Reply With QuoteCheers Cowbridge Blue, best post of the weekend.
Big question from now on in , will we get from him those big challenges ,tackles , in the last part of the season , where competitiveness will be very high and tough .
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Gunnarsson returned as captain for Iceland in a friendly against Mexico in the Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California.
He played the first 45 minutes before being substituted along with 2 other changes. The 3-0 scoreline flattered Mexico as Iceland were competitive throughout but - as in Euro 2016 - rarely looked like capable of scoring a lot of goals.
There was no great pace in this friendly in which Gunnarsson patrolled the midfield in usual fashion, choosing to play mostly one-touch passes, a few long throws-in and no tackles that I can recall. I imagine the player and his national team will be satisfied with his sensible performance, the first step in regaining fitness after a long injury.
Most notable was a close-shaven head plus the long red beard, this time tapered neatly to a point - which I thought looked quite stupid for a footballer
Cheers Cowbridge Blue, best post of the weekend.
Big question from now on in , will we get from him those big challenges ,tackles , in the last part of the season , where competitiveness will be very high and tough .
Thanks for update. Obviously going to take his a while to get back up to proper match fitness. Possible sub on Friday?
A) Can't see him risking missing the WC and damaging chances of deal elsewhere going in for a 50/50 for a club he doesn't want to be at.Originally Posted by life on mars
B) Given our defensive record and form, I'd dare say he's not as essential to us as many think. Depth, sure...
I don’t think Warnock will give him a new contract if we manage to go up.
I'd tend to agree. He's good at what he does defensively, is a dog in midfield but I've doubts about his passing ability.
I beg to differ, I think he embodies everything Warnock looks for in a player. Should we do the deed and get promoted, I recon this will be our first bit of business. I also think Gunners will want to stay and why wouldn't we want to keep a player who is about to captain his country on the biggest stage there is in football. Of course all this will be immaterial if we fail to get promoted.
It only gets sore when he is back in Cardiff, I think it maybe related to longitude, something to do with the earths magnetic fields being different here.
quite J.
Hmm, I'm not so sure.... captain fantastic for Iceland he may be but can he risk coasting towards the World Cup only to be part of an Iceland team that leaves early and him having not played well and not gone in 100%? His ability to then get a new club and / or a significant signing-on fee would be shot.
In my view he's got to start stepping on the gas now to be able to play a part in the next 9 games in order to keep all those options open for himself. He'll know whether he's over the injury and just how hard to push it.
If Iceland fail (or he doesn't play a part) he stays; if he comes through and City are promoted he stays - unless of course one of the bigger Championship clubs make him a great offer. The big temptation will arise is if a significant offer from a middling overseas club comes along - but again, he will need a good World Cup.
Can we risk carrying a passenger if he doesn't want to risk injury
WIll Iceland *not* leave early? They've over-achieved based upon their population. I'd doubt he's relying upon a great WC to get him a contract elsewhere.
The issue you may have missed is the importance of Gunnarsson to us. We've won without him, we've played well without him and are second in the league where his contribution for the season has been minimal. He may want games to get himself match fit for the WC and his next club; that's not our concern. We've no duty to help Iceland given their triggering an injury previously, nor do we have a duty to his next club.
Grujic has improved a lot recently. No way Gunnarsson comes in for him. No way does he come in for Paterson either because that costs us a goalscorer. Instead of Ralls (when fit )? Not a chance in hell. Add in Bryson, Damour et al and a player lacking match fitness won't be high in our list of options, especially one that doesn't really want to be here.
He was offered a deal, turned it down. That's his perogative. May stay if we get into the Prem? That's a nice favour he'd be doing us. I get that he wants a big deal for what would be his last big contract but I suspect he's vastly overrating his ability and value in the market.
Do we really need to be helping players get fit for the World Cup and their own personal glory, when we have 9 huge games ahead with so much at stake? I'd be inclined to stick with those who got us here, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Given our current line-up, I see Gunnar as being a squad player now anyway.
I would say our strongest midfield 3 are Ralls, Paterson and Grujic.
Gunnar will have a big say between now and the end of the season but can't expect to be in straight away.
And not a great finisher, whereas Patterson is fast becoming a danger in the box form midfield.
Patterson is the new Mutch. If only we could get Ralls, Paterson and Grujic on the field at the same time for the run in.
Should be out for the rest of the season, then :-(
No, imagine Jay Bothroyd after his cap, didnt want to make a tackle, why would Gunner want to injure himself before the WC and his chance for a nice big pay day
Not sure I would risk picking him and him not putting in a shift
Yep. More to the point, we've got to within a gnat's pube away from Wolves and swatted Villa and Fulham into touch without him. Why do we need him? If Iceland is more important to him than us, then let him bugger off at the end of the season. He's been a good servant. We had him on a free. He's been great value for money. If he goes on a free, we'll have done well out of him.
They scored twice as many as England tbf!
I'm not convinced about a player who is running down his contract. We're second with a great chance of promotion.
Under no circumstances would I offer him a new contract if we go up.
Fans can say he has been loyal. I think we have been a lot more loyal to him.
The point I was making here is that in my view, he needs to put himself about now in order to get game time before the WC which, apparently, is believed to be his big ambition. If he doesn't play between now and 6th May, his big chance may be lost. I never said he was better than what we've got (if they're all fit) but his pushing for game time will be good for the team as a whole. But, given what's happened to our midfield in the past couple of months, isn't a fully fit and raring to go Gunarsson a great insurance policy?
He may well need it. We however don't need him nor do we exist to get him match fit for Iceland and his next club. I'd suggest that he's nowhere close to starting for us, with the number of games left in the season dwindling there's next to no opportunity to give him games to get him match fit. Insurance policy? As our injury list improves, the need for him lessens.
Good post!
I agree
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