Dzeko - 50th goal

[Beefymcfc]

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?

I wouldn't have either infront of Dzeko at the moment and only until they prove can they be classed as above him. JG hasn't even proved he's PL quality, nevermind somebody who's got to do it at the very top level.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

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.

I know we don't play with 2 wingers but that doesn't mean we don't get crosses in. As for your list of names:
No way on earth would Welbeck go anywhere to be 3rd choice striker.He isn't really that either at Utd as he plays more as a wide attacking player.He may be better than Edin overall but not at scoring goals.

Hernandez, I wouldn't ever have him before Edin.Headless chicken

Lambert I like but he is a first choice striker with Soton or alternating with Osvaldo at least and now way he would leave there.

Bent!! Now I know you're just having a laugh.

Sterling is a winger a la Navas and is all about sheer pace and 100% not a striker.Have you seen his finishing lately? I think he would have missed if Coutinho hadn't been there as he hasn't got a left foot. Great potential though as a wide player.

Dzeko may be gone in less than 18 months if Jovetic gets fit and is likely to stay fit as he would be 4th on the list.

[JamieMCFC]

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)

That's because they can't.

[Tokyo Blue]

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

I recall Beagrie and Summerbee. But your point remains.

I think Dzeko is worth having at the club simply by dint of the goals he scores, often when we need one. Though he does annoy the shit out of you at times, he will come up with a goal to show you that you are not quite right about him. I'd like him to score loads and take more part in general play but he is what he is and I suppose you either accept it or you don't.

[Niall Quinns Discopants]

Fustrates the fook out of me and Garcia aside he's the one player I scream at to up his game. Then just like today he grabs a goal when we really need it. Still for third choice we cant complain. Would be lovely to get Jovetic fit though to see an alternative.

You scream at games! Tut tut. Apparently that is very uncivilised.

As I've said million times before, THE most randomly hated player we've had since Edgehill.

[Twobob]

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.

It's as I've mentioned in the January sales thread, its wonderful people saying he should be sold, who the hell will replace him? He does what he does and he scores very important goals, his traits are what they are but without him where would we be? We'd have one fit striker and an enigma of a youth player who never gets game time.

Yes we moan about his first touch and yes we get frustrated when he struggles to control a ball but if people were giving him real pelters when he's on the pitch then thats a real poor show and a bit embarrassing. As NQDP says, he's the new Edghill. But i'm the sad one (until i get promotion from that rank) and although i may have a 'moan' on here you support the players while they're on the pitch surely?

[london blue 2]

He's in the top ten all tie premier league strikers list for goals per minute. Pretty impressive for a back up.

[nottsblue]

Must be in the top 2 or 3 for quickest 50 goals for us. For a guy who is not a regular starter that is immense. Yes he isn't as mobile as others or runs as hard but he scores. A lot. Especially when it matters. That can't be underestimated.

There are no better 3rd choice strikers in Prem. Indeed, he is better than most 2nd and a lot of 1st choice strikers. He appears not to be agitating for a move so lets get off his back a bit and give him bit more support. Be careful what you wish for

[Ted Hughes]

I thought he did ok yesterday & he scored the winner.

I don't however think it's the fault of others that he didn't score more, I think it's down to bad finishing/1st touch/ lack of anticipation by Dzeko.

I don't agree that Negredo was miscontrolling the ball all the time when he came on either. He made some fuckups, but he also played some great quick deft touches which highlighted what we had been missing. Dzeko himself looked better when Negredo came on; that's what the Beast does.

I have a great view of attacks when we are at the North stand end, pretty much perfect (or defence the other way).

It's possible to almost put yourself out there mentally & anticipate stuff. The number of times I am mentally legging it into the 6 yard box for a flick header or tap in, when Dzeko iss stood outside the penalty area, is quite a few. The ball sometimes goes exactly where I thought it would but not that often where Dzeko thinks it would. Van Nistlerooy, would be tapping the ball into an empty net.

I'm not sure Guidetti will ever be as good a goalscorer as Dzeko, but I recon he would be right in there, not stood outside the box.

Dzeko seems to me to score loads in spite of being in the wrong place, 60% of the time. He could score 100 goals per season.

Strangely, he was in the right place for the header at the end, but failed to anticipate the ball actually arriving, so he missed.

Again, a tap in for RVN.

Bizarre player Dzeko. Some of the shit he was getting though from a fat, loud mouthed cunt sat near me, almost drove me to violence. No need for it. He did ok, & he did ok v Lpool when he came on.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Still find it incredible the reaction of our own fans given he's just scored his 50th goal for us. Sure he doesn't look graceful on the ball and has a poor first touch but the guy scores goals. Lots of goals and big goals as well. He's a confidence player and when he's confident he can play superbly well which is why our own fans getting on his back, groaning at him is entirely counter productive. I thought he looked a lot better when negredo came on though.

[zuricity]

The goal that Edin scored yesterday is text book. Back across the goalie into the right hand side of the goal. Not to the left where everyone was moving. This is what Edin does best. Text book delivery. He gets in the room to score the goal . He doesn't always get the ball delivered to him, Navas could only play to him yesterday and Edin delivered.

[ross.mcfc]

[quote="london blue 2"]He's in the top ten all tie premier league strikers list for goals per minute. Pretty impressive for a back up.[/quote

I saw that and thought of this thread. Look at the names of the players on that list. All of them absolute quality strikers. Yet here we are bitching about a guy who has a record like that and has just scored the only goal in a game never looked like scoring.

