Friday 13 February 2009

The Hughes/Elano rapprochement

In the same press briefing that Hughes used to discuss the Sturridge situation, he said some uncharacteristically nice things about Elano.
“He doesn’t take not starting a game very well. There are lots of players like that, players who find it more difficult to accept. We’re all different and different people react in different ways. I’ve been pleased that he now understands where we’re at. Before Christmas, for example, he found it more difficult not to be in the team.

“But there’s no doubting his talent and that is something we all recognise. He had a real impact in the first half of last season and you can see that his football’s not been affected by not starting games. He knows where we want to go and we want him to be part of that.”

After his Autumn outburst and fine it looked as if he'd be out in January. A serious personality clash with Hughes was reported. But he's still here and still capable of performing well for City. With Wright-Phillips suspended for the Portsmouth, Liverpool and West Ham games we could well see more of Elano in future weeks. I was unsure about who best to replace SWP, but I suppose Wednesday reminded us of his class. Could Vassell have got into that Brazil team?

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