There may have been other articles on this topic since Sunday and if so I apologize in advance. But in amongst some gritty and committed performances by most of the team at Old Trafford I thought the contribution by JB was outstandingly poor. OK, his job was difficult from the outset and the sending off certainly didn't make life any easier but when you employ someone as a lone striker with a specific job of holding the ball up you, well, expect him to hold the ball up occasionally don't you? His first touch was universally poor which made the task impossible of course. Contrast and compare with the excellent job in the same role by BZ the previous week. His time on the fringes of the first X1 have clearly done nothing to improve on the uninspired and lazy looking performances we had to endure at the beginning of the season. So, the mystery continues: what happened to the player that turned in some decent performances for Cardiff last season and scored some spectacular goals? Is it the curse of Neil Warnock still working on the strikers he has signed even after he has departed? Either way, I hope we don't have to endure this again.
To be fair, the Cardiff fans did warn us of what to expect from Bothroyd. I thought they were being bitter, but they were spot on.
He did produce about the only shot of our afternoon that seemed to trouble de Gea, he couldn't hold it but typically we had noone following up. It was given offside anyway, which surprised me at the time but never got a good view of it.
Remember Warnock naming Cardiff's Bothroyd as THE player to watch at the biginning of last season. Then came a furry of goals and an England cap. Then came THAT goal against us last Easter - that Taarabt had to produce wonders to both emulate and equalise... So when it turned out, after some posturing I might add, that Warnock had managed to sign him up during our summer of discontent, I was absolutely de-lighted. Thought we were really on to something - especially watching him and Taarabt in the same side in our opener against Bolton. Thought the nickname 'Betty' (as in Boothroyd) was disingenuous to say the least... HOWEVER, on the evidence of his performances and absences to date, 'Betty' is entirely apt. Guy's a complete wall-flower with the killer instincts of a teddy bear. Whilst it's said their games are similar, there's no comparison: Bothroyd ain't a pimple on Zamora's arse.
He handballed it. I would have hauled Bothroyd off at half time. He barely won a header all day. Was unable to take it down and hold it up and has no pace and so was unable to get in behind. He had a hard task but offered nothing. I would of thought for a player getting a rare opportunity to impress he would have at least offered work rate but he was incredibly lazy. 6th choice striker and hopefully won't have to bare him again this season
His biggest problem is he needs time in order to create his chances. He is more one footed than faurlin and so always takes the touch to put it on his left. However in the prem you will not get any time on the ball. He's also not helped by the fact that inspite of his size he's about as dominant in the air as Fitz Hall
Hes lazy and not a lone frontman. Zamora (when interested) and HH offer so much more. Defenders would love playing against JB, he makes their job so easy. I hope we get rid in the summer. Youd have thought he would have ran his nuts off with a 1st start in months but no, he was just wandering about aimlessly.
I didn't think he was that bad. This match was entirely different to the arsenal game so it's misleading to compare his performance to BZ's. He's been out of the side for a long time, i remember at the beginning of the season he performed really well in a few of the games. Admittedly he's a poor man's BZ, but hopefully being on the same training ground as him Jay will pick up a thing or two.
I didn't think he was so bad against United, but then he wasn't much good either, a pretty indifferent performance for me! I remember he played fairly decent against Spurs and City in the autumn after he'd been left out a bit by Neil if I remember right, and hoped he was getting himself sorted, then he just seemed to go backwards again after those 2 games.
Possibly chewing the fat against a player in a game at OLD Trafford ... The player has got a lot of skills and is a now part of a good depth squad. How anyone can read into last week's game escapes me ... it was obvious how this game was set out .. straight forward damage limitation and we rode our luck and got away with just two goals .. No rocket science lads In other systems/games/formations He would be fine. We are QPR not Real Madrid .. have him before a long list of current middle of the road players in the premiership
Think this is thread is incredibly harsh. His hold up play is poor. Yes. But he's not that type of striker regardless of what his physiqe is. He was feeding off scraps all game and was against Ferdinand and Evans so couldnt be expected to boss it. He won almost every header he could but there was no one up with him so it never came to anything. He helped out hugely in defence and had obviously been told to pretty much forget about attacking. He's been made a scapegoat and I think criticising him on that display is unjust.
I'm not judging him on the United game but on the season. Really can't say much of previous seasons only what I have seen this year. His not scapegoat for the Utd, the ref did that for us. I'm not sure what form of striker he is supposed to be though is he :- Perhaps fast going round players ?# Maybe running into the channels ?# Poacher ?# Shooting from outside the box ?# Provider ?# A championship Striker !!!!!!!! For me I don't see where he fits in or what he has the potential to do. Sorry harsh it maybe but fair from what I have seen to date.
Its hard to judge him on that game - but he did not work hard enough for my liking, and that is something i cannot forgive. Being poor, ok I can forgive that as long as they are trying. He wasnt. You expect your lone striker, even if we are down to 10 men, to be working hard.
I'm going to have to go back over a recording of the game as TBH I don't remember many such events. Perhaps you meant he didn't win any because he couldn't win any. And if he's not suited to this role then what role is he suited for? Most importantly it was frustrating to watch someone who looked like he was giving less than 100% when everyone around him was working so hard. I'm not trying to persecute the guy but he has had three restarts with the side this season and come up empty on each ocassion. It's pretty clear he reached his level as a mid table Championship player at best.
