I think he's still in quarantine and we just brought some random bloke on tonight so we weren't all disappointed after all the hype.
I'm still excited about his prospects with us. For 25 minutes he didn't get up to speed (but neither did anyone pick him out) but there was a glimpse in the last five minutes of what he offers with two tussles in the box and a couple of headers where we won the second ball. Have faith.
Unfair to judge him after a week at the club on extremely limited service versus a top 6 PL side IMO. The MLS isn't as bad as people make out. There are a lot of good players and a lot of money floating about. Give him a couple more weeks and see where he's at then. If he was a permanent signing I'd say give him while next season and I think he'll come good, but seeing as he's a short term loan we pretty much do need to see fireworks in the next 2-3 weeks for it to be a success.
WOW! I know this BB is regularly turning into 'cynics' corner' but this thread is unbelievable with some of the negativity being aimed at Dike. The lad was on 30 minutes got absolutely no service and the only time he got near the ball was when he pressured and dispossessed a a Chelsea player and got a couple of touches in the box. Some on here are practically writing him off already. What did they expect? Whilst we played the press high and very well, the possession statistics showed overwhelmingly in favour of Chelski. He is a striker and as such needs the ball to be able to show any skill. He found space a lot of the time but the ball never came anywhere near him. Very poor comments on here IMO. Jeez. Give the lad a chance.
Needs to work harder and be more involved in the press as that’s a key element of our system. Also needs to consider passing to a better placed teammate when our wide and shooting is unlikely to result in much. Got in some decent positions against strong opposition though. Needs more time with the team and on the pitch before we can judge.
Agreed. You can't do much with the ball if you don't have it. I think he'll get more accustomed to the press and I'm still excited to see what he can do.
He looked unfit and yards off the pace. His touch was questionable. His positioning and pressing weren’t very good hence the service from other players. (My observations obviously.) This may be the fact he’s had a week to get ready, or that he’s not used to playing in negative temperatures.... I hope it is.
Wonderful game is football, I saw something completely different I thought the Chelsea centre halves looked uncomfortable with him and didn’t want him to get a touch. He looked like an unpolished, slightly off the pace, complete potential nuisance. I hope he can become that nuisance
Dave Regis and Kayode Odejayi had nuisance value too. I hope he has much more to him that just nuisance.
I thought he was going to be the only American not to use the word " blessing" but I thought wrong! Barnsley FC (@barnsleyfc) Tweeted: Welcome to Oakwell! https://t.co/hG80fdYjnM
I think he’ll do better than the forwards we sent out on loan did, but not well enough to lead to a clamour for his permanent signing
By the time he probably starts to look good in our style of play etc will be at the end of his loan period I think.
Some of the comments on here are truly bizarre. Way to go Reds fans, welcoming a player from another country to our club. Give him time to settle in, he's only played 30 minutes against a Premier League side
He didn't have a great debut though. I thought we looked better with Adeboyejo and Chaplin on the pitch. On first viewing no better than what we already have.
At times he was the only one pressing towards the end. I get that pressing is only effective when done in groups, but to say he needs to work harder is a bit harsh. He needs more time to recognise the triggers for the press & to get adjust to the pace, but there was nothing wrong with his effort.
We did - I agree. But that's why you have a game plan and substitutes. Vic and Chappers ran themselves into the ground. All I'm saying It's too early to judge a player after 30 minutes against a PL side - on debut
It was a pretty poor debut all in all, but at the same time what a difficult debut to make. Coming on with 30 minutes to go in the FA Cup against Chelsea - a Champions League team. Think we need to be much kinder in our comments as he won't be lining up against many, if any, Euro 2021 defenders over the next three months. My concern was more around fitness and the press. He was waving his arms at times expecting the other forwards to be right up with him but they were keeping the shape for press opportunity after the pass. That can be developed though and his size and determination will unsettle many a Championship defender. The MLS is better than some are suggesting too.