Cardiff Away

[The Doctor]

11 hours ago, FosseSpark said:

Because Daka cannot link play aswell on a consistent basis. Iheanacho is quicker to think and act when we are breaking and that hasn't changed. 

Cannon is clearly 4th choice as he hasn't been given too many minutes even though fit.

Daka who has far better assist and goals stats per 90? Daka who has the pace to actually break and will chase passes? That Daka? Iheanacho at this point shouldn't be anywhere near the team

[ARM1968]

Have to say I was wrong about Itchy. Thought he’d be an asset this season but he has looked bobbins. Slow, disinterested and lazy. Daka IS the future currently. 

[StriderHiryu]

I’m worried about this and the Huddersfield game. The lack of rest time between games is going to take its toll and players from the bench clearly aren’t as good as our starters. When we rotated players against Wednesday we put in a poor performance. 
 

It wouldn’t surprise me if we drop more points. That said I feel the only way to get the best out of players like Yunus, Casadei and Cannon is to give them a run in the team. Daka got given a run and his performances speak for themselves. 

[MGLCFC]

1 minute ago, StriderHiryu said:

I’m worried about this and the Huddersfield game. The lack of rest time between games is going to take its toll and players from the bench clearly aren’t as good as our starters. When we rotated players against Wednesday we put in a poor performance. 
 

It wouldn’t surprise me if we drop more points. That said I feel the only way to get the best out of players like Yunus, Casadei and Cannon is to give them a run in the team. Daka got given a run and his performances speak for themselves. 

I take your point, but all teams are in the same situation regarding rest. They too will have to utilise their normal bench players and rotate. Like for like, our bench players are better than our opponents IMO.

[Pliskin]

I can see wholesale changes for this one. Souttar, Justin, Hamza, Casadei, Akgun and one of Cannon and Kelch to start? 

[FosseSpark]

33 minutes ago, The Doctor said:

Daka who has far better assist and goals stats per 90? Daka who has the pace to actually break and will chase passes? That Daka? Iheanacho at this point shouldn't be anywhere near the team

Daka has knocked two in on the line and a penalty where the defender passed him the ball clean through. Any of the strikers would have got those goals in those games. His link play and strength with back to goal have been no better than Vardy and Nacho. His speed of thought in lots of situations is terrible still but the tap ins have papered over the cracks. 

The 1 one 1s and 12yd chances he gets presented with he has fluffed, which will cost us against mid table and top 6 sides which is where we will need the better positioning, runs and finishing of Nacho and Vardy - of the kind that got us our record breaking first 19 games.

[StriderHiryu]

4 minutes ago, MGLCFC said:

I take your point, but all teams are in the same situation regarding rest. They too will have to utilise their normal bench players and rotate. Like for like, our bench players are better than our opponents IMO.

Yeah that’s definitely true. I think my worry comes from AFCON, meaning we lose some players for up to 6 weeks. When Ndidi is not playing, we perform badly! When him and KDH are rested it’s even worse. But we need to rest and rotate them to manage their workload. 
 

Squad players need to step up for the next two. After that I think we will sign someone for the 8 position. 

[Hammo]

6 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

Daka has knocked two in on the line and a penalty where the defender passed him the ball clean through. Any of the strikers would have got those goals in those games. His link play and strength with back to goal have been no better than Vardy and Nacho. His speed of thought in lots of situations is terrible still but the tap ins have papered over the cracks. 

The 1 one 1s and 12yd chances he gets presented with he has fluffed, which will cost us against mid table and top 6 sides which is where we will need the better positioning, runs and finishing of Nacho and Vardy - of the kind that got us our record breaking first 19 games.

You are right in that the praise of Daka has been excessive - based mainly on the goals he has scored, all of which any half decent striker would have buried.

 

His general play has been poor since he came in, but unfortunately he looks like the best of a bad bunch right now. Iheanacho has an attitude problem, Vardy is past it, and Cannon is untried.

