How did Adams get on in his first season? Didn’t he take ages to get going? Haven’t actually checked just from memory I don’t think anyone thinks Armstrong is the answer for us long term based on what weve seen so far, but I also think it’s too soon to write him off and he needs more time. The second half of this season seems like the perfect opportunity to play him as often as possible as we look to be heading for a mid table nothingness type finish. I do agree that maybe the answer is playing him over Adams more
Agreed. Armstrong has had a better start than Adams did. 2 goals and 2 assists in his first few months - Adams took almost the whole season of starting every game to score. He is playing in a team with very little creativity, its not as if Broja (5 goals) or Adams (4) have done loads better. We need to give the lad time
Adams struggled to score regularly in his fist season, but showed other skills (namely his buildup, hold-up and pressing) to prevent him for a net negative. He showed much the same in his second season, really, and much the same in his third season until this purple patch. He's still not a particularly good PL-level goalscorer, and I'm not convinced that he will ever be one, but he does enough to merit playing time. Armstrong hasn't showed that, at least to date. When he isn't generating chances, he's quite anonymous, and he hasn't generated chances as he did in the Championship. Doesn't mean he can't come good, but I haven't seen a lot to lead me to believe that he will be.
Yeah, I’m kind of with you on this. He has pace, but doesn’t quite seem to know how and where to use it at this level. He absolutely needs more time, but I’m not personally seeing much to give me huge amounts of hope here. Fingers crossed we’re wrong.
I’d watched Armstrong for Blackburn twice I think and wasn’t keen on us signing him as he didn’t look like a PL level player to me (yeah it was only 2 games). But now he’s here he needs more time. I think he absolutely needs a number 10 playing behind him to get the best out of him. I still return to my original point though. What do we do if Broja leaves in the summer and we still are in the “???” zone with Armstrong? We obviously need another forward as both Broja and Long will have left. That then asks the question do we go out and spend big trying to get the number one striker/goal scorer, or go down a similar route that we did with Broja and go cheaper, expecting Adams and Armstrong to be the main guys (which I’m sure was the plan at the start of this season) The other unknown again is the new owner. We may have a much larger budget this summer than we have had in recent times and therefore can spend big on a forward whilst still spending in other areas of need (GK, CM, AM)
Assuming Broja goes we have to spend big. We can’t rely on Adams and Armstrong alone, based on what we have seen so far. I wouldn’t be against us signing an older experienced PL player, though it doesn’t fit our model at all. We could just sign them for their influence in the dressing room…
Looks like Broja had got a nice pay rise and 6 year contract. Pity as i can't imagine chelsea are going to start him over aubamayang and sterling. Looks like he will be doing the loan circuit for the next few years.
Who other than Broja is back up? Given the number of fixtures he may be subbed on and start cup matches. Not that I give much of a flyer as he's not a Saint.
