Tonight epitomised why we desperately needed to replace Hugill.
Moult
Tonight epitomised why we desperately needed to replace Hugill.
That’s not judging someone after one game.
It’s judging someone after over thirty years...
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100% this.
I actually quite like him, puts in the effort & his link up play is excellent.
However unfortunately he's not good enough to play on his own up front, not strong enough to hold the ball up & unless AN plays someone with him in a 2 it's just not gonna happen for him.
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he was bought to placate the hugill sale, well at least back then we did stuff like that because after the summer we've had NOTHING is guaranteed
I mentioned this last night. His link up play is nothing special, people just give him more credit for it because all other aspects of his game are poor.
boltons1
The Gentry (RIP)
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What is worrying is that we had May and Doyle on the books. Ridsdale and Neil clearly felt that this fella was better than either of those two. Either Scottish football is something we should only look at for the gems ie Andy Robertson and not for the next prolific goal scorer or not worth bothering with at all and start looking at France, Holland, Belgium and Germany.
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I'd disagree. Especially at home he brings others into play very well IMHO. That said he isn't good enough for this level.
Ultimately though he's a striker & needs to score goals but I do think AN isn't doing him any favours with his tactics & formation.
Agree with the second part. Have to hope Maguire can stay fit for a prolonged period when he returns.
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We obviously need him back desperately but we can't just rely on him otherwise it's gonna be a long old season.
There’s no otherwise about it we are in a battle to stay in the championship we around a quarter of the games in and we are anchored at the bottom with few options. Just desperately need a win to boost confidence.
Some people seem to think that this is a great attribute and that this alone justifies his selection.
I see it quite differently. He plied his trade in non league and in Scotland for a very good reason - that's his level.
He has no attributes at all which can make any sort of impact at Championship level. None. And this "good link up play" as some people choose to describe it is him simply being incapable of doing anything else with the ball - he can't turn, create space, dribble, run with the ball, get shots away etc etc - and so he has no option but to just pass the ball and the responsibility to a teammate.
A number 9 who poses absolutely no goal threat whatsoever.
Like Edgy says, buy cheap buy twice. And don't learn the lesson.
Moult needs service in and around the 18 yard box. He can score goals but not from 35 yards out with his back to goal. The current tactics AN employs are generating close to zero scoring opportunities for him (and not much for the team as a whole)
Nmecha can "turn, create space, dribble, run with the ball, gets shots away etc etc". But he has netted zero goals. In fact we haven't scored in 3 of the 4 games Nmecha has started.
Tactically we just aren't creating enough proper chances. And fluffing most of the openings that fall our way. We barely test opposition keepers. Can we hit it wide or balloon it into the stands - you betcha!
I don't even think Maguire would score in this current setup. We are too soft defensively. We don't dictate games. Leeds passed around and straight through our press last night. It was embarrassing to watch at times.
Harrop might as well have been running around in a different dimension - he was so out of the game. Moult has his worst game so far last night. Nothing was sticking up front. He was frustrated.
I would personally like to see Nmecha start in place of barky. And use moult, robinson and Nmecha as a front three. Nmecha has previously played out on the flank for city.
But AN needs Barky's 'defensive qualities' supposedly. Same reason why Barker isn't getting any games. Not sure why we brought in an out and our winger if he was gonna suffer the same fate as Horgan.
Not getting into Moult/Nmech debate again but at least Nmecha has had 8 shots at goal. Moult has had 1. The guy just doesn’t shoot even when I’m good positions!
We have got one point and two goals from the 4 starts Nmecha has had. He may well have had shots on goal (the quality of which is debatable) but he's completing about 10 passes per game on average. He looks just as lost as Moult in this current formation and style of play.
I don't think strikers are the issue to be honest. We miss Maguire running in behind obviously. But I don't think a Moore or whoever would thrive in this current team. We just don't supply anywhere near the right quality of balls into the front man. And the support they receive from the likes of Harrop or Barky is piss poor.
Robinson has at least put in some consistent displays but his finishing and decision making lets him down more often that not our whole attacking approach needs a rethink. Especially if we are gonna need three goals just to draw games.
Absolutely
Regardless of the number of shots he has he simply doesn’t look like a striker to me
It’s A gifted ability to know where the net is
He doesn’t have said gift so plies his trade as someone who can lay off balls hold the ball etc. All very nice if you need such a luxury. We don’t. We need a striker like Maguire. Frankly I’d rather give a youth player a chance as playing moult forces us to play in a manner that will give us a definitive result. Relegation.
Accept it was a bad call, get rid ASAP, move on but for heavens sake learn from it
He's a finisher and his stats back that up.
He's not a target man so only Neil knows why we are insistent on putting high balls up to him and trying to play off him. Feel sorry for the lad. We don't play to his strengths. Nmecha is the same.
There has to be a point when we all realise that everyone who plays there struggles and thats been the case since Hugill left, which maybe point to an issue in style?
He's not a target man so only Neil knows why we are insistent on putting high balls up to him and trying to play off him. Feel sorry for the lad. We don't play to his strengths. Nmecha is the same.
There has to be a point when we all realise that everyone who plays there struggles and thats been the case since Hugill left, which maybe point to an issue in style?
AN has designed his team, shape, formation and style of play, allowing for a lone striker up front, unfortunately we do not have a forward to play in that role, also with the injuries and suspensions we do not have enough depth within the squad to play this way in either an attacking or defensive way. I also think the opposition Managers and coaches have worked this out and seem to know we have little else to offer, that we can be easily broken down, will make enough mistakes to give them the opportunity to score and take the lead.
Until we change our style of play and set up and find one that our players are able to play to,defend as a team, move the ball, get behind the opposition, beat the opposition with a bit of skill and create chances and give our strikers the opportunity to score, then we will continue in the same poor form and look like a side heading for relegation. Over to you AN.
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Finisher & stats at a lower level but agree with not playing to his strengths certainly.