Means nothing from Moyes though, "he's looked good in training but just needs to show a bit more" is what he says for any player who he then doesn't play.
He could be very very bad. We may have a terrible left back but that doesn’t mean we should just replace with someone who looked ok running about a bit for 40 mins. Moyes knows full well our fullbacks are poor. If this player was ready, he’d have got more minutes.
This whole thread is one big overhype and it’s wild.
Kevsleftpeg
Player Valuation: £35m
That's crazy, this kid is obviously as good as prime Baines and Moyes is deliberately not playing him to sabotage our season.
toffeeblue9
Player Valuation: £35m
Mate, there are people who've literally never seen him play left back saying he "should" be starting as a left back.
In fact our resident Armstrong-botherer said in another thread that he'd never seen the lad play, but based on what his brother had told him about the 30 mins he played left mid in a cup game, he "should" be playing left back.
Don't get me wrong, I'm as sick of Mykolenko as the next man and a cursory look at my post history will tell you what I thought about playing 4 centre backs at the weekend, but some people are going well over the top about Aznou with a body of remarkably little evidence to base it on.
Its nuts tbqh - just because you don't like the current left back or the other options who've played there, doesn't mean that one of the ones who hasn't played there is a better option - reminds me of everyone falling over themselves to get Roman Dixon in the team (and there's some hilarious vaults available there if anyone wants to go and check them out) and *checks notes* Dixon is currently on loan at Stockport County.
Difference was that Dyche gave in and let us see how dramatically far away from the required standard Dixon was, Moyes isn't going to do that. He'll play when Moyes thinks he's not going to be a liability, until then the best we can hope is that he gets some minutes as a left mid in the same way that Coleman did on the wing in his early days here.
preposterousvelios
Player Valuation: £15m
If Aznou was hopeless he wouldn't be here. We turned down a loan offer from Marseille because they were insisting on a buy option. We obviously view him as a future first teamer, and that's not really a surprise considering he's a full international at 19. He's obviously not just completely useless.
Does that mean he's ready to start at left back in the PL, not necessarily. But you find a role for him because he needs to play, currently it's a year of potential development of a promising young player wasted.
Myko being as bad as he is just means that people want to see him in there, but I've been just as exasperated at McNeil getting in ahead of him out wide.
I don't think people are overhyping Aznou, and tbh find it more inexplicable that people are rationalising this situation by thinking he must just be a truly awful player. We could have and would have moved him on in January if that was the case.
preposterousvelios
Player Valuation: £15m
Yeah this forum has some mad characters that go overboard in virtually every thread. The blunt dismissal of young players is just as stupid as overhyping them in my opinion though.
Like Roman Dixon is not an apt comparison for Aznou whatsoever. Aznou is a La Masia grad, former Bayern player who's been capped by Morocco at senior level as a teenager. Comparing a player with that CV to Roman Dixon is obviously ridiculous.
People have a right to criticise Moyes for being overly stubborn when it comes to the physical profile of his back 4. We played 4 centre backs in our last game.
Vaughan
Player Valuation: £35m
but i don’t think moyes is necessarily right on everything
he thought ross barkley wasnt ready, literally 3 months after his departure he was playing at a standard that got him an england cap, then he spearheaded the best everton side of the premier league era to its highest point total, was up for young player of the season, and played in the world cup.
we’ve also seen seamus coleman deemed not ready to play full back in 12/13. he later relented and gave him a go and he flourished. a year later he had the best season of his career and was the best right back in the league
i think it’s highly likely aznou has flaws to his game, particularly physically and defensively, but i don’t think that means moyes should be fully writing him off
as another poster said, get him in the side in other ways. he showed he can have an impact against a good premier league side against sunderland and hes not been seen since
we played wing backs v leeds, were a goal down for another 30 mins after half time, myko was stinking the gaff out and players were visibly refusing to pass to him when he was open, leeds were offering zero attacking threat, and still he didn’t get a run out
it would have really lifted the mood in the ground too
i am not all that hopeful, but if he is going to stay now, and mcneil is surplus to requirements it seems, and relegation is not a threat, then maybe we can see more of him
and yea the dixon comparison, while i understand where the poster is coming from its not the same situiation, aznou was being lined up as alphonso davies’s successor. it was a very surprising and exciting signing in my opinion. not as blockbuster as grealish but for me it really signalled that the club was looking to get young quality players in
the fact moyes threw him in against roma, in which was the last test before the premier league game and how we would set up the folllowing week, suggests to me he didnt have much qualms then. but that game changed his mind
Kevsleftpeg
Player Valuation: £35m
Moyes doesn’t get everything right but are there any young players he didn’t give a chance to eventually and went elsewhere and ripped it up. I can’t think of any. But there have been numerous young players that people on here wanted to be given chance too who never amounted to anything. I’d say based on pure numbers and the fact Moyes watches the players day in and day out and does it for a living then he’s likely to be right more often than not.
Kevsleftpeg
Player Valuation: £35m
Exactly, absolutely perfect management in each case. Imagine what he could have done with Barkley.
Paul Rideout
Player Valuation: £40m
The Coleman situation is very similar in my mind. Large sections of the fanbase wanted him playing before he went to Blackpool, where those fans’ opinions seemed to be right, and he then sat on the bench when he came back for what felt like an eternity for the preference of Hibbo.
That’s my recollection of if anyway.
ToffeeScot
Player Valuation: £25m
We need him as backup unfortunately since we have no good senior fullbacks at the club. Hopefully in the summer Myko is either sold or used as backup and we bring in new senior LBs so he can have a loan in the Championship or something.
