Agree re pace not being essential for a CM. The weakness I saw in his game is that he was slow on the turn and sometimes got caught square to his man so players went past him. Always thought that was something that could be addressed with coaching. Haven’t seen enough of him recently to know whether he’s improved it.
If you think he spied on Fulham, Arsenal, Man City, your deluded.
And if you think other championship teams weren’t at it last season, including your lot, your deluded.
One of the echo reporters asked Eckert about it post match. The answer was something to do with responding to how Watford set up. All a bit vague. However, I think it unlikely he’ll repeat it. It was clearly a crap move.