Yesterday, reminded me a lot of the QPR game when we won the league. We had a lot of the ball but never actually looked like scoring and they always looked capable of breaking away and scoring. May I remind you who popped up to put one in the net that gave us hope that day.

Sure he has a bad first touch, rarely holds the ball up, his work rate is suspect. I don't care.

He is a striker. He scores goals. That is what he is paid to do. He is different to all our other attacking options and great teams need a plan B. If he played for a Spurs or Everton they would play him every game and build a team around him and I am confident he would score 25+ league goals a season for them. My only beef with him is that he tries to get involved in these nice passing movements and often gets drawn out of the posistion he should be getting in which is the final shot on goals. Look at how good he movement was for the goal yesterday. He put himself in exactly the right place a striker should have been in for a drag back.

We are so lucky to have striker who has a goal scoring record like that yet you never here him public moaning about the fact that he is third choice. We could get rid of him but good luck in finding another forward that will score this amount of goals and keep his mouth shut.

The abuse he takes on here is utterly bizarre. What a spoilt bunch we have become.

[Blue Since 76]

I know we don't play with 2 wingers but that doesn't mean we don't get crosses in. As for your list of names:
No way on earth would Welbeck go anywhere to be 3rd choice striker.He isn't really that either at Utd as he plays more as a wide attacking player.He may be better than Edin overall but not at scoring goals.

Hernandez, I wouldn't ever have him before Edin.Headless chicken

Lambert I like but he is a first choice striker with Soton or alternating with Osvaldo at least and now way he would leave there.

Bent!! Now I know you're just having a laugh.

Sterling is a winger a la Navas and is all about sheer pace and 100% not a striker.Have you seen his finishing lately? I think he would have missed if Coutinho hadn't been there as he hasn't got a left foot. Great potential though as a wide player.

Dzeko may be gone in less than 18 months if Jovetic gets fit and is likely to stay fit as he would be 4th on the list.

As I said, they weren't players we should buy, just examples of some of the other strikers in the league we would consider as a back up and would be as effective as Dzeko. He may get the odd goal more, but everyone bar Bent would be involved in the team and allow others to score.

Dzeko will now know another manager considers him 3rd choice at best. I can't therefore see him extending his contact so he WILL be gone in 18 months and probably sooner. In which case, we need to find a replacement or get a striker good enough to push Negredo to 3.

As for Jovetic, the constant minor injuries make me think he's one of those players who will only ever say he's fit if he's 100%. In which case, he'll rarely play in the PL due to the number of games. A bonus when available, but I wouldn't plan for him to be part of a squad

[Moonchesteri]

As I said in the match thread, is there a better third choice striker in the league? He scores important goals. Love him. Lazy cunt.

Lol this is actually brilliant post!

Such a strange player. He has the first touch of a rapist but he also has the ability to be at the right place at the right time which is why he also scores lots of goals.

I think he deserves some criticism, just like everyone else when there's a reason but I'm sure he knows himself where he needs to improve and some of the stuff is just plain silly.

Keep on scoring big Ed!

[roblues]

Dzeko's worst games are those in which he frequently receives and quickly loses the ball in midfield. This comes from trying to take a bigger part in the overall build up and showing that he is putting in 'more effort' than usual. This generally results in a half time substitution.

Dzeko's best games are those in which he largely stays out of the build up until the ball is in or around the box. He frequently gets into scoring positions. This generally results in goals, fifty of them so far and many more to come. I know which approach I prefer from the guy.

[Alioune DVToure]

Dzeko's worst games are those in which he frequently receives and quickly loses the ball in midfield. This comes from trying to take a bigger part in the overall build up and showing that he is putting in 'more effort' than usual. This generally results in a half time substitution.

Dzeko's best games are those in which he largely stays out of the build up until the ball is in or around the box. He frequently gets into scoring positions. This generally results in goals, fifty of them so far and many more to come. I know which approach I prefer from the guy.

He played both ways yesterday. The first before Negredo was introduced and the second after.

He is a goal machine but his first touch is appalling and he can't take the ball on the turn. We often don't play to his strengths, but he doesn't have enough of them to oust Kun and Negredo from the starting line-up so we may never get used to doing so.

He's a great out-and-out striker but a pretty average all-round footballer. Kun and Negredo are great on both fronts.

[MilnersJaw]

The donkeys problem besides being lazy, terrible first touch and soft for a big lad is his finishing. The guy missed so many chances its embarrassing. Like someone else has said he should have over 70 by now.

[dazby]

The donkeys problem besides being lazy, terrible first touch and soft for a big lad is his finishing. The guy missed so many chances its embarrassing. Like someone else has said he should have over 70 by now.

Pure garbage. His conversion rate is excellent.

I don't know if you've noticed, but strikers aren't often that successful with their shots. I'd love to see a stat on a shots to conversion ratio but I'd guess if you're around 25% you'd be in the higher end of the bracket.

[Tokyo Blue]

I have had a think about it and to me he just seems too nice a bloke to be a striker and perhaps needs to be a bit nastier, if you see what I mean.

[zuricity]

The donkeys problem besides being lazy, terrible first touch and soft for a big lad is his finishing. The guy missed so many chances its embarrassing. Like someone else has said he should have over 70 by now.

He would easily have surpassed the 70 mark ( why 70 ?), if the players around him made the right choice instead of always going to Kun and Carlos, often in more difficult situations.