One of Pelle's biggest problems at times last season was that the other forwards were often miles away from him. Hardly his fault, that. The flick ons, which I agree did get a bit frustrating, can only work if there's someone to run on to them.
Transfer Rumours The 2015 Summer Transfer Window Thread
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Just to clarify to all, I love Pelle and he was great for us and will be important this year too. I am probably being over critical of him because he plays in the position that I failed to make it as a professional in, hence a tinge of green in the critique. I do look at forward players contribution to the games closer than a lot of others.
I am just critiquing though and picking out a couple of areas I believe he could do better in and become even better. The key one for me is decision making: when to shoot, when to pass and when to flick on (with feet) and when to hold it up and play it back simple. That's the big one. Flicking on with the ball in the air is not what I mean by 'flick-ons' as there aren't many players who can control a ball that's on top of their head
The other one for me is when he looks to hold the ball up but allows a CB to come round him to intercept it.
In both areas I think he imoroved a lot towards the end of the season.
I am just critiquing though and picking out a couple of areas I believe he could do better in and become even better. The key one for me is decision making: when to shoot, when to pass and when to flick on (with feet) and when to hold it up and play it back simple. That's the big one. Flicking on with the ball in the air is not what I mean by 'flick-ons' as there aren't many players who can control a ball that's on top of their head
The other one for me is when he looks to hold the ball up but allows a CB to come round him to intercept it.
In both areas I think he imoroved a lot towards the end of the season.
I'll still be pretty disappointed if we don't sign another striker. By the sounds of things we won't. But Juanmi is new to the league and country and also fairly slight, so will likely need a lot of work to share the goals burden. Jay Rod will be fantastic IF he can regain the form he had before his injury, which is no given. Pelle is approaching 30 and if Juanmi takes time to adapt and/or Jay Rod struggles to find form, then it will be the same as last season where the goal burden is heaped onto Pelle. I'm not convinced that Gallagher has what it takes for the Premier League, but he does have time to improve/adapt. Mane will chip in with a few but is predominantly on the wing, so I still firmly think we need another forward as IMO we are hoping Juanmi adapts immediately, Jay Rod is just as good as he was before and that Gallagher can step up to the plate. There's no back up plan if those players aren't what we hope.
I think Mane will be used centrally more this season. Not disagreeing with SaintsFC76's comments, just pointing out that Ton had said before that they are trying to convince Mane he can be a great striker.
I've said several times before that I see JayRod being a central striker eventually, although as mentioned above, we don't know about his recovery/form yet.
I've said several times before that I see JayRod being a central striker eventually, although as mentioned above, we don't know about his recovery/form yet.
Happy to see Mane central/behind the striker. But in that case we'd need another winger if not two!
Nice tribute to SKD from Cody Cropper
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/07/0...eeper-cody-cropper-hails-kelvin-davis-guidan/
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2015/07/0...eeper-cody-cropper-hails-kelvin-davis-guidan/
Im happy with our options upfront with Long, Rod, Pelle and Mane to choose from...
It's the creative players we lack! Hopefully Tadic gets back to his best and I like Davis but I would like is to sign atleast another creative midfielder.
Looking forward to see how good Juanmi is!
It's the creative players we lack! Hopefully Tadic gets back to his best and I like Davis but I would like is to sign atleast another creative midfielder.
Looking forward to see how good Juanmi is!
I only know one credible one (Di Marzio) as I don't really follow Italian football.
Hopefully the Pelle rumours are true, as some of you may know I don't have much time for him and think there are far better options out there. I genuinely think that virtually every other team in the Premiership has at least one striker I would prefer over Pelle. You can talk about goals scored all you like, but the amount he gave the ball away, missed loads of chances and generally awful link up play completely nullifies the 15/16 goals he scored for me
But I lurve Pelle...not quite on the Fonte
and Lambert scale, but he is on the foothills of my mountain of adoration.
and Lambert scale, but he is on the foothills of my mountain of adoration.
Very harsh on Pelle. First season in the PL, and had a similar return to Lambert in his first season. Pelle's heading ability and link up play was very good at times. Think you need to re think what you've said.
Pretty ridiculous to be so harsh on Pelle. He had a good first season in the league and bagged a decent goal tally. He had a dry spell but I think we do lack an element of creativity and pelle's goals drying up coinciding with tadic drop in form was evident. He was excellent at feyenoord before us and good last season. He brings a lot to the team and may well improve this season. We need to give him the chance to do so.
You are indeed harsh on Pelle, 15 goal return for a £6.3m outlay.......not bad IMO.
Focusing only on "strikers" - so ignoring wingers who can play through the middle etc:
Chelsea - Yes, Costa
City - Yes, Aguero
Arsenal - Yes, Giroud
Man Utd - Yes, Rooney
Spurs - Yes, Kane
Liverpool - Yes, Sturridge
Swansea - Hmm, maybe, probably a yes, Gomis
Stoke - No
Palace - No
Everton - Yes, Lukaku
West Ham - Yes, Sakho
WBA - Yes, Berahino
Leicester - No
Newcastle - Hmm, tough one, again probably a yes, Cisse
Sunderland - Hmm, is Defoe past it? Hard to tell in a poor Sunderland team. But I'd be tempted to just about give another yes.
Villa - Yes, Benteke
Hull - No
Burnley - Yes, ish, Ings
QPR - Yes, Austin
So whilst I think you are being very harsh on Pelle, actually your comparison to other teams is not far off.
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