Dzeko

[1950]

I think this bit about Dzeko is bang on:

In terms of the scoreline, Edin Dzeko was the key figure. He is a mystifying player. It could be that he is a brilliant footballer who sometimes does impressions of a terrible one; or it could be that he is a terrible player who sometimes does impressions of a brilliant one. It's at once bewildering and readily understandable that officials at Zeljeznicar thought so little of him that they celebrated his sale to Teplice for €25,000 with bottles of champagne.

Holding the ball up, leading the line, he was majestic, powerful and intelligent. He is capable of spectacular goals, as he proved with the neatly-shaped drive that gave Bosnia the lead five minutes before half-time, but also of ugly misses. A break between Pjanic and Misimovic left him clean through after 18 minutes, and he skewed badly wide. Then when Mujdza drove a low ball across the near post, he could only stub the ball back the way it had come. Even in the second half, having twice created opportunities for himself with bullocking runs, he scuffed his finish. That is what makes Dzeko such a difficult figure to read: parts of his game can look awesome, parts dismal, but not the same parts, and not all the time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/oct/12/euro-2012-bosnia-france

[Im_Spartacus]

I agree with whoever above said that he doesnt leave it all on the pitch in every game he plays, and if he did he would be a phenomenal player.

Ultimately if we have bought a player who busts a gut in 2out of 4 games, Dzeko is a 50% improvement on Adebayor who showed up for perhaps 1 in 4 games after his sending off vs Arsenal. Crucially for me though, we have a great mix up front now with players who bring at least one or more of height, trickery, lunacy and workrate.

I wouldn't swap Aguero or Dzeko for anyone at the moment, jury still out on Balotelli, and the only player I think I would possibly add to the mix would be Suarez on current form.

[Ted Hughes]

I agree with whoever above said that he doesnt leave it all on the pitch in every game he plays, and if he did he would be a phenomenal player.

Ultimately if we have bought a player who busts a gut in 2out of 4 games, Dzeko is a 50% improvement on Adebayor who showed up for perhaps 1 in 4 games after his sending off vs Arsenal. Crucially for me though, we have a great mix up front now with players who bring at least one or more of height, trickery, lunacy and workrate.

I wouldn't swap Aguero or Dzeko for anyone at the moment, jury still out on Balotelli, and the only player I think I would possibly add to the mix would be Suarez on current form.

Agree with that but Balotelli, if he can keep working hard, will be the best of the bunch. It's all in his hands now & he just has to maintain it. He's just come through a make or break period imo, with flying colours.

[Duckman]

I agree with whoever above said that he doesnt leave it all on the pitch in every game he plays, and if he did he would be a phenomenal player.

Ultimately if we have bought a player who busts a gut in 2out of 4 games, Dzeko is a 50% improvement on Adebayor who showed up for perhaps 1 in 4 games after his sending off vs Arsenal. Crucially for me though, we have a great mix up front now with players who bring at least one or more of height, trickery, lunacy and workrate.

I wouldn't swap Aguero or Dzeko for anyone at the moment, jury still out on Balotelli, and the only player I think I would possibly add to the mix would be Suarez on current form.

I'd fuckin shoot myself in the face if we were to sign that diving dirty cunt.

[Ted Hughes]

I agree with whoever above said that he doesnt leave it all on the pitch in every game he plays, and if he did he would be a phenomenal player.

Ultimately if we have bought a player who busts a gut in 2out of 4 games, Dzeko is a 50% improvement on Adebayor who showed up for perhaps 1 in 4 games after his sending off vs Arsenal. Crucially for me though, we have a great mix up front now with players who bring at least one or more of height, trickery, lunacy and workrate.

I wouldn't swap Aguero or Dzeko for anyone at the moment, jury still out on Balotelli, and the only player I think I would possibly add to the mix would be Suarez on current form.

I'd fuckin shoot myself in the face if we were to sign that diving dirty cunt.

Agree with that too.

[brite blu sky]

Obviously everyone is really enjoying themselves arguing with each other here, i guess between the lines you've all got it covered.

No-one has mentioned that he has only found his feet since the start of this season. So basically he has improved.
My take is that Bob will be as aware as anyone of Dzeko's pros and cons... and will work on him. So i'm going to argue for patience and a bit of leeway and let's see what Mancini shapes him into by the end of this season.

[Ted Hughes]

Obviously everyone is really enjoying themselves arguing with each other here, i guess between the lines you've all got it covered.

No-one has mentioned that he has only found his feet since the start of this season. So basically he has improved.
My take is that Bob will be as aware as anyone of Dzeko's pros and cons... and will work on him. So i'm going to argue for patience and a bit of leeway and let's see what Mancini shapes him into by the end of this season.

I doubt whether many people would advocate anything else but the question for Dzeko is the same as with AJ; not whether he gets games & scores goals but whether he wants to start v Wolves & Blackburn or v Utd & Chelsea.

[Im_Spartacus]

I agree with whoever above said that he doesnt leave it all on the pitch in every game he plays, and if he did he would be a phenomenal player.

