goon wrote:
Pape has started 7 games, same as Odegaard and 3 less than Saka and Smith-Rowe. And I have to say as much as I wanted to see him start and have a run, he's mins have definitely dropped away more recently on merit (just like Odagaard vs Laca).
And this is without European football. I don't see it as a problem at all.
You really need to start fact checking your stuff because whenever I do it for you I find some fake shit. Pepe started five games, not seven. More importantly he played the first two, dropped out of the squad altogether, played another two, benched for the full 90, got 25 minutes at Brighton and played the full game vs Palace, benched for the full 90 vs Villa then five minutes at Leicester. That's the text book definition of a bit part player.
In comparison the other three played in every single game (Odegaard in every game since signing after Chelsea) for at least 25 minutes, ESR and Saka even started nine out of ten. Massive difference there.
The most important thing about all this isn't that you just play players on merit, otherwise someone RVP would never have gotten back into the team in 10/11 (which he never should've really). You look at the squad you have available and make your decisions based on current level and potential. Pepe when in form offers something no one else in our squad does, he's been grossly misused and still probably has more goals to his name than the other three combined. If you give a player garbage minutes and he doesn't perform afterwards then no shit you're always going to be right because you're at least partially at fault for them not being up to it.
