Diedhiou

[Coxy27]

"Critics" need to give the lad a break.

He takes an absolute hammering for the team. As pretty much the only physical presence we have outside of the back four (honourable mention for Pack here) he has so much important work to do.

If we're under pressure at the back and have to play a high ball, its Famara that has to compete for it. If we play a quick ball up the pitch to feet, it's Famara that has to win it and hold it. Crosses into the box are aimed at Famara, throw-ins, free-kicks, any ball up the field where options are limited, Famara is expected to be there, competing against the most physical part of the opposition, their central defenders. There's no one there to take that pressure off him.

He's definitely not perfect, but he's crucial to us and I think he's doing fine in tough circumstances. He must have been battered and bruised last night, as well as knackered.

[T R]

12 hours ago, kiwicolin said:

Yes he was so focus on that penalty.  He didn't flinch at what the QPR player's were doing . Great strike . Cool as you like 

Diedhiou cool for cat. I am sure there is a good song waiting for him there.

[Davefevs]

11 hours ago, steviestevieneville said:

Again another dig at people from you about so called critics, it’s pathetic. 

It took great nerves for the penalty yes and fair play to him. 

His overall performance however imo was shocking . Hold up play and movement first half non existent ( although no one played well) 

hold up play second half only slightly better and with the quality of cross coming in from elliasson he never seems to get across his centre half . He works hard but that should be a minimum requirement .missed a sitter as well. I expect more for £5m to be honest. 

 

9 hours ago, supercidered said:

I think we all know that the ball can tend to bounce off him at times. However, my main criticism is that he needs to be a bit more cute when he is challenged from behind and in particular in the air. He is sometimes a bit too honest and defenders would think twice about a challenge from behind / to the side if he felt the contact and went down now and again. I'm not saying he should cheat but give his marker more to think about. 

All in all though we are a far better team with him in it and I feel he will continue to improve. COYR.

 

9 hours ago, RedDave said:

Last night epitomised Diedhiou in 90 mins. Awful first half and superb second half. Missed an easy chance but then showed nerves of steel with penalty.

When he is good he is brilliant and when he is bad he is frustrating and play breaks down with him involved.

Whene he has the ball he gives it away 45% of the time but then is also good enough to occupy two defenders on his own easily 

I hope we get genuine competition for him in the summer.  

 

8 hours ago, Alex_BCFC said:

I’m a big Diedhiou fan but he was shocking in the first half. And his finishing 2nd half was really poor too. Good pen but he can’t seem to take any chances at the moment annoyingly. 

 

5 hours ago, stephenkibby. said:

Haha, bloke stood next to me said exactly the same thing and couldn't watch.  Most around me didn't fancy him to score.

For some strange reason I was confident he was going to score. Just thought of the one he bent into the top corner at WBA.

Would be interesting to here some thoughts of the center backs he comes up against, I reckon a lot would consider more of a handful than a lot on here.

 

3 hours ago, Dman_Red said:

One thing we need to see more of from Fam is offering himself for the 20 yard ball into feet from Pack/Brownhill/Webster etc. Even if he takes a touch and gives it straight back, it moves the defenders around and can create space for our more mobile attacking players. 

I appreciate that with his variable first touch, he's probably not that confident. But this is something that should be practiced over and over on the training ground.

There were times last night, especially first half, where I think we needed him to get in front of the defender and receive it into feet. 

Regarding the criticism and the response of 'well just look at his stats'. The majority IMO, including myself, are more than happy with his stats and overall contribution. The frustration comes from what more he could offer with simple tweaks to his game that are more than coach-able. I've made a few posts this season about these simple improvements and one week I think he's cracked it and the next he's back to square one. 

 

3 hours ago, Coxy27 said:

"Critics" need to give the lad a break.

He takes an absolute hammering for the team. As pretty much the only physical presence we have outside of the back four (honourable mention for Pack here) he has so much important work to do.

If we're under pressure at the back and have to play a high ball, its Famara that has to compete for it. If we play a quick ball up the pitch to feet, it's Famara that has to win it and hold it. Crosses into the box are aimed at Famara, throw-ins, free-kicks, any ball up the field where options are limited, Famara is expected to be there, competing against the most physical part of the opposition, their central defenders. There's no one there to take that pressure off him.

