Will you accept him as our main striker?
10 years ago unless you were called Ronaldo or played for Pep's Barcelona wingers weren't goalscorers. Now we have wingers that finish the seasons with more goals than strikers all over the place. Us and Liverpool did just that last season.Yes but you have to stop thinking about the word striker, forward players are expected to offer more and that includes sacrificing personal goals for the bigger picture, we need another forward soon enough and Pep will insist on a worker bee and technical player.
10 years ago unless you were called Ronaldo or played for Pep's Barcelona wingers weren't goalscorers. Now we have wingers that finish the seasons with more goals than strikers all over the place. Us and Liverpool did just that last season.
Obviously we want the striker to score, if we had 3 forwards who got 30 each that would be amazing, but football is evolving to a point where for certain teams it's more about anyone getting the goal than who gets the goal.
I don't think we're going to see any change in Jesus's playing style for the time being. If he stays higher up it's easier for teams to sit deep and park the bus and if we slow attacks down then we're wasting them.The only problem Gabby has at the moment is that he is doing so much good work in the build up and deep in our attacking moves that he often cant catch up before the ball goes into the box.
Quite a few times today Gabby would won the ball back on halfway, pass the ball to Rodri who played a first touch pass to KDB 20 yards ahead who then ran at the goal.
Its not possible for Jesus to make up 20+ yards in the time It takes KDB to get to the box.
As a result of that, its Sterling or Mahrez being put through 1v1 by KDB and scoring goals.
If Pep does want him to score more he either needs to stop Gabby dropping so deep, or he needs to make the attacks a little bit longer. If there's and extra pass or two, then Gabby does have time to get on the end of it.
I don't think we're going to see any change in Jesus's playing style for the time being. If he stays higher up it's easier for teams to sit deep and park the bus and if we slow attacks down then we're wasting them.
I do acknowledge watching him can be uncomfortable for some. He's like Silva was whereby he's almost stubbornly selfless. Which for a centre-forward does seem jarring to see.
Speaking of Silva, since he's gone we've struggled to create space for De Bruyne which Silva used to do just by occupying the other team's midfielders. Jesus is the only player with the movement and quick skill to come close to being able to create that space, albeit in a different way. Foden(currently), and Mahrez have the skill but not the movement and Sterling has the movement but not the skill.
It'd be nice to see him score more, but even when he doesn't our wingers and midfielders have this weird habit of looking really good with him in the team. I wonder how many people commenting in the 'Would Tevez do well under Pep?' thread positively see the comparison (even if they have different styles
Excellent post. He is integral to the way we play just now.I don't think we're going to see any change in Jesus's playing style for the time being. If he stays higher up it's easier for teams to sit deep and park the bus and if we slow attacks down then we're wasting them.
I do acknowledge watching him can be uncomfortable for some. He's like Silva was whereby he's almost stubbornly selfless. Which for a centre-forward does seem jarring to see.
Speaking of Silva, since he's gone we've struggled to create space for De Bruyne which Silva used to do just by occupying the other team's midfielders. Jesus is the only player with the movement and quick skill to come close to being able to create that space, albeit in a different way. Foden (currently), and Mahrez have the skill but not the movement and Sterling has the movement but not the skill.
It'd be nice to see him score more, but even when he doesn't our wingers and midfielders have this weird habit of looking really good with him in the team. I wonder how many people commenting in the 'Would Tevez do well under Pep?' thread positively see the comparison (even if they have different styles).
Agree fully. I remember when Silva arrived it took him a while to evolve into the player we now remember him as. Foden is still one of the least experienced players in the team and has his own qualities, no player will be a carbon copy of Silva, but he has the potential to be equally constructive in the coming seasons.I completely agree with this. I have thought for some while that Foden struggles to find the pockets that Silva did, but I think you’re spot on with the other two.