So, after watching almost the entire preseason I'm still not sure how Holtby is going to fit into the team. I imagine he'll be played in cup games and Europa and used as a sub, but is that really enough? I feel as if that's putting him on the path to leaving. This guy clearly wants 1st team football. Maybe he should be sitting next to a CDM and playing box to box? Capoue with Holtby next to him would certainly be interesting to watch, though I'm not sure it's the best idea. I wish that someone would actually ask Poch a question such as, "how do you plan on implementing the overflowing number of midfielders you have?" And of course to get a real answer. Pretty sure we're got the front of the field covered, but towards the back I still am very unsure of who will be in there.
Yeah this is without doubt one of the biggest issues Poch will have to tackle. He has an absolute surplus of midfielders, many of which talented but don't play in a style he seems to advocate. Clearly Poch seems to like Holtby, but does Poch honestly intend to play him over Eriksen in his best position, or all of Dembele, Paulinho, and Bentaleb in theirs?
People have often suggested playing Holtby as the CAM and Eriksen wide, but I doubt it. Poch has preferred using very different players in the front four to create more problems in the rotation, so I can't imagine he'd intend to have all the creative players in the three attacking mid positions. It does also seem Poch intends to play Lennon out left to provide another option altogether, which would make sense considering he often liked to play Ward-Prowse in a position opposed to Lallana (Lamela's apparent new role).