It's quite obvious we're only signing players ETH knows because he doesn't trust the club's scouting apparatus. I guess Wout was the best player ETH knows that was available on a loan.
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Season Average Rating
- Appearances
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Who would you play instead? We unfortunately can't rely on Martial. He's never fit.
Mctomminy could do a better job upfront.
The worrying thing for me is that if he likes a player like Weghorst, who is ridiculously bang average, then he'll be like a kid at Christmas over the thought of Harry Kane. The names we're linked with are all in this mould.
I get that he's trying to probably get a striker to feed his inverted wingers, but I feel we'd be better with another good footballer up top. With energy and pace.
I get that he's trying to probably get a striker to feed his inverted wingers, but I feel we'd be better with another good footballer up top. With energy and pace.
Still not good enough. We need a fit Martial back but that seems to be a big issue too
From his cameos so far, has he looked better or worse than Ighalo?
With a spine of Varane/Martinez, Casemiro/CM and Kane, we could be champions and would be CL contenders.
I think I could make my peace with that team for 3 years while we build for the future!
I think you're all being a bit harsh on ETH and Wout. He was definitely just meant to be backup for Martial or to come in late in games to change things up. It's not really Wout or ETH's fault that Martial can only manage to play 30 minutes every 5th game or so.
He obviously isn't good enough to be starting for us but I don't think that was ever really the plan.
He obviously isn't good enough to be starting for us but I don't think that was ever really the plan.
We've brought him here to sneakily elbow some defenders in the ribs and face.
There's not enough elbowing going on
There's not enough elbowing going on
I think it’s time to move Rashford centrally again, and bring Garnacho or Sancho into the team. It’s not ideal as Rashfords incredible form has mainly come from the left (his best position) but Weghorst is so far off the required level. An attack with him & Antony is completely bereft of goals that we’re relying on Rashford or Bruno to produce every single game.
Ighalo was also out of his depth, but at least he was a footballer
He's just not very good at football, sadly. In addition to being extremely slow.
His link up play deserted him today
Not very good I’m afraid and Ighalo was a proper and better player by the way
We need to move Rashford to the middle and Garnacho or Sancho can play on the left
We need to move Rashford to the middle and Garnacho or Sancho can play on the left
Despite his anonymity today, I felt he didn't get enough service, that is just my feeling though, if he had a shit game somehow I am not bothered by it probably because I don't expect much from him.
Rashford through the middle and Garnacho or Sancho on the left.
Most bland game to date. But he keeps running. Workhorse.
Far worse in my opinion.
Good it's just a loan. Bit of a nothing player so far, looks a bit stressed to impress also.
Fine to have him in the squad though, but we have a big room to improvet in the CF department next summer.
Fine to have him in the squad though, but we have a big room to improvet in the CF department next summer.
I don't think the coaching staff are surprised by Martial's injuries. They signed a player knowing he'd be playing a lot more than Martial. He's not a great fit and only manages to press and run and lose the ball. Thankfully he's only here on loan until summer.
Shockingly poor today but hopefully it was a one off. He looked fine in the other games he played.
I like him but he’d be better off the bench. His pressing and work rate are great, but just don’t get the feeling he’ll score many upfront.
I agree with your second point, but regarding your first paragraph Weghorst being a useless lump could end up changing Ten Hag's mind about the type of striker he wants to sign in the summer.
Almost had an assist for Fred, and some good hold up and link up play. Forced a good save from his header too.
Felt like a standard performance for him, I doubt we're going to see more from him than being a link man and a runner.
Felt like a standard performance for him, I doubt we're going to see more from him than being a link man and a runner.
It'll come down to if Ten Hag thinks Martial is a perma-crock and what the offers for him are, I'd imagine. They're in a battle to be the backup 9 and Weghorst has durability on his side, while Martial has talent.
