Dzeko - 50th goal

[zuricity]

If we ship him out please name a better player we might get who would be happy as a 3rd in line striker? (not that Edin is made up at being that)

This is why i wrote earlier that it is embarrasing Doug .

It's all to easy to criticise not knowing what instructions the players have been given.

Even under Mancini Edin was used sparingly.

He's a great footballer .One of a great bunch playing for us,

[Nigels Tackle]

If we ship him out please name a better player we might get who would be happy as a 3rd in line striker? (not that Edin is made up at being that)

This is why i wrote earlier that it is embarrasing Doug .

It's all to easy to criticise not knowing what instructions the players have been given.

Even under Mancini Edin was used sparingly.

He's a great footballer .One of a great bunch playing for us,

pellers, rightly, had him down as second choice at the start of the season.
he's now third choice and would probably be 4th if jovetic was fit.
says it all for me.

[Dubaimancityfan]

Best goal any striker can score is the winner in a tough 1 nil game. Well done Edin.

Didn't have a great game correct but some of the criticism he gets is way out of order. Near me he was getting screamed at for not getting to a ball or a cross when it was absolutely nowhere near him at all. Guess it's just the way it is for some players that they will be blamed even when he hasn't done anything wrong.I am sure some of the same fans were criticising Lescott today for poor passing !

The voice of reason Doug. He's a striker, his job is to score goals and he does that more often than not. His 2 goals got us into the FA Cup semi. His goal today got us to the top of the league. What more do the doubters want ?? I hate the Dzonkey moniker. It shows disrespct that no player deserves let alone a City player.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I am just going to wait for the answer to my question.

And for the record yes He needs a better first touch,yes he could/should be stronger when challenged and yes I would like to see him put a little more effort in but I could probably list a few things I would like every one of our players to do better.He's our 3rd/4th choice striker.

[City64]

Lazy cunt but scores vital goals nuff said.

[Mikhail Chigorin]

I'm sure I heard them say he had 9 goals from 14 starts (10 from 15 now). Not too shabby. Unlike others, I want my defenders to defend and my strikers to strike. He does that so no complaints from me.

I suppose I'm a little bit different from you Beefy in that I want to see us attack from all over the park.

This means I want my defenders to attack, midfielders to get into the box and score and strikers to be deadly (I also like seeing our defenders score their share of goals as well). If that means we ship a larger percentage of goals in doing so, then so be it.

However, in such a total footballing scenario, I don't think Dzeko has the necessary technical skills and ball playing ability to hold down a starting place in this type of side.

However, that's only my own opinion for what it's worth, or not.

I don't have a problem with this view but in the context of this game, coming so close to other games and the fact that we are 2 strikers short, then I dont mind Edin being there and bagging.

I'm not so sure about the 'Total Football' tag though. Yes, we are an attacking force that many will have problems with but we are not yet at a stage where players actively take a position everywhere on the pitch. We still have horses for courses and with so many changes then I don't see anything wrong with a scrappy 1-0 win, even if it is against the likes of Palace.

One thing I noticed when Nagredo came on was that every touch seemed to bounce off him or every pass seemed to go astray. Now, I didn't see much in the way of criticism and rightly so, just as I don't see why we should berate another of our players for the same thing, especially with limited playing time. Dzeko scored the goal the goal that got us 3 points. Who can't be happy with that?

superb post beefy.

It was a good post Beefy; all due respect to you for that.

However, with where I personally would hope City are heading, I don't think that, ultimately, Dzeko quite fits the template. In a purely obtuse way, I almost think he would be more of a Scum player eventually, than what I would hope City players would exhibit.

It really would be nice to be proved wrong though.

However, he did get the goal which won us the three points today so it would be inconceivable to be anything but contentedly happy with that, so well done to him.

To re-iterate, it really was an excellent post of yours.

[AG7]

pellers, rightly, had him down as second choice at the start of the season. he's now third choice and would probably be 4th if jovetic was fit. says it all for me.

Thank you ... this sums it up!

[Blue Since 76]

It's all to easy to criticise not knowing what instructions the players have been given.
,

I'd be quite surprised if his instructions were to just wander about, put in no effort and fail to hold up the ball when it came into him.

[zuricity]

I'd be quite surprised if his instructions were to just wander about, put in no effort and fail to hold up the ball when it came into him.

So would I. However he was in the right place at the right time, when Silva greedily blasted over in the first half . So to was Fern at the back post. When a cross was all that was needed. Edin goes hungry a lot.

[Sideshow Bob]

Utter shite and the sooner he's shipped out and we buy a decent striker, the better. Yes, he scored, but the rest of his contribution was up there with Jovetic's.

If we ship him out please name a better player we might get who would be happy as a 3rd in line striker? (not that Edin is made up at being that)

Guidetti. Jovetic.

[I Just Blue Myself]

Guidetti. Jovetic.

Bojinov.

[Pretty Boy Lee]

I'm well on the fence after what 3 seasons?

Made some criminal choices yet bagged the winner. What can you say really?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Utter shite and the sooner he's shipped out and we buy a decent striker, the better. Yes, he scored, but the rest of his contribution was up there with Jovetic's.

If we ship him out please name a better player we might get who would be happy as a 3rd in line striker? (not that Edin is made up at being that)

Guidetti. Jovetic.

Jovetic might well be the man which is why I call Edin 3rd/4th but are you really saying Guidetti would do better than Edin?

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Guidetti. Jovetic.

Bojinov.

OK then.

[Blue Since 76]

I am just going to wait for the answer to my question.

And for the record yes He needs a better first touch,yes he could/should be stronger when challenged and yes I would like to see him put a little more effort in but I could probably list a few things I would like every one of our players to do better.He's our 3rd/4th choice striker.

