Last night should put an end to the argument about whether he works hard enough to start on the left in the PL.
I'll need to see 20 goals and 15 assists before I even consider the idea that he's an upgrade on Sema.
Love that he’s willing to crack the ball at goal from just about anywhere in the attacking third, particularly when it’s a volley. He’s going to score at least one more absolute worldy this season, and it’ll be just lovely.
Was his winner against Villa count as a worldy? Even if it's not, a pretty iconic goal given how long we've waited for the Prodigal Son to play for us!
I reckon so. Taking into account the angle, power of the strike and the technique required. Only question mark for me is the fact it didn’t actually hit the top corner. Had it properly nestled in the top corner, there would be no doubt.
How did he get on today? Seems like Fletcher connected with a number of his crosses, and he was involved in the goal
He was alright. Kind of frustrating in the first half because he clearly wanted to cut inside and head towards goal but Stoke defended well in central areas. He wasn’t getting much joy beating his man and overall didn’t offer much. Second half he was better and put in some great crosses that Fletcher should have scored from. He perhaps should have scored with a header of his own but was unlucky to hit the post. A few lapses where he messed up simple passes or fired a shot into a defender’s legs when a pass was on. I think he was one of the better Watford players tonight but that doesn’t say much.
He's looked bright for us more often than not, but I fear that after all the build-up, Cucho won't actually feature all that much for us this season. Won't be complaining too much if Sarr, Dennis and King continue to produce the goods mind you
I do feel for him after failing to even get off the bench in the last couple of games. Obviously hasn’t hit the heights of his very first contribution in subsequent appearances but still looked a threat and was probably the best of a bad lot against Stoke (I think anyone who looks competent in such a poorly performing team should be given the chance to function in a coherent one). Sarr is nailed on RW when fit, but a combo of 2 of Dennis, King, JP and Cucho for the other roles is not too shabby. I hope Cucho can get the chance to make himself undroppable at some point.
Cucho will need to be used. He has got the ability to pull something out of nothing and I think he has played very well in his appearances. Xisco will need to share the workload among the forwards and Cucho should get his fair share of time. Dennis for me was rather disappointing against Newcastle. Cucho tries different things and is less predictable.
He'll definitely get his chance as the season goes on. Dennis is already on 3 yellows and AFCON is looming too.
Why didn't he come on instead of Sema? Maybe I misread the situation but it seemed likely he was going to be King's replacement, disappointing we haven't seen more of him.
The impression seems to be he doesn’t track back etc. But we had 1 shot on target and 33% possession in that game so it’s hard to see how could’ve made things any worse.
Well how many attackers really do? If he can change the game attack wise then that would be handy and worth giving a go. I mean we might as well gone for it and lost 2/3-0 than 1-0 meekly
I 100% agree, it just seems Munoz doesn’t like him as he sees him a perhaps a bit of a show pony, but in a game like today when you’re 1-0 down what is the point of playing to lose 1-0?
Well, you'd think that he'd get a game now that King is out of the picture, although Sema coming on wasn't a promising sign. Still, with Xisco probably out the