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The all new Striker thread..
- Thread starter Richie
- Start date
Finney Is Back
Andy Thompson
Dembele is 1 inch taller than Berahino. However Dembele is 2 or 3kgs lighter than Berahino - and indeed from what I have seen of the two of them (which admittedly that isn't much of Dembele) I would say that Berahino is the more powerful of the two).
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
Ding!
Have seen clips of Dembele winning headers against Championship defenders from crosses. Wouldn't really expect that from Berahino.
But yes it does partly come down to age. For the rest of this season I think Berahino would probably make more of an impact. But financially and long term I think Dembele could prove the better deal... I'm also dubious about paying a lot of money for Berahino who probably would expect to start a lot of games when in the positions he would probably start games in when Kane is fit I don't really see him as an upgrade on what we already have.
Finney Is Back
Andy Thompson
I would indeed expect Dembele to fill out further over the next year or two.
My point here is that I think people are judging both Berahino and Dembele on assumption. Because Berahino is quick and Pulis doesn't fancy him as the number 9 for their long ball game, I think people are assuming that the player is akin to a Jermaine Defoe (when he is not that type of striker at all). I think people are also jumping to conclusions about Dembele and assuming that he is a powerful player (when he is probably currently more suited to playing as a wide forward)
Don't get me wrong - I am not against signing Dembele at all (in fact I suggested him as a potential signing some time ago) I just don't think he does offer a more Kane like replacement compared to Berahino.
Braineclipse - I think I have also seen Berahino win headers (and against PL defenders as opposed to Championship ones).
I am in total agreement with you FiB - im not sure why people have what i consider to be a misconception over Berahino and his style of play - he's not a clone of Kane sure but from what i have seen of him he seems a good footballer, strong with the ball, able to play with his back to goal and hold it up - and for the U21s he has shown himself adept at playing a different role, attacking/creating from the wide positions, he can run with the ball and shoot from distance. It's only really his size which i would have reservations about (on the field) but then i guess that isn't a problem for Pochettino seeings as back in the summer he was seemingly our no.1 target
I really think a like-for-like replacement for Kane is the last player we're after. Look at pretty much every other position in the team - each player in the squad brings something different to the table.
A replica of Kane would barely get a game. I don't know anything of Young Mouss but Berahino (or a player like him) would be great because he would let us play 2 strikers, drop Kane to #10, keep Kane as #9 and move Bera to the wing, rest Kane completely. And perhaps most importantly - the first 3 of those options would be available to us without making a single substitution.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
We were in a somewhat different situation this summer... Lamela hadn't stepped up yet. Earlier in the window we hadn't signed Son yet, later in the window we didn't know how quickly he would settle. Alli obviously completely unproven at this level.
All the things that made Berahino a good option for those attacking midfield positions continue to be true. But the competition he will face in those positions seems a lot harder now than it did in the summer.
Please remember that Kane broke through for us partly playing from the left and as a #10. A Kane replica doesn't imply someone that can only play as a striker.
As for the options he would offer us, in order:
2 strikers: yes. Dropping Alli from the #10 role? Or moving him wide in a 4-4-2 dropping Eriksen/Lamela/Son/Chadli? Does that make us stronger?
drop Kane to #10: yes. Dropping or moving Alli and dropping another player in the attacking midfield trio. Does that make us stronger?
Berahino on the wing: Does he offer more than Eriksen, Lamela, Chadli and Son?
Rest Kane completely (or Kane getting injured): Yes he would give us another option up front. But this is where him not being a like-for-like replacement for Kane potentially is problematic. Would he fit our style of play? What would we miss in terms of physicality? Other players that are not Kane replicas are Son, Chadli (and when fit again Clinton). Is Berahino a much better fit than them?
We are going around in circles. But I don't quite get why:
1. We need Berahino in case Kane gets injured.
2. Berahino can play attacking midfield.
Adds up to us signing Berahino unless Berahinos is either 1. a good replacement for Kane or 2. an upgrade on our current options in attacking midfield?
