Yeah the goals were what I was alluding to with for the most part. And agree that is a good comparison, although Jaden played and looked the same before the injury, he was just on fire and everything he tried seemed to come off. I think it’s just the way that style of player looks to be honest and part of what makes them unpredictable. The relaxed and cool as a cucumber body language gives nothing away to their next move and a big part of fooling defenders into committing the wrong way but it also looks a bit lazy and disinterested. The difference between them obviously was Ebiowei was absolutely ****e for us and barely anything ever came off for him so it just made him look ****e and he wasn’t really arsed.
We have a couple of players on north of £20k a week and he's one of them. Seri and Oscar are the others. I don't know exact figures, but I know roughly the pecking order and some of the wages mentioned on here are nothing like the reality of it. For anybody who is curious, the next highest after those are Greaves and Connolly. I've not counted the loan players because I don't know how much of their wages we are paying (likewise with Oscar, I don't know how much Bahia are paying but as they're in the City Group of football clubs, I'd reckon they're paying them all which is how we could afford Carvalho). If we're paying in full, you could probably include Carvalho in that top tier as well.
Will we refuse though? As you say his stock has definitely dropped a bit. Is he as irreplaceable as seemed? Might make it easier to make a more balanced squad letting him go.
It's what happens to young players like that, they play with confidence and if they go off the boil, their heads tend to drop. We saw it with KLP a couple of times when he first broke through. It's a bit like the old adage about great teams finding a way to win even though they play poorly, you could say the same about Jaden. And I don't think he's been poor, because if that's him at a poor level, then he really is a hell of a player.
Philogene invariably fights to win the ball back when he loses it, and is quite good at it. Something I can't recall Ebowie doing. He does have that cool / relaxed look, but there the similarities end. I just wish he wouldn't stand with the ball at his feet for that few seconds before deciding what to do. He surely should just get right at em as soon as he takes the ball (like say Summerville and Ngoto are very good at), not allowing valuable time for the defence to adjust.
That's exactly what I'm taking about. That slowing down with the ball and then struggling to get going again, and then sometimes stopping altogether in a strop when the defender touches him. I think Bob is right that it's a style that certain players do just have, but I don't recall him looking as laboured back in the autumn and it seems to have really hampered his ability to take men on. His end product is still there, but his explosiveness has gone. In terms of his future, I think the aim should be to only sell him when his value is at its highest, and I think with another year under his belt he'd surely develop further and then command a bigger fee next summer than he would now. But it might not be as simple as that if someone wants him and he wants to go.
Philogene can also beat a man, score goals and create chances - I can't recall Ebiowei doing those things either
I couldn't have tried harder to make it clear that I wasn't saying they're of a comparable level, just that Jaden had a similar problem to one that Ebiowei had. Don't know why this always happens with any sort of comparison.
Regardless of who stays and who goes, the defence needs an upgrade. If Greaves is gone then every position needs something.
-> "I'm thinking of getting a teaching job at Hymers" Oh my days! It gets worse! Hopefully not Maths or English?
