rounds at least of the domestic cups, a run out in the last match of the CL group stage if we do well enough to have already qualified for the knock-outs, and give him a few 20/30 min sub appearances in the league.

That should be enough to give him a bit of experience, make the mistakes he needs to make to learn, and show if he's got what it takes long-term. Assuming he does, we can use him more for rotation in the league as the season goes on.

Unlike the rest of our defence, he won't be at the World Cup, so he could be crucial cover in the second half of the season.
 
I believe he should be given the chance to play backup for the same reason Foden, Palmer and McAtee have all had chances.

If you don't believe in your academy, it's a waste of resources. We've had the Guardiola style taught through the ranks for 6 years now, eventually you have to trust in the system.

I would love nothing more than to have a "cantera" the way Barca and Ajax have had that creates these brilliant players with our tactics imprinted.
 
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