Humble and a nice Guy maybe but I am afraid he is now on borrowed time. 3 years ago he was one of the best imports in the league but can you say that now? His pace has gone, his tackling is lacking and he is not the playmaker that will make our side. At the moment ifill, bertos and rojas all rank above him.
Daniel still offers a lot. Even if it is as a sub. He will come on and provide the defence splitting ball or pinpoint cross
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More or less what I was going to say. Daniel never had pace or tackling ability anyway, nor has he ever been a playmaker in the way Flores or Hernandez are. For me he's been a bit ordinary when starting so far, but has put in some impressive turns when subbed on with 25-30 to go.
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Incidentally I sometimes think that being a 'nice guy' is an undervalued quality in a player. I'd take a nice guy any day over the likes of Burns/Muscat/Sterjovski, etc. One thing I like a lot about the Phoenix is that we have plenty of spirit and camraderie on the field and hopefully off it too. Egos are reigned in for the good of the team. I believe this can be credited to Ricki - one of those coaching things which is usually overlooked in our eagerness to give him a good kicking when results aren't going as hoped.
I like your ideals, but almost every side needs a Muscat if they are to be successful. I have known a lot of Mr Nice guys off the field but they change as soon as they are on on the pitch.