 

[smudger63]

34 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

Daka has knocked two in on the line and a penalty where the defender passed him the ball clean through. Any of the strikers would have got those goals in those games. His link play and strength with back to goal have been no better than Vardy and Nacho. His speed of thought in lots of situations is terrible still but the tap ins have papered over the cracks. 

The 1 one 1s and 12yd chances he gets presented with he has fluffed, which will cost us against mid table and top 6 sides which is where we will need the better positioning, runs and finishing of Nacho and Vardy - of the kind that got us our record breaking first 19 games.

I was all for Nacho staying when others wanted him gone at the beginning of this season, but I wouldn't have him anywhere near the team now, and would be looking to offload in January, which given his lack of desire and interest this season, I'm sure he will be delighted about.

We have looked much better as an attacking unit since Daka has been in the side.

What he lacks in technical ability, he makes up for in his hard work and pressing, and that has helped us win the ball higher up the pitch, plus his pace alongside Fatawu and Mavadidi, has given us another attacking dimension.

He will probably be rested against Cardiff, hopefully for Cannon, but if fit and rested, I would have Daka as our number one striker currently.

 

Edited 27 December 2023 by smudger63

[smudger63]

34 minutes ago, Hammo said:

You are right in that the praise of Daka has been excessive - based mainly on the goals he has scored, all of which any half decent striker would have buried.

 

His general play has been poor since he came in, but unfortunately he looks like the best of a bad bunch right now. Iheanacho has an attitude problem, Vardy is past it, and Cannon is untried.

 

The goals and the penalty Daka has scored and won,  would rightly have  been scored, and penalty won by any other striker, if that striker was in the right place at the right time, but not all strikers are in the right place at the right time.

Most of Gary Linekers goals were tap ins, but he was good enough to be in the right place to tap them in, and he is considered to be one of the best strikers the country has had.

Edited 27 December 2023 by smudger63

[FLAN]

Will this be available on red button?

[Chelmofox]

35 minutes ago, Hammo said:

You are right in that the praise of Daka has been excessive - based mainly on the goals he has scored, all of which any half decent striker would have buried.

 

His general play has been poor since he came in, but unfortunately he looks like the best of a bad bunch right now. Iheanacho has an attitude problem, Vardy is past it, and Cannon is untried.

 

Such a bad take. Daka has been a pressing machine, causing lots of trouble for defenses who have ended up making mistakes. With his pace he has been dragging defenders around which has been a big contributor to the space we've been able to find. The 'any half decent striker would have scored' isn't right, as he was getting in the right place at the right time.  How many times in earlier games did we see those crosses come in and either Vardy or Nacho were on the edge of the box?

 

In the small amount of games he has played, he is one league goal behind Nacho and has 1 more assist than both Nacho and Vardy. That's not an accident and not something 'any half decent striker would do'. 

 

He's been rusty for sure, but had barely played since the Chelsea game last year. I think he has definitely improved since he started.

[AjcW]

2 minutes ago, FLAN said:

Will this be available on red button?

Doesn't look like it sadly, SKY/EFL not treating this as a 'midweek' fixture.

 

Does make me laugh, SKY getting shown up by Amazon once again this week and their response is two live EFL games on Friday and that's it.

[The Doctor]

49 minutes ago, FosseSpark said:

Daka has knocked two in on the line and a penalty where the defender passed him the ball clean through. Any of the strikers would have got those goals in those games. His link play and strength with back to goal have been no better than Vardy and Nacho. His speed of thought in lots of situations is terrible still but the tap ins have papered over the cracks. 

The 1 one 1s and 12yd chances he gets presented with he has fluffed, which will cost us against mid table and top 6 sides which is where we will need the better positioning, runs and finishing of Nacho and Vardy - of the kind that got us our record breaking first 19 games.

You're completely wrong. Like yes the goals he's scored have been pretty easy finishes however you've got to be in the position to get them. Take his goal v Plymouth for instance:

 

that's created by his dropping in deep then spinning and running the length of the pitch. It's a simple finish but none of our other strikers even get that chance because their movement is not as good, Vardy lacks the yard of pace he used to have and Iheanachos work ethic is not there for it.

