Midfielder with 37 Championship games has to play against Everton | OneFootball

So, Enzo Fernandez is doubtful, Romeo Lavia and Lesley Ugochukwu are out injured, Moises Caicedo needs a rest and Conor Gallagher is going to have to play. If this wasn’t the moment Cesare Casadei was recalled for, we don’t know what is.

He’s played less than 20 minutes since coming back from Leicester in January, usually as a sub for 2 or 3 minutes at the end of a game, as against Sheffield United last week. It’s a total waste of time for him, and it’s not helping us figure out whether he has a long term future or not.

This week has to be make or break, given the injuries. If he can’t get in the starting team now, he’s got no chance in years to come. This sort of injury crisis can’t stick around forever, and he will only tumble down the pecking order.

A sorry state for Italian talent

Let’s face it, the decision to bring Casadei back has already proved to be a mistake. He didn’t do anything to help the team, and his progress in terms of developing as a player was brought to a screeching halt.

But some off that can be offset with a start on Monday, even though it feels unlikely Mauricio Pochettino goes that way. He’s been very loyal to a small group, by and large, and has been reluctant to trust academy players in the first team in important games. Casadei is far more experienced than that, with more than 30 Championship games to his name, but it still feels like Pochettino will avoid using him if he can.

He’s not the ideal Enzo replacement of course, they have a very different style. But Pochettino will have had more than a week to work on implementing those new ideas.