You'd be surprised.

Let's bust a myth here.

Take a look at this analysis of Benteke and Antonio from last season. Tekkers had more shots, more shots on target and from closer range! Not a lot in it but the comparison is pretty exact.

Goal output - identical. Tekkers had a slightly better goal per minute ratio

[Link]

Edited by Omph (01 Sep 2021 10.27am)

Edited by Omph (01 Sep 2021 10.32am)

I reckon Edouard is going to be a massive hit for us. He’s only 23 and now has a huge opportunity to put the last 12 months behind him and refind his form. He was clearly unhappy at Celtic and no longer wanted to be there or perform for them.

I think he will be immense and as a result one of the bigger boys will be in for him before too long, Everton for instance, as a replacement for Richarlison when they finally sell him or Tottenham when Bale finally gets his move.

Notable I think that Tekkers hit form when Eze began to come into his own and that also coincided with Wilf falling off as an outlet for goals. The pattern of out play changed fairly significantly to me. Wilf was wider and we were less predictable as an attacking unit as we had more than one outlet from defence. Put simply I suspect Tekkers had more space than he had when everything was channeled down the left to Wilf.

Have an open mind right now about the respective merits of Edouard and Tekkers - not least because I'v only caught highlight reels of Edouard. I do think though that Tekkers has too easily been written off by many here. One of the more encouraging things I heard Vieira say was that Tekkers is among the very best headers of the ball in the league. Backed up the number of goals he scored with his head last season - close to a league high. It's a weapon and the first goal against WH came via that route - simply a knock down for Gallagher to finish.

if you extended your analysis over the last 4 years and not just the purple batch Tekkers enjoyed over the last few months of last season i suspect the results will not be so good.

Just look at the last home game v Brentford. 2nd half Wilf attacks down the left and puts a decent ball into the 6 yard box. Tekkers at no point makes a run into space and 'hides' behind the defender.

This is not a one off he has been doing the same for a number of years. The occasional exception e.g near post header v WBA away, does not make Tekkers a 6 yard box poacher.

I hope he is a hit, but he has come from a league equivalent to our league1 overall. It’s a big step up, Sorloth and Mateta couldn’t do it. I doubt he will feature for sometime, unless we have injuries.
The expectation sometimes is too much for some players,it will be interesting to see how he performs.

I do have some sympathy with our forwards...Wilf doesn't exactly release the ball as early as they would want. Can you imagine making a run only to constantly find Wilf wants to keep the ball to himself!

I have heard so many top ex strikers point out that early balls into the box are key. Wilf, for all his pace and flair, actually manages to slow down our attacks sometimes. I would love to see Wilf play some first time crosses now and then.