There we fucking go
1 Like
Sure, but his first instinct there was to just get immediately a good angle and shoot.
That’s why I’m calling it simple. He knew what he was gonna do as soon as he received the ball.
Eddie in the first half took one too many touches, tried one too many dribbles or took too long to pass or shoot.
His first insticnt was to do a turn around the defender in the box. If it was unsuccessful, people would probably be saying he was overcomplicating things lol
Nketiah a top young striker and has proved he’s good enough to start for us even if it is as a replacement for Jesus.
There aren’t many better second choice strikers in the PL and he still has loads of potential.
1 Like
Did anyone order a ton of salt?
People complaining about his lack of pedigree. To be fair to the lad, he’s scored goals at every level. And when he’s been playing senior level, he’s pretty much continued to do so.
We’ll get a much better picture in the coming weeks, when he’s had a sustained run in the first eleven, and against tougher sides than West Ham, who at home was a given in opinion.
He’ll certainly get tested that’s for sure. We have some fixtures of varied difficulty up ahead.
I am looking forward to seeing how he’ll fair against Newcastle and Spurs.
I’ll eat my humble pie but the truth is, I don’t think one goal against West Ham makes this signing a success. I remain a skeptic but hope that he proves me wrong. It’s not that I dislike Eddie or his game, but I have some concerns about the signing itself and how he changes the way we play.
He doesn’t though. He knows our style and that’s the part people are missing.
He knows the players and the plays. He doesn’t bring Jesus game but he knows runs and defenders to take a way.
There’s better for sure but this is the ace he brings.
6 Likes
I felt like I’ve seen that from Eddie before but can’t recall when. Perhaps it’s from training or a friendly.
I just don’t understand why people were shitting on him after the first half.
That’s a good all round performance from him and the team. He didn’t take a couple of chances too well but that’s no different to our main man who hasn’t scored in 9 games.
He’s got good movement, good energy, he’s confident on the ball and he scores goals. Eddie at number 2 is as good as we could ask for this season.
I’m confident he’ll score goals when called upon this season and justify the pay packet.
Good game, seamlessly slotted in at CF and we still got stellar performances from the team around him.
16 Likes
I get that but knowing them and executing them are two different things.
On some level I recognize that there wouldn’t have been someone else out there who we could have signed to fit the position and allowed us to complete our summer business (i.e.: If we pushed to sign Richarlison and let Eddie go on a free would that have blocked a Zinchenko?).
I think I just have some PTSD from Walcott’s contract fiasco combined with last January.
@SRCJJ thought the whole team needed to go up a gear after that first half, especially against a bunkering team like West Ham holding a lead. It wasn’t just him.
There was a couple of points early in the game when he was back defending deep in our half which were very Jesusesque. The run when he probably should have played Saka in and some of the pressing he done early in the second half were too.
For a first start since Jesus got injured I think he deserves a lot of credit for the performance and doing his best to fill what is a massive gap.
More of the same for a few weeks yet Edward please.
6 Likes
My thing is… I hope we aren’t left thinking he wasn’t enough when playing against the best. Like Tottenham, United we got coming up.
1 Like
Biggest issue at the minute is that with Nketiah filling in for Jesus and Nelson/ESR out, our options up front from the bench are Vieira and Marquinhos.
Vieira doesn’t offer the same qualities as our other forwards so tactics will have to be adjusted for hin to play there and Marquinhos has stagnated after that very good debut in EL.
1 Like
hence mudryk
Yep, perhaps explains why the club made a sizeable first offer ahead of the January transfer window.
Usually we’re tougher negotiators, especially when it comes to first bids but we kinda got straight into business with this one and we have the player and his agent putting a lot of pressure on Shakhtar as well.
2 Likes
Good performance and great for him to get off the mark at the start of this run.
He did look completely gassed around 80 minutes, which is a concern going forward.
He’s definitely not ideal to be first choice when playing against the best, but the best is CL next season not Spurs or United. For right now there’s no one we can bring in that’s going to have the experience or understand the system the way Nketiah does- anyone we do want to bring in should already be part of Edu’s larger plan.
Tonight was the perfect game for Nketiah and us really as a team, couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to get back into the swing of things. I do think in tougher games, away from home he’ll be tested. However I’ve always felt him and Jesus have had slight, nuanced similarities to their game. Now that’s a big compliment to Eddie and a little bit of a disservice to Jesus but there’s absolutely the possibility that getting to train with a player like that day in day out will have helped Nketiah move up a level as striker. Especially in this system.
The turn for that goal tonight was filthy, had it been Kane or Haaland that shit would be on repeat everywhere.
16 Likes
The worst thing he did was around the 20th minute, we had oodles of space and he should have been playing a pass to Saka in on goal, but he instead went with a tame shot at goal.
I don’t think he’s good enough to lead the line for a 2 months in a title winning team, but hopefully I’m wrong. Glad he bagged a goal and we got the win, should do wonders for the confidence.
1 Like