I'd say that the fact we finished 6th in 2 seasons where Knight and Davies between them made over 70 appearances shows that the other 9 or 10 players play a big role in where you finish. It's why we were for the most part quite shit despite having Benteke, and later Grealish. And why finishing 17th, 11th, 14th doesn't prove whether Mings can play on a regular basis for a side that finishes in the top 10.
I dont really want to talk about why Man United are so amusingly average, for fear it might jinx it and they realise they have to change.Mings is not good enough to be our number 1 centre half and for us to get close to the top 8/7.
...we don’t currently have a centre half to play alongside Carlos who is markedly better than Mings and we may struggle to persuade one to join us at present. Maybe the club will pull one out of the bag before the end of the window. But until then, why look to isolate him in the way Gerrard has? And make it personal and make it public? He can still be a positive influence for the team and this situation probably reduces his transfer value as well with other teams seeing that Gerrard doesn’t seem to rate him. Unless Mings has been behaving completely unprofessionally this needless situation has been created unnecessarily by the manager. Being dropped alone (in a World Cup year as well) would probably have been enough to motivate Mings.
We get you don't rate Mings much Ads, but repeatedly stating that he isn't a top 7/8 player or we can't get to that position with him in the side doesn't make it a fact.
Quote from: LeonW on August 09, 2022, 02:03:43 AM...we don’t currently have a centre half to play alongside Carlos who is markedly better than Mings and we may struggle to persuade one to join us at present. Maybe the club will pull one out of the bag before the end of the window. But until then, why look to isolate him in the way Gerrard has? And make it personal and make it public? He can still be a positive influence for the team and this situation probably reduces his transfer value as well with other teams seeing that Gerrard doesn’t seem to rate him. Unless Mings has been behaving completely unprofessionally this needless situation has been created unnecessarily by the manager. Being dropped alone (in a World Cup year as well) would probably have been enough to motivate Mings.That's the point Mings hasn't been unprofessional.When he got dropped internationally, he was supportive to the squad. When he lost the captaincy to McGinn again he was supportive. The only person who has been unprofessional in all of this is our manager. He didn't have to answer the question about Mings post match Saturday. He could have said he wanted to focus on the 11 who started the match (+ subs) or even better on his own non-performance as manager, but no he chose to put the focus on someone who didn't even make it on the pitch. Deflect, distract, don't look here look over there tactics. Where have we seen that before and look at how that's worked out.
I dont really want to talk about why Man United are so amusingly average, for fear it might jinx it and they realise they have to change.Zat Knight finished top 6 too, for us. He wasn't as good as Cahill, who was getting humped by us at relegation fodder Bolton. Although he did win a European Cup.I understand the point you're trying to allude to, it's just not a very good one. Mings is not good enough to be our number 1 centre half and for us to get close to the top 8/7.People pull that bizarre stat of "we've only won 1 game without him in 3 seasons" and not mention the 18 we lost with him last.
Quote from: Simon Page on August 09, 2022, 08:55:16 AMWe get you don't rate Mings much Ads, but repeatedly stating that he isn't a top 7/8 player or we can't get to that position with him in the side doesn't make it a fact.Well it's how forums work Simon, people giving their opinions. If it's facts you're after, his birthday is 13 March 1983, and he's from Bath.