Losing Harry would be a blow to any team. His goals are undoubtedly integral to how we will perform over the course of a whole season. Yet, the game against Swansea on Saturday makes it clear that Poch`s men have the firepower to cope without him for a month at least.
Remember, we were facing a team that had only conceded 12 times in 14 games since we last played them, albeit they were playing a slightly changed team from their normal starting eleven in the Premier League. Still without our no.10 and a major creative force in Dele, we put three past them.
Of course, that is one game. It will be interesting to see how we do against Chelsea if we go with Son through the middle once again, but it was very promising to see the link up play between the front four.
Erik has obviously found it hard to get a rhythm since his injury, but his goal and assist at the weekend will mean he is pushing for a start after the international break. When he has been given starts in the FA Cup, he is performed excellently with two goals and three assists in the four games.He will likely improve on his three starts in the Premier League over the coming weeks going by the form he is showing.
Christian Eriksen’s performance versus the Swans was all we have come to expect from the Great Dane, while Lucas again impressed with his assist for our no.23. I am hoping the Brazilian gets his first Premier League start sooner rather than later as I want to see how he does against the best opposition.
If one of them does make way for Dele after the international break, they have at least all made Poch`s job of dropping them a lot harder. There will be stiffer tests than Swansea coming up over the next couple of months, but the performance gave me even greater confidence than before that we`ll be able to cope just fine without our first choice frontman.
Who would you start against the Blues? Let me know in the poll.