[Matt851]

Doesn’t make any sense to drop him. He’s 23 years old and our best winger. In terms of pressing and contribution to control games, we need him. Mbeumo is great in the final third but we players like Amad to get there right now.

Well we need to get sesko in the team so one of cunha, mbuemo or amad will need to drop out the next game. Think we desperately lacked width today and cunha contributes to that so it could be him that drops put but then one of amad or mbuemo has to go on the right so it's not straight forward

 

[Jed I. Knight]

Some real out there takes here after tonight. In both directions!

Big fan of his, but he's clearly been the most disappointing of our attacking players since Carrick took the reins. Some decent games, but nothing spectacular if you assess all five games. I would say Sesko's earned the right to start over him. For me, the most concerning thing is that it is games like yesterday we're most reliant on his skillset. His dribbling and close control should be key to unlocking tight defenses. Instead, he was completely anonymous.

My main worry about benching him is that he's really integral to our pressing game. But against deep blocks that is probably less important on the whole.

Still think he has all the tools to become a top class wide man, and I hope he steps up. Right now, though, he's not consistent enough, particularly in games where we're especially reliant on him to step up. And being a top player mean delivering in those games.

 

[Annihilate Now!]

Ok so it wasn't quite the open goal I've built up in my head since last night, and the pass was sort of on... still made a total mess of it though.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Well we need to get sesko in the team so one of cunha, mbuemo or amad will need to drop out the next game. Think we desperately lacked width today and cunha contributes to that so it could be him that drops put but then one of amad or mbuemo has to go on the right so it's not straight forward

I’d rather drop Mbeumo or Cunha and bring one of them on with 20 minutes to go. Amad keeps the ball and presses better than them both put together. Obviously we lose goal threat but that’s where Sesko comes in.

 

[Matt851]

Ok so it wasn't quite the open goal I've built up in my head since last night, and the pass was sort of on... still made a total mess of it though.

Nowhere near as bad as people are making out, the obvious shot was blocked and another defending was covering if he tried to cut inside. Suspect his legs were also quite weary by that point

 

[Jeffthered]

Well we need to get sesko in the team so one of cunha, mbuemo or amad will need to drop out the next game. Think we desperately lacked width today and cunha contributes to that so it could be him that drops put but then one of amad or mbuemo has to go on the right so it's not straight forward

We do not 'need' to get Sesko in the team. Sesko's all-round game needs a lot of work. Yesterday, prior to his goal, he was struggling to hold the ball up, or get on the ball. He needs to sharpen up his all round game.

Amad is playing well. He is consistent and provides a dependable outlet as an attacker. Some fans have v v short memories, he was superb against City, Arsenal. Now drop him? Why?

Mbuma is our leading striker, that's where I want to see him.

What we are suffering from, is Dorgu's injury. He provides a natural balance, and good energy to our team.

Amad is fine. He will get his goals. Needs to improve his right-foot of course, he should have had a shot at the end of the game, could have won us the match.

 

[TempusFugit]

Very lackadaisical performance from him yesterday, he failed to spot easy passes and was careless with the ball. I think he could've won us the game with that last attack, he has the ability to score that. Sesko wasn't free yet he still passed the ball, he needs to back himself to score there. His defensive engagement was still very good though, his stamina is impressive.

 

[Fenômeno]

Yeah he wasn't great yesterday like the rest of our attack tbh. I wouldn't be too fixated on the numbers as he offers a lot more with his build up, work rate and pressing, things that are not shown in the stats column. He also has played most of the season as wing back which has impacted his output.

 

[Bojan11]

He's played wing back all season. Today was his 5th game as a winger, which is still less demanding than what you'd expect from a wide forward. Giggs had 2 goals and 3 assists and Beckham 6 goals and 11 assists in the league in '99 for context. A lot of Beckhams assists probably came from set pieces.
I dont think you judge wingers by goals and assists, its more about getting you up the pitch and getting forwards on the ball. Which i think he's done quite well. Maybe i'd be more picky about Cunha and Mbuemo goals who are more dependent on what they do in the final 3rd.
I dont think anyone's individual goal stats are that impressive but we do have a good spread of goals from across the pitch, which i think is generally preferable.
I wouldn't be against putting him on the bench for a week having said all that. Maybe Sesko has earned a start.

