Like all of you my heart sank when I heard the news this afternoon that Aaron Cresswell is going to miss the first three or four months of the season. Having seen the tackle that he was subjected to by a Karlsruher thug of a player I am not surprised. Some friendly match.
This is a massive blow. Cresswell has been an integral part of our success over the last two seasons and will be difficult to replace. Lewis Page isn’t ready to step up and Stephen Hendrie is on a year long loan, so it seems we will have to buy a new left back unless Ogbonna steps into the position. Apparently he has played there before. But it would mean changing our whole way of playing. Ogbonna is not a player who you can see rushing down the left, playing a one two with Payet and then flashing a cross into the middle, is he?
It’s been suggested that Sam Byram could switch sides, but I am not sure he has ever played on the left before.
If we do go into the transfer market I’d like to think we could pick up a good left back from the Championship, or get someone from abroad who’s a known quantity. Any suggestions?