19 hours ago, EmeraldBlue said:

Higuain has potential and we should keep him. He's the most dangerous striker since Costa. I know the stats don't agree but he is finding his feet and our midfield hasn't been creating a ton of chances for him to convert. Not perfect but he will get there.

If he is still finding his feet they must have bene fking well hidden. Nowhere near good enough and will be preventing talent to flourish purely because of previous reputation/cronyism/foreign so must be great/clubs obsession with Italian walking football.

For all his flaws he actually helps us against low block teams. His movement keeps defenders honest and leaves space for the rest of the team to operate in, since he's joined there's been a marked improvement on our performances against teams setting out to frustrate us.

Where he does become useless is in games like yesterday when the opposition leave a lot of space to be exploited on the counter which ironically was the type of tactics that brought good performances out of Morata, who in the opposite to Gonzalo was useless against low block sides.

2 hours ago, Argo said:

For all his flaws he actually helps us against low block teams. His movement keeps defenders honest and leaves space for the rest of the team to operate in, since he's joined there's been a marked improvement on our performances against teams setting out to frustrate us.

Where he does become useless is in games like yesterday when the opposition leave a lot of space to be exploited on the counter which ironically was the type of tactics that brought good performances out of Morata, who in the opposite to Gonzalo was useless against low block sides.

Is this another way of saying Morata played on the shoulders of the last defender whereas Higuaín tries to find space between the lines?

4 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Is this another way of saying Morata played on the shoulders of the last defender whereas Higuaín tries to find space between the lines?

so are you calling Higuain the Argentine Inzaghi?

Just now, robdog said:

so are you calling Higuain the Argentine Inzaghi?

Not yet and not sure he will be here long enough to make any comparisons.....................

32 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Not yet and not sure he will be here long enough to make any comparisons.....................

well dude is a season International player that has played in big leagues, we can draw from that body of work. Me personally, Higuain is just a big track bully, feasting on lower level competition. I would put him more in line of a Anelka, but Anelka played with a lot more clubs through his career.

3 hours ago, Argo said:

For all his flaws he actually helps us against low block teams. His movement keeps defenders honest and leaves space for the rest of the team to operate in, since he's joined there's been a marked improvement on our performances against teams setting out to frustrate us.

Where he does become useless is in games like yesterday when the opposition leave a lot of space to be exploited on the counter which ironically was the type of tactics that brought good performances out of Morata, who in the opposite to Gonzalo was useless against low block sides.

Yeah I guess, it's still better than what Morata offered us I agree, but sadly it's still not good enough and our striker woes continue. 

Which is even more worrying considering we have a transfer ban and our options are thinner than Alan Shearers hairline. 

Just now, Slojo said:

Yeah I guess, it's still better than what Morata offered us I agree, but sadly it's still not good enough and our striker woes continue. 

Which is even more worrying considering we have a transfer ban and our options are thinner than Alan Shearers hairline. 

If it comes to it (which i don't think it will) i would actually try to get Morata back if humanly possible and extend Gonzalo's loan. Bare in mind this is the Hobson's choice between what we have got not actually what i want to happen.

Giroud wants too big a role, Tammy should have a PL loan especially if Villa go up and Bats is totally useless. Morata and Higuain are somewhat useful in the circumstance the other is useless so will compliment eachother if we can call it that 

5 minutes ago, Argo said:

If it comes to it (which i don't think it will) i would actually try to get Morata back if humanly possible and extend Gonzalo's loan. Bare in mind this is the Hobson's choice between what we have got not actually what i want to happen.

Giroud wants too big a role, Tammy should have a PL loan especially if Villa go up and Bats is totally useless. Morata and Higuain are somewhat useful in the circumstance the other is useless so will compliment eachother if we can call it that 

Just think of Morata's confidence then... A complete reject, he'll probably play badly out of spite with how bad his attitude was this season. 

Bats will probably be our best choice out of it all, or maybe Tammy but he has no PL experience like you said, that's really risky leading the line with just a youngster. 

Our hands are tired really, do we go with mediocre or really inexperienced? I mean, with Morata or Higuain we'll at least get some goals out of them. 

Watch him score a brace tomorrow. 

All you guys saying give him time, he needs time to adapt, he needs a pre season.

You all realise how much Higuain gets paid every week to be as good as he is, what a joke.

Need him gone end of season.

I have no problem getting rid of him if it meant using the likes of Abraham, etc but we all know that's not going to happen so you might as well keep him and hope he gets better with pre season.

I think we should let Huguain go this summer and look elsewhere regardless of whether we are banned or not.

I don't even think a pre season will make that much difference.