Giggs was struggling with a hamstring injury during 1998/1999, not even the same comparison. The same goes for Becks. Those two played in the 4-4-2 era where the onus was on the two strikers to score the goals, whilst the rest of the team provided. When you play in a front three on the wings then you need to be more productive than someone who played on the wings in a 4-4-2. Wingers in the modern era for top clubs need to be productive.

The excuse about playing wing-back doesn’t wash too. Wing back doesn’t stop you attacking. Diouf from West Ham has four assists and AWB has three, and both play as fullbacks. Amad is miles better than both, but we need more from him. He is capable of going that extra gear.

 

[giggs-beckham]

Is he better at right back? Doesn't score or assist much does he

 

[RedRoach]

Talented player. The problem for him is all our play goes through Lisandro which means the ball rarely ends up on his side making him almost invisible. The team needs to learn to mix it up to get him more involved

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Hasn’t been stellar recently by any means but last night we hardly attacked down his wing it seemed, he does need to up his assist numbers at least, goals are a bonus I think.

His decision making can be very up and down, at 23 I’d expect it to be a bit better, but he’s still putting in a shift and doing some good things every game.

I do still prefer him as a WB though. He got the ball more and had more space to run into where he’s st his most dangerous imo.

 

[Deewill]

Ok so it wasn't quite the open goal I've built up in my head since last night, and the pass was sort of on... still made a total mess of it though.

Not a definitive thought, I reckon Sesko could make a better run here and moved towards Amad. I can't see any angle in which that ball would have reached him in such a position. He's literally behind 2 defenders.

On Amad's end, he should have passed earlier when Sesko was at the edge of the box. As long as we're past that the best decision was just a desperate shot.

 

[Matt851]

We do not 'need' to get Sesko in the team. Sesko's all-round game needs a lot of work. Yesterday, prior to his goal, he was struggling to hold the ball up, or get on the ball. He needs to sharpen up his all round game.

Amad is playing well. He is consistent and provides a dependable outlet as an attacker. Some fans have v v short memories, he was superb against City, Arsenal. Now drop him? Why?

Mbuma is our leading striker, that's where I want to see him.

What we are suffering from, is Dorgu's injury. He provides a natural balance, and good energy to our team.

Amad is fine. He will get his goals. Needs to improve his right-foot of course, he should have had a shot at the end of the game, could have won us the match.

Mbuemo looked rather ineffective against a low block and we seemed to lack a presence in the box throughout the game. I agree we miss dorgus width, I guess we could try amad on the left

 

[jem]

Some real out there takes here after tonight. In both directions!

Big fan of his, but he's clearly been the most disappointing of our attacking players since Carrick took the reins. Some decent games, but nothing spectacular if you assess all five games. I would say Sesko's earned the right to start over him. For me, the most concerning thing is that it is games like yesterday we're most reliant on his skillset. His dribbling and close control should be key to unlocking tight defenses. Instead, he was completely anonymous.

My main worry about benching him is that he's really integral to our pressing game. But against deep blocks that is probably less important on the whole.

Still think he has all the tools to become a top class wide man, and I hope he steps up. Right now, though, he's not consistent enough, particularly in games where we're especially reliant on him to step up. And being a top player mean delivering in those games.

During that 4-match run, I think he was our second best attacking player after Bruno. Several close off-sides and a near worldy against City - he may not have scored, but he was very involved in the good stuff we produced.

 

[Olecurls99]

West Ham did everything they could to ensure he didn't get the ball 1 v 1. We've decided we want to play everybody but Cunha on the left wing. We were left with the deadlock that ensued.

 

[Ali Dia]

Talented player. The problem for him is all our play goes through Lisandro which means the ball rarely ends up on his side making him almost invisible. The team needs to learn to mix it up to get him more involved

Amad is just really playing within himself the last while. He's been tidy but been way better than this since when he first got into the team all the way up to when he left for the previous internationals. We should be able to rely on him to be one of our main creators and at his best he can be but I wouldn't be against giving someone else a few games at this point.

 

[Bastian]

Talented player. The problem for him is all our play goes through Lisandro which means the ball rarely ends up on his side making him almost invisible. The team needs to learn to mix it up to get him more involved

Against West Ham, yes. Not in the other matches under Carrick. It was the same with ETH: No Martinez, no joy. Totally reliant upon his technical ability playing out from the back. Theoretically, with Mainoo being capable of carrying the ball under pressure, we should not be this one dimensional.

