Convince Me Cedric Itten...

[graeme_4 34,527]

Hmmm not for me.

Some good goals in friendlies, but his all round play isn’t there yet. Bit slow, ball doesn’t stick that well, picks the wrong options quite regularly. 

Pleased he got his goal, apart from his weirdo celebration. 

Not a patch on Morelos or Roofe. Sakala is also much more exciting in the short time we’ve seen him. 

[BlueboyG 5,238]

Needs to bring a lot more to his game, his first few touches yesterday was a pass to the other team, scored a goal out of nothing tbf but not for me I'm afraid, hope he proves me wrong.

[MacBoyd 5,440]

Lacks aggression and belief imo. 

[plumbGER 24,518]

He's ok but nowhere near the quality of Morelos. Think he maybe tried too hard in his first season rather than just concentrate on his natural game. Big season for him but i'm sure he'll chip in with his fair share of goals.

[Essandoh 21,208]

2 minutes ago, MacBoyd said:

Lacks aggression and belief imo. 

Looks full of self-belief in pre-season and quite rightly

3 goals now, two against top opposition, the other against Arsenal

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,547]

7 hours ago, plumbGER said:

He's ok but nowhere near the quality of Morelos. Think he maybe tried too hard in his first season rather than just concentrate on his natural game. Big season for him but i'm sure he'll chip in with his fair share of goals.

His natural game is in a 2 up front strike partnership, he's had a year to try and learn gerrard and beales system so maybe we'll see him adapting this season

[plumbGER 24,518]

13 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

His natural game is in a 2 up front strike partnership, he's had a year to try and learn gerrard and beales system so maybe we'll see him adapting this season

Fingers crossed he has learned it because I can't see the system being changed any time soon.

[Bigdave30 8,705]

Convince me that @Junior Sopranohas sobered up yet.

Morelos is the best, as it stands I don’t think there’s much between an ageing Defo and Itten, Sakala is an unknown entity.

[King Jela 20,361]

21 hours ago, born a blue nose said:

Good goal but really don't rate him, a feel he's a bit cumbersome, our play slows down when he's on imo, had chance to release Middleton a think it was that had me frustrated, probably my 4th choice to play there behind Alfy, sakala n roofe 

I think he'll get us goals but I know what you mean. He doesn't have a great deal awareness of what's around him and think he can be quite slow with his decision making whereas the rest of the team know their next 2-3 moves. 

Think he'll be a very useful squad player. 

[RockwellGers 14,712]

It's just possible Itten will turn into a force this season and show us how formidable he can be. That would be fucking great. He's not there yet.

[The Blues 375]

Give the boy a chance as a starter. He has had a good pre-season. 

He scored a cracker against Lech Poznań last year.

[Prso's headband 35,459]

I like him a lot but he’s going to struggle a lot with capacity crowds if his reaction to a couple of groans after he took 3 touches and lost the ball is to cup his ears when he scored. 

[Raligt 2,541]

If Morelos leaves, Roofe will be our main striker.

[RossS1873 1,659]

He's a different option to have, it's about adaptability to who we are playing sometimes. He's shown he's a good finisher, there's other parts of his game that are lacking, but if we can get someone close to him and playing off him then why can't he press on and be a success?

[RobertN 390]

Impressive finish from a tight angle took there keeper by surprise 

Always nice to have options he is still learning

[ps95v7 387]

Still settling in and has scored goals he will be an asset👍

 

[Bluekev 43,942]

On 25/07/2021 at 22:42, eskbankloyal said:

Still settling in but big season for him. I’ve absolutely no doubts if he plays regularly he bang in plenty goals. Not convinced he has the all round game of an Alfie but not many do.

True, but Alfie didn't have that part of his game until a couple of seasons in.

[KeyserSoze 14,545]

I said from the start he is not suited to our system. 
 

he has never really took his chances when they came and didn’t make the gaffer sit up and have a decision to make.  Bar a couple of decent games
 

Sakala looks a better option for our system tbh. 
 

i’d loan him out 

[Jimfanciesthedude 24,547]

33 minutes ago, KeyserSoze said:

I said from the start he is not suited to our system. 
 

he has never really took his chances when they came and didn’t make the gaffer sit up and have a decision to make.  Bar a couple of decent games
 

Sakala looks a better option for our system tbh. 
 

i’d loan him out 

If gerrard feels he can coach him into our system then he needs to stay and play in it, if he can't then we might as well sell him as loaning him out runs down his contract and puts him in the hands of another team who may not play him at all

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,789]

2 hours ago, Raligt said:

If Morelos leaves, Roofe will be our main striker.

We are fucked then because we can’t rely on Roofe’s fitness. Too much of a sicknote.

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,789]

On 25/07/2021 at 20:34, Creampuff said:

@DBBTB said about 30 seconds after he signed that Itten was going to be a second season player.

I’m not fully convinced by him but I stand by my opinion that we are better placed to judge him this season.

Personally I think he is a decent player, but he’s maybe just not really the right style of player for how we play. He has a bit of a square peg in a round hole feel to him.

[Raligt 2,541]

8 minutes ago, DBBTB said:

We are fucked then because we can’t rely on Roofe’s fitness. Too much of a sicknote.

How are we "fucked"?  We still have 3 other backup central strikers all capable of scoring goals. 

I do agree Roofe is injury prone but he was our top goalscorer in the league last season. he also still played in over 35 games in all competitions. 

[KeyserSoze 14,545]

42 minutes ago, Jimbeamjunior said:

If gerrard feels he can coach him into our system then he needs to stay and play in it, if he can't then we might as well sell him as loaning him out runs down his contract and puts him in the hands of another team who may not play him at all

A loan spell may benefit us when we ultimately sell him, shop window and all that.  As long as he goes to a team better suited to his style 
 

punting him now as a bit player we’re never getting any of that £2 odd million back. 

[Prso's headband 35,459]

Roofe scored one more goal than Morelos last season. Morelos only played 8 more games than Roofe too…

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,789]

1 hour ago, Raligt said:

How are we "fucked"?  We still have 3 other backup central strikers all capable of scoring goals. 

I do agree Roofe is injury prone but he was our top goalscorer in the league last season. he also still played in over 35 games in all competitions. 

Because Roofe is 1) injury prone which makes him unreliable as our first choice striker and 2) the sort of player you want to play beside Morelos, not as a replacement for him.