I don’t agree. It perhaps looked worse against Millwall because we were down to ten men, but against Blackpool and Rotherham he held the ball up well and showed a good touch. His energy is infectious and he’s capable of scoring spectacular goals from nothing - eg Bournemouth away last season. Anyway, Oscar will be out for at least one game, possibly three, so we’ll hopefully see how Longman does in his place. I suspect he’ll do very well, especially if supporters support him and build up his confidence.
statistically he was worse than Pelkas who was deemed to have “gone missing” I like his energy and attitude but he is below the standard for me in terms of reading the game and retaining possession. Few times he doesn’t read overlaps and is stood in poor positions when our number 10s have the ball.
Well stats can sometimes lie then because I thought Pelkas was our worst player yesterday (in fact the only below par performance) and seemed to be angling for a red card.
a few times and passes he made probably found a man at a higher standard but R Longman wasn’t there mentally and too far behind pace. Useful for his energy but his footballing brain is no where near good enough to get us anywhere near the top half. for instance he lost the ball more than anyone else on on our side yesterday and had a 55 %pass accuracy, so he almost gives it away almost as many times as he finds a man.
Thinking we might actually see T Smith rather than Longman as CF. Might not have the quality but Rosie might prefer square pegs in square holes? Thought came due to him reappearing yesterday. Not great that we are limited to those options when Oscar isn't available. Roll on January.
But what does that pass accuracy include? If it’s a hopeful ball punted forward which Longman manages to get something on despite being surrounded by two or three defenders with no-one in a white shirt to pass to, it’s hardly surprising that stat is low. Did you watch the 90+ minutes of each of Blackpool and Rotherham away. If you did, and you still weren’t impressed, then we’ll have to agree to disagree. If you didn’t, go back and watch his performances in those.
“Strikers usually have very low passing percentages, because most of their passes are in heavy traffic, and a number are with the head.” https://www.football365.com/news/what-we-learn-from-passingcrossing-statistics
I totally agree. But, if he wants to play a central striker ("square pegs in square holes) his options are pretty limited! Smith, Simms, Chadwick? 16 signings - crazy.
