There is a lot of talk about bringing in a striker but we have Ayew, Zaha, Wickham, and Benteke who can play up front. I admit Benteke and Wickham are finding their way back from injury but feel in wide area's we have no real cover for Zaha or Townsend hence why they played against Grimsby in the cup.
There is also a definite trend in moving wingers down the middle like we have with Zaha but also Watford have with Deulofeu and Liverpool with Salah.
Remember i think at this stage last season or the season before we only had Benteke up front with no real cover and feel we could be similarly situation if we don't bring in cover for the wide positions.

I don't think there is a debate to be had here. Genuinely imagine where we would be in the table had we had someone like a Wilson or Vardy upfront.

I know we have two good wingers but at the same token they aren't wingers that are getting to the byline and putting crosses in the box, both are players that cut in and drive at the box. I don't think we are missing a Benteke or a Wickham as we don't really play to their strengths other than they are a good focal point if we need to punt it up field and hold it up.

If we had a quick hard working striker like a Wilson or Vardy that will press from the front and can finish then I think we would be comfortably sat in the top 10 not scrapping around like we are.

I think they had the right idea in Ayew, it's just he's not at the level we need.

I am hearing your points about needing a striker but I disagree it is priority. You need a balanced squad with cover across all positions which we don't really have out wide. Hopefully Benteke or and Wickham will get a few goals and we can trade one them in the summer for a Vardy\Wilson style forward.
The failure to convert chances ( the Cardiff and Burnley games in particular ) has not been down to one player missing all the chances but it is the team as a whole missing them. McCarthur who i think is a good finisher missed one against Watford but Zaha has missed a few as have most of the rest of the midfield. PVA missed against Man U and the list goes on. Ayew has not really had a massive amount of chances when he played and is starting to look like a decent player in recent weeks in my opinion.

Actually agree that the need for a winger is greater at this point. If Zaha or Andros get injured we'll feel it much more than Benteke or Wickham getting injured again. Ideally we sign both but that's probably not happening. That Jarrod Bowen we were linked with would be a good investment, only 22 and seems to have a goal in him.

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold...

Trouble is over half the league could do with a goal scorer including the likes of Chelsea. So what hope do we have of getting anyone decent