I think the setup against West Ham was just disjointed. He kept the same team after being forced to change with the Dorgu injury. He played Cunha centrally and Mbeumo wide left, which seems strange given that Mbeumo is more threatening up front and Cunha is not really someone he can cross to but rather play one-twos with, which would not give Mbeumo good angles. Had we played with Sesko, I'd see the logic in Mbeumo wide left, but I guess it was because he's a more willing runner than Cunha when we're out of possession.

Our tempo was low, we did not stretch play, we kept doing the same things again and again, and it felt like we were watching an Amorim/ETH team (which, in many ways, is understandable). Our playing almost exclusively in small pockets on the left was not because we were forced to though.

I think he is the player in our team who is hardest to defend against. It was mad to see that game pass by with him being left on his own. At one point he went over to the left just to get involved.

 

[croadyman]

Maybe needs to feel some pressure for his place

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Over the course of the season he’s offering much of what Antony did in his first season. He’s an excellent out ball, cycles possession well and keeps it in tight spaces. However now he’s higher up the pitch he has to contribute more to chance creation and goals.

I’d consider starting Sesko next game and putting Mbeumo out wide. There’s more goals in those two right now which is likely gonna be better for us against teams that sit back.

 

[Silas]

Giggs was struggling with a hamstring injury during 1998/1999, not even the same comparison. The same goes for Becks. Those two played in the 4-4-2 era where the onus was on the two strikers to score the goals, whilst the rest of the team provided. When you play in a front three on the wings then you need to be more productive than someone who played on the wings in a 4-4-2. Wingers in the modern era for top clubs need to be productive.

The excuse about playing wing-back doesn’t wash too. Wing back doesn’t stop you attacking. Diouf from West Ham has four assists and AWB has three, and both play as fullbacks. Amad is miles better than both, but we need more from him. He is capable of going that extra gear.

How can you believe both of the bolded at the same time? If you don’t think that wingback excuses lower numbers, why does playing as a winger in a 442 excuse it?

 

[Bojan11]

How can you believe both of the bolded at the same time? If you don’t think that wingback excuses lower numbers, why does playing as a winger in a 442 excuse it?

Beckham and Giggs didn’t have low numbers though when it came to assisting. Unless you disagree? Their job wasn’t to score, but provide for the two strikers. And I didn’t say he should be scoring goals from wing back, but he should have been assisting more than he has considering some of the names I mentioned have more assists than him and they play as traditional fullbacks.

 

[caid]

Beckham and Giggs didn’t have low numbers though when it came to assisting. Unless you disagree? Their job wasn’t to score, but provide for the two strikers. And I didn’t say he should be scoring goals from wing back, but he should have been assisting more than he has considering some of the names I mentioned have more assists than him and they play as traditional fullbacks.

I'm a lot less partial to assists as a stat but its a fair point. More would be nice but scoring goals wouldn't be my primary concern at this point. And i can live with wingers having some lean spells more than most positions on the pitch. It feels like it comes with the territory a bit to me. It is a lean spell, he's been in better form previously, i'd agree on that.
Maybe theres an element of players being more familiar with him too.
Our current formation and tactics feel very much like a 442 to me. More so when dorgu was playing but that would be my reference. Beckham and Giggs in 99 felt like a high bar that i dont expect many players to hit but a fairer comparison than Robben or whoever.

 

[Teja]

West Ham did everything they could to ensure he didn't get the ball 1 v 1. We've decided we want to play everybody but Cunha on the left wing. We were left with the deadlock that ensued.

Yep because he isn't a left wing player and the squad was built for a 3-4-3. I think if Dorgu was around at LB it would've been a bit better. The other problem with Cunha is the running. Mbeumo can do the thankless job of covering all the angles when we're pressing goal kicks. Cunha doesn't. So we play him at CF and give him less running to do. Mbeumo gets played at LW and we make him jump between the opposition winger, CM etc.

Anyway, it's one game. This wasn't the setup the previous game. Carrick is trying many different little tweaks every game trying to get our players in a position where we maximize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. I admire him for it.

 

[criticalanalysis]

This clip shows the phenomenal work rate of Amad and Mbeumo, followed by Yoro's great block. He's had a real mixed bag last game but his attitude combined with 1 vs 1 ability is unique in the squad.

