He was the first one over when Luka netted the pen. He had a big grin on his face which is good to see. Hopefully we'll see the Tekkers of old.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Time to bite the bullet on Benteke' by bexleydave

Second that! It is enough now of the big Belgian...

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Time to bite the bullet on Benteke' by bexleydave

Hear me out here.....while I agree he was poor against West ham I do think he showed an improvement against Fulham. He was winning alot in the air and got to ball to ayew quite often. Today he plays up front on his own and looks like a waste of space. Big Sam always saod we needed to have someone up top to get the ball of him but today everyone was played too far away from him so he just have it away every time.

I want to see a batshuayi Benteke partnership up front this season, if that doesn't work then nothing will and it'll be time to call it a day on him.

This post has been merged from a topic called 'Time to bite the bullet on Benteke' by bexleydave

Never looks like he will do anything of merit. Bats does more in 5 minutes than Benteke does in 5 games!!!!! Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out who needs to be on the bench for the rest of the season!!!

The two are very different strikers.

As soon as Bats came on we were playing to his strengths and looking for the ball over the top and in behind.

Benteke spends the whole game isolated and competing for the ball with no support near him. If we continue with Wilf on the left and Andros on the right, you'll never get the best out of him, because the ball doesn't get into the box quick enough. He's always having to stop and wait for it, and then deal with a centre half.

Also worth pointing out that in terms of his movement, if McArthur had squared the ball properly on two occassions Benteke had got himself in position for a tap in.

Maybe the two together would work, but I do worry it would leave us exposed in the middle.

Employee of the month is a good example of how someone can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.

Think it's safe to say that Benteke has a real problem playing in Roy's system. His job is to win high balls and then wait in the penalty box while our wingers and midfielders run around endlessly or pass the ball incessantly trying to thread a needle or get to the byeline. Benteke is a back post forward, but nearly all our crosses are low from the byeline and are cut out by the three defenders standing in front of him as they should be and he's just left waiting there. When Bats came on that approach looked more dangerous, but we also started hitting more long balls as we were desperate and actually hit in some decent earlier crosses. Thing is then there was no Benteke in the box and Bats showed that he cannot challenge a centre half for a long punt up the field. He clearly doesn't like playing with his back to a big centre half. Not a criticism, it's a genuine skill and one he doesn't possess.
As for Benteke he generally gets one chance a game in this system. Last week he hit the bar, this week Fabianski made a good save. We need the feet that Bats showed against Fulham in the box, but we also need the physical prescence up front. Roy's conundrum IMO is to somehow get them both on the pitch without giving up midfield. Can Bats play as a wide forward, but who do you drop in a 4-3-3. In a 4-4-2 who plays with Luka and do we play more direct. I personally have no problem with a bit of hoofball till the end of the season.

That's Life
And as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks stompin' on a Dream.
KEEP THE FAITH!!!!!