Skip to main content

Sinclair conundrum

Sinclair conundrum

He's mental ain't he.

He wouldn't have scored his goal last night playing centrally, or had the run which was saved before the Stockley fuck up. Nor would he have crossed in for our equaliser against Wycombe.

He's a wide player. Full stop.

Think he played as a second striker at some of his prem clubs but yes to get the best you play him out wide.

Perhaps he might be tried in number 10 position once DJ is no longer around, will certainly be on the penalties which will push him to 15-20 goals.
 
Where was he when he ran onto the pass from Riis to score?
Cutting in from the wing as most 'wide' players in a front 3 do in the modern game. Salah, Mane, Son, Rodriguez, Sterling, Hazard etc. The centre forward's job in this system is to occupy defenders and create space for the wide players to cut inside into. Sinclair is much better at cutting inside and using the space created than he is at occupying defenders and creating space for other's to use.
 
Just play Sinclair as upfront and central as possible and he will give us a cutting edge especially if there is another forward up alongside him who through either speed or robustness - which in practice means either Riis or Stockley - can help disrupt the opposition defence to create the opportunities that Sinclair an exploit. The only conundrum is why we have not consistently recognised and exploited that fact. From now on we must do because when we do we can score against anyone.

You can have your opinion but change the record, it's not gonna happen.
 
Where was he when he ran onto the pass from Riis to score?

You know the wing is like 30 yards from the centre of the pitch.

Sometimes the way you go on about it as though Sinclair is marooned on the desert island that is the left wing, unable to move anywhere else.

He's our top scorer by a considerable margin, clearly he excels in that position
 
Freeze this at 1.15 and tell me again that Sinclair is 'cutting in from the wing':

He's the furthest left of the front three. Obviously starting wide left doesn't mean he's hugging the touchline all the time as a winger did in the 80s, no one is suggesting he plays there and he never has really played there other than in emergencies. The front three shift side to side across the pitch depending on where the ball, the opposition, and the play is, and Sinclair is on the left of the three, hence 'cutting in from the wing'. It's how most of the big teams play now. I don't get how you can't be familiar with this position. Kevin Kilbane prefers to describe them as 'wide strikers' if that helps. I don't know what it used to be called in the 50s.
 
Where he's already come inside because the ball was out on the right? Where he works against the right back in front of him before scoring from the left, aye?

It's where he plays, Ernest. Not the direct route of every run he'll make.
 
He's the furthest left of the front three. Obviously starting wide left doesn't mean he's hugging the touchline all the time as a winger did in the 80s, no one is suggesting he plays there and he never has really played there other than in emergencies. The front three shift side to side across the pitch depending on where the ball, the opposition, and the play is, and Sinclair is on the left of the three, hence 'cutting in from the wing'. It's how most of the big teams play now. I don't get how you can't be familiar with this position. Kevin Kilbane prefers to describe them as 'wide strikers' if that helps. I don't know what it used to be called in the 50s.
It's inside forward really but still very much a wide position
 
I have never said that Sinclair cannot make a useful contribution when he moves wide - the cross for the equaliser last Saturday being a case in point - but the fact remains that he makes his most telling contributions when he is fairly central. He was in or just about in the six-yard box when he received the ball for both his goals at Brentford and when he collected the ball for his wonder goal at Bournemouth he was further forward and more in-field than Maguire who was actually playing centre forward - indeed Sinclair then actually moved a bit wider before unleashing his shot for that goal.

I merely make the point that if he is played in a way that means he is already fairly central when he receives the ball then the chances are increased of him scoring the type of goals I mention. But yes in AN's 4.2.3.1 formation Sinclair obviously should play in one of those nominally wide positions in the '3' which in reality are quite fluid, but in the 'wing-back' formation he is utterly wasted when asked to play way out wide - in that formation he should be one of the front two.

But I have given you all something to focus on between games and hopefully kept your minds from straying onto what used to be called impure thoughts. Perhaps that was my intention all along...
 
150/1 to be top goal scorer in the league with Bet 365. 1/4 the odds for top 3. I think top 3 is doable from him.
 
I have never said that Sinclair cannot make a useful contribution when he moves wide - the cross for the equaliser last Saturday being a case in point - but the fact remains that he makes his most telling contributions when he is fairly central. He was in or just about in the six-yard box when he received the ball for both his goals at Brentford and when he collected the ball for his wonder goal at Bournemouth he was further forward and more in-field than Maguire who was actually playing centre forward - indeed Sinclair then actually moved a bit wider before unleashing his shot for that goal.

I merely make the point that if he is played in a way that means he is already fairly central when he receives the ball then the chances are increased of him scoring the type of goals I mention. But yes in AN's 4.2.3.1 formation Sinclair obviously should play in one of those nominally wide positions in the '3' which in reality are quite fluid, but in the 'wing-back' formation he is utterly wasted when asked to play way out wide - in that formation he should be one of the front two.

But I have given you all something to focus on between games and hopefully kept your minds from straying onto what used to be called impure thoughts. Perhaps that was my intention all along...
This is the same for all goal scoring wingers. Gone are the days that wingers play on the wing and cross the ball.

Wingers in 2020 become strikers in the attacking phase with the width coming from full backs. Sinclair plays a normal, modern left wing position to great effect. If he started as a striker he’d be man marked by a centre back, there would be less room for him to ghost into as he wouldn’t be able to sneak in from wide, he’d have to hold the ball up etc. He’s never a no.9, he’s a modern winger.
 
I think we need to be tying Sinclair down to a new deal. At the end of this season, he will have a year left and we all know the situation we are in now with Davies, Pearson, Browne, DJ and Fisher.
Our teams about to be decimated this summer and we simply cannot let that happen again the summer after...we must be proactive NOW
 
I think we need to be tying Sinclair down to a new deal. At the end of this season, he will have a year left and we all know the situation we are in now with Davies, Pearson, Browne, DJ and Fisher.
Our teams about to be decimated this summer and we simply cannot let that happen again the summer after...we must be proactive NOW
I was thinking about this just this very night whilst at work.


I would offer new terms now, if only to avoid the current contractual shit show, to these players.

2022 OoC in 18 months time.

Jordan Storey
Patrick Bauer

Brad Potts

Tom Barkhuizen
Scott Sinclair
Ethan Walker
 
Back
Top