Oussama Assaidi [Sold to Al-Ahli's Barmy Army]

[Mostar]

And as ever, between 2 differing views, the truth is somewhere in the middle imo. Assaidi looked quite good in a couple of games but in his last couple was utterly anonymous. It would seem logical that with our thin squad he could have gotten another chance or two, but also it would seem logical that with what the coaching staff are seeing every day, if he's not playing there must be a reason.

To an extent I do think though that some people's view of him is based more on his youtube vids from Holland and less on his actual performances & abilities since he signed for us. He's not had much pitch time, but in what he has he looked tricky yet very lightweight and inexperienced.

I agree that he has been inconsistent thus far (some very good games and and some not so much) but he was allowed very little playing time (6 starts (none in PL) and 4 sub appearances), which is not enough to properly judge him.

That said, given our investment and number of games he actually played and I would not rule him out as a bad buy atm and to me it is baffling why BR hasn't given him more opportunities as he was one of his signings.

He needs to be involved (has tendency to disappear if he is not) but he can contribute to our attack if he is allowed some string of games, which I am not so sure it will happen.

[baitman]

Both he and Downing suffer from not having numbers in the box often enough IMO. Difference being that Assaidi beats his man then stops waiting for others, Downing doesn't bother beating his man and crosses to no one. Both tend to end up with the opposition in possession, but the latter strategy occasionally gives the opportunity of an own goal.

Assaidi would look a much better player if we had someone like Borini (or Sturridge ) coming into the box from the other flank IMO.

i mentioned about the lack of willing runners getting into the box earlier
this is something the manager needs to address

[dww]

I agree it's about threat, although I think you're being a bit unfair on Downing. When I've seen it, Assaidi puts in decent-looking crosses whereas Downing more often tends to retain possession. I suspect though that I haven't really noticed enough of either to compare the two properly. All the same Downing does look hopeless when he tries to beat his man, Assaidi looks much more dangerous.

But it doesn't explain why he fades so badly. It could be because after a few tries he gets conservative and aims to keep the ball. But I think it's more likely that his full-back works him out in the first fifteen or twenty minutes and soon goes on to neutralise him totally.

It was a bit of an unfair caricature of Downing.

I think part of the 'working him out' is that he has no plan B. For me to an extent that comes back to a lack of final third options as the defence can easily concentrate on Suarez and after that look to cover space and angles for balls.

Barcelona and Spain get round the problem of having few options through quick interchanges, patience and giving the opposition a variety of threats and challenges to worry about. We simply don't do that as a team and I think certain individuals suffer more than others.

[Neil Young]

I may be going mad but I think Henderson has added something to the attack in recent games.

Call a nurse, someone.

[dww]

I may be going mad but I think Henderson has added something to the attack in recent games.

Call a nurse, someone.

Just a shame the 'something' wasn't goals.

[Neil Young]

A couple of assists though, yeah? More than Assaidi.

[Captain Stu]

I may be going mad but I think Henderson has added something to the attack in recent games.

Call a nurse, someone.

He definitely has.

I'd sooner see Assaidi getting game-time ahead of Downing and Henderson ahead of Cole.

[baitman]

H

I'd sooner see Assaidi getting game-time ahead of Downing and Henderson ahead of Cole.

[Captain Stu]

I hope that Cole's reappearance in the first team along with Downing on his run is simply to demonstrate that they're fit so any prospective bidders at least know that they're match fit.

[BobTheCharmer]

Downing has done "alright" if he were a blind one-legged ferret with an inner ear problem. He's supposedly a professional footballer and he's ****ing ****.

So based on Europa league performances, assadi deserves a crack, yet downing has scored two important goals in that very same competition.downing is much more of a team player. We'd all agree you'd expect more for 20m but a team player with experience is much more useful to us than an inexperienced mavarick.

[Neil Young]

That seems difficult to argue against. I suppose the idea might be that Assaidi could come to provide more as he settles into the team, the club, the country and the league. But I've seen virtually no evidence to believe that's true, beyond a couple of exciting moments early in games when he gets to the byline or breaks into the box, only for nothing much to result.

[Daniel 7]

Have to say I haven't been overly impressed with him. He has some skills and some pace but doesn't seem to do much with them - he'll do a step over and run aimlessly down the left wing with no end product.

Downing probably has been more productive.

[Cormack74]

he cant even beat a woman

Ah this piece of dubious taste has reminded me of a text my girlfriend got from her sister yesterday.

In her text inbox only part of the first line showed and we read with some alarm the following:

just finished raping the children

fortunately it continued thus:

's christmas presents.

[Fivex]

[pondus]

Rodgers said somewhere that he had been struggling with a knee problem, may be the reason why he featured little lately.