Diedhiou

[BS4 on Tour...]

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Depends on what you define as main striker?  We play one striker in a 4141/4411 the majority of the time.  Teams can play a focal point without expecting him to be the main goal threat (Liverpool - Firminho for example).  The 4141 is a formation based on keeping us solid. Allowing Pack to protect the CBs and dictate the play.  Diedhiou on his own is the fall guy to allow the other 9 outfield players to work in the current style.  And you know what, we’ve been successful.

You don’t think Fammy is our main striker and intended goal threat? He wears number 9 and plays up front on his own....I think he’s our main striker....but his movement in the box is very limited, his positional sense is seriously lacking and his touch is frustrating....

[Cowshed]

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

That’s what I was trying to say...ta.

I think you did.

4 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Depends on what you define as main striker?  We play one striker in a 4141/4411 the majority of the time.  Teams can play a focal point without expecting him to be the main goal threat (Liverpool - Firminho for example).  The 4141 is a formation based on keeping us solid. Allowing Pack to protect the CBs and dictate the play.  Diedhiou on his own is the fall guy to allow the other 9 outfield players to work in the current style.  And you know what, we’ve been successful.

 

We as fans will have our preferences. Mine is not the player in question but at this point … Its been very successful. And? Well there it is … very successful.

[lenred]

By no means at all was today all  Fams fault but I still find it frustrating that we didnt bring in any options alongside him either in the summer or in Jan (more difficult admittedly).  The arguments seem to be that he is what he is - a £5m striker and that to get better we would have to splash out big time. But Pukki was free. Maupay was £1.8m. Sharp was £700k. That’s three of the top four scorers in our division who cost half of Fammys fee combined. And if you look down the remaining top 20 strikers list before you get to Fam there are plenty of others as well. Players are available who are as good or superior for far less money. I’m hopeful we can make the play offs, really hopeful but I hope that lack of options up front doesn’t come back to bite us. 

[bcfc01]

5 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

I think you did.

We as fans will have our preferences. Mine is not the player in question but at this point … Its been very successful. And? Well there it is … very successful.

Would it not be even more successful if we had a more mobile player up front, one who is not so static and can make those movements across defenders ?

I think that is what a lot of people are asking.

[Spike]

22 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

You with all respect did not answer the question.

How would you play him now if at all?

It could be viewed that if the player in question is the most likely to score in a squad that is not overburdened with goal scoring talent he is the most suitable option. 

The only thing Fammy has that our other strikers don't is size and strength and he's barely using that right now … He has a historical higher goals ratio and goal scoring ratio to shots.

The players key skills are not working away from the box working channels and coming short. Playing Famara pushed up top then bolstering midfield is logical right now at this point. The approach has also resulted in an startling improvement in results v last seasons significant decrease when the player was included in the XI and expected to work away from the box for a team in and out of possession . 

Fair points, it still doesn't change my original opinion that he is not up to promotion standard. I never said that there was a better option in our squad from the players that we've seen, just that he was not up to the standard we require for a genuine promotion threat. If we get promoted it will not be off of the back of Fammy, it'll be the rest of the team putting in that extra work to cover the fact we only play with one striker and he's not prolific.

I know people are fed up of hearing it but with Assombalonga I think we could have really had the right to say we are a genuine promotion threat which brings me onto:

 

13 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Famara is plenty good enough -  as a second striker. He’s good for around 15 goals a season....

As for regretting not bringing in a striker during the winter window - why do you suppose that was? 

It was because January is a poor time to sign any player. Even if they’re available they’re  overpriced and decent ones, especially strikers are really hard to find. LJ said that there were none available at the right price. We have to remember that SL has a financial strategy that LJ has to adhere to......

Robbored is correct, January is not the best time to sign a player, however, it is the time to make a statement or put your chips on the table if you want to make a serious promotion push. 
We've opted to go with our one and only striker to play that centre forward/lone striker role so it's fair to say that whilst he was certainly good enough as a supporting striker he may not be up to the task of being the lone striker, let alone the lone striker with no-one actively seeming to be his competition for his position.

