6. Those Who Say Santon Shouldn't Play Left-Back Are Wrong
When Davide Santon was signed as a left-back, despite being decidedly one-footed, and right-footed at that, some concerns were raised concerning his suitability for the position, especially as he was replacing a recognised left-footer in Jose Enrique who unceremoniously defected to jump on the sinking Liverpool ship. But Santon's performances so far this season, and particularly against Villa - for which he was awarded WhatCulture's Man of the Match award - have been extremely impressive, both offensively and defensively, and the player seems to have grown into the position admirably. The Italian is composed on the ball, even under pressure, and invariably looks to play his way out of trouble and set up attacks, joining in on attacking runs in a way that shows up Danny Simpson's almost total lack of attacking value on the other flank. Against Villa those forward forays almost paid off twice, first when he could have been awarded a penalty after being brought down by two defenders and second late on when he almost broke through the Villa line following some good team build-up. It is the ultimate testament to how well Santon has started this season that it appears that it is right-back which is now attracting the most attention as the so-called "difficult" position, rather than his own, and we're hopefully going to be seeing more of what made him one of the hottest properties in Italy not so long ago.