Barnfred 55
Player Valuation: £80m
Mate. if you want to critique my posts I don't have a problem. But at least read them properly first. My point about stats was specifically about the irony of having them turned on the poster after just 2 games. I'm certainly not singing his praises after 1 good game and my post makes that clear.In one game. Across 30+ last year, he didn't do enough.
People lament any mention of statistics on Bernard and yet it's often the very same people who cite Kean's goal:games ratio as a supporting argument as to what an incredible signing he is, or those who use Gylfi's G/A return when there's any suggestion that he isn't doing enough.
Stats are inconvenient for fans of Bernard. Stats see every side of the game. Work rate is a convenient metric for Bernard to hide behind as it's not easy for the general public to find comparative numbers for how hard other PL wide players work, there absolutely are stats that show how many sprints back Bernard makes, how many ball recoveries etc so you can certainly quantify that side of his game with numbers too.
As i've said before, if a system that includes Bernard means we score enough goals and win enough games to break the top six, then great, I just can't see it. And I don't think that makes me any less of a fan. If Bernard performs and scores, as he did on Saturday, consistently then he will rightly stay in the team. But i'd say it's intellectually disingenuous to use that one game where he scored as evidence to suggest he's better than the other 30 odd where, collectively, he didn't deliver anywhere near what you'd expect for a regularly starting, top six wide player.
Good luck to Bernie, I hope he proves me wrong, but I get the feeling he'll be starting on the bench well before Christmas.
As for Bernard, we need to get ourselves into a position where we have a squad of quality players so we have quality cover for all positions. So 4/5 to cover the front 3. 4/5 to cover the midfield 3. 3 to cover CB. I can't stand it when people talk about the first XI and yo can't leave so and so out or Joe Bloggs needs to play. If we're going to compete we need a squad where player compete for positions and we're able to replace quality with quality during a game or through injury. If I had my way in the summer we'd have bought Zaha and Bernard's position would have been most at risk, but that doesn't mean he won't play. He'll probably play some part every game and start quite often too because of injury or just squad rotation for different matches..