FT: WATFORD 0 - 1 CARDIFF CITY. Match thread

[Tuerto]

I think it's fair to use the way we play as a reason to defend many striker who have played for us in the recent past. I did say that other than Kieffer Moore, no striker has prospered at City since maybe Kewynne Jones, but, on second thoughts. if the criteria of judging how good or bad a striker is comes down to how many goals they score, then Sory Kaba could be included as well - there can also be a direct comparison between Etete and Kaba because they were at the club a the same time and I'd say Kaba wins that one.
However, we have seen experienced and, in some cases, proven strikers struggle to make an impact with us. Looking back, I'd say Etete is in line that includes Glatzel, Harris, Watters, Collins, Ikpeazu, Hugill, Wickham, Meite and Ugbo from recent seasons as strikers who found it hard to make an impact at Cardiff.
Someone like Wickham was a quality player in his day and was over the top by the time he came here, but the rest of them were older than Etete and of an age where they could not be said to have been on the brink of retirement. I'd also say that, for as long as I can remember, City have insisted on playing with a "big guy up front", a traditional target man who will battle for high balls knocked up to him. All of the players I've listed, plus Etete, have played as a target man for us even though it's not a role they're best suited for - I'd put Glatzel, Harris, Watters, Meite and Etete in that category.
Although, there a clear differences between them, I see some similarities between Etete and Kenneth Zohore in that they're big blokes up front who are far happier to have balls played into their feet rather than their heads because neither of them are very good at heading the ball. It's not a coincidence that Etete's most effective piece of target man play on Saturday came when the ball was played into his feet and he set up Colwill for a shot which didn't miss by that much, I think Etete has shown when he's more confident that he probably is now that he has quick feet for someone of his size and, for me, this is a skill of his that City have failed to utilise as we continue to treat him as someone who is going to win a lot of headers.
Etete was poor in pre season games and that carried into the first week or two of the season, but it's a fact that he'd scored five in his first ten appearances (six of them were as a sub), before he picked up a hamstring injury which kept him out for almost a month. He's not scored since then and his confidence in front of goal is suffering s he's snatching at chances and making wrong decisions, but I'd say his goals at Watford last season and against Coventry and Blackburn (in the League Cup) this time around show that he can be a good finisher.
It's not Etete's fault that we've spent the first half of the season without a quality Championship level striker and i would appear in recent weeks that Bulut has settled on him as the most reliable of the three strikers we had during that time. Diedhiou will surely become first choice once he's settled in and that may benefit Etete who will be coming on in the last half hour of games.

Good post bob, and well argued. I would say though that it is very loaded Towards Etete, and apart from you saying that he has quick feet, there's not that much to say that he possesses aspects to his game that we can look at in terms of developing. I don't rate his movement, i don't think that he is clever and i can't see much awareness with or without the ball. He can play a bit, and he can show up on occasion with some great bits of skill, But he has to play the hand he has been dealt and make the most of it, because it's unlikely that he'll get many chances at this level.

What to look for then? If things aren't going his way then play clever, be strong, draw fouls, disrupt the opposition. He could drop in and act as an extra midfield player and spin off, he doesn't do any of that stuff really (although the last one could be down to bulut) He stands up front and he doesn't use his height and range (Forget strength) to impose himself on the opposition. He really needs to evaluate what type of player he wants to be or what he can do when he's out there in order to affect the game positively.

He does have some natural ability, and i like his honesty and the fact that he doesn't sulk when he is isolated. He does have to offer more though, and that's for him to work out while he's on the pitch. I believe that people put a bit to much emphasis on the influence of coaches and managers. When players are out there, they can make the small adjustments that can make the difference,

[City123]

Bit of an overreaction that… I like Mark Harris but he’s got 8 goals in 27 games in league one this season. There’s no way Etete is less physical or a worse player, he’ll be fine dropping down a level.

He has a pretty poor record in League 2

[Rjk]

He has a pretty poor record in League 2

Etete played just over 1200 minutes at league 2 level as a teenager, and scored 3 goals and got one assist - that isn't bad at all

Then in league one got 3 goals and 3 assists from 942 minutes of football which is pretty good, but a small sample size