Yes; one additional consequence was the need to hop around on the other leg for 3 months further compromised my already suspect ankle ligaments. And, oh the joy when it tore during rehab requiring a second op....
Not really - we don't have a single other player of his profile. This will literally mean we're either forced to rely on Kucka playing far more than he seemingly can or possibly should, or persisting with the odd 'Louza as a defensive midfielder' experiment we saw attempted in the cup - not to mention the current oddness of the 'Louza as a competent footballer' experiment.
I have heard that there is a recall clause for January for TDB, although I'm not sure how beneficial that will be to him, and also us. TDB seems very talented, but also seems more of a creative midfielder rather than the Kante type player Etebo is, if we recalled TDB, would he fit in the team? Would he even get a game?
Very disappointing news for him and the club, but that is sport. Hopefully he will fully recover. I presume it would be Stoke who would look after his rehab. Maybe not. Depends on the loan agreement terms, I suppose.
Out of contract still? Couldn’t he come Straight away. Bearing in mind we re only 1 injury away from Gosling or Louza starting .
Ozan can play there but I think it would be a mistake to put out most forward-thinking midfielder in DM. Kucka? Probably just get sent off. Sissoko is probably the best bet due to his experience at this level. What we really need is someone with the discipline to hold that position like Hughes did.
Poor guy has been sat on the bench twiddling his thumbs since he joined. Must be wondering what he's doing wrong in training.
Back training outside with the ball. Imagine he's probably 6 weeks away from being involved. We've missed him.
Back in full training. Presumably will be available for Burnley. A much better option than Kucka, Cleverley and Tufan, at the very least.
Yeah, pretty much zero chance of him starting, but being back in full training I imagine there's a decent possibility of him making the bench.
With Kayembe, Etebo and Sissoko we'll at least finally be back to having 3 decent CMs. Biggest issue with all our options though is none of them seems to pose any goal threat whatsoever.
He might even be an option for goalkeeper, but I'm sure Roy and Ray will have their own thoughts on that.