Ultimately if we have bought a player who busts a gut in 2out of 4 games, Dzeko is a 50% improvement on Adebayor who showed up for perhaps 1 in 4 games after his sending off vs Arsenal. Crucially for me though, we have a great mix up front now with players who bring at least one or more of height, trickery, lunacy and workrate.

I wouldn't swap Aguero or Dzeko for anyone at the moment, jury still out on Balotelli, and the only player I think I would possibly add to the mix would be Suarez on current form.

I'd fuckin shoot myself in the face if we were to sign that diving dirty cunt.

Oh yeah, he is a despicable little cunt, but like I said "on form", as he is probably only 2nd to Silva and Richards for me in terms of PL form, if he can keep it up for a full season, he will turn out to be a sensational bit of business for Liverpool

[brite blu sky]

Obviously everyone is really enjoying themselves arguing with each other here, i guess between the lines you've all got it covered.

No-one has mentioned that he has only found his feet since the start of this season. So basically he has improved.
My take is that Bob will be as aware as anyone of Dzeko's pros and cons... and will work on him. So i'm going to argue for patience and a bit of leeway and let's see what Mancini shapes him into by the end of this season.

I doubt whether many people would advocate anything else but the question for Dzeko is the same as with AJ; not whether he gets games & scores goals but whether he wants to start v Wolves & Blackburn or v Utd & Chelsea.

Well the pair of them will want to start v rags or Chelsea obviously. So then it goes back to improvement and that can only really happen over time and stepping it up when it is needed.

To operate at the level City now are, it is going to be about consistency. To be in the squad means you have to prove that you can be consistent at base, beyond that it is the usual of manager's strategy choosing players for each game.
We have to give leeway to the players arriving, getting into the groove and developing, but Mancini surely is going to be looking to create a squad with no weak links and players who the team can depend on when called. So beyond the leeway period it is all about that fine tuning of each player to squeeze the best out of them and hone their attitude.

It is pretty clear that Bob is a hard task master and is demanding more all the time, is pissed off at conceeding goals and losing possession in stupid places etc etc, you can bet wasting chances is high on the list too. So over time these things are going to get dealt with in detail with each player by Mancini, with what looks like considerable attention to the character of the player in question.

Basically Dzeko will get better, AJ will get better, Nasri will get better Milner will get better, Aguero will get better

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

I think this bit about Dzeko is bang on:

In terms of the scoreline, Edin Dzeko was the key figure. He is a mystifying player. It could be that he is a brilliant footballer who sometimes does impressions of a terrible one; or it could be that he is a terrible player who sometimes does impressions of a brilliant one. It's at once bewildering and readily understandable that officials at Zeljeznicar thought so little of him that they celebrated his sale to Teplice for €25,000 with bottles of champagne.

Holding the ball up, leading the line, he was majestic, powerful and intelligent. He is capable of spectacular goals, as he proved with the neatly-shaped drive that gave Bosnia the lead five minutes before half-time, but also of ugly misses. A break between Pjanic and Misimovic left him clean through after 18 minutes, and he skewed badly wide. Then when Mujdza drove a low ball across the near post, he could only stub the ball back the way it had come. Even in the second half, having twice created opportunities for himself with bullocking runs, he scuffed his finish. That is what makes Dzeko such a difficult figure to read: parts of his game can look awesome, parts dismal, but not the same parts, and not all the time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2011/oct/12/euro-2012-bosnia-france

The parts where he has bagged 101 goals in past 169 appearances look pretty fucking awesome. That's what is paid to do you know. Not to feed anyones homosexual fantasies.

[Blue Since 76]

I had no problem with signing him, just with relying on him without signing someone else. I still have the same opinion now; if Dzeko was our only fit striker we would lose some games we should win. I think he can be better than that & lead the line reliably even if he mises the odd chance. I don't see what's unfair in my comments; I've said how well he's played & also where I think he's not done it.

You think he's been that good in every game? I don't. I think he's alternated between awesome, decent, & utter shite. I personally thought he did ok at Bayern & shouldn't have been taken off but a couple of his performances have been unacceptably poor, when you see what he is capable of. He shouldn't drop his standards that far. Imo it's purely down to his attitude. If he fights for everything, an occasional missed chance isn't a problem, if he doesn't & gives the ball away all the time, then misses, it's not good enough. It's up to him if he wants the job. Bob has already shown what happens if he doesn't reach the level expected.

Got to agree with you Ted. At times ( most of the spurs game) he can look great. Other times he'a abysmal.

I can accept him not scoring, even missing some of the sitters as long as he looks like he's putting in a shift. When he can't score, shows no battle or bottle and can't trap a ball or bring others into play (Villarreal) its not acceptable.

The difference between his good performances and his bad is too great at the moment. Anyone can have a poor game (silva vs villarreal) occasionally but he needs to get his head down and scrap when nothing else is coming off.