He's definitely not perfect, but he's crucial to us and I think he's doing fine in tough circumstances. He must have been battered and bruised last night, as well as knackered.

Lots of varying views on Diedhiou last night and across his time here.

For @Coxy27 and @Dman_Red....your comments are most aligned to mine.

FWIW, playing as a back to goal striker (on your own) in the Championship is a thankless task, especially one that Fam has been asked to play for the benefit of the team.  Last season, LJ said that whoever partners Diedhiou is grateful for the unselfish work he does.  Since his return he has predominantly played as a single striker...and that allows others to flourish.  He has no partner. It allows LJ to play a little more direct.  It allows LJ to play Pack in the “cage", again a position that helps the team and in some respects constrains Pack.  It’s about a team being effective, not having a 25 goal striker but finishing mid-table.  People need to look beyond the individual and look at the team....and difficult to be too critical of 15 games unbeaten and 9 wins on the spin.  He might not be easy on the eye, but selecting league games only he has 6 goals in this run [12 (+1) starts].  Pretty decent.  His goals ratio has been decent all along.

Some comments that Matt Smith showed how a target-man should play.  Yes, fine, but Smith is playing in a two.  Smith has the option of a flick-on.  Diedhiou doesn’t.  We don’t have a runner like a Wells in the system we play.  So Fam is mainly trying to somehow get pumped balls forward under control.  Hardly an easy task.  Last night he was trying to do that against a very physical Leistner (and Hall to a lesser extent) who the ref let get away with wrestling him on virtually every challenge.  

If I was to be critical of Fam last night it was (as @Dman_Red) states, he didn’t offer himself enough, especially when Kelly had the ball and O’Dowda had vacated the channel.  Having said that their RCB, didn’t track O’Dowda (happy to show him into a condensed area), so Fam wouldn’t have had an easy run into the channel.

However, we also need to consider the service in the first half.  He had little to go on, but did manage a couple of great touches and lay-offs around their box, one to Pato and one wide to Pisano (I think).  Second half he was a bigger handful...and as @stephenkibby. states, I doubt many CBs enjoy having to mark him.

He ain’t perfect, but he’s part of a team that is achieving....sum of the parts and all that!

 

[Numero Uno]

9 hours ago, RedDave said:

Last night epitomised Diedhiou in 90 mins. Awful first half and superb second half. Missed an easy chance but then showed nerves of steel with penalty.

When he is good he is brilliant and when he is bad he is frustrating and play breaks down with him involved.

Whene he has the ball he gives it away 45% of the time but then is also good enough to occupy two defenders on his own easily 

I hope we get genuine competition for him in the summer.  

This sums Diedhiou up best last night. First half he gave us bugger all from an attacking perspective. Second half was much better.......from panel beater to world beater in 90 minutes!!

What he did do well ALL game was win his defensive headers. He does offer a lot to the team on that front.

Cant argue with the penner tbf!!!

[glen humphries]

9 hours ago, RedDave said:

Last night epitomised Diedhiou in 90 mins. Awful first half and superb second half. Missed an easy chance but then showed nerves of steel with penalty.

When he is good he is brilliant and when he is bad he is frustrating and play breaks down with him involved.

Whene he has the ball he gives it away 45% of the time but then is also good enough to occupy two defenders on his own easily 

I hope we get genuine competition for him in the summer.  

He was not superb second half he improved but you can’t be serious saying he was superb 

[Gilli74]

30 minutes ago, glen humphries said:

He was not superb second half he improved but you can’t be serious saying he was superb 

Agree with this ... he was better in the second half but far from brilliant... yes he scored the pen under high pressure and FairPlay to him for that it was quality ... but his open play over the 90 mins wasn’t enough for me ... His stats are decent enough as people keep stating but how good would they be if he only converted half the chances he has week in week out ...

[REDOXO]

He is asked to play as a lone forward which he does well. The bloke is immense and getting very good at playing a game that does not come naturally. With 15 odd games to go he could still go on and get close to twenty!

 

[DT The Optimist]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lots of varying views on Diedhiou last night and across his time here.

