Yes, I admit that Williams has barely played on the right, which is why I saying he hasn’t shown promise. Just like he hasn’t shown promise as a goalkeeper. Laird has shown to be a promising right back, and has shown to be just that for years. He is separated from Williams by virtue of a few months of first team experience. I simply don’t see any justification for Williams being considered ahead of Laird as a RB. Laird can also play LB, but I wouldn’t begrudge Williams being ahead of him there, as he has at least played there with regularity.
Clearly, I’ve not considered Dalot as a serious option at either RB or LB, and given our reported need to sell to buy - I agree that he’s a prime candidate for an exit.
And indeed, I did start the original ‘search for a new LB’ thread as Shaw had been so unreliable. As it stands, I’m content with Shaw, he has his strengths and weaknesses, but he’s a very good left back. My issue is a combination of the fact that I think Williams is not very good, and that Shaw is injury prone. As a result, Williams’ ‘back up’ title is hugely misleading. Williams should be, currently, a ‘back up’ option in the way that Chong was a back up option last season. He should get to play the odd cup game, and be give cameos. Not a ‘squad player’ even in the way the likes of McTominay or Fred is, where they are not guaranteed starters but challengers for the first team. At present, if Shaw doesn’t play, Williams does. Regardless of the opposition or occasion. He’s nowhere near good enough for that status in my opinion, and given how frequently Shaw is injured, its big concern of mine. I could take an injury causing McTominay, Fred, Mata or Bailly to start in the Allianz or Bernabeu. Williams isn’t in that category for me. We shouldn’t have been one injury away from Chong starting a Cup Final last season, and we shouldn’t be in that position with Williams either.