we don't half need a striker. . .

[Stevie H]

it's the only thing really missing from this side at the moment. a poacher who is tasked to hang on the last defender at all times and to get into the box and sniff for chances at every opportunity. hopefully the returning robbie can fulfil the job, 'cos at the moment our squad contains three two forwards who are link-men and do their best work deep, one raw young lad who we're not entirely sure what his best role is yet and one big albeit fast let-down. hope robbie can step up to the mark and just be a penalty box striker.

[Andy @ Allerton]

[sean]

That's the frightening part, we actually 'need' Fowler just now. Nando don't half give the ball away cheap. Cissé is a random fast bloke, slightly better. Crouchy has his strong points but all his good stuff is outside the box.

[beejay]

Morientes & Cisse are not a good partnership particularly this time of year when so many pitches are cr*p and a measured build-up is nigh on impossible. If the ball is being lumped forward we need Crouch to hold it up because neither cisse nor nando have the strength or technique to do so.

 

I also think we are missing Garcia big-time. As much as he frustrates the hell out of you, his touch and movement can be sublime and he finds space in dangerous areas. He is a constant goal threat and without him we are not as creative.

[Stevie H]

Morientes & Cisse are not a good partnership particularly this time of year when so many pitches are cr*p and a measured build-up is nigh on impossible. If the ball is being lumped forward we need Crouch to hold it up because neither cisse nor nando have the strength or technique to do so.

 

I also think we are missing Garcia big-time. As much as he frustrates the hell out of you, his touch and movement can be sublime and he finds space in dangerous areas. He is a constant goal threat and without him we are not as creative.

 

i agree about garcia, we do miss his link between midfield and attack when he's not there. that said, yesterday wasn't a game for him.

[Paul B]

No we don't, we've got one. He's ginger and his name's Riise and he's been playing on the left for us up to now, you may have noticed him? Let's convert him in the way Paisley converted Ray Kennedy. Football genius, that's me.

[psl]

He scored in the league there last year. Didn't do much else but still got us the winner. Luis is great.

[G Richards]

Seems to me Mori and Cisse are not going to be what we need for the long term. Mori - great player, past his best now, but not the right league for him. I predict he'll go back to Spain for around £4-5M. Cisse - fast, and er...fast! Doesn't offer enough in Rafa's team. Might go back to France if someone has money (Lyon?) for around £7-8M.

 

So we'll have perhaps £12M and no Cisse or Mori come the summer IMO.

 

We obviously need a very good striker at the top of his game, so perhaps that will be Owen or Kuyt. Then Robbie and Pongolle to make up the four (and possibly Mellor to be a fifth if he shows his worth at Wigan).

[johngibo YPC]

do we have to have a thread like this every day?

[Falconhoof]

do we have to have a thread like this every day?

 

 

Because our strikers aren't doing very well.

[Paul B]

do we have to have a thread like this every day?

 

 

While the Championship Manager-type computer games sell so well, then yes, sadly, we probably do.

[clagy]

how about getting the ball to the strikers in the first place ? you can have the best poacher in the world but hes no good if he rarely gets a touch. cisse saw alot of the ball in the second half because he was playing on the wing (and did rather well i think)

[Stevie H]

do we have to have a thread like this every day?

 

you think our forwards are playing really well then or summat?

[psl]

Fowler and Owen back up front next season.

[KD07]

Fowler couldn't do that job. He's not fit enough to keep harrying the last defender, and he's not going to be able to last the distance having to close down AND get on the end of the chances created. At most, he could do it for 30 minutes tops the way I see it. And as we saw at the Manc derby, he looks better teeing up chances and causing havoc with his dinked balls into spaces for others to pounce on. Is there really much of a difference between him and Morientes then? Lacking pace, not lacking in skill, fantastic track record of scoring when younger....etc

[Andy @ Allerton]

Fowler couldn't do that job. He's not fit enough to keep harrying the last defender, and he's not going to be able to last the distance having to close down AND get on the end of the chances created. At most, he could do it for 30 minutes tops the way I see it. And as we saw at the Manc derby, he looks better teeing up chances and causing havoc with his dinked balls into spaces for others to pounce on. Is there really much of a difference between him and Morientes then? Lacking pace, not lacking in skill, fantastic track record of scoring when younger....etc

 

 

What he can do is finish

 

Something that our strikers struggle to do.

