Chuba Akpom

weststandwally said:
Why not give him a chance, he has been one the real positives in the two games that we have played, i just can't understand some of the cynicism on here at times.
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I think the problem is, better than an unfit Watmore, when the game was half dead, probably isn't a particularly high level. Hard to say about Forss as he's barely played and also not fully fit. He was more effective than Crooks up there mind, which I found surprising.

From what I've seen Akpom is probably good enough as no 3/4 option, if we want to go up, but it depends how interested he is in being the 3/4 option. If he's no 2 all year then it's likely not going to be good enough for top 3, unless the no 1 option has an absolute stormer.

If I had to pick one of the three to go now, it would be Watmore, but think we got enough out of him for what we hoped.
 
weststandwally said:
Why not give him a chance, he has been one the real positives in the two games that we have played, i just can't understand some of the cynicism on here at times.
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Because he has had a career of chances, in weak leagues, and not been good enough. It's not even like he's had a great season at some point and there is a chance he could rediscover his form. There is no suggestion from his career to date that he is good enough to be a regular starter in the Championship. It would be better to take a risk on someone new that might be good instead of sticking with someone we know won't be good. He might make a decent 5th choice option but I would guess he's too expensive to have as 5th choice. If he stays he's going to be getting on the pitch every single game and I don't think he's good enough to deliver. If we give him a chance and it doesn't work we are stuck with him and it reduces our chance of being promoted.

Expecting Akpom to come good is desperation (and a sign of abject failure from the recruitment team).
 
Does anyone know if he played up front on his own in Greece or in a two? It's tough being up there on your own, and a lot of players can look poor if they don't have the skillset. Under NW Chuba had no support, but we don't play that way now. In a two we might see a much better player. He is never going to be prolific, but most good partnerships have one who scores more and one who is a foyle for them. As an option from the bench, he could be useful if he's prepared to accept not being a first choice.
 
Pinkers said:
Does anyone know if he played up front on his own in Greece or in a two? It's tough being up there on your own, and a lot of players can look poor if they don't have the skillset. Under NW Chuba had no support, but we don't play that way now. In a two we might see a much better player. He is never going to be prolific, but most good partnerships have one who scores more and one who is a foyle for them. As an option from the bench, he could be useful if he's prepared to accept not being a first choice.
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Yup, it's all down to what the other guy is scoring, and how the player links in and out with the midfield and other strikers.

Firminhos a good example of this, he played in the middle of three, and only managed 15 goals once, in 8 seasons, for the 1st/ 2nd team in the league. The last three have been less than 10, yet everyone raves about him. It doesn't matter that he doesn't score many though, as Mane and Salah both got loads, coming in from wider. If we had Firminho or an equivalent for this level, scoring at that rate, then 80% of the fans would be on his back.

They do still need to chip in though, Firminho averages less than 1 in 3, more like 1 in 4 for the last 3 years. So I suppose in a two you need your second man getting at least 1 in 3, and the other guy needs to be 1 in 2. You also need the midfield to chip in (like Crooks), and the rest need to up their numbers on set pieces.

Different pieces can make different puzzles, but ideally they all want to be of the same overall picture.

A bit different this year for us, it's the first year where we have creativity all accross midfield, more so with the wing backs. There's no immediate weakness, other than a no 1 striker, and some depth. There's no excuse for the striker package not delivering this year mind, unless they're not good enough.

We've had good enough strikers be written off in the past, but we've not supplied them, played a disjointed/ lop sided style or had to prioritise our strength (defence), doesn't apply this year.
 
Scrug said:
Can’t believe I’ve just seen Chuba Akpom compared to Firmino 😂
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I wasn't comparing the players, but hopefully you know that.

The only way they compare is they both play up front and don't score a great deal, like many forwards don't. Doesn't mean they can't be effective in their role, for their relative teams, for the division they play in.
 
Thought he was excellent first half. Successfully closed down their CBs more than once. In fact I noticed more of that from him this match, than all the time watching Connelly last season and yet some on here had that down as his main attribute. Nice to have a striker score a couple of goals too. I wonder if Watmore hadn't got to the cross he put on to the post, would that have been Chuba's hattrick? Keeper and a defender there with him so not certain but he was a fraction of a second behind Watmore running in...
 
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