Lentwood
Full Member
While we've obviously had a lot of injuries in defence, that's exaggerating things. We've generally had at least two of our main five central defenders fit, it's just that which two they are has constantly been rotating as one gets fit and another gets injured.
It's only been for the last month or two of the season that Kambwala and then Casemiro had to be slotted in, and even then it's been one of them next to one of our main five.
I think the vast majority of our fans would agree that our best five CBs are, in no particular order...
Martinez, Varane, Maguire, Shaw, Lindelof
We then also have Evans (who has done admirably but shouldn't be starting in the PL at 36), Casemiro (who isn't a CB) and Kambwala (who isn't ready)
So you could argue "9th choice" is a stretch but there's definitely been two or even three periods this season that we've seen combinations of Evans / Kambwala or Casemiro / Evans.
We've also seen one of the "5" playing injured beside Evans, Kambwala or Casemiro.
I keep coming back to the point but which other Premier League club, bar Club 115, could sustain that many injuries and finish top 6? I personally don't think ANY club could.