Basically if we had to keep only one of the three strikers we have, I doubt anyone would choose Dzeko. With Aguero in front being first choice will be difficult but I think he's now dropped behind Mario too. He needs to embrace the challenge like Micah has and prove he can be relied on

[Bridge'srightfoot]

I don't think he's shit. I did say it yes but that was just after a match we lost badly so i was furious at the time. You can't really take what people say in a match thread seriously, especially if we're losing!

I'm not asking him to take on 3 players and chip the keeper, but the one thing he needs to do is put away the chances he gets. Because with quality such as Nasri, silva, Aguerro, Milner you are gonna get tonnes of chances. It infuriated me in games such as Villereal where he missed real sitters. even against United, he could and possibly should of had a couple more. Not saying he didn't play well though.
And he still does need to work on his first touch, no matter how many he scores.

I'm very happy he's scored 11 goals so far but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. He's not shit, he's not world class.

[Original Dub]

I don't think he's shit. I did say it yes but that was just after a match we lost badly so i was furious at the time. You can't really take what people say in a match thread seriously, especially if we're losing!

I'm not asking him to take on 3 players and chip the keeper, but the one thing he needs to do is put away the chances he gets. Because with quality such as Nasri, silva, Aguerro, Milner you are gonna get tonnes of chances. It infuriated me in games such as Villereal where he missed real sitters. even against United, he could and possibly should of had a couple more. Not saying he didn't play well though.
And he still does need to work on his first touch, no matter how many he scores.

I'm very happy he's scored 11 goals so far but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. He's not shit, he's not world class.

I agree.

Finally.

[stommy]

I don't think he's shit. I did say it yes but that was just after a match we lost badly so i was furious at the time. You can't really take what people say in a match thread seriously, especially if we're losing!

I'm not asking him to take on 3 players and chip the keeper, but the one thing he needs to do is put away the chances he [highlight][/highlight]gets. Because with quality such as Nasri, silva, Aguerro, Milner you are gonna get tonnes of chances. It infuriated me in games such as Villereal where he missed real sitters. even against United, he could and possibly should of had a couple more. Not saying he didn't play well though.
And he still does need to work on his first touch, no matter how many he scores.

I'm very happy he's scored 11 goals so far but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. He's not shit, he's not world class.

Sorry, but this the most stupid thing I heard for a long time. If he scores who cares about his first touch??? You don't like him and that's no problem at all, you don't have to like every City player. As long as he scores he's fine by me, not every player has the ability to be great on the ball...he's far from Inzaghi either, right?

[john@staustell]

He certainly polarises opinions. Which is why my last post in this thread sounded so confused!

[Bridge'srightfoot]

I don't think he's shit. I did say it yes but that was just after a match we lost badly so i was furious at the time. You can't really take what people say in a match thread seriously, especially if we're losing!

I'm not asking him to take on 3 players and chip the keeper, but the one thing he needs to do is put away the chances he gets. Because with quality such as Nasri, silva, Aguerro, Milner you are gonna get tonnes of chances. It infuriated me in games such as Villereal where he missed real sitters. even against United, he could and possibly should of had a couple more. Not saying he didn't play well though.
And he still does need to work on his first touch, no matter how many he scores.

I'm very happy he's scored 11 goals so far but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. He's not shit, he's not world class.

I agree.

Finally.

He's shit.

[stommy]

I don't think he's shit. I did say it yes but that was just after a match we lost badly so i was furious at the time. You can't really take what people say in a match thread seriously, especially if we're losing!

I'm not asking him to take on 3 players and chip the keeper, but the one thing he needs to do is put away the chances he gets. Because with quality such as Nasri, silva, Aguerro, Milner you are gonna get tonnes of chances. It infuriated me in games such as Villereal where he missed real sitters. even against United, he could and possibly should of had a couple more. Not saying he didn't play well though.
And he still does need to work on his first touch, no matter how many he scores.

I'm very happy he's scored 11 goals so far but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. He's not shit, he's not world class.

I agree.

Finally.

He's shit.

Right, show your feelings...you feel better now, aren't you?

[Bridge'srightfoot]

I don't think he's shit. I did say it yes but that was just after a match we lost badly so i was furious at the time. You can't really take what people say in a match thread seriously, especially if we're losing!

I'm not asking him to take on 3 players and chip the keeper, but the one thing he needs to do is put away the chances he gets. Because with quality such as Nasri, silva, Aguerro, Milner you are gonna get tonnes of chances. It infuriated me in games such as Villereal where he missed real sitters. even against United, he could and possibly should of had a couple more. Not saying he didn't play well though.
And he still does need to work on his first touch, no matter how many he scores.

I'm very happy he's scored 11 goals so far but that doesn't mean there isn't room for improvement. He's not shit, he's not world class.

I agree.

Finally.

He's shit.

Right, show your feelings...you feel better now, aren't you?

It was fairly obvious I was being sarcastic.

[Original Dub]

A goal scoring machine. Is he now top scorer in the whole league?

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Decent performance with a tidy finish, job done. Got fuk all from the referee aswell.