For @Coxy27 and @Dman_Red....your comments are most aligned to mine.

FWIW, playing as a back to goal striker (on your own) in the Championship is a thankless task, especially one that Fam has been asked to play for the benefit of the team.  Last season, LJ said that whoever partners Diedhiou is grateful for the unselfish work he does.  Since his return he has predominantly played as a single striker...and that allows others to flourish.  He has no partner. It allows LJ to play a little more direct.  It allows LJ to play Pack in the “cage", again a position that helps the team and in some respects constrains Pack.  It’s about a team being effective, not having a 25 goal striker but finishing mid-table.  People need to look beyond the individual and look at the team....and difficult to be too critical of 15 games unbeaten and 9 wins on the spin.  He might not be easy on the eye, but selecting league games only he has 6 goals in this run [12 (+1) starts].  Pretty decent.  His goals ratio has been decent all along.

Some comments that Matt Smith showed how a target-man should play.  Yes, fine, but Smith is playing in a two.  Smith has the option of a flick-on.  Diedhiou doesn’t.  We don’t have a runner like a Wells in the system we play.  So Fam is mainly trying to somehow get pumped balls forward under control.  Hardly an easy task.  Last night he was trying to do that against a very physical Leistner (and Hall to a lesser extent) who the ref let get away with wrestling him on virtually every challenge.  

If I was to be critical of Fam last night it was (as @Dman_Red) states, he didn’t offer himself enough, especially when Kelly had the ball and O’Dowda had vacated the channel.  Having said that their RCB, didn’t track O’Dowda (happy to show him into a condensed area), so Fam wouldn’t have had an easy run into the channel.

However, we also need to consider the service in the first half.  He had little to go on, but did manage a couple of great touches and lay-offs around their box, one to Pato and one wide to Pisano (I think).  Second half he was a bigger handful...and as @stephenkibby. states, I doubt many CBs enjoy having to mark him.

He ain’t perfect, but he’s part of a team that is achieving....sum of the parts and all that!

 

Some decent points. And fair.  On the other thread  (re Smith)  it was commented what a handful Smith was last night, for attack and in defence for QPR.   Its a fair question to ask if you would swop FD for a Matt Smith type player.  If Smith was our striker with some of those balls we whip in his head would be on the end of them.  FD bonce  rarely is.   FD is decent, no issues, but my goodness I have seen far better over the years.  Adebola for example even in the twilight of his playing career.   FD is certainly more mobile than Smith, but Smith does so many  other things better.

If I recall correctly he (Smith) was out of our budget . I for one rate him higher than Duric. 

[Davefevs]

35 minutes ago, DT The Optimist said:

Some decent points. And fair.  On the other thread  (re Smith)  it was commented what a handful Smith was last night, for attack and in defence for QPR.   Its a fair question to ask if you would swop FD for a Matt Smith type player.  If Smith was our striker with some of those balls we whip in his head would be on the end of them.  FD bonce  rarely is.   FD is decent, no issues, but my goodness I have seen far better over the years.  Adebola for example even in the twilight of his playing career.   FD is certainly more mobile than Smith, but Smith does so many  other things better.

If I recall correctly he (Smith) was out of our budget . I for one rate him higher than Duric. 

No, I wouldn’t swap Smith in for Diedhiou in the 4141 style we are playing so successfully.

Would I consider him as a squad player?  Quite possibly, but massively dependent on other players / pathway, fee, wages etc.  I would have him over Djúric probably, as I think he is more of a goal threat.

In 14/15 there was talk of making the emergency loan permanent, but recall Cotts suggesting Fulham quoting £5m.

In 15/16 winter window, there was talk again...but don’t recall fees / wages or his strong a rumour it was.

Happy to be corrected.

[Hampshire Red]

Fam v Smith. As mentioned this is a decent question and on other threads we remember how good he qlwas in Cotts JPT 11. If he has improved a lot since then I would have liked hI'm last August as cover for Fam. Too late now I suspect as next season well have more changes for the better and I doubt M.S fits that category. Good debate though

[Up The City!]

I think it's great that whilst we are on this great run we are yet to see the best of Fammy.