Claudius kicking is world’s apart. Look at how well integrated he is into team play. Doesn’t hesitate. Just moves the ball quickly.
These are the margins we keep shaping. A fit Tomi is showing himself to be great at left back, and Havertz same at 9. Squad keeps evolving. A year ago Ramsdale, Zinchenko and Jesus were amongst our brightest. We are elevating. Nobody is safe
Not denying your second para. I was quite early on not really wanting Zinchenko to start games for us, even when you were still convinced he was our best option and helped us control games. I liked him at the start when he joined, probably up until February 2023 but since then it was clear that his value added was not enough to make up for what he cost us defensively.
Same with Jesus. Loved him when he first joined. He was a breath of fresh air in his pressing, overall game and he was involved in a lot of our goals. However I was starting to get fed up with him towards the end of last season during his terrible form especually because, like Zinchenko, he came back into the starting lineup automatically despite Trossard doing the business at 9 in his absense. Kind of hoped he'd get back to his best, but once his injury proneness and his erratic finishing continued into the new season it was time to try somethijg different for me.
Even the Ramsdale/Raya situation. I was not on board at the start. Heavily against it if anything given how much we were spending with gaps in midfield and CF at the time. This one and the Havertz one, you were ahead of me on the curve.
Raya is an upgrade on Ramsdale. But thats where I kind of have to differ. When it comes to kicking, there was obviously something different this season compared to last (aside from the obvious keeper change) and that's the way we attack. You could see last year we were a lot less long ballsy than this season or the season before last. When Ramsdale came in for his couple appearances this season I think he made one or two great balls over the top that nearly created goals for us eg against Liverpool I think it was in the Cup. It's obviously something we've been working on tactically this season differently to last, and that has as much to do with Havertz being up top than whatever minimal long kicking difference there is between the two.
Where Raya gives us the most advantage compared ti Ramsdale, at least in my opinion, is his ability in collecting and holding onto balls kicked into the box. He gobbles those up, and although I noticed that early on, it wasn't until the last few months that it became clear to me how much of a positive influence that had on our defending as a whole. There just isn't much fear about crosses being put in because the defenders are so good that they'll head it away, and the rest of the time the keeper collects. Makes us almost impossible to play against.
