Fam not as wanted as he thought

[Kibs]

I don't mind if he's stays. I like the guy, but in terms of ability and what he offers in terms of the way we want to play, he'd be 4th choice for me.

 

[JBFC II]

29 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

This is something I disagree with.  There is rarely “intensity” to his play. Unlike Palmer who rushes around in the press without thinking, Fam (imho) doesn’t really close down with any urgency at all.  You don’t see Fam at “full tilt” very often.  When he is, he is a different animal.

He is a reactive player, his doesn’t put effort into being proactive.

Some people mistake his defending set pieces as “putting in effort”.  I don’t, it’s a dead ball position, he can amble back.  I accept he puts effort in physically though.

I relate effort to making runs off the ball, making space for others.

Watch Martin last night (and Cov), he he makes a 5 yard sprint as if he’s running the channel.  He takes his marker with him, then he darts back to get it short into feet.  That’s effort, albeit intelligent effort / movement.  Fam allows himself to marked, he doesn’t do the hard yards I’m afraid.

Some of that I don’t believe is his fault, but a result of his he was told to play under LJ.  As someone who watched him at SCO Angers, he has lost his natural game.

I don’t mind admitting that last week if you told me we could only keep one out of Eliasson or Diedhiou (our contract “rebels” - which is a bit unfair as there are several players in similar contract situations), I would’ve plumped for Fam.

But things change quickly in football.

Who knows whether the terms with Dijon suddenly become attractive again?

I didn’t vote because I thought there was no standout choice.  To use the saying “pick of a bad bunch”, and probably awarded more on the short term memory than the whole season, as he contributed more in the second half of the season that first half (generally).  Someone like Bentley did the opposite, so was erased from people’s minds.  

I'd have to disagree, from what I've seen of him his pressing game has improved markedly over the last few years. Rarely do you see him ambling around in the same way Tomlin or JET did. Id say thr comparison to palmer is slightly harsh from a physical viewpoint, Palmers physique should allow him to press more than Fam. 

I agree with the rest of what you say, although effort isn't solely making runs off the ball (something that, admittedly, we rarely see him doing, but also closing down space and getting in the right areas to receive the ball, both things that he does. 

I totally agree that Martin is on a different level in most aspects of his game, but that doesn't detract from what Fam brings to the team

[Davefevs]

16 minutes ago, JBFC II said:

I'd have to disagree, from what I've seen of him his pressing game has improved markedly over the last few years. Rarely do you see him ambling around in the same way Tomlin or JET did.

don’t compare him to those two, that’s an incredibly low bar in terms of executing the requirements of the press.  Look at how easily Coventry passed around him on Saturday.

 Id say thr comparison to palmer is slightly harsh from a physical viewpoint, Palmers physique should allow him to press more than Fam.

nothing to do with physique, it’s about effort and intelligence, and I don’t think Fam “puts enough in”, whereas Palmer lacks pressing intelligence.  I’d rather he went full-tilt for 60-70 minutes and burned himself out. 

I agree with the rest of what you say, although effort isn't solely making runs off the ball (something that, admittedly, we rarely see him doing, but also closing down space and getting in the right areas to receive the ball, both things that he does.

but that’s the point, he doesn’t work hard to close space or get in the right areas....he’s often static, being easily marked.  As I said, I blame some of that on LJ....and his insistence that Fam must stay central and occupy the CBs.

I totally agree that Martin is on a different level in most aspects of his game, but that doesn't detract from what Fam brings to the team

Fam does bring things to the game, but we are debating his effort - versus Palmer’s, and effort isn’t one of the things I associate with his game.  Physicality I do, bravery I do.  I’m not saying he’s lazy, just think he could do better.

 

[bcfc01]

Bottom line with Diedhiou is that he is a totally different player to what he was in France.

Now LJ has gone I've seen snippets of his game return and when he drops short for the ball (which he would never do under LJ) he looks a quality player with his pass and move. If he stays with us, I hope Holden will try to get the best out of him and get him back to how he was before joining us. As he is now, and how Holden wants to play, I can't see how he fits in.

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, bcfc01 said:

Bottom line with Diedhiou is that he is a totally different player to what he was in France.

Now LJ has gone I've seen snippets of his game return and when he drops short for the ball (which he would never do under LJ) he looks a quality player with his pass and move. If he stays with us, I hope Holden will try to get the best out of him and get him back to how he was before joining us. As he is now, and how Holden wants to play, I can't see how he fits in.

I thought Boro (a) was his best performance under Holden.  In fact, contrary to some of my earlier comments he bust a gut to try and catch up the breakaway where Pato scored.