We can dress it up however we like but right now we're in a strong league position but with some very tough games coming up and we only have one striker who's shown any ability to play that lone striker position hence the reason he continues to do so. We desperately needed someone to compete for that position or someone better suited to it allowing Fammy to step in as cover when the games were more suited to him, unlike today.

To put it in a simply we lack depth with Fammy as our only striker who plays that role, especially when he's not always up to the task in hand.
 

[Allwaysred]

1 minute ago, lenred said:

By no means at all was today all  Fams fault but I still find it frustrating that we didnt bring in any options alongside him either in the summer or in Jan (more difficult admittedly).  The arguments seem to be that he is what he is - a £5m striker and that to get better we would have to splash out big time. But Pukki was free. Maupay was £1.8m. Sharp was £700k. That’s three of the top four scorers in our division who cost half of Fammys fee combined. And if you look down the remaining top 20 strikers list before you get to Fam there are plenty of others as well. Players are available who are as good or superior for far less money. I’m hopeful we can make the play offs, really hopeful but I hope it lack of options up front doesn’t come back to bite us. 

Exactly that..... and with all of the mentioned above all score because of movement which FD doesn't have. Yes he is played as a lone striker but you still have to offer yourself as an option by running into holes and he doesn't or into feet which more often than not he couldn't trap a bag of cement. MT showed strikers instincts the last few games does the simple things very well all for 500 grand and I'd have him start over FD every week till end of season.

[LondonBristolian]

55 minutes ago, Red_Wizard said:

I would cut our losses and sell Diedhou. Not the answer unfortunately to our attack line. 

I'd be very disappointed if we cut our losses on Diedhiou. For one thing, I can see no reason why we wouldn't recoup what we paid for him. Even if we sold him to improve the squad, I don't feel it would involve a loss. For a second thing, we have a lack of out-and-out strikers. Maybe Semenyo or Eisa can step up but, as it stands, selling Diedhiou and replacing him still leaves us needing a striker. He has  a role to play as a squad player at the very least. 

[RedM]

1 hour ago, Esmond Million's Bung said:

He is a player well matched for whence he came, the French leagues, where it is far less physical and he would once more look impressive in his lone role, IMHO not up to physicality of the English game but his positioning in the opponents box is where he is totally lacking.

 

Think I would agree with you there. In the 18 months or so he has been with us how much has he developed and improved, or is he just about the same as when we got him? If he hasn’t improved in that time I doubt he will.

Yes, great when he scores but I never really think when he does have the ball that it will result in a goal, it really could go anywhere off either foot or his head! I really don’t get the ‘wow’ feeling for him, which is a shame as I fully support him but he doesn’t make it easy. He does at least look more interested now, shows a bit of passion when he often went missing. He doesn’t lack effort as such but doesn’t apply himself all the time either, quite often easily pushed off when he needs to use his strength more, or maybe he needs to develop some strength. He isn’t particularly fast, or skillfull. Sometimes I wonder what he dies bring to the team, but them somehow he scores and all is forgiven. How long can that be enough though?

It’s  really down to our defence that we are in the league position we are in, if we were relying on strikers and still leaking goals we would be in trouble.

[steviestevieneville]

1 hour ago, LondonBristolian said:

In a way, I think part of the challenge is where that fits into the system we play. To my mind, Fammy is a very good support striker but Paterson, Palmer, Weimann and Taylor all act as support strikers too. The issue is where you fit in someone who bangs the goals in. Fammy’s role doesn’t necessarily have to be all about goals but there are times we lack a cutting edge and you have to make space to accommodate one somehow.

This is the major thing with me about him. He was against very good cenrtre halves today but in the league he doesn’t hold the ball up well enough. If it sticks to him then we can make runs off him but it very rarely does. We therefore don’t have enough opportunities for O’dowda , brownhill, pato , Taylor, Palmer to have give and goes with him and others making third man runs off him . If we don’t make the play offs  it’s this area of the field that will cost us imo 

[CityCiderEd]

They are very complimentary about us on their forum and think we play "the right way". Just a pity we didn't score the goal  our excellent second half play deserved.

