If Gravenberch continues to play the way he’s played for a few more seasons. We just might have to coin a new term for his style of play.
But you are right , as far as Slot is concerned. He’s his #6.
Re-watch the 1st half against AC Milan and watch Grav boss Leao and tell me he can’t play CB.
However, no matter what I say I don’t want him to play there as he is invaluable as a 6, as we play with Grav as we play with a 6
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Re watch the last match of the PL season and you’ll know why he can’t be a CB.
It’s one thing for him being part of the defensive line in transitions. It’s a total different thing expecting him to be a CB from the get go
I’m reminded of when Fabinho filled in at CB. He did a job, but it wasn’t as good as a dedicated CB and we missed him in midfield.
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Don’t compare him to Fab as fab was a lot less mobile and lacked pace
And Slot trusts him as a CB.
Also, I don’t think anyone is interested in our last 4/5 games of the season as our players were on the beach
It was more the comparison of moving players out of position. It leaves a gap elsewhere.
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I don’t want him to move, but Fab was moved out of necessity due to all our CB’s being broken, whereas Slot has used Grav there for tactical reasons.
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I am sure we will sign one, and it probably is Guehi.
I like Guehi, he is like Virg very good at defending players with the ball at their feet and also good in possesion, mostly.
I still remember the last traumatizing season where we went into the season without the required amount of reliable CB’s, and ended up using 5-6 choice or a combo of Hendo and others. This year we only have a 3rd choice CB (injured) and then we back to Grav, Taki, etc. I think its obvious that we need a CB, it was obvious back then, and it needs to be done sooner than the potential Isak move. I have just recovered from that traumatic season, I really don’t need another one.
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Taki’s back?!?
Damn, I’m going to get suspended from the PL. Endo.
We might not be able to have it all our own way on this though. We 100% need a CB but if Guehi is our preferred option but Palace want to hold onto him until after the Community Shield then maybe we’re prepared to wait.
Equally, if Isak doesn’t go ahead then maybe it allows us to go from say bringing in Charlie Cresswell to instead bringing in Lukeba (both just tenuously linked examples).
I think there’s probably more to it than just how Hughes is allocating his time.
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I’ve seen this logic aired a lot, but I dont get it. Is the CS a prestigious enough trophy that Palace would want to delay incorporating a replacement for a key player who they accept wont be with them once the real season starts?
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For a club that hadn’t won anything at all until this year, it might be more important than we can imagine.
We’d be better off agreeing with them to not play him, field an ‘experimental’ line up and let them have the trophy provided we got Guehi in for preseason. Waiting until the season starts isn’t ideal as it becomes hard for him to get some game time until the league cup/CL comes up.
Can’t say for certain but if I were in Palace’s shoes I wouldn’t want to sell my captain to a team we’re playing in that game. If for no other reason than the optics of not letting a big club have it all their own way.
There could equally be a scenario where we’ve said we’d be happy to pay up to £x and Palace are trying to persuade him to stay or drum up other offers but we’re confident we’ve convinced him to come.
Or, as you point out, they’re resigned to losing him but want their replacement in first and haven’t managed to do so just yet.
All three scenarios would mean there’s an element of certainty about a deal happening but the timing is out of our control.
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I can definitely see those situations where issues are still being worked out. What I’ve struggled to understand the logic of is the perception that it’s fait accompli that he’s joining but wont happen until after he’s played for them in the CS. That doesn’t seem like it satisfies anyone
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If we go into next season with the current center back roster, we should rest the two set pair for the home and away fixtures against the other team based in Liverpool.