Planet Swans ArchivesYou always wonder with the last pre-season friendly of the summer just how much you can read into the line ups and we speculated on here on Saturday evening just what Saturday’s line up could mean when the real action starts at Stamford Bridge.
But Monk’s words on Sunday were interesting to read. He was reacting to questions about Gylfi Sigurdsson who was left out of the starting line up on Saturday but came on at half time for Jonjo Shelvey sparking discussion that it was between the two of them for a starting berth at the weekend.
Monk said “I didn’t leave anybody out. He played the same minutes as some of the others.
“I could have started him and brought him off. People may try to read into it, but six players played 45 minutes each who could all be starters on any team sheet.”
As I said earlier sometimes it is all about reading between the lines but – as our •match report suggested on Saturday then it is the three places where two players played 45 minutes each that are up for grabs.
That would leave us between Neil Taylor and Franck Tabanou at left back, Jonjo and Gylfi for the more attacking midfield role and Wayne Routledge and Jefferson Montero for the wide position.
The other eight if we want to read into Monk’s words are on the teamsheet already those being Fab, Naughton, Ash, Fede, Jack Cork, Ki, Ayew and Gomis.
But it is the choice between Jonjo And Gylfi – if indeed there is one – that will make for the interesting discussions this week. Jonjo excelled in the first half on Saturday but Gylfi we know fully what to expect from him and he was a massive part of our success last time around.
We know that whatever happens on Saturday then both will see more than their fair share of game time in the coming season but it is a dilemma for Monk that he will enjoy having purely on the basis that he knows he is picking from the luxury of two high quality players.
What would you do?
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