BedsBlue68
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 23 Oct 2017
- Messages
- 321
Agreed with this post all the way down to the bit about Pep and then again afterwards. I think the pressure put on him has been by the fans, not Pep. To Pep he is (nearly) the perfect forward for his system, his pressing, his intelligence, his positioning, the way he pulls defenders around to create the space for the rest of the forwards, all amazing.Is anyone really surprised that he is having a crisis of confidence in front of goal?
You take a 20 year old kid and give him irregular game time behind the best striker we've ever had. You force a constant comparison between the two from the moment he arrives. Then you create a situation where every single game Aguero is out there is a ton of pressure to prove you are good enough. You must score. No one gives a shit about all the other work you do, you must score.
Then as soon as you dont score in 1 game people start questioning you. If its 2 games? Twice as much chat. Come back with no preseason and lead the line. Play injured because Aguero is out. Why arent you scoring? Play when the team is going through its worst period in 3 years and not scoring any goals. No one is cresting any chances but you're still getting shit for not starting.
Oh and by the way we are going to buy a 100m striker this summer so you better start delivering. Coronavirus knocks you out for 3 weeks. Now play on the wing for a bit. Now get subbed early because you're the only fit striker. Still not scoring enough. Now Aguero is back, get ready to be benched again.
I think Pep's management of him has been poor, he is clearly a guy who needs an arm around the shoulder and instead Pep ramps up the pressure on him whenever he can.
I think its amazing he is still playing so well outside the box and probably testament to just how much pressure he can take that he recovered from a bad miss yesterday.
Sooner rather than later he will get over it. This is not a skill he lacks, look at the finish 12 months ago vs. Real and its a much harder chance from the same kind of winning the ball back high up and he hit it straight away. It's a mental block.
The negative to his detractors, is his finishing is not that of an Aguero (whose is) but he scores a lot of goals. "He should score more" how many more are needed when he is a part of us willing 19 straight games?
But Pep doesnt need a single person to score all the goals, he sets up so we have 4 or 5 players who share the responsibility between them.
I would say we need an alternative striker, not to replace Jesus but to complement him. We dont play with a fixed starting 11, just a spine of 5 or 6 players. A strike force of Jesus and a more pure goalscorer would be great.