Malacia's a better defender at the moment.
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Yeah, his surging run is very exciting to watch. He also has good height. You just feel he has something special. ETH has used 3 backs several times in the last stage of the games for different tactical reasons, including last game. I think wingbacks are definitely an option for him to choose in certain situations.
Can he reach or exceed Macus Alonso’s level? I think and hope he can.
Not disputing that. But another year of solid development and I think Alvaro could be ready to take his place or be sold.
I suggested selling Malacia purely because he may well begin to get frustrated at a lack of playing time, and if so we could make a solid profit and have a ready replacement at no extra cost.
He reminds me a lot of Alonso tbf, who I actually used to really like as a player (not off the pitch though).
Or shift out Luke in a couple of seasons when he hits 30.
You have kind of answered your own question there. I think the only sensible decision is to sell him
I don't think I wanted to see it tbh
. I would only sell him with a buyback clause though, I mean who knows he could turn out to be better than Malacia at some pointDefinitely agree with that. We should be putting buybacks or right of first refusal clauses in promising youngster sales.I don't think I wanted to see it tbh
Why would you sell him? He's only 20, 21 next year. He needs another loan, to a high championship or low PL side.
Agree
I think the problem is he doesn't have a clear pathway into the team at the moment unless both Luke Shaw and Malacia flop hard in the next season or two, which I doubt
That all depends on his development on loan. If he ends up performing better than them, then he has a chance
You mean shift him in to CB?
Looks clear enough to me. Another year on loan and he comes back at 21 while Shaw will be 29.
Malacia so far has been hopeless in attack, average in possession and average defensively. Fernandez should be easily backing himself to replace Malacia who will be 25 by then.
A couple of season rotating with Shaw as backup and then easing into a bigger role as Shaw moves into his 30s is about as perfect a path as you could imagine.
Then again, that's not how football often works. Malacia could want a move at some stage due to lack of playing time, either one could get a long term injury or suffer from a lengthy loss of form etc. Or Fernández could start performing on a higher level than either of them. So for me there's no reason to sell a promising player who just turned 20 and who's had a very good first season playing 1st team football in a tough league.
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I hope he can take Malacias place.
I personally thought the Malacia signing was an odd one given the potential of Fernandez! He was very highly rated at Madrid and being a rotation option with Shaw would have been good for his development! His qualities are undoubtedly in the attacking third and can offer something different to Shaw!
Shift him to the bin
At 30? Why?
Big fan of this kid. His path to our first team is pretty congested, but I hope he can somehow forge a way for himself. Really talented and I wouldn't want us to lose him due to lack of opportunity.
It would be ironic then. He left RM because he felt his path to the 1st team was too congested.
On the premise that Fernendaz has developed that well you need to make room. And he isn’t a good enough CB
At such a young age just beginning to play adult football, there is no need to make too many assumptions on his potential development pathway. Many managers/coaches are creative enough to find the opportunity to play the high potential young players. Bale played as left back for a few years, and eventually he ended up mainly as an advanced attacking role. ETH has done a lot of similars to young players as many say. So, I think he will have a pathway if he can show his worth to ETH. This loan experience must have been closely monitored, analyzed, and communicated with ETH. It’s for sure.
This kid is actually really good. Needs another loan probably in the prem because his defending needs work. But beyond that he has all the ingredients to be really good. Actually, something else I remember about him is he can play the cdm position really well. He actually plays it eerily similar to matic. He is too good to sell and just needs time, like amad needed
I agree! He really impressed me last season for the U23’s- his composure, weight of pass and dribbling are elite level already! If he can improve defensively then he’ll become a very good player
He turned 20 only 17 days ago - why would we be selling him? He has great potential.
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Involved in a team handbags for Preston against Swansea last night.
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Played the whole game home against Blackburn. LWB for most of the match, switched to LB the for the last 15 minutes when Preston were chasing the game. They got the 1-1 equaliser in stoppage time.
