Matty Fryatt, the enigma

[moseeds]

The problem is not Fryatt. Far too often (especially with Howard playing) the team slips into a nervous long ball game which only seems to suit the 2 centre halves and Howard - leaving the rest of the team to join the crowd as passive spectators. For the first time in a long time we have fantastic passers in the team. We score when we acknowledge that...

[Legend_in_blue]

He has no pace.

He is greedy in front of goal.

He can't take a crafted finish on a consistent basis.

If it's straightforward tho', it goes in.

Having said that, we have noone else in the team who is a constant goal threat, and until we do, we can't really criticise too much.

The team needs to attack as a unit and not rely on the goal instincts of one player.

It's been like this for years, we don't seem to be able to craft goals from the midfield and even goals from the back seem to have dried up a bit.

[Thracian]

Statistics show that Fryatt is not only our most prolific goalscorer but, for the last two years, he's been a leading scorer in divisions in which he's been playing. That's not to be dismissed. Nor is the fact that had we got another striker scoring at the same rate as Fryatt it's highly likely we'd be well established in the top six at least.

Fryatt seems to have recovered from the injury woes that troubled much of his first two season's here. I also feel he has worked on his speed, his sharpness, his strength and, to some extent, his stamina which is to the good and has helped him maintain a generally improved presence.

On the downside he remains a limited striker.

He's not especially tall, has no great leap and therefore scores few goals with is head. He's not naturally two-footed nor does he seem to have worked hard on improving this aspect.It means that he's invariably looking to turn inside onto his right foot and, while he does it well, it is something that can be anticipated by defenders.

Unfortunately not only does Fryatt score few headers and few left-footers but he doesn't seem to be a natural six-yard box poacher, a natural near-post man nor does he often score from distance. He's a 12-18 yards marksman and reliable penalty specialist.

Howard acts as a reasonable partner but not one that drives himself into the box and, seeing we never have enough numbers hitting the penalty box with attitude, Fryatt gets insufficient support in the front 30 yards.

A faster, cleverer, more dangerous partner to those we presently use, might also give Fryatt more space and scoring opportunities. Whatever, we have to get another forward contributing 12-15 goals a season minimum and N'Guessan looks like the only squad member likely to that given chance.

Unfortunately he doesn't seem to have a natural role up front when he's not actually getting in the area for a shot. He doesn't hold the ball and bring others into play, he doesn't destroy people with his pace or trickery and he doesn't se the pictures to play deft passes. He just seems to naturally take up good scoring positions in the area and put a proportion of his chances away.

Whether he'd help Fryatt as such I have my doubts. Gallagher might but doesn't show any signs of being a genuine marksman, Waghorn looks a head-down player who wouldn't really cog in with others, Howard is Howard and won't get any sharper and Kergomant, despite some talent, doesn't ever seem to operate where it's likely to hurt the opposition most.

So, faults or not, Fryatt remains rather hit-or-miss but still our most likely source of goals and a man in urgent need of some genuinely potent assistance.