There are two performances which sum up Assombalonga's time at Boro, both from this season. We played away at Forest a few weeks back and he was captain. He was excellent. He worked his knackers off, pressurised the Forest centre-backs, ran the channels, showed for the ball and most importantly for a striker scored a goal(from a tidy move and finish). A week later we played Rotherham at home and he was absolutely abysmal. And I don't think that just because he didn't score because that can happen to any striker, especially if they don't receive decent service. It is because he was completely anonymous. He didn't work, didn't show for the ball, didn't put any pressure on the Rotherham defenders who were breezing into midfield and laying it off. He didn't press, didn't win anything in the air, didn't hold the ball up. This is typical of his time at the club, IMO, in that he can, every now and then, put in a really good performance but more often than that is coasting through games and generally not really there.
Any player can have an off day, miss chances, make mistakes, etc, but with Assombalonga he chooses when he does it - like Forest. He had a point to prove at his former club and did the business. To be so bad and put in such a poor performance just seven days later does not reflect well on him because it is far from the first time he has done it for Boro. As I say, anyone can play poorly but he's been like this for two, probably three seasons now.
5 goals this season, FFS. Come on.
