20 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

Errm

Yes?

2 hours ago, enigma said:

He had a couple of decent chances, but one was from an angle which he hit the post. The other was where he chested it down and hit it, which went wide from a deflection.

I wouldn't write him off considering other top strikers have taken a season or two to adapt to the league, and he's spoken about his struggles. He is 31 so not past it.

I don't think he'll be staying next season though if we have this summer to sign players. The problem is, who is out there?

Top level strikers are hard to come by, especially for Chelsea lol. We seem to flip a coin with strikers we buy to see how good they are.

Costa and Drogba are literally the two best strikers we've had since Roman too over. I always think back to 2011 and when we had the chance to sign Aguero. 

I think he is past it. Higuain is 31, but plays like he is 35 because of the way he has handled his fitness over the years. It was the same with Rooney. If Rooney had looked after himself, he would probably still be at United right now.

I went to see Bocca Jrs play LA Galaxy in a friendly, must been 9 years ago. The Bocca fans were very loud & one standing right next to me was very big on this insult and it applies to our underperforming loanee - ‘BURRO’ !!

When it comes to signing strikers,

The board just seem to have brain farts.

7 hours ago, Zeta said:

Yes?

Sorry, i was joking. You said that if the ball falls to him in the box you're sure he'll hit the target. He then chested the ball down inside the box and missed the target (deflected away actually)

Football is about opinions and I am in a minority of one on this one but still think he played well apart from one careless pass. Held up the ball, good movement, bad luck with the upright. He even had a small distracting role in Hazard's beauty. A fading force perhaps but he can still do us a favour or two before season's end.

 

Higuain a few months after retirement 

40 minutes ago, Scott Harris said:

Higuain a few months after retirement 

He filmed it last month.

Truly a ghastly centre forward. I don’t want to see him play for us again. There was one point today where he came on and was played through, and instead of getting the ball under control or getting a shot off he looked up at the linesman - what on Earth are you doing? Play the ball and wait for the whistle if you’re offside. He’s so frustrating and finished at the top level.

3 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Truly a ghastly centre forward. I don’t want to see him play for us again. There was one point today where he came on and was played through, and instead of getting the ball under control or getting a shot off he looked up at the linesman - what on Earth are you doing? Play the ball and wait for the whistle if you’re offside. He’s so frustrating and finished at the top level.

Pretty much.

He's actually far worse than Morata who himself was poor most of the time.
Looks absolutely lost and hopeless.

8 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

Truly a ghastly centre forward. I don’t want to see him play for us again. There was one point today where he came on and was played through, and instead of getting the ball under control or getting a shot off he looked up at the linesman - what on Earth are you doing? Play the ball and wait for the whistle if you’re offside. He’s so frustrating and finished at the top level.

Most people could see this, but we went and signed him anyway. I don't understand people that thought he would make a difference to us just because he played for Sarri before.

I don't know how many times it needs to be said, but Serie A and Premier League are worlds apart. These leagues are totally different in almost every way. Higuain was never going to be a success in England at his age. Its too physical and too fast for him and its clear that none of these things were considered when we signed him.

What makes it worse is that he was one of the players Sarri wanted. It just shows how little Sarri knows about how things work over here. 

Sarri has been like this pretty much all season. He just doesn't look like he can grasp English football.

Edited April 14, 20197 yr by Scott Harris

If Gonzalo was any slower, he'd be running backwards.

My biggest fear is that Sarri will waste the Hazard money on Higuian. He's yards off the pace and looks exactly like the player I feared we'd get before we signed him. Send him back to Italy and remember the golden rule, ' players playing in England for the first time over 30 have a very poor record of being a success' You can count on one hand the ones who have succeeded.

Looks like he’s putting weight on since he’s joined .. shockingly slow and out of sorts looks physique wise like  Brazilian Ronaldo when he played in soccer aid

14 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

 

I don't know how many times it needs to be said, but Serie A and Premier League are worlds apart. These leagues are totally different in almost every way.

Yet everyone still tries to use us not signing Piatek as a negative or want us to sign Icardi. 

On 09/04/2019 at 20:45, M.M.B said:

When it comes to signing strikers,

The board just seem to have brain farts.

It's not really the boards fault in terms of strikers though. It's more the managers we have had. Mourniho wanted an over the hill Rooney, instead of giving Lukaku minutes he continued to use a past it Torres and signed Eto'o. We signed Costa which was a good signing but he's a hostile character, and never settled in England and was always wanting and looking to leave. We signed Morata who most chelsea fans wanted over Lukaku but he was rubbish too. The club then BACKED there manager and got Higuain who Sarri wanted. Not sure how its the boards fault. The only bad choice from the board was probably signing Batshayui.

34 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Yet everyone still tries to use us not signing Piatek as a negative or want us to sign Icardi. 

