Lee Bowyer reckons Chuks Aneke has not shown any signs yet that he could spearhead the Charlton Athletic attack.
Top goalscorer Lyle Taylor is out with knee ligament damage and the Addicks boss opted to pair Jonathan Leko and Tomer Hemed together in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Birmingham City.
“At the moment Chuks hasn’t really done anything to persuade me he can play up top,” said Bowyer.
“We tried to put him up there the other day [as a substitute against Birmingham] and he didn’t do so well.
“When we brought him on at Reading as a 10 he was better. So looking at performances I think he is better as a 10.
“Tomer didn’t really do much with Brighton in pre-season so he is behind. He’s got to try and catch up as quickly as possible. But they all behind – him, Chuks and Macauley [Bonne]. They didn’t play too many minutes because the front two have been good.
“With Tomer I will just keep running him, to make him sharper. So on Tuesday and maybe Thursday he’ll do some extra running. That’s all we can do – and playing games. Saturday will have done him the world of good. You’d be surprised, two or three games and he’ll be up to speed.
“Jonathan just complicated things at times on Saturday. He probably held it up a bit too long but he’s trying to make something happen. Now he is playing with Tomer and he is completely different to Lyle, they have just got to find a way.
“I’ve got Macca there as well. No-one is nailed on to play. If Macca does well in training – looks sharper and better – then he’ll play.
“At least I have got a couple of options this season – last season we had no options.”
Charlton’s unbeaten start to the Championship campaign was ended by the Blues.
“The first goal is going to be important in every game,” said Bowyer.
“But we kept going until the end. I said to my players afterwards that I was not going to shout, rant and rave – they gave me everything. As a manager that is all I can ask. There were more positives than negatives, even though we didn’t get the result.”
Don't like the idea of sending players running to get fit. Does anyone have any input on training apparatus? As a former oarsman, I can swear that the best fitness aid is a Concept II rowing machine. No impact problems. You can read improvement not just on overall score but stroke by stroke. Do we use them?
Don't like the idea of sending players running to get fit. Does anyone have any input on training apparatus? As a former oarsman, I can swear that the best fitness aid is a Concept II rowing machine. No impact problems. You can read improvement not just on overall score but stroke by stroke. Do we use them?
The principle of specificity states that sports training should be relevant and appropriate to the sport for which the individual is training in order to produce the desired effect. ... Essentially, specificity training means that you must perform the skill in order to get better at it.
Before opening this thread for the first time just now I genuinely didn’t know whether it was going to be about Taylor, Gallagher or Williams. So no, is my answer.
We haven’t won a game since Cullen got injured. We haven’t won a game since Williams got injured. We won 2 without Taylor (Leeds, Derby). I don’t think we’re a one man team at all, but when you take out 3 of our most important players - of course we’re going to struggle
We haven’t won a game since Cullen got injured. We haven’t won a game since Williams got injured. We won 2 without Taylor (Leeds, Derby). I don’t think we’re a one man team at all, but when you take out 3 of our most important players - of course we’re going to struggle
Exactly. Any team in our league would struggle if you took away it's top scorer and (probably) 2 best midfielders.
I still don't think that its as simple as the fact that we lost 3 key players (whilst that is clearly an important factor). For me the bigger thing is that their backups were already injured/missing and those left have subsequently missed games through injury/suspension.
Arguably we have missed Taylor the least because of how Bonne has stepped up magnificently and how Leko and Gallagher have chipped in with goals. But we have definitly missed an experienced option that Hemed would have given us as well as the option to change things and play a different way or even rotate.
When Williams got injured Aneke was already injured, we played Gallagher further up the pitch for a few games but we lost some of his play by not having him covering all the ground. Oztumer came in a did well in a few games (not so well in others) and then he got injured too. So thats Williams and both his back ups out.
With Cullen we had already lost Kayal who could do a similar job and Field who could adapt to that role. JFC and Lapslie who could also have done a job in that midfield role have also been out.
Add in that Gallagher and Pratley have missed a match its easy to see how things have been bad.
I suggest if we had a midfield of
Oztumer Gallagher Field Pratley
With Aneke, Kayal, JFC, Lapslie, Morgan as your bench/rotation options we would not have missed Williams/Cullen so much.
I know it's not as simple as that but he is the one man who will keep us up if he stays fit to the end of the season and any other one player we could survive with out as long as he plays
We'd just about have been OK if his season had finished in August but now he's back we're gonna be absolutely fine. Keeping him for another coupla years is the next target.
Comments
Lee Bowyer reckons Chuks Aneke has not shown any signs yet that he could spearhead the Charlton Athletic attack.
Top goalscorer Lyle Taylor is out with knee ligament damage and the Addicks boss opted to pair Jonathan Leko and Tomer Hemed together in Saturday’s 1-0 loss to Birmingham City.
“At the moment Chuks hasn’t really done anything to persuade me he can play up top,” said Bowyer.
“We tried to put him up there the other day [as a substitute against Birmingham] and he didn’t do so well.
“When we brought him on at Reading as a 10 he was better. So looking at performances I think he is better as a 10.
“Tomer didn’t really do much with Brighton in pre-season so he is behind. He’s got to try and catch up as quickly as possible. But they all behind – him, Chuks and Macauley [Bonne]. They didn’t play too many minutes because the front two have been good.
“With Tomer I will just keep running him, to make him sharper. So on Tuesday and maybe Thursday he’ll do some extra running. That’s all we can do – and playing games. Saturday will have done him the world of good. You’d be surprised, two or three games and he’ll be up to speed.
“Jonathan just complicated things at times on Saturday. He probably held it up a bit too long but he’s trying to make something happen. Now he is playing with Tomer and he is completely different to Lyle, they have just got to find a way.
“I’ve got Macca there as well. No-one is nailed on to play. If Macca does well in training – looks sharper and better – then he’ll play.
“At least I have got a couple of options this season – last season we had no options.”
Charlton’s unbeaten start to the Championship campaign was ended by the Blues.
“The first goal is going to be important in every game,” said Bowyer.
“But we kept going until the end. I said to my players afterwards that I was not going to shout, rant and rave – they gave me everything. As a manager that is all I can ask. There were more positives than negatives, even though we didn’t get the result.”
https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/charlton-athletic-attacker-yet-to-convince-boss-that-he-is-a-number-nine-contender-in-absence-of-lyle-taylor/
Team Bowyer.
it was ugly
Arguably we have missed Taylor the least because of how Bonne has stepped up magnificently and how Leko and Gallagher have chipped in with goals. But we have definitly missed an experienced option that Hemed would have given us as well as the option to change things and play a different way or even rotate.
When Williams got injured Aneke was already injured, we played Gallagher further up the pitch for a few games but we lost some of his play by not having him covering all the ground. Oztumer came in a did well in a few games (not so well in others) and then he got injured too. So thats Williams and both his back ups out.
With Cullen we had already lost Kayal who could do a similar job and Field who could adapt to that role. JFC and Lapslie who could also have done a job in that midfield role have also been out.
Add in that Gallagher and Pratley have missed a match its easy to see how things have been bad.
I suggest if we had a midfield of
Oztumer
Gallagher Field
Pratley
With Aneke, Kayal, JFC, Lapslie, Morgan as your bench/rotation options we would not have missed Williams/Cullen so much.
i.e. drew 2-2 with Fulham, beat Derby 3-0 (although Williams departed after the first goal)
We'd just about have been OK if his season had finished in August but now he's back we're gonna be absolutely fine. Keeping him for another coupla years is the next target.