But Harrison isn’t on a free, he’s still got 3yrs left at Leeds on 90k that’s a 14mil deal, what’s he going to want at Everton if Moyes wanted him 11mil at least, if he’s desperate to get out of Leeds
To be honest I wouldn't even play him in our remaining games. There must be a wide player in the younger age groups we can give a go to.
This isn't true, though. For example, Moyes played Phil Neville in the centre of midfield, at right back, at left back and even at centre half just to shoehorn him into the side during his first stint. You can argue that that was the most effective use of the squad at the time but it wasn't, Neville was his proxy on the pitch so he played him when others were more suited. Managers definitely have favourites and become blinkered to the alternatives. You see it time and again, managers select players over and over until they are sacked and a new man comes in and that seemingly essential player becomes a bit part player under the new man. If they were essential because of deficiencies in the squad they would still be essential under a new manager, no?
Neville was Moyes' voice on the pitch. It would be Coleman this time if he was fit. It might be why he's keen to sign Soucek.
You need continuity.
That's what I meant by his proxy. It's not a good enough reason to select a player who is not contributing in more immediate ways.
Bad teams do not need continuity.
I don’t disagree in principle.
I get what you mean but favourite probably isn't the right word for that type of thing. I think sometimes you get this idea put forward that 'favourites' get picked effectively just because the manager likes them and they aren't offering anything that the manager should value, it's just nepotism. What you're talking about is basically a manager picking someone because they believe a skill/strength that the player has does add value, it's just that we don't agree.
Possibly, I think some managers, certainly not all managers, like having a "lieutenant" on the pitch, even if that means playing a less able player. I'm not a fan of this approach, it seems to me that the very top managers don't do this. I would always play my best 11 in a footballing sense. A manager should be able to convey their instructions, explain their plan and drill the players in training without having someone on the pitch constantly coaching them. It's all opinions, however.
Yeah it’s a fair point. I’ve said before, I know a player who played under Moyes and he’s always said the one thing Moyes valued over anything was your ability/willingness to follow instructions. I would guess that he’s not the only manager like that, and you’re also going to get really prosaic stuff like wanting a physical presence/left footer/more pace kind of thing where it’s not the player themselves that’s important but what it is that they offer to the team. Generally the players we call favourites are the boring ones where what they bring to the side isn’t as obvious as it is for the more exciting ones (people didn’t complain about digne or james being favourites when they were out of form for example, in the way that they would about doucoure or Harrison).
I guess what people mean as "favourites", it's certainly what I mean anyway, is a player who plays regularly but what they contribute to the team is rather intangible. They don't score or create many goals or they don't dominate physically or always seem to take up the right position as a defender. When Pickford or Branthwaite get picked every week in defense or James, as you pointed out, or Lukaku in attack get picked every week it's not a point of contention because the reasons are obvious. I understand that there are less obvious things that players do, for example there was a long period where I felt there wasn't much leadership on the pitch and, in my opinion, this was only resolved when we signed Tarkowski (people will say Coleman, and I'm sure he's a leader in the dressing room but, to me at least, he isn't assertive enough on the pitch with either the opposition or the officials), but clean sheets and goals are what win football matches and when it is not obvious what a player contributes in one or both of those areas it is reasonable for fans to question a managers motivations. Either way, and whatever nomenclature we want to use to describe them, there are players that managers play every game that fans cannot stand or understand.
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