Piatek at £35m was a low risk investment young, & this is his 1st full season in Serie A so worth the gamble. On the fence regarding Icardi though at the muted £90m price.

I'd take Jovic or Piatek for next season.

Higuain was never going to be a permanent signing and he's struggled. We need a strong battle ready striker in the mould of Drogba / Costa, not a striker who needs loads of support constantly ie Morata.

5 minutes ago, Malcolm9 said:

I'd take Jovic or Piatek for next season.

Higuain was never going to be a permanent signing and he's struggled. We need a strong battle ready striker in the mould of Drogba / Costa, not a striker who needs loads of support constantly ie Morata.

Piatek has only just signed for Milan. I dont think he could move even if it was possible since ges already played for 2 clubs this year. 

Jovic I really like, he just seems to have that special something, I cant see him being a one season wonder in the way belotti has turned out to be. He has an excellent all round game. The trouble is there are alot of clubs being linked with him, so I doubt he will end up here, since we dont seem to be able to compete in the market these days. 

We were probably the most attractive club in England after we won the league under Mourinho, we didnt capitalize, and now we are probably the 4th or 5th most attractive destination in England, let alone Europe. So if we want the best players, we will have to overpay, but we dont seem to be showing a willingness to do that these days. 

Higuian was low risk, it hasn't worked out, and the search for a quality striker will continue. 

36 minutes ago, big blue said:

Piatek has only just signed for Milan. I dont think he could move even if it was possible since ges already played for 2 clubs this year. 

Jovic I really like, he just seems to have that special something, I cant see him being a one season wonder in the way belotti has turned out to be. He has an excellent all round game. The trouble is there are alot of clubs being linked with him, so I doubt he will end up here, since we dont seem to be able to compete in the market these days. 

We were probably the most attractive club in England after we won the league under Mourinho, we didnt capitalize, and now we are probably the 4th or 5th most attractive destination in England, let alone Europe. So if we want the best players, we will have to overpay, but we dont seem to be showing a willingness to do that these days. 

Higuian was low risk, it hasn't worked out, and the search for a quality striker will continue. 

In my opinion we are still the biggest London based team, so that's always an attraction to players. I think we'll be fine if we can look to get a pause on this transfer ban. If not look to bring in the likes of Mount, Abraham to support the squad going forward.

Personally I don’t think we will ever be a big attraction like we were before, unless we start competing in champions league more regularly.

City and Liverpool are more attractive than us at the moment. Tottenham is getting there, getting regular champions league football and new stadium. We really need to step it up if we want to turn into title contenders again.

I’m hopeful things will start to fall in place with Sarri next season, and with great football we may become more attractive.

1 hour ago, dansubrosa said:

Personally I don’t think we will ever be a big attraction like we were before, unless we start competing in champions league more regularly.

City and Liverpool are more attractive than us at the moment. Tottenham is getting there, getting regular champions league football and new stadium. We really need to step it up if we want to turn into title contenders again.

I’m hopeful things will start to fall in place with Sarri next season, and with great football we may become more attractive.

I agree with that, I think we behind United, city, and liverpool. Spurs still dont pay top wages so until that changes we will be ahead of them in terms of attracting players. Arsenal really need a couple of seasons back in the champions league to surpass us. 

We are definitely on the decline though. 

Higuain was a good short term solution (on paper) because Sarri knew him and could seemingly integrate him easily.  I knew he was slow, but not this slow.  The thing that irritated me about him yesterday is there were a couple of instances where he wasn't thinking and reacted to making a run too slowly.  Don't know if he wasn't mentally sharp enough to react quickly, or just not on the same page with the movements.  But it was painful.

Our striker purchases have been poor.  I think that's a symptom of not having a plan and a DoF.  If we were to establish a style and philosophy with a manager & DoF working together, we can acquire the players that suit a style.  Years of changing managers for short term successes have now left us with a long term problem.

Edited April 15, 20197 yr by Boston Blue

9 minutes ago, Boston Blue said:

Higuain was a good short term solution (on paper) because Sarri knew him and could seemingly integrate him easily.  I knew he was slow, but not this slow.  The thing that irritated me about him yesterday is there ere a couple of instances where he wasn't thinking and reacted to making a run too slowly.  Don't know if he wasn't mentally sharp enough to react quickly, or just not on the same page with the movements.  But it was painful.

Our striker purchases have been poor.  I think that's a symptom of not having a plan and a DoF.  If we were to establish a style and philosophy with a manager & DoF working together, we can acquire the players that suit a style.  Years of changing managers for short term successes have now left us with a long term problem.

It was honestly like watching a Sunday League player who is carrying on playing just so he doesn't have to sit at home with his Mrs, but should have hung up his boots a while ago.

Wonder if he was out with the lads on Saturday night and downed 10 Stella's followed by a kebab?