Ducado said:
de niro said:
When fit he plays. End of.
Why would you drop a player that is playing the best he has since he got here?
We've obviously now got the luxury of bringing him back in gradually - which wouldn't have been the case last season or the season before. The options we have are frightening - from being almost exclusively reliant on Silva for any creativity, we're now well-equipped to deal without him, when necessary. Have to hand it to Txiki in particular, I think - it's now becoming so clear just how good our business over the summer was.
That said, Silva is still our best player for me. A lot of people suggesting he needs a kick up the arse, but I really don't see it. He was pretty good for most of last season, and always puts a hell of a lot of effort in. He was also without doubt the biggest victim of our slug-like passing/tempo last season - 2011/12 he was brilliant at getting into space, and Yaya and Barry were excellent at getting the ball into him quickly. Last year, he was brilliant at getting into space, but by the time we'd trundled the ball forward he had opponents all over him (or else he ended up coming 20 yards deeper to pick up the ball). He'll be chomping at the bit to get back into the side after the last two performances - if we continue to play with that kind of tempo, getting the ball forward quickly and attacking with real purpose and great movement, he'll be right back to where he was at the front end of 2011/12.