Annoyingly, my lengthy response hasn't posted for some reason. However, the things you list above are the main issues. If he was a kid or a cheaper player bought as a third striker, it would be more understandable, but he was £27m, is supposedly on well over £100k a week and obviously thinks he should be first choice.

It'll always be difficult to find a third choice, as no one wants that role, but we need someone who can either come in and play in our system or give us something different we can use as a plan B. Dzeko doesn't do either of those and he's often the cause of play breaking down as he can't hold the ball up.

Aguero and Tevez's workrates made him look worse than he was, but now Negredo, who isn't as good a finisher, is doing it as well. He's too much of a passenger in virtually every game to be what we need

[Blue Since 76]

Jovetic might well be the man which is why I call Edin 3rd/4th but are you really saying Guidetti would do better than Edin?

If Guidetti is fit, he must offer more Ryan Dzeko or we need to get rid, as he's not a top 4 player.

I'm concerned our back up strikers are at best divisive (Dzeko) or made of glass.

The other issue with Dzeko is he has 18 months left on his contract. If we don't extend it soon, he's going to be available pretty cheap in summer

[Douglas Higginbottom]

I am just going to wait for the answer to my question.

And for the record yes He needs a better first touch,yes he could/should be stronger when challenged and yes I would like to see him put a little more effort in but I could probably list a few things I would like every one of our players to do better.He's our 3rd/4th choice striker.

Annoyingly, my lengthy response hasn't posted for some reason. However, the things you list above are the main issues. If he was a kid or a cheaper player bought as a third striker, it would be more understandable, but he was £27m, is supposedly on well over £100k a week and obviously thinks he should be first choice.

It'll always be difficult to find a third choice, as no one wants that role, but we need someone who can either come in and play in our system or give us something different we can use as a plan B. Dzeko doesn't do either of those and he's often the cause of play breaking down as he can't hold the ball up.

Aguero and Tevez's workrates made him look worse than he was, but now Negredo, who isn't as good a finisher, is doing it as well. He's too much of a passenger in virtually every game to be what we need

In general I don't think there will be many who disagree or at least completely disagree with what you say. But the fact that you cannot find another player to fit the 3rd or 4th striker role says everything.You cannot disregard that fact.

Of course he would like toi be the number 1 striker but that's not what I am on about.If he was our,in theory, best striker we would not be as good as we are.But he is a 3rd/4th striker and in that role he also is part of what makes our squad the best around.

You say he doesn't give us something different we can use as plan B.Well scoring goals is a hell of an attribute to have and actually I would say his ability on crosses is pretty damned effective, if only we had players who could cross the ball well and often.

[Blue Since 76]

One thing I noticed when Nagredo came on was that every touch seemed to bounce off him or every pass seemed to go astray. Now, I didn't see much in the way of criticism and rightly so, just as I don't see why we should berate another of our players for the same thing, especially with limited playing time. Dzeko scored the goal the goal that got us 3 points. Who can't be happy with that?

Negredo had the worst game at home I've seen since he arrived, although I couldn't work out where he was playing - at times he was up front with Dzeko and at other times he was in midfield.

However, that's one bad half game. It would be very harsh to criticise any player for that. For Dzeko, the bright spot we all go back to was Spurs away two years ago. I actually was really happy with his effort against Newcastle this season, even though he didn't score and thought maybe Pellegrini could get the best out of him, but it's just not happening and he doesn't even look bothered - if he scored and ran towards Pellegrini to tell him what he thought of him, I'd be happy, but these days he makes Mario look enthusiastic.

[Twobob]

Generally his first touch is dire and bounces off him, his passing is often astray, he can't really hold the ball up and play upfront on his own and he will rarely chase a 'lost cause' but if he's in the box, has sight of goal and receives a good ball he'll usually score.

Expect anything else and you're disappointed - great achievement and goal scoring record, not to mention what he did to help win the league.

[Blue Since 76]

In general I don't think there will be many who disagree or at least completely disagree with what you say. But the fact that you cannot find another player to fit the 3rd or 4th striker role says everything.You cannot disregard that fact.

Of course he would like toi be the number 1 striker but that's not what I am on about.If he was our,in theory, best striker we would not be as good as we are.But he is a 3rd/4th striker and in that role he also is part of what makes our squad the best around.

You say he doesn't give us something different we can use as plan B.Well scoring goals is a hell of an attribute to have and actually I would say his ability on crosses is pretty damned effective, if only we had players who could cross the ball well and often.

But we don't play with two proper wingers, haven't since Holden retired and are unlikely to start anytime soon.

In my un-posted post I named a few who could do the 3/4 th striker to a similar standard and probably at a more realistic cost. These aren't players I'm suggesting we buy, just similar roles in other teams.

Wellbeck - we all like to laugh, but he's still young, will do a job for the team anywhere on the pitch and has 6 goals this season.

Hernandez - disappeared under Moyes, but was a very effective sub for the rags

Lambert - if you want someone to hold the ball up or get on the end of a decent cross, you don't need a £27m player

Bent - if you want someone who will contribute exactly nothing to the team but will stick a chance away

Sterling - Support to Suarez and Sturridge and very raw, but we saw the problems his pace caused us. Could have scored if Coutinho hadn't knocked it in and may have scored when given offside before missing a sitter.came in As I've said above, Dzeko will be gone within 18 months assuming he won't extend his contact to be 3rd choice, probably gone by summer, so we're going to need to find someone.

One last one for the list - a player bought where certainly the public statements meant he was third choice, definitely not first, who came in as a sub and showed something more and has moved himself into the second striker spot - Negredo.