As for this year, the absolute optimal scenario is probably still Sancho getting hot at LW and producing Dortmund form and Rashford up top and the threat in behind gives the midfield more space to operate and Sabitzer and Bruno start scoring goals centrally more from cutbacks with Rashford running wide more. Shaw's crossing, passing and shooting is good enough on the left that ending up like this in attacks still looks like everyone is in their optimal place on the pitch.
------------Rashford----------------------
-------Sancho-----------Bruno-------Antony
Shaw--------Sabitzer--------Dalot----------
------------------Casemiro-----------------
----------Lisandro--------Varane-------------
Not a lot of physicality but the ball should move quickly and creatively and again Rashford's pace should scare teams into giving us room.
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It's not that there aren't other options up front it's more that Ten Hag's system needs the striker to be a good and willing passer. We would have loved to play Rashford and Garnancho while sending Wout to the bench but it doesn't suit what ETH is trying to do. The question of who starts at striker is as simple as who is the better passer with their back to goal and holding up the ball. It's a major support role.
Totally agree with you. But while Weghorst is quite okay at it and also presses very good, he is just too slow and technically bad to be more than a stop gap. As we aren't good at crossing the ball we don't even utilize the one big strength he has. We can't have a striker who just doesn't get any chances - he had 2 shots in 3 league games for us. Even if the striker doesn't have to score tons of goals in the system of ETH as he has other important tasks as you say, he has to at least be a bit of a threat.
That's very harsh. In his first few matches I'd say his use of the ball was the standout aspect of what he bought to the team. Many of our best attacks during those matches were from him holding the ball and laying it off to the right person as we built our attack. That, along with his pressing, was the thing he was doing well.
Obviously the last two matches have been a different story and he's been poor at it. Hopefully that's a blip and he'll get back to being useful up there, as we certainly need him to contribute considering Martial's injuries.
Ighalo was fairly good for the first month or two after we signed him up until the covid lockdown. Once we came back from that he struggled badly and provided very little for the remainder of the 12 months he was here.
Wout was fairly good for his first four matches, but has been poor in his last two.
Time will tell how Wout will be judged. If the last two matches have been an anomaly and he tends to normally perform as he did in his first few, he'll be fine and certainly better than Ighalo overall. Alternatively if his last two matches are how he'll normally play, then he'll struggle and end up a similar level (or worse) than Ighalo was.
Of course, 'fairly good' in the above comments is in terms of what you want a cheap squad player to provide. Nothing special, but solid enough and helps the team function.
Should’ve signed the guy whom Besiktas signed as his replacement instead. Vincent Aboubakar. Would be a handful I imagine.
I hope I'm wrong but I think there's a reason he was at Burnley at his age. He fits the long ball hoof it style of play but our players move the ball so much faster than he is able to. Maybe he's a good plan b but never a starter in my view.
His work rate off the ball is superb, but he needs to get more involved. Had 13 touches yesterday and only 4 (!) accurate passes. That's not good enough. Though I suppose he also isn't exactly receiving much service, so there's that. I don't think he really fits what the team is trying to do, but for a very cheap loan it is what it is.
I would be reluctant to move Rashford off the left tbh. Never a fan of a player moving positions when he's in such good form.
The guy just arrived, handful of games and contributed more in a few weeks than most would give him credit for.
We need a new forward. This is as good as Martial gets
i thinkhe has done ok, i see what je has done right. At the same time i know that at this moment of time he does not look good enough for us. He has been ok for a short term fix, he is not mid-term solution to anything
He's excellent back to goal, but I'm surprised at how shite his movement in the box has been.
Who else was available for loan, though? Felix is costing a million per game. It is most likely that we didn't want to dump a large sum on any signing in January when we will need it to sign the likes of Kane or Osimhen in the summer. That is the main reason why we have Weghorst.
Don't think we have a choice.
Weghorst has his uses as a squad player, but it is very noticeable that he is lacking. This, on top of Antony not performing well in attack, is leaving us with only one player who is contributing.
The thing is Rashford has been moved around this season, he played better yesterday after Weghorst came off.
His form isn't related greatly to his position, especially after the World Cup.
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