His performance kind of sums him up as a player. Technically very sound and tidy in possession. Some half decent balls to the box but also a few bad ones. To an extent I've shared the worry for his lack of pace that many have expressed but I feel he's improved physically a bit since he went on loan. Still not super fast but I wouldn't say it's a big weakness either. Didn't have any big issues in physical duels.
What kind of worries me is how little he got involved in the game. There was a few times he had the chance to find some space after passing but his off the ball movement seemed a bit lazy. Kind of like he felt it was enough for him to recycle possession instead of actually taking his opponent on and driving to the box.
Defensively he was fine although there was a situation or two where his tracking back was a bit Shaw-like alibi jogging.
I don't see any big development in him although of course this is a new level for him. He seems pretty comfortable in communicating and giving instructions on the pitch which is a good sign for a Spanish player who just turned 20. Don't know much about Ryan Lowe as a manager or how much he puts time and energy into developing individuals, but I feel that Fernández needs his next loan somewhere else. He's definitely not on PL level at least not yet, I wonder if a lower LaLiga team would be too much of a challenge?
The match itself was the usual huff and puff Championship stuff. Hope Preston or Sunderland make it to the playoffs.
His performance kind of sums him up as a player. Technically very sound and tidy in possession. Some half decent balls to the box but also a few bad ones. To an extent I've shared the worry for his lack of pace that many have expressed but I feel he's improved physically a bit since he went on loan. Still not super fast but I wouldn't say it's a big weakness either. Didn't have any big issues in physical duels.
What kind of worries me is how little he got involved in the game. There was a few times he had the chance to find some space after passing but his off the ball movement seemed a bit lazy. Kind of like he felt it was enough for him to recycle possession instead of actually taking his opponent on and driving to the box.
Defensively he was fine although there was a situation or two where his tracking back was a bit Shaw-like alibi jogging.
I don't see any big development in him although of course this is a new level for him. He seems pretty comfortable in communicating and giving instructions on the pitch which is a good sign for a Spanish player who just turned 20. Don't know much about Ryan Lowe as a manager or how much he puts time and energy into developing individuals, but I feel that Fernández needs his next loan somewhere else. He's definitely not on PL level at least not yet, I wonder if a lower LaLiga team would be too much of a challenge?
The match itself was the usual huff and puff Championship stuff. Hope Preston or Sunderland make it to the playoffs.
I hope he gets a real chance next season here.
Based on what I’ve seen, he’s not ready yet. A loan in top tier somewhere in Europe would be the best solution in my opinion. Then again he needs minutes so there’s always the risk that he gets benched for a long period of time. I don’t think he’s near the PL level yet. Especially as we don’t use wingbacks.
is he only a wingback or can he also play either left back or plain out left mid?
Well Preston play with wingbacks so this season he only has a few minutes as a FB. In our U21s he mainly played as a LB, but that's not a level we're talking about when it comes to first team football, let alone PL. I don't see him as a winger either, not explosive enough or not skillful enough to take on defenders 1-on-1 relentlessly.
We really need to find him a loan club that play with four at the back in my opinion.
Sounds about right. He’ll never make it here if the whole team need to adjust tactics to one with wingbacks that suits him. That’s just not gonna happen for a maybe-player/talent.
Same thing Januzaj struggled with. Didnt have the pace/acceleration to be a winger (although skilful), but neither was he good enough to dominate as amc.
He was decent and sometimes even dominant as a fullback defensively in the PL2 and I'm sure he's mostly played that position in both Deportivo as well as Real. This season has been a success for him like he says himself. Racking up so many games in a competitive Championship against strong players is very valuable experience. For our sake, and his as well, playing as a fullback next season is crucial. We need him to get exposed more defensively to find out what he's made of.
He has got the height could he possibly converted to CB similar to Shaw for those who have an idea of his defensive intelligence. From what I am reading technique to play out from the back should not be an issue.
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