I get calls for rotation but for me, it will be Cunha first before Amad.

 

[TsuWave]

 

[WesB]

Loads of chancea I wouldnt even expect In form Haaland or Kane to score on.. weird video imo. Good player, developing well. Dont need that whole 'would have been better if "point to someone" would be better '

 

[Tallis]

He has been good most times I have seen him play this season. Hasn’t had the numbers but that’s a little bit because of being played deeper during the Amorim phase and luck.

 

[We need an rvn]

He’s definitely improved, and improving - but he’s not really producing the goals we need from a wide attacking player at the moment. But he’s not the finished article and I don’t think there’s enough competition for him at the moment.

Semenyo would have been the perfect signing to add experience / competition for the slot (I know some will post he might have taken Amad’s spot but that’s what happens at top clubs)

 

[McLvnsMuse]

Key to our game but needs to make adjustments that will make things easier on the team. Pick an effective cross going in or outside the fullback.

If defenders respect his inswinger then the game opens up even more for him.

Pick better shooting targets. Feels like his shots are still quite central

 

[FrankWhite]

Decision making is his biggest issue. Specifically when to release the pass, like it is with most wingers. He hadn't had many years at the top level so clearly still improving. The raw talent is there.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

Decision making is his biggest issue. Specifically when to release the pass, like it is with most wingers. He hadn't had many years at the top level so clearly still improving. The raw talent is there.

Agreed, clearly has the talent but he does make the wrong decision quite a lot of the time, hopefully that comes with more experience. He’s doing a solid job at the minute, I’m sure he’ll get a few goals soon and it’ll click for him a bit more.

Should be rotated with the rest of the front 4, opposition depending.

 

[FrankWhite]

Agreed, clearly has the talent but he does make the wrong decision quite a lot of the time, hopefully that comes with more experience. He’s doing a solid job at the minute, I’m sure he’ll get a few goals soon and it’ll click for him a bit more.

Should be rotated with the rest of the front 4, opposition depending.

I agree. Of the front 4, the only two attackers that should be automatic starters for the rest of the season are Bruno and Mbeumo. They bring a level of consistency and maturity to our play. The rest should be rotated depending on the game/ game state. This is still light years ahead of what we had last year in Hojlund, Garnacho and a disinterested Rashford.

 

[Ollie Derbyshire]

I agree. Of the front 4, the only two attackers that should be automatic starters for the rest of the season are Bruno and Mbeumo. They bring a level of consistency and maturity to our play. The rest should be rotated depending on the game/ game state. This is still light years ahead of what we had last year in Hojlund, Garnacho and a disinterested Rashford.

Absolutely I see it as a positive that we have 5 attacking players, 6 if you include Dorgu, that can play high energy football whilst also offering different types of threats.

I don’t worry or buy into worrying about lack of game time for any of them.

 

[sprezza]

However he progresses in future, I'll always appreciate the fact that he didn't ever complain about being moved to RWB, during an important stage of his development. His head must have been spinning with everything Amorim asked of him, but he never wilted. Amad appears to have an exemplary attitude.

 

[FrankWhite]

However he progresses in future, I'll always appreciate the fact that he didn't ever complain about being moved to RWB, during an important stage of his development. His head must have been spinning with everything Amorim asked of him, but he never wilted. Amad appears to have an exemplary attitude.

I think he just happy to have the game time after his treatment by ETH.

 

[P-Nut]

I'd let him be the impact sub against Everton. Sesko deserves to start after his recent performances, which makes it Cunha Vs Amad for me and Cunha is more natural on the left, despite not being a perfect fit.

 

[red_de_pologne]

sometimes I wonder if people actually watch our games.. his work rate, creativity, relentlessness are instrumental to our game

 

[Gordon S]

sometimes I wonder if people actually watch our games.. his work rate, creativity, relentlessness are instrumental to our game

Indeed, Cunha has some magic moments here and there but not nearly as instrumental over 90 imo.

 

[Stickz]

I'd let him be the impact sub against Everton. Sesko deserves to start after his recent performances, which makes it Cunha Vs Amad for me and Cunha is more natural on the left, despite not being a perfect fit.

that’s where I am. Put Mbeumo back in his best position too.