I definitely said I wasn't a fan of Forss on the wing. It can work at times and then you extrapolate and say it will always work but when you really analyse it there is a difference. Forss is a striker and sometimes wingers make runs like a striker so when we had the opportunity to play Forss in behind and he ran through and scored it looks like Forss being a winger was why it worked. When you take a step back you realise that the game is bigger than that one moment. All the things you want a winger to do Forss doesn't do. He makes runs like a striker, not a winger which means he runs into the position a striker would and it gets in the way of other players making their runs or he takes defenders with him and the available space for others reduces. He's always been a striker so he defends like a striker and not a midfielder which means he probably chases players instead of defending spaces and he doesn't cover for other players when they make runs. He hasn't spent his whole career making crosses or passes across a box so he's not as good as someone who has done that. It kind of worked last season because he wasn't really a winger, we were playing with a lop sided forwards line and him and Archer were the 2 strikers and Giles was pushed forwards into left wing. We don't have Giles this season and nobody is doing that on the left so Forss is playing more like an orthodox winger which doesn't suit him.
I'm not saying some players can't play other positions. Some attributes mean players can be adaptable and are better utilised elsewhere. Akpom could play the 10 because every striker will have played in a 2 at some point and playing as a second striker isn't that far removed from what he is used to. He also had the ability to carry the ball and to play passes which meant he could receive the ball deeper than a striker usually would and start plays off. He wasn't really doing anything different to a striker role though other than doing it in a deeper part of the pitch.
When we are struggling so much to score goals and we're playing a striker out wide because he is good at making runs and scoring goals then it makes no sense that we don't play him up front where he is comfortable and will get more chances and most likely score some goals. We also have other players who are better wingers than him who aren't in the team because he is.
I would say that Crooks being good at scoring goals but him not being a striker is another good example. There is a huge difference between being a striker and being able to score goals and it does worry me a bit that the manager thinks there isn't because every time I've seen Crooks up front it is very obvious that he is not suited to the role.
