Not a knee jerk reaction, but Torres...

[paulcooper4]

May I make a case for Matty Taylor as our left sided defender?

as long as rafa doesnt, knock yourself out

[einar]

I can see the potential that Jones has being powerful, decent aerial presence but he doesn't have a good track record even in the Championship. At least when Crouch came was near the top of the scoring charts at Southampton and won an England cap. I could be wrong but Jones wouldn't be an improvement on Crouch

Kuyt being sold would be making sense. He lacks a goal threat. I would be happy if I was a defender to play against him. He runs everywhere besides in the box. He can have a work load of a horse but he is a striker and they are judged by goals not sweat on a shirt

I have only seen two Sunderland games and I dont even know if Rafa is interested.

But what I saw was like you said a player with pace, acceleration, strength, more then a little aerial presence. But he also hardly made a mistake in those two games. He is very good at playing with his back to the goal, in that he is very strong on the ball and very easily finds a pass.
And on top of all that, and this for me is the biggie, he has very good first touch and technique. I would not be surprised if it was considerably better then Crouch´s and certainly Heskey´s.

So I have a suspicion that this could be one of those players that would really shine in a better team.

[Shaggy]

Kenwyne Jones is NOT better than Crouch.

[einar]

Kenwyne Jones is NOT better than Crouch.

Why?

How many games have you seen?

[Shaggy]

Why?

How many games have you seen?

I saw 90 minutes today for a start.

How many have you seen that make you think he's better than Crouch? A few good headers and some highlights?

[JohnDoe]

I saw 90 minutes today for a start.

How many have you seen that make you think he's better than Crouch? A few good headers and some highlights?

He looks a bit like Adebayor which automatically makes him better than Crouch for some.

[Johnny]

Torres is a good striker but don`t get carried away.
If Voronin,Crouch or Babel had scored before 70 minutes Torres would have stayed on the bench.
Fulham rode their luck for 70 minutes.
All the other strikers played a great part in todays overall performance.

[Marky]

May I make a case for Matty Taylor as our left sided defender?

No.

[einar]

I saw 90 minutes today for a start.

How many have you seen that make you think he's better than Crouch? A few good headers and some highlights?

No need to be condescending. I know I have not seen much, but I have seen two hole games.
And like I have said from what I have seen he has very good first touch and technique. Now if you ad that to his pace, power and acceleration, and the fact that he is playing very well as a target striker for a rather poor team that relies on him very much on him to hold the ball up, I would not be at all surprised if he could turn out to be a better player then Crouch.

Crouch vs. Jones

Pace...................Jones
Strength..............Jones
Aerial command.....Crouch ( but only just )
Heading to score...Jones
Acceleration.........Jones
Movement............I´m not sure but probably Crouch
First touch...........Jones
Technique............Jones
Finishing...............I haven't seen enough but would not be surprised if it was Jones.

[Shaggy]

His first touch and technique is absolutely not better than Crouch's. Not even close.

Yes he's miles quicker and stronger, but pace and power doth not a good striker make. Not necessarily anyway.

[reddragon]

as long as rafa doesnt, knock yourself out

we've got John Arne and Xabi for long range goals

[Johnny]

His first touch and technique is absolutely not better than Crouch's. Not even close.

Yes he's miles quicker and stronger, but pace and power doth not a good striker make. Not necessarily anyway.

Thanks Shaggyspeare

[loco_law]

No need to be condescending. I know I have not seen much, but I have seen two hole games.
And like I have said from what I have seen he has very good first touch and technique. Now if you ad that to his pace, power and acceleration, and the fact that he is playing very well as a target striker for a rather poor team that relies on him very much on him to hold the ball up, I would not be at all surprised if he could turn out to be a better player then Crouch.

Crouch vs. Jones

Pace...................Jones
Strength..............Jones
Aerial command.....Crouch ( but only just )
Heading to score...Jones
Acceleration.........Jones
Movement............I´m not sure but probably Crouch
First touch...........Jones
Technique............Jones
Finishing...............I haven't seen enough but would not be surprised if it was Jones.

Crouch it is then!

[reddragon]

His first touch and technique is absolutely not better than Crouch's. Not even close.

Yes he's miles quicker and stronger, but pace and power doth not a good striker make. Not necessarily anyway.

well i cant say i've seen enough to judge, but he does look like a good prospect in the drogba mould, and to be fair, anyone who thinks Drogba wouldn't be an asset is living in cuckooland.

btw, 90 minutes does not make anyone's reputation now does it?

[einar]

His first touch and technique is absolutely not better than Crouch's. Not even close.

Yes he's miles quicker and stronger, but pace and power doth not a good striker make. Not necessarily anyway.

Well like I said, I have not seen much. And if you have seen more then I´ll believe you. But in those two games I saw he was never not in perfect control of the ball. He did not try much because he was in both games closed down by two to four defenders as soon as the ball was played to him. But IMO his control of the ball in those situations, that are very simular to Crouch´s situations, was far better. Plus if he gets in a one on one situation he seems to get past the defender very easily.