And what if the fire in his belly is just not there anymore? That would explain the not busting a gut for the cause. We can't afford passengers in our predicament. Two or three more games and if he shows he is no more than an average player now seriously we should get rid asap.

Big chest and massive boobs

[Link]

We’re obviously going to get one striker in anyway and I think it would be good business to sell Benteke if we can get most of our money back and bring someone young and hungry in. I’m not sure Benteke has still got the fire in his belly anymore.

It all depends on how Roy's planning to play. If we go by how he's played since he's come in, it's hard to see how Benteke is a nailed on starter for us. Roy seems to like a high intensity game with a lot of movement.

The problem with Benteke is trying to over use the direct approach with him. His aerial ability should be an option, but we shouldn't just be launching balls to him all game just because he's there and hoping something comes of it. He should be used to stretch defences when we struggle to break down teams in possession - that way it's unpredictable and it potentially frees up space for some of our creative players.

Benteke is a target man, we can give him as much stick as we like but in his specific role there isn't many better about. If we build a team around him he will be a 15-20 goal a season striker easily.

If you asked me this as the start of the season I'd say you're crazy and I'm still a massive fan of his, but we don't build the team around him, we build it around Wilf and I do get the feeling Roy prefers forward players with more mobility in the system that he uses.

As a team we haven't scored enough goals this season. That problem has to come down to the team from midfield up. We can't just not score much and then blame it all on a striker who's been out injured. If he's to play we need to give him better service, but more importantly smarter service. I don't think he's a lost cause yet, I can pretty much guarantee if he went to Chelsea and Morata got injured he'd be banging them in for fun. His qualities undeniable but I guess it's more of a case of how he fits into our particular plans.

Edited by Mstrobez (28 Nov 2017 10.25pm)

We're the Arthur over ere!

At the moment I don't think we should be playing him for the full 90 minutes, we get stuck in the rut of just hoofing balls up to him and it's predictable. We should have Wilf and Andros up front and bring him on later or vica versa, gives us more options, gives him something to prove.

Bangell - If Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus today, it would be about Jason Puncheon eternally trying and failing to pass with his right foot.

In which case i’m very glad you’re not picking our team. Benteke is a 1 in 3 man. Wickham is decent backup but more like 1 in 6 or 7.

Vive le Roy!

Ability and effort are different things. I never said being a striker guarantees goals. But a fit Benteke, does. He did it at Villa...had a good rate at Liverpool for the amount he played, scores for Belgium when he plays and had a good first season for us.

Like I said, give the guy a break. You can't expect him to come in for his first start and completely changed the game.

He'll come right.

Edited by sprites (28 Nov 2017 10.48pm)