Bedfordspurs
Chris Waddle
We need depthHe's not worth much to us or any team if he cannot stay fit.
The frustration is that he's the perfect profile for competition / back up in terms of his attributes and mentality in every other way than actually being available, which is a rather big deal. Without raking through the stats, he seemed relatively free of injury problems at Watford and Everton, cursing bad luck doesn't get us anywhere neither does speculating about our medical team but it's an odd one. In everything Ange does it seems clear that he rates Richarlison highly, fortunately not being as blinkered as some less informed onlookers but with the contract as it is eventually a decision will have to be made - Ideally it'll be an extension after proof that he can remain fit, as otherwise we start fresh with integrating another new signing alongside the many others that are still getting settled.
What is funny is the fan's desperate desire to not have any competition in the squad, as soon as we buy big Dom it's "Well we're obviously going to sell Richy". Similar with Maddison, one game on the bench after the emergence of Kulu and the talk of the town is that we suddenly need to sell Maddison. It's incredibly short term thinking.
But depth is only as a good as it’s availability
Richy can’t get fit and stay fit. I’d argue he needs to be fit to avoid injuries and that’s his recent issue
I also think for some players a change of scenery can make a huge difference even to their luck with injuries