I don’t think my comment was harsh at all. My comment was that “he is not going to come on and score the winning goal”. He is better used if you want to send on a player to help protect a point or 3, by keeping the opposing defence busy, but even that has flaws as his ball retention is awful. Haller and Iheanacho would be far better options, if you are looking for goals or assists. Yep I know we can’t afford them. Even a fit Andy Carroll, hate the guy, makes things happen, by disrupting defences in a way that Long doesn’t. Oh, and I don’t form my opinions based on what a commentator says. I was using his comment to support what most of us know.
Andy Carroll since the beginning of the 2018 season til now: 36 games 0 goals Shane Long over the same period of time: 55 games 7 goals Even Iheanacho's only at 53 games and 6 goals. On Saturday our bench had three players yet to make their full debuts, plus Stephens and Obafemi. And yet it's still Long with over 300 Premier League games under his belt, who apparently demonstrates that we have a thin squad. I agree with you that it is looking desperately thin at the moment, but the issue should be about why we let Reed and Sims head off, rather than resorting to more Long-bashing.
Let’s not forget though towards the end of last season most of Ings goals came with Long as his strike partner. But no, he’s never going to come on in 15m and nick us points
Good points. I would say Long struggled against Man U to retain possession. I suspect that is due to how little game time he has had this season which has presumably made him rusty.
The entire team seemed guilty of it to be fair. Utd had a gameplan and executed it very well, caught us off guard, and really we were lucky to even get close to earning a point. Luckily we have a manager with whom it genuinely feels that even our losses provide a productive opportunity to be learned from.
Shane’s strength hasn’t been holding the ball up. He’s had some good games holding it up, but more often than not he is chasing his first touch. That said, he is great to have to press, chase lost causes, give us an outlet for a ball in behind defenders (something we didn’t do against United that we should have) and generally not give defenders a moments peace Plus we love him. Plus The Shane Long Song Plus 76 yard goal against Villa Plus 7 seconds Plus Anfield cue Titanic music.
If Romeu or JWP get injured I’d currently pick Reed over Diallo. I think Diallo is gonna need time to get up to speed. And with Sims we’ve replaced him with Tella who is basically where Sims was 2 years ago.
Tella v Sims.. we got that right as one has time. Smallbone. I jus think it’s time we let go of the fact two “youngsters” from the academy have gone and accept that the coach didn’t really think they had it. (Reed borderline, admittedly)
Reed was excellent for Fulham against west ham but Diallo hasn't had a sniff of a chance yet so very unfair to judge him at this point. If he plays to the level of his sizzle reel he will be an excellent addition but right now it'll take a formation change to get in the midfield. Lemina looked lost btw.
I wasn't really judging Diallo. If anything I'm being lenient by implying he needs time before we judge him. I think he has a lot of potential. Re: Reed. I don't care what people say, he's a really good midfielder. I'm interested to see the Reed/Loftus-Cheek midfield partnership develop. Fulham are getting a bit second-teamy for me now. Man City up next though.
I do like Scott Parker as a manager. No fussed about him as a player but comes across well as a manager and hope he is given time.
Funnily enough I really rated him and thought we should try and keep him at SMS but appreciate the he wanted regular football. He's got that but hasn't impressed me as much in the games I've seen him play. Maybe I've watched the wrong games.