mikeyp102 Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 11 hours ago, ozvillafan said: Encouraged by what I saw from him today. Put himself about. Stayed on his feet. Kept running up to the 90th minute. Some lovely touches and link up play (particularly with Trez) He'll only get better, but there is improvement already. Yep I think there was a marked improvement from last week. He was using his body more, holding off the defence and not going down. Yes he didn’t look like scoring or getting into positions to score, but he seems someone who wants to learn and improve. He’ll get there. It’s not his fault we have no one else Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomaszk Posted August 18, 2019 Author Share Posted August 18, 2019 3 hours ago, lexicon said: Unhelpful to compare or expect a player to step up and slot in like King, a player with 145 premier League appearances and grew up with the English game at youth level. How can I be more helpful to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brummybloke Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 Needs to stay as the focal point, not go deep looking for the ball. We were left 4 or 5 times yesterday with no one in the middle when attacking. Its frustrating to watch and I'm sure for him frustrating to play as he is either isolated or drops too deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PompeyVillan Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 12 hours ago, Brumerican said: We paid good money for 2 fullbacks who can deliver quality crosses on the fly, then play 2 fellas who have made careers from delivering the same exact cross over and over in the hope of one coming off. It's the main reason I'm miffed with the Elmo and Taylor selections . It's not because I don't like them it's because I think Guilbert and Targett will be able to create better chances for Wesley and others. Their ability to cross on the fly with accuracy will be so much better for Wes than the current 2 who always like to slow it down before delivering. which allows the defense that extra second or two to locate runners. Might sound like nonsense but the amount of times we slow down or cut back from wide positions won't be doing Wesley any favours at all. We did alright with the slowdown/cutback in the Championship because the defenders aren't as good but in the Premier League it just allows defenders to track runners and adjust. This league is about pace and movement yet right now we look slow and statuesque. It's weird because we looked like we had something going preseason then just abandoned it for a more cautious approach. Wes is clearly talented but I'm not sure we will see the best of him until we figure out the best means of supplying him. I tend to agree with this. It isn't a criticism of Taylor or Elmo, just an acceptance of their limitations. Taylor is the better defender and Elmo is the better crosser. Actually Elmo has a decent delivery on him, Taylor however offers so little going forward. Even when they do come forward and support, Taylor and Elmo are predicable, they make the same runs. Which then makes our wingers easier to play against because we limit our attacking options. With a bit more variety in attack and hopefully more quality going forward, we may be able to cause teams more problem. I think it's one of the nuances of the Premier League, in the Championship you can get away with so-so, solid full backs. In the Premier League, there's so little space to play in the full backs play a key role in supporting attacks. That said, I thought Elmo did alright yesterday, it's Taylor I have more of a problem with. Like you say, the full backs are important to service Wesley, who will be outnumbered most of the time. I thought Wesley was okay, he worked hard, but he didn't really have that much of an impact. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 I think he needs to play closer to the goal. Benteke was the same when he arrived. Took him about 8 games or so to realise that 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PieFacE Posted August 18, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 18, 2019 Wesley needs players running behind him and that hasn't really been happening so far. Hopefully that will come in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
useless Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 I think part of the problem might be people expecting him to be the next Benteke, in terms of style of play, from what I've read and seen of him, he's a completely different kind of player. I think he's someone that might work well in the system that Liverpool play, with two wide attackers either side of him, but we don't really have equivalents of Salah or Mane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 3 hours ago, PieFacE said: Wesley needs players running behind him and that hasn't really been happening so far. Hopefully that will come in time. Yeah, agreed - and I'm worried that we're not really set up for that. You'd almost need to play with narrower wide players to enable Wesley to drop deep, turn a player and then pick a pass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keener window-cleaner Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 I watched Joelinton and Benteke today who both would be comparable to Wesley, being big target men. Neither Joelinton or Benteke did much of notice, and didn't hold up the ball particularly well, in fact I would say Wesley did more of that and also created a couple of chances both for himself and for others. I think he stepped up yesterday, won more battles and stood on his feet more. I've seen enough to be sure that he will be an asset for us this season. