Yeh, I can't really buy into this "tiring out defenders" narrative. They are professional footballers, not Fatboy Foster from down the park. I doubt they are any more tired than he is and if they are completely shot I am sure the oppo manager has options available. I am sure he is doing a valiant job keeping them busy, drawing them out of position where he can etc. But we need more from him and of course he deserves better service
You don't have to buy into it but it's a huge part of how Nathan Jones sets his team up. We play high intensity pressing throughout the game and as we've already seen this season benefit from opposition mistakes and gaps as the game goes on because players who are used to having more time and space are harried, challenged and run around the pitch far more than they are used to. Jones specifically brought in very fit players with a lot of stamina knowing they would be able to keep up this intensity better than opposition teams who aren't built for it. So far this season we have scored in the 81st minute off a mistake from a centre back, the 92nd minute where our players swarmed forward into gaps where the opposition couldn't track them anymore after we'd won a flick on and in the 88th minute where a Bolton player got caught on the ball and we countered high up into more space than we should have had. The opposition defenders aren't dead on their feet but they make poor positional choices or drop their tracking momentarily when they become mentally and physically tired and we benefit from it. The style punishes concentration lapses as much as physical exhaustion, which are both what comes from tiredness across a game. We've seen most of our goals so far come from it, it's not in question.
You make a very convincing and lucid argument, but yeh I was aware that was the general gameplan and in that sense Ahadme is part of an overall strategy. I accept that would appear to contradict my post but I guess what I was trying to say was that, specifically in relation to Ahadme, that IMO him "tiring out defenders" is rather overstating his contribution and in any case isn't enough. I don't doubt there is more to come, but I am frustrated this isn't being addressed (to my eyes). He was a bit of a marquee signing after all
I guess that's the other difficult thing for him; he wasn't really a marquee signing in terms of importance at all, he was just reported as expensive compared to our other signings. We did desperately need a physical striker who could hold the ball up but our first choice was Bair who went to a much higher level. Realistically I'd put Mitchell, Berry, Godden and Docherty ahead of him in terms of the level of excitement and individual significance of the signing. It's just an unfortunate reality that the targets we had for the role commanded much higher fees than the other players we've brought in. If Docherty had cost what Ahadme potentially will and vice versa then I don't think he'd get quite as much stick
Interesting bit in an article in The Athletic about Birmingham’s window. Suggests we didn’t pay the £1m for Ahadme that’s been quoted. Obviously that comes from the club side but interesting nonetheless
Call me mystic meg but I can foresee in 2 seasons time we will be negotiating canceling his contract by subsidizing the remainder of his salary. We've seen this story before.
I do sincerely hope he comes good, but nothing within his performances, statistical record, or previous fans' testimonials gives me any sense of optimism.
I’m over the moon we’re talking about cancelling a 23 year old’s contract after only four games of a new season.
Call me mystic meg but I can foresee in 2 seasons time we will be negotiating canceling his contract by subsidizing the remainder of his salary. We've seen this story before.
I do sincerely hope he comes good, but nothing within his performances, statistical record, or previous fans' testimonials gives me any sense of optimism.
I’m over the moon we’re talking about cancelling a 23 year old’s contract after only four games of a new season.
That’s pretty much the opposite of the Xpected Overthemoon stats (XO) I’d seen about you in the papers. Typical….
At the moment he looks considerably worse than Stockley. Badly needs a goal for some confidence at least.
Apart from that first half season, this is exactly what stockley was. Wins the odd decent flick down, but looks like he’s never kicked a ball before when he has it at his feet.
It’s a shame, because he’s just had his best half of football for us, but rightly, we’ll all be talking about that miss. You can’t miss chances like that against sides that will be up there at the end of the season.
Thought he had his best competitive game for us, at least first half. Said on the match thread, though, that miss rather undermined all his other hard work, unfortunately.
He did a better job of winning headers than previous games but he was absolutely honking generally. Slow, weak, falls over every time he has the ball at his feet or is nudged by a defender, blazing a chance wide from about 6 yards out. There were several times in that first half where I thought with a competent hold up man we could have done alright.
Probably his best game for us but it was still poor. Yeesh. I remember two occasions where he picked the ball up with no opponent in a 5-yard radius of him, and yet still managed to fall over. Bambi on ice. Managed to sky a chance 4-yards over the bar from the 6-yard line.
There was an idea that was floated on here - that it was his partner's fault for not getting close enough to him. Well he had Godden today and Chuks came on and seemed to get TC the ball without issue.
Said early on that I hope he gets a goal because I'd hate the fans to get on his back and make things harder for him. Battled hard today and won several challenges. That shot was awful though and in too many situations he ends up on his arse rather than on his feet. I hope things work out because we need a serial goalscorer, not a tireless falleroverer.
It’s a shame, because he’s just had his best half of football for us, but rightly, we’ll all be talking about that miss. You can’t miss chances like that against sides that will be up there at the end of the season.
I think that’s more about the other 8 halves . Sorry but winning a couple of headers isn’t enough - he is not a footballer .
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There was an idea that was floated on here - that it was his partner's fault for not getting close enough to him. Well he had Godden today and Chuks came on and seemed to get TC the ball without issue.
The guy looks so far off it.
No way is he good enough for a team that wants to get promoted