Rude and harsh and, not a million years ago, us!

He needs to be fed. He is no goal out of nothing player. Do we have the midfield to supply him? Last night suggests we do; but perhaps not against top defences. Maybe our new Brazilian is the answer? Trouble is, we won't know until way after the window closes and, by then, it will be too late.

It would be lovely if he came good as it would save a fortune on a new striker and we could spend the money on... full backs?

We negotiated a reduced fee and got him for £10m (11m euros)

what you won't see is them day in, day out on the training field, which is a better indicator of who has the potential to contribute the most in matches. Let's face it, neither of them are world beaters, but Roy obviously sees more in Edouard (I do too not that that matters), and we can't sell both of them can we!

I am very close to this view. I think there is a concurrence that he is not a compact player but not as bad as he is described. He had moments during Viera’s first year but i believe that he became victim of clueless football at last season. He is more a player who can put it in if we constantly hang around penalty box which seems to be the case with Roy since April. He is also cheap compared to EPL standards and as long as we can not swap him with decent alternative, he needs to stay. So we would avoid writing him off.

September & October (Olise and Franca will join) will be interesting to see how much he and Eduard will comply with the trend we have.

My opinion on their strengths has long been:

Mateta = Physical presence and looks to 'get on the end of things'.
Edouard = Fleet of foot, better technically, likes to be 'put through' to finish.

Of course neither is completely incapable of the other aspects in case that crops up for some.

So far however we've failed to provide either of the aforementioned scenarios with consistency and quality. Therefore hard to tell who's best placed up top! If we are putting neither through on goals nor providing anything for them to get on the end of, they'll both look awful. The slow build up we often exhibit contributes towards this IMHO.

A full force of Franca, Eze, Olise, Ayew, Doucoure etc. may well provide the service to make a better informed call, for me anyway. The absence of Wilf, who tbh would always hog a lot of the attention and intention for us going forward, may also provide a more rounded 'team' effort whereby any striker will be afforded more chances. Just a theory nothing more.

Edited by Nicholas91 (30 Aug 2023 3.19pm)

Now Zaha's got a bit of green grass ahead of him here... and finds Ambrose... not a bad effort!!!!

Edouard: Lazy, Not over Physical, not much anticipaction, has a dowlness about him, 6-10
Mateta, Harder working, Physical, Good header, reasonable anticipation, happy outlook, 7/10

“That’s a joke son, I say, that’s a joke.” “Nice boy, but he’s sharp as a throw pillow.” “He’s so dumb he thinks a Mexican border pays rent” “ “Son… I say, son, some people are so narrow minded they can look through a keyhole with both eyes.”__ Forhorn Leghorn