Without fraser, no one in the side seems to be able to whip enough balls into the box to make Wood dangerous. Neither ASM or Almiron can cross for ****. Trippier is out, and Krafth isn't consistent enough. Targett is ok but we cannot rely on him for crosses. I think we should give Gayle a chance. He makes some impressive runs into the box sometimes and I think it makes sense. Wood hasn't exactly been great. He's a target man and unless you're going to deliver great balls into the box regularly, there's literally no point in playing him. He was awesome in the championship. Burnley got him scoring 1 in 3 but that's because they've always been a Stoke like team, lumping balls into the box for a big man consistently. We're not that side.
I think Gayle is a complete waste of space. I would actually rather go without a striker and use the extra midfielder to include someone like Willock or Almiron with a license to get forward at all opportunities. Might be the shock therapy Dubravka needs to get out of his aimless long punts, which he seems to have got back into the habit of doing.
Yeah Gayle is a waste of a feckin shirt, we don't need to resort to him at any point. All he ever brought was goals and he doesn't do that anymore - since we returned to the Prem he's got the dizzying total of 11 goals in 86 games, and hasn't scored since December 2020! Willock, Miggy, Murphy and even Longstaff should all be ahead of him.
you literally haven’t mentioned Jacob Murphy who can whip the ball in. However, I’d play Almiron and play a more narrow top 3
Now you mention it, and i cannot stress this enough and having considered all of the other options available to us within the squad,….and even factoring in giving Karl Darlow a shot up top……I would have to say absolutely NOT A ****ING CHANCE IN HELL ! No way kimo-sabe!!
Gayle is the only forward player in the squad less effective than Wood. I do agree that Wood should be dropped, but a false nine like Liverpool should be the switch, not suddenly hoping Gayle is a competent footballer.
How is wood effective? 2 goals in 13 games, meaning he'd average about 6 goals a season. Everyone else has improved under eddie, Wood is in a good side and is still bang average. Gayle hasn't had a chance in a side like this. Why should he be left out? Gayle seems to make good runs in behind and it would be interesting to see how he performs in our current set up. It's not just about track record... you've got to look at the type of team we have. We're playing a 4-3-3 formation, with no one in the side that can really cross a ball besides maybe targett when he gets the chance. Wood is like an Andy Carroll, except no where near as good at holding up a ball. He needs crosses into the box regularly, and we don't play like that, we're playing it along the deck. Gayle may benefit since he has pace and gets into good positions. Think of all the players that were ****e before but have been improved under Eddie.
After yesterday, I'm now thinking Gayle is a better shout. And I ****ing hate Gayle. I think my view on Wood is pretty clear, but to repeat he is now hands down the worst 'main' forward I've ever seen play (you can't count the likes of Kuqi, Cordone, etc.). He's absolutely ****ing abominable. 50p for a head, touch of a ra....blacksmith, has absolutely ZERO threat. Time and again yesterday he's just nowhere near where a striker should be. Literally the only thing he does is run about a bit chasing lost causes. He doesn't even have any strength - end of the match he tried to take it into the corner and was easily muscled out. Wilson is WAY stronger on the ball and he's made of ****ing glass. I've given up on him, he needs to be sold with Gayle in the Summer, forwards needs a complete reset and if Burnley came back with £10m I'd snap their ****ing arm off. Hell, I'd pay them £10m. That one on one was astonishingly bad. He may have even been onside, but he put it 5 yards wide. Absolutely hopeless. How Eddie Howe has managed to get this kind of form/run with a man down every game is beyond me. So, yes, I'd give Gayle a chance between now and end of season for no other reason than to add a couple of mill to his price tag.
Agreed. Wood isn't a bad player, but we're not playing to his strengths. We bought him purely to weaken Burnley. Wood is a target man and we don't need that. We needed it maybe in january when we weren't confident playing the ball about at the back and passing it up the pitch, but now we are a lot better on the ball, and we don't need a target man. From set pieces, Burn is becoming the assister now. He wins almost everything in the air and has assisted a few goals from set pieces. We don't even need wood for that.
I think Wood does more things than he gets credit for. He should score goals and isn't scoring many, no arguments there. But he helped out defensively last night - one goalmouth header to safety I can recall. Re Gayle, I do think we should try him with what we've got. Bruno delivered a great pass to Miggy, he can do it for Gayle. I'd also argue that Gayle's mobility in the box is what Wood doesn't seem to be blessed with. Gayle isn't a player who will stay with us; he's not good enough at Prem level, but I think there's little risk in trying him at places like Norwich. We're not creating too many great chances, more like half chances /scraps. Eddie can experiment a bit now the work has been done.
It's almirons chance to attack and not be used as a defensive midfielder.. So far he's played well... The last two games almiron has done the business.
Perhaps almiron can bag a few goals of he's allowed to attack more... I feel like Bruce took advantage of his work ethic and I don't think he's ever been allowed to stay up top much at all. We'll see, but I would agree he's a better player than Fraser in many ways, but not crossing which is primitive football anyway.
Not sure about this. Fraser I think is more creative, more two footed, and better at crossing. Almiron is more skillful, pacey and probably has more goals in him, but that is to be proven at this level. Miggy deserves more time.
Fraser can cross better and I think he can shoot better tbh, but almiron has more to offer defensively and unfortunately people don't appreciate that enough imo...
Agreed. TBH thought neither will start next season if we spend big, so they're fighting to be a squad player next season