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentVillan Posted August 18, 2019 Share Posted August 18, 2019 3 hours ago, bobzy said: Yeah, agreed - and I'm worried that we're not really set up for that. You'd almost need to play with narrower wide players to enable Wesley to drop deep, turn a player and then pick a pass. Spot on. You look at the most successful false 9s, and they usually have a couple of goalscoring wide forwards either side of them (e.g. Firmino with Mane + Salah, or Benzema with Bale + Ronaldo). El Ghazi is arguably a wide forward, but Trez and Jota both look like conventional wide midfielders to me. So it looks like Wesley will need to attack the box a bit more. But that's something that can be coached and that he will get a feel for as he settles into the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVTuco Posted August 19, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 19, 2019 We didn't need a striker who can't score and who's trick is to hold the ball up and make others better. We already have Davis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 Watching the highlights he should have had an assist and on another day a penalty and a goal Was expecting him to be anonymous on the highlights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 I think Wesley will be fine and really grow into the role. I think his link play is going to be vital to us this season and players will feed off him. Not expecting him to get a great haul of goals to be honest but I dont think that is what he has been brought in for....he's here to help the team score more goals. He was always going to struggle initially being a big step up in league for him and the team, he has to drop deeper to get involved as the rest of the team are also learning about the league so arent getting to him or utilising him effectively and they are all getting to know each other. I saw enough in preseason to see he has talent that now has to be brought out in the PL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 Watched highlights finally and he's growing into the game. Put ball in a plate and I reckon half the team or some on bench would've buried it but Trezeguet effort was weak as. There's that finishing issue he has that's been mentioned before he signed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomav84 Posted August 19, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted August 19, 2019 7 minutes ago, nick76 said: I think Wesley will be fine and really grow into the role. I think his link play is going to be vital to us this season and players will feed off him. Not expecting him to get a great haul of goals to be honest but I dont think that is what he has been brought in for....he's here to help the team score more goals. He was always going to struggle initially being a big step up in league for him and the team, he has to drop deeper to get involved as the rest of the team are also learning about the league so arent getting to him or utilising him effectively and they are all getting to know each other. I saw enough in preseason to see he has talent that now has to be brought out in the PL. really? for 20m+ i'd want them to hit the ground running. there was no way he wasnt going to have a better game vs bournemouth than he did vs spurs, but it still wast good enough for me. if everton is no better then hopefully kodjia is fit for palace. we dont have time for multi million pound players to 'grow into the league' or 'adapt' or 'settle in'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 5 minutes ago, tomav84 said: really? for 20m+ i'd want them to hit the ground running. there was no way he wasnt going to have a better game vs bournemouth than he did vs spurs, but it still wast good enough for me. if everton is no better then hopefully kodjia is fit for palace. we dont have time for multi million pound players to 'grow into the league' or 'adapt' or 'settle in'. Naby Keita and Fabinho cost Liverpool about 90 million and didnt settle in immediately. Price tag is irrelevant for a players settling in time Petrov took 2 years to settle in and his price tag was equivalent of 25 million in todays market and he only moved from Scotland 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwivillan Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 11 minutes ago, tomav84 said: really? for 20m+ i'd want them to hit the ground running. there was no way he wasnt going to have a better game vs bournemouth than he did vs spurs, but it still wast good enough for me. if everton is no better then hopefully kodjia is fit for palace. we dont have time for multi million pound players to 'grow into the league' or 'adapt' or 'settle in'. Solanke Joelinton could go on for ages. I'm confident next two. Everton are going through the motions had two easy games Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick76 Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 8 minutes ago, tomav84 said: really? for 20m+ i'd want them to hit the ground running. there was no way he wasnt going to have a better game vs bournemouth than he did vs spurs, but it still wast good enough for me. if everton is no better then hopefully kodjia is fit for palace. we dont have time for multi million pound players to 'grow into the league' or 'adapt' or 'settle in'. you are going to have a very long, rough season if you think this. It would be hard enough if the rest of the team was all cohesive and had been working together for at least six months rather than basically a new team in a harder league. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 12 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said: I watched Joelinton and Benteke today who both would be comparable to Wesley, being big target men. Neither Joelinton or Benteke did much of notice, and didn't hold up the ball particularly well, in fact I would say Wesley did more of that and also created a couple of chances both for himself and for others. I think he stepped up yesterday, won more battles and stood on his feet more. I've seen enough to be sure that he will be an asset for us this season. I get the point. But you've picked two teams who will be with us fighting relegation and having main strikers who aren't great is a big reason for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted August 19, 2019 Share Posted August 19, 2019 12 hours ago, Keener window-cleaner said: I watched Joelinton and Benteke today who both would be comparable to Wesley, being big target men. Neither Joelinton or Benteke did much of notice, and didn't hold up the ball particularly well, in fact I would say Wesley did more of that and also created a couple of chances both for himself and for others. I think he stepped up yesterday, won more battles and stood on his feet more. I've seen enough to be sure that he will be an asset for us this season. Over the weekend stats Touches - Benteke - 33 Joelinton - 35 Wesley - 27 Passes/% complete Benteke - 21/62% Joelinton - 14/78% Wesley - 15/53% Aerials won Benteke - 8 Joelinton - 2 Wesley - 3 Shots/on target Benteke - 1/1 Joelinton - 2/0 Wesley - 2/1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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