I certainly do. I said last season on this very forum after his first 3 games that the obvious problem we had was that ALL our main fit strikers - Aluko, Jay and Prosser (not counting Mclean) - all liked to come deep and instigate play behind a striker playing on the last shoulder. We had no proper striker without Matt Fryatt. I honestly do wonder how much we watched him and did we instead look at his height, how many he scored and simply assume he was a line-leading striker?
He didn't look like a deep lying forward. He never had any space, had no ability to control the ball when at his feet except for the goal, the only time his feet looked useful. He reminds me a bit of an oil tanker.
But his first touch just isn't good enough for that role of being the deeper striker. In summary No pace Not particularly good in the air Poor first touch But can finish Sorry but that's not good enough for the Championship never mind the PL.
I didnt say he was good enough, i said that's how he plays. He can spot a link-up pass very well indeed and on the contrary I would say he has got a good touch. He's far too slow both over distance and over 5 yards and not physical enough to lead a line.
I thought he did seem to win a few more headers than usual last night so there were definite signs of improvement but he's got a long way to go yet.
Not really.imo. Steve Bruce also said that Prossie is the best finisher we have at the club. He just needs to improve on the physical side of his game and last night he showed that at times. Rome was not built in a day but SB is winning the battle with Big Nick and he deserves his spot on the PL subs bench.
At least 2 of which will start, and 1 isn't fit enough to be included in the PL squads yet (Bruce said before the game he wasn't but that for the Cup he was worth naming to try and give him 20 minutes, extra time would have been interesting last night though). Being on the bench with the other fit player out of the 4 gives plenty of options to give him a run out later in the game if it's not too tight (either way). If not, what more is he meant to do? If there's nothing he can do in those games to earn a place then what's the point of him even trying, and what does that say to other younger players who want to force their way in?
I listened to the interview on RH with Burnsie and NP and thought he came across very well - said he was settled and like it here and yes seemingly turned down the chance to move in the last window. Shows his commitment to the Club and still willing to force his way into the first team squad reckoning - he seemed to be well aware, as Burnsie pointed out, that SB wants him still to adapt to the physicality of the EPL.
He could he could of scored the one on one last night. He scored 4 in a reserve game, thats all, and lets be honest he missed two good chances in that reserve game to.
I was surprised to see Big Nick not make the bench yesterday with Macca back before the game but looking at how West Ham played he would not have enjoyed the very physical nature of the Hammers.
