Yakubu enough?

[GhostOfDixie]

Ok, so if we sign Yakubu great. But is that going to be enough? Do we need another striker to partner Yakubu? Is AJ that man? Is he performing well enough to be considered a threat?

Well at the moment I'm not too sure. It seems this guy misses chances when it is easier to score. Players like Ian Rush and Gary Lineker scored goals because they never missed.

At the moment for me I am concerned with the lack of firepower from our main striker. It is the 11th game now that our main striker has failed to hit the net. That concerns me, he seems to go through spells of not scoring for ages. Last season there was a 13 league game gap between strikes.

Great strikers score goals every other game, or every third game, thats why they get 20 league goals per season. Is AJ going to do that? I for one hope that he can regain his composure and be more of a demon in the box. Be more aggressive.

 

[Cal]

AJ should not be considered to be left out the team.

He may not be banging in the goals, but he brings something else to the team, work rate is a major factor.

 

[jon_efc]

didnt we talk about beattie in this way jus last week

i sed he had 100% workrate and effort.. and many people said this is not enough!!

 

[GhostOfDixie]

AJ should not be considered to be left out the team.

He may not be banging in the goals, but he brings something else to the team, work rate is a major factor.

I'm not going to have this discussion again. If he is not scoring then others need to be given a chance. At the moment there is no competition for places, that may well change soon.

Work rate is, and I'm only going to say this once, a given, AJ is paid to score goals, and when he misses open goals it is obviously a concern for all. Its the difference between success and failure. Work rate does not win you games.

Emile Heskey puts in work rate, but should he be in the England side? Cristiano Ronaldo never tackles back, but he does what a winger should do and thats create chances.

I'm not saying that we need to drop AJ, I'm just saying that he shouldn't expect to be an automatic choice. 11 games is a lot, gets to 15 - 20 then you start getting into the same form as Beattie and then surely you have to get majorly concerned.

I just think the more competition for places is healthy.

 

[SuitsBlue]

johnson was carrying injury last season, and since surgery has been working back to full match sharpness.

i feel AJ misses the play of cahill, had bikey been concerned with tim and had tim been arriving (like at arsenal last season) on the one fantastic everton corner, we would have been better off.

signing yakubu could be a masterstroke, he will take pressure off vic and vaughan. how do we squeeze cahill into a midfield four?

 

[GhostOfDixie]

didnt we talk about beattie in this way jus last week

i sed he had 100% workrate and effort.. and many people said this is not enough!!

I don't think work rate is enough if there is no final product. We have to be ruthless if we want to win trophies. Work rate does not win games, you need to have the ability and the composure to go out and grab the silverware.

 

[GhostOfDixie]

johnson was carrying injury last season, and since surgery has been working back to full match sharpness.

i feel AJ misses the play of cahill, had bikey been concerned with tim and had tim been arriving (like at arsenal last season) on the one fantastic everton corner, we would have been better off.

signing yakubu could be a masterstroke, he will take pressure off vic and vaughan. how do we squeeze cahill into a midfield four?

Well we have options which is good, then you don't have players who are automatic choices based on reputation. Its the same for England, Owen is going to walk straight back into the England team because of who he is, and that's wrong.

 

[SuitsBlue]

and as and when manny signs, how do we squeeze him into a midfield 4?

 

[SuitsBlue]

I don't think work rate is enough if there is no final product. We have to be ruthless if we want to win trophies. Work rate does not win games, you need to have the ability and the composure to go out and grab the silverware.

workrate in defence won the game in defence for reading today.

 

[GhostOfDixie]

workrate in defence won the game in defence for reading today.

I think you will find it was a lack of craft, ideas and luck that stopped us from scoring today. We never threatened there goal it seems. A good way to see this is the amount of shots that were on target.

But what I am saying about workrate is that every player should be out there running around for the cause, its nothing special to do that, becuase these guys earn enough money to do the minimum. I want more, but if you guys are happy with mediocre displays but good "workrate" then enjoy. For me its not enough and it never will be.

I grew up in the 80's watching a team who created chances and scored more often then they missed. Of course they worked hard because thats what they are expected to do, but they also had an end product and unless you have that end product then work rate means [Poor language removed] all.

 

[SuitsBlue]

hitting the post twice doesnt register as a shot on target

how many corners did we have? 8 or 9 to readings 4.

johnno needs sharpness, im sure he can settle.

workrate - fernandes - that boy at times looks disinterested, it was his man vs chelsea that set up their equaliser... manny just let him run off alone.

even the side in the 80's had off days, but then, the side in the 80's didnt rely on one individual, and lets not forget the game is different now as well.

 

[Axlswhk]

The obvious flaw is the way we push and pass the ball to AJ. I've said it many times we need to change the way we play the ball towards him. Not just hit it up the byline and let him chase, no striker will play decently if we keep adopting such style, not even if we buy adriano, henry or eto!
The BIG problem is with our midfield, it's simply not good enough to outclass average team, if we were to make the next step of improvement, we need a WORLD CLASS MIDFIELDER.

 

[GhostOfDixie]

So is workrate enough then? If AJ runs his socks off for 38 games without scoring is that going to be enough?

 

[Blue Wiz]

I somewhat agree with you Ghost. AJ need to find the net again. We need to have our main striker scoring goals.

He runs and runs and create havoc with the defenders though and that wasn't something BT did. That's the main difference for me. BT ran and worked each minute he was on the pitch.. but he seldom looked threatening. AJ runs and he looks dangerous, but it seems he lacks the confidence he had when he joined us last summer when he scored on the chances he got. He still get/create those chances, but now he misses. I think that when he finally nets it, it will be like for tottenham today.. they will keep coming.

Also, Vaughan is a good sub for him.. unfortunately he's injuryprone.

 

[chicoazul]

Knee. Jerk?


Johnson was poor today, that big brute Bikey psyched him out. But he is the best forward we have at the club, and it will show this season.