[TonyTonyTony]

45 minutes ago, westonred said:

DWe know that Fam isn't good enough and we will regret not bringing in a top Striker in the January transfer window. Our season will fizzle out now and we will end up a respectable 10th (which we would have all taken at the start of the season) The other top six teams all have proven 10 - 15 goal scorers some have 2 or 3 of them

We just competed with a team that will finish in the top 10 of the PL. A team with numerous top quality players. 

These knee jerk, overly negative posts do my head in. If anything, I feel more positive  about the season having watched the team in the 2nd half. I don’t think we are a million miles away from being a Premier league team. Fam clearly has his limitations but will score 10-15 goals this season. 

So while you think we will fizzle out, I actually believe we are simmering nicely with none of our key players injured. 

[westonred]

 

7 minutes ago, TonyTonyTony said:

We just competed with a team that will finish in the top 10 of the PL. A team with numerous top quality players. 

These knee jerk, overly negative posts do my head in. If anything, I feel more positive  about the season having watched the team in the 2nd half. I don’t think we are a million miles away from being a Premier league team. Fam clearly has his limitations but will score 10-15 goals this season. 

So while you think we will fizzle out, I actually believe we are simmering nicely with none of our key players injured. 

My point is the other teams around the top six have quality strikers 1 2 or 3 to choose from we have Fammy. He trie's hard but has limited ability, we have a lot of tough games coming up and i believe our lack of quality strikers to compete or replace Fammy will cost us dearly Yes slightly negative but also realistic

[Allwaysred]

Learning curve for Saturday and beyond we must take are chances when they come. That's the problem I have with FD unfortunately his glaring sitters hes missed instead of his goals. But like already raised in 18 months he hasn't progressed and probably won't. It will certainly be a big summer either way.

[ChippenhamRed]

37 minutes ago, westonred said:

Yes i feel that we have some very tough games coming up and i would love us to power on and make the play offs however i feel that we lack the firepower which the other teams around us have got

And we have an excellent defensive record that other teams around us don’t. That is just as important. There are reasons why we have accumulated more points than the teams below us.

[westonred]

2 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

And we have an excellent defensive record that other teams around us don’t. That is just as important. There are reasons why we have accumulated more points than the teams below us.

Yes obviously if were above them then we have more points.

Try this scenario Kalas or Webbo get injured and we start letting in goals we will not have the firepower to outscore teams we cant rely on just a solid defence

[Spike]

8 minutes ago, TonyTonyTony said:

We just competed with a team that will finish in the top 10 of the PL. A team with numerous top quality players. 

These knee jerk, overly negative posts do my head in. If anything, I feel more positive  about the season having watched the team in the 2nd half. I don’t think we are a million miles away from being a Premier league team. Fam clearly has his limitations but will score 10-15 goals this season. 

So while you think we will fizzle out, I actually believe we are simmering nicely with none of our key players injured. 

Then ignore them of that's what you think this is. 

This is not a knee jerk thread, or at least my posts are not. As I said I feel our performance was great, but it highlighted an issue that I've felt all season long and it's becoming more and more relevant as we close in towards the end of the season. 

[ChippenhamRed]

1 minute ago, westonred said:

Yes obviously if were above them then we have more points.

Try this scenario Kalas or Webbo get injured and we start letting in goals we will not have the firepower to outscore teams we cant rely on just a solid defence

And by the same token these other sides with a less impressive defensive record can’t just rely on a good striker or two, who are equally likely to get injured.

So you argument is no more applicable to us than it is any other team.

[westonred]

1 minute ago, ChippenhamRed said:

And by the same token these other sides with a less impressive defensive record can’t just rely on a good striker or two, who are equally likely to get injured.

So you argument is no more applicable to us than it is any other team.

Well you have your opinion and i have mine but i think we needed a quality striker to help out or replace Fam you obviously don't that's cool its your opinion 

[Davefevs]

20 minutes ago, BS4 on Tour... said:

You don’t think Fammy is our main striker and intended goal threat?

No, he’s the focal point of our attack, there’s a difference.

He wears number 9 and plays up front on his own

Number is irrelevant, but as above he’s positioned to be central....for the benefit of the team...see the various comments above.