Papercut
Jermaine Jenas
Admittedly I've not seen him for a while and our team has changed since this post... But he does lead the line, Gala need to sell desperately due to FFP. Sneijder doesn't want to leave, they have put a respectable big price on Muslera's head to keep LFC away (he really is a top notch keeper) and there is interest in their big players...
WestHam looked like signing him but they seem to have a loan agreement for GS's rival player Emenike. The Nigerian is a beast from my experience but emotionally a tad soft...
If we are to take advantage of GS's FFP positon, then Yilmaz and Semih Kaya are players we could look at (Kaya being the ultimate professional who would slot right in).
spurspinter1
Pat van den Hauwe
I think we know what's going to happen here
I need TP for my bunghole.
I need TP for my bunghole.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
By holding on to him they risk him leaving for free in the summer. Clubs from abroad will not have to pay a tribunal fee, and to make it worse clubs from abroad can officially negotiate with the player already now whereas we (and other British clubs) will have to wait until he only has a month left on his contract iirc. There's at least some chance that he will go abroad leaving Fulham with nothing.
There's also a smaller point that a tribunal deal takes time. Whereas selling Dembele to us now means having the money from that available at the start of the summer transfer window they will face more uncertainty and delays going to a tribunal, that's if he signs for a British club in the summer. There's also a lot more uncertainty about what the fee will actually be.
Finally there's also been quite a few rumours about us sending a different player on loan to them for the rest of the season. Their current transfer embargo puts them in a weak position in terms of transfers, and possibly even negotiating for sought after loan deals. Potentially we can accept sending a player on loan to them that they might not have stood a chance of getting on loan if not for the Dembele deal.
Not saying it will happen. Not saying the pros will outweigh the cons for Fulham on this. But to say that there's no way Dembele will be in our squad come February seems premature.
afsoc4life
Dean Richards
Remember Andrej Kramaric? Doesnt he wish he gave Spurs a try?
Craig_J
Mido
Agreed, Poch has received some criticism in the past (mainly during his time at Southampton) for lacking a plan B but this season it's become apparent he's quite keen of having plan B's to change up matches when things aren't going well (e.g. Chadli coming on for Dier against Palace). I would welcome a different kind of player to Kane to keep us less predictable.
Although having said that if someone said to me we could have an exact replica of Harry Kane I'd scream 'f**k having two Dembele's!' right before jizzing in my underwear.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
We have that different type of player in Son. And Clinton when he returns.
What we don't have is a physical option up front if Kane isn't there. That would leave us without a "plan B" if/when we have to do without Kane.
Craig_J
Mido
Fair point about not having a plan B if Kane isn't there but Son seems to me like a compromise that we're using at the moment for lacking a plan B. He doesn't seem to be all that great up front and I think Poch did bring him in to use on the wing. As for Njie I have no idea where Poch wants him to play don't feel he's played enough games to say whether he'll be up front or another winger.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
I don't understand how we can judge Son in that role at this point. He's barely played a handful of games in that role, but chances are if he hadn't been injured he'd have had more games in that role. In his first season in the league and with the team joining late in the transfer window I think he's done fine in that role.
Gutter Boy
Tim Sherwood
We've used the false 9 (with Njie, as well as Son) very effectively as a plan b - against Qarabag, Monaco and Leicester.
Craig_J
Mido
I have to admit he did well against Leicester. But I think even I, an asthmatic chain smoking dyspraxic, could have done well as a false 9 against Qarabag. And the Monaco game was more of a friendly then anything.
braineclipse
Steve Sedgley
I think Qarabag still get underrated here. Absolutely a decent team. Their results both in the EL this season and CL last season shows this pretty clearly. Us making them and Monaco look less than ordinary shows our strength, not their weakness imo.
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Nacer Chadli saying that he disagrees with those saying we have no cover for Kane: http://www.standard.co.uk/sport/foo...no-that-he-can-cover-for-harry-a3168331.html?