His best days are behind him and isn't the player he once was, let alone the speed and intensity of this league compared to what he's been used to.

So unless he has a time machine that he has access to in the summer then I don't really understand how people would be expecting a dramatic improvement for next season.

36 minutes ago, Remodez said:

I have no problem getting rid of him if it meant using the likes of Abraham, etc but we all know that's not going to happen so you might as well keep him and hope he gets better with pre season.

Might as well recall Morata then if Atletico Madrid decide not to to buy him in the summer. He has had a far better loan spell & he is on our books.

We can just keep signing players because they supposedly know how a “system” works. The only winner if we loan/buy Higuain next season is Juve because they don’t want him back

Morata coming back is just a no go in my opinion, if he didnt look up for the fight before, can you imagine his attitude if we bring him back against his wishes! 

I think if higuian had came in the summer, off the back a good year with Juventus, he wouldve had a better chance at hitting the ground running, especially with teams finding it difficult to adjust to our new style. 

Now I dont think these 4 months have set him up to be a success here, so it would be better to let him go back. No real harm done since it was only a loan. 

The trouble is finding that striker that can be everything we need. Jovic looks like the best candidate, but it seems Madrid are front of the queue for him. Icardi was the one a lot of fans wanted to see here, but with all the off field turbulence he has been involved in this season, his stock has fallen considerably. 

Abraham I think would score goals, but I'm not convinced the club will back him. 

Really poor that the club have gotten themselves into a position where every one of our rivals 2nd choice striker options, are better than our 1st! 

I guess alot will depend on the ban though.

In the ban scenario, I would see the possibility of Abraham playing 70mins and then someone like Giroud makes an appearance.

I guess we were spoilt with Costa (at least for a season) and miscalculated Morata would be the same.

He had a pre-season with AC Milan, and he wasn't good there either, so an extra month of training won't make him move faster. Initially, he was not up to the pace of the game, now he's still not up there completely, but when he got a few chances, he fluffed them. That last minute chance last weekend could be the season deciding one, put that in he deserved to stay, but he didn't.

He had a pre-season with AC Milan, and he wasn't good there either, so an extra month of training won't make him move faster. Initially, he was not up to the pace of the game, now he's still not up there completely, but when he got a few chances, he fluffed them. That last minute chance last weekend could be the season deciding one, put that in he deserved to stay, but he didn't.

We should sign him. A quality 9. 

On 01/05/2019 at 09:05, Remodez said:

I have no problem getting rid of him if it meant using the likes of Abraham, etc but we all know that's not going to happen so you might as well keep him and hope he gets better with pre season.

If we have to serve the ban Higuain and Abraham is probably our best combination.

For all of Gonzalo's faults his movement has been excellent and drags defenders and creates space for the others which is a big reason we aren't as laboured as we were with false 9/Morata/Giroud.

He’s such an uninspiring player.

Took his goal well yesterday but looked so off the pace for the other 75 minutes he played.

If we want to improve as a team we should steer clear of signing him next season.

I am worried about Abraham, particularly as a first choice.

He scores goals but from what I've seen his ball control is Lukaku-standard, and I'm not sure that his movement/finishing/aerial ability is good enough to compensate. 

Moreover, coming straight from the Championship into a Top 4 PL side is a huge ask. Vardy is the closest example I've seen to a Championship striker firing his side to a PL title, and even then he took a season to get going. 

Edited May 6, 20197 yr by DaRick
Clarification

49 minutes ago, DaRick said:

I am worried about Abraham, particularly as a first choice.

He scores goals but from what I've seen his ball control is Lukaku-standard, and I'm not sure that his movement/finishing/aerial ability is good enough to compensate. 

Moreover, coming straight from the Championship into a Top 4 PL side is a huge ask. Vardy is the closest example I've seen to a Championship striker firing his side to a PL title, and even then he took a season to get going. 

Abraham as first choice would definitely be worrisome.  I think he would do well as a often used substitute, coming on to use his pace and finishing against tired legs.

We do need to find a replacement as first choice, for sure.  Higuain is not the answer, from what I've seen.  Good finish on the goal, but he has definitely looked labored.  His technical ability has left something to be desired, as well.  Countless times his touch has failed him, in the box especially.

7 hours ago, Argo said:

If we have to serve the ban Higuain and Abraham is probably our best combination.

For all of Gonzalo's faults his movement has been excellent and drags defenders and creates space for the others which is a big reason we aren't as laboured as we were with false 9/Morata/Giroud.

I'm not 100% if we can sign higuain with the ban, does anyone know? 

5 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

I'm not 100% if we can sign higuain with the ban, does anyone know? 

We can trigger his loan extension if we want to keep him for a further season.