 

You mention the penalty but that pass back to create the penalty is caused by the level of press he sets from the front, which Vardy and Nacho have not done as much this year.

 

Then take Casadeis goal v Rotherham:

 

This chance only exists because of Dakas front post run, bringing the CBs across and leaving a tap in for Butch. We've seen enough from Iheanacho to know he'd still be on the penalty spot for the cutback. 

 

His link up play isn't perfect sure, but he's been doing it a lot better than Kelz or Vardy, and his link up play and movement are a big reason why Mavididi has 5 in 5 since he started starting, and why in that time we've scored 14 (2.8 goals per game, vs 34 in 19 or 1.8 goals per game in the previous 19). Currently he's the best option we have up top

 

[Hammo]

30 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

Such a bad take. Daka has been a pressing machine, causing lots of trouble for defenses who have ended up making mistakes. With his pace he has been dragging defenders around which has been a big contributor to the space we've been able to find. The 'any half decent striker would have scored' isn't right, as he was getting in the right place at the right time.  How many times in earlier games did we see those crosses come in and either Vardy or Nacho were on the edge of the box?

 

In the small amount of games he has played, he is one league goal behind Nacho and has 1 more assist than both Nacho and Vardy. That's not an accident and not something 'any half decent striker would do'. 

 

He's been rusty for sure, but had barely played since the Chelsea game last year. I think he has definitely improved since he started.

A ‘pressing machine’ is precisely what I mean by excessive praise.

 

Yes, he has been an improvement on the other two strikers in terms of movement and general involvement, but in your appraisal you forgot to mention the countless misplaced passes, poor touches, missed chances and losses of possession.

 

If he keeps up the scoring run and we keep winning, then all power to him. But I remain unconvinced on the evidence so far that he is the ‘answer’ up front.

[RowlattsFox]

I love Xmas football as much as anyone but this is such a meaningless game in the calendar. In the sense it doesn't need to be there. Just have a normal weekend of football. 

[adejo92]

I don't think Patson Daka is the answer to our striker problems, but he's certainly our best option right now.

 

Whilst not quite as much as Vesty, I am enjoying watching a player who's been completely isolated from first team football, come in,  do well, and enjoy his football.

 

Playing with a smile on his face. He's been isolated that much from first team football he's only going to get better the more he plays. It's a bit of shame that now he's got a run of games, he'll be going to AFCON.

 

[trugerkem]

Iheanacho should not be anywhere near this team .. he has been abject all season … I would rather we stuck Coady up front 

[adejo92]

1 hour ago, Pliskin said:

I can see wholesale changes for this one. Souttar, Justin, Hamza, Casadei, Akgun and one of Cannon and Kelch to start? 

I agree, although I'd like to see Daka. He came off after 60 mins,  I'm pretty sure he could handle another 60 in this.

 

Agree though,  others certainty do need a rest.

 

Perhaps Doyle to return?

[ozvaldo]

I need Wilf on the pitch for the full 90.

Casadei is weaker than my Boxing Day stool (which took 6 flushes to fully sink).  

[Paninistickers]

21 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

I love Xmas football as much as anyone but this is such a meaningless game in the calendar. In the sense it doesn't need to be there. Just have a normal weekend of football. 

Totally agree. 

 

The TV games over the weekend can be spread over Saturday, NYE and New Year's Day. 

 

The cramming in of fixtures is a hangover from the old days of getting a big crowd in for a big gate receipt. It's not needed at this level anymore.

[trugerkem]

I would give Cannon a go from the start 

[Leicester_Loyal]

Wholesale changes, and pray we get the win. Need to make some changes to rest the players, some have played a lot of games.

[mohammedsaqib]

Keep starting Daka, Fatawu and Wilf  they have to leave for AFCON. Give Cannon minutes so he can bed in for Jan/Feb. Rotate elsewhere and play JJ, Souttar and Hamza. 

[Harpenden Fox]

Do we have any news of sightings of either Lord Lucan or D Praet?