[johngibo YPC]

you think our forwards are playing really well then or summat?

 

no but i dont think we need the same thread every day. i think i could list every single person on this forum's views on Morientes already

[boohog]

Impossible. Half the people change their mind after every good/bad game/pass.

 

He's great. Burn him. He's awesome. He's schite.

 

d'oh.

[Ombudsam]

Gotta agree with Stevie h's initial post. A goal scorer is gonna help us no end. Not too sure how much difference it would have made last night as i didn't think us too hot anyway but generally we are.

[McBain]

I think we've been spoilt in the last years with the strikers we've had. We went from Keegan and Toshack to Kenny, then Kenny and Rush, Aldridge & Beardsley, Fowler then Owen. We've always had at least one talismanic striker at the club, who we've been able to pin our hopes on and know that they would score the goals. And we dont have anyone like that now

 

If we have a big wodge of cash available in the summer then i'd hope Rafa uses most of it on a striker as I dont think we've much chance of catching Chelsea with the players we have

[Guest Red Mist]

We should have kept Baros. He's much better than either Nando or Cisse and unlike them he played his heart out every game. He scored some class goals for us last year.

It's sad to see a player who was instrumental in our CL glory struggling at a s*** club like Villa.

[Atticus Finch]

We should have kept Baros. He's much better than either Nando or Cisse and unlike them he played his heart out every game. He scored some class goals for us last year.

It's sad to see a player who was instrumental in our CL glory struggling at a s*** club like Villa.

 

You just answered the question as to why we got rid. For all his goals at international level, he has never convinced at league level. Cisse is a better player and I would say more intelligent too. Baros may work harder, but a lot of that is head down towards the corner flag and he fits our current style of play even less than Cisse.

[Ian Brown]

We definitely need another option up front even after signing Fowler. Morientes does some very good things buy they mostly tend to be in the CL. He struggles especially away from home domestically I feel.

 

He's not sh*t, that much is clear but i'm unsure if he's suited to the Premiership.

 

The less said about Cisse the better.

 

You just answered the question as to why we got rid. For all his goals at international level, he has never convinced at league level. Cisse is a better player and I would say more intelligent too. Baros may work harder, but a lot of that is head down towards the corner flag and he fits our current style of play even less than Cisse.

 

Not in a million years, or at least not in my opinion. Baros was very self-centred as a player but at least he had some substance to his running. He could beat players with skill and not just raw pace and his finishing was half-decent too.

 

I always liked Milan although I could understand Rafas thinking in getting rid of him. With the considerable benefit of hindsight though having Baros here still would be a good option - he was sold for a reason though, to fund other purchases.

[Guest Red Mist]

You just answered the question as to why we got rid. For all his goals at international level, he has never convinced at league level. Cisse is a better player and I would say more intelligent too. Baros may work harder, but a lot of that is head down towards the corner flag and he fits our current style of play even less than Cisse.

This is an unfair charge always levelled at Milan. He laid on plenty of goals for other players, people never seem to remember this (or choose not to). He's no Dennis fecking Bergkamp but he helped create goals for other players, through his own hard work. Okay he was a bit headless at times but no worse than Cisse.

His finishing was much better than Cisse's and a lot of our games last season, you could say Milan ran the show (Norwich, Palace, away to Leverkusen, Millwall etc.) I have never seen Cisse run a match for us, he doesn't have the ability to do that.

[Atticus Finch]

 

Not in a million years, or at least not in my opinion. Baros was very self-centred as a player but at least he had some substance to his running. He could beat players with skill and not just raw pace and his finishing was half-decent too.

 

I always liked Milan although I could understand Rafas thinking in getting rid of him. With the considerable benefit of hindsight though having Baros here still would be a good option - he was sold for a reason though, to fund other purchases.

 

Quick point about the finishing - how many goals did he score after Xmas last year? In the whole of last season he scored 13, Cisse already has 11. In their careers Baros has scored 47 in 187 in club games - a 1 in 4 record. Cisse has 91 in 202 - nearly 1 in 2.

 

Obviously a matter of opinions but I remember Baros being as poor if not worse than Cisse is playing. IMO Cisse's good points and good play get overlooked because of his suspect workrate and attitude (both of which are improving). Baros bad points got overlooked because he ran a lot.

 

Bottom line is I don't think Rafa fancies either as a player and I'm not sure I'd argue with him on that to be honest.