....I think he’s our main striker....but his movement in the box is very limited, his positional sense is seriously lacking and his touch is frustrating....

Some of those things are true, not all the time though.  He’s not perfect.  It’s a bloody hard role he us being asked to play, it is not even his preferred role / style.  If anyone, blame the head-coach for not recruiting for the style he wants to play.  I think you have to see beyond the traditional number 9 = top goal scorer....and look at it in in context if the overall way we play.  But hey-ho, that’s football, a simple game made complicated.

 

[pongo88]

There are about 16 players in the Championship who have scored more than him this season. If he was a second striker, supporting the main striker that would be ok.  Unfortunately, he’s the main man. If he provided good link up play like Taylor, that would also be ok. Unfortunately, he doesn’t, but instead falls over and is easily pushed off the ball

[shelts]

He was never a target man when playing in France . LJ has tried to get a bit more of that in his game and to a degree he has improved. Very tight first half against two dominant centre half’s while Fammy was all on his own . He not a great footballer but has banged a few winners for us . Not a great performance from him, other struggled also, but playing against a very good Premiership team so don’t be too hard on the lad 

[Slippin cider]

He misses more than he scores , has a poor first touch and is too easily knocked off the ball for a guy of his size but in the absence of a quality striker he’s all we have ....(tin hat firmly on)  

[mozo]

For me the issue isn't just goals, it's  possession. Does anyone have any stats on this? He loses possessions too much for a team at our level, often from easy situations. 

[ChippenhamRed]

24 minutes ago, westonred said:

Well you have your opinion and i have mine but i think we needed a quality striker to help out or replace Fam you obviously don't that's cool its your opinion 

Actually I do tend to agree that Fam is one of the weaker players in our team. I just don’t buy the overtly negative argument that our season is any more likely to fizzle out than teams below us, who all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Particularly given our form.

[Alex_BCFC]

1 hour ago, Allwaysred said:

He wouldn't get in anyone else's frontline m8 he's bang average at best and last few games a total dead weight. MT changes games simply because he runs the channel well and actually has a 1st touch FD doesn't. You keep plucking stats but more often than not when he does score it's through others hard work and not his. 

I’m not interested in others frontline - ours in the top 6. Matty Taylor does not score 1 in 2 at this level - Fammy does. Sorry the stats make your argument about him being poor look wrong. He’s also been the championship player who has won the most points I think (certainly for City anyway) - perhaps someone else has the info on how he compares with others in the league. 

[westonred]

2 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

Actually I do tend to agree that Fam is one of the weaker players in our team. I just don’t buy the overtly negative argument that our season is any more likely to fizzle out than teams below us, who all have their own strengths and weaknesses. Particularly given our form.

I dont think its overly negative i think its a bit more realistic we have a tough run of games against the top teams and need more firepower up front to beat some of these teams i really hope i'm wrong but i cant see Fam being the answer

[petehinton]

**** me. The guy holds the highest amount of game winning goals across all divisions. Some of these comments are truly embarrassing.

Did you think that after he made us beat Hull, Birmingham, Forest and QPR? Or after he put us one up against Stoke?

[glen humphries]

1 minute ago, petehinton said:

**** me. The guy holds the highest amount of game winning goals across all divisions. 

Did you think that after he made us beat Hull, Birmingham, Forest and QPR? Or after he put us one up against Stoke?

I’m being harsh on his goal record but the rest I stand by , do you think his ball control, movement, holding the ball up is good ?

[archie andrews]

2 hours ago, glen humphries said:

What did pucki cost

puck all...….

[South Somerset Red]

5 minutes ago, petehinton said:

**** me. The guy holds the highest amount of game winning goals across all divisions. Some of these comments are truly embarrassing.

Did you think that after he made us beat Hull, Birmingham, Forest and QPR? Or after he put us one up against Stoke?

Everybody likes a stat these days. I've defended him in the past but when you actually watch his overall game its pretty poor. His movement is poor, his aerial threat for his size is poor and his first touch is poor. I feel with the crosses we put in in games with a clinical finisher we would be wiping teams away.