Roy discussed Edouard after the game and acknowledged that he was not a target man type centre forward, but more of a technical player with a skilful technique.
I think this is right, but it means that there are games where Edouard doesn’t appear to be making any contribution at all.
It has to be ‘his type of game ‘ for Edouard to make a contribution which can make him seem a bit of a luxury on occasions.
This issue can be compounded as he doesn’t win headers, bully defenders and can be crowded off the ball.
For me the jury is still out on Edouard and I would need to see more than the initial few games of this season to be convinced.
I hope he can continue his form and that we can find a way of providing a service that suits his game.

He needs to.

Most of us would list 'striker' in the positions we would most like reinforcements, but we sometimes overlook that Palace have spent fairly decent money on players for that position in recent times - step forward Messers Edouard and Mateta. We can't generally give up on a player after a year or even two when we've spent out on them. In the same way that a dog is for life and not just for Christmas, we've got a longer-term commitment to these forwards. Even if they do s*** in the corner and rip the sofas.

I have been critical of Edouard, and especially of Mateta, but I'd far rather they improved than were replaced. I think that left to his own devices Edouard would like to play free off of Mateta, picking the ball up in gaps as he did for our third goal yesterday. We can't have two lazy forwards on the pitch at once very often, so he'll have to keep on improving as a lone no9. Goals are great, but he needs to lead the line, press defenders, hold the ball up, attack crosses etc far more than seems natural to him. In that regard, his first goal was both impressive and encouraging.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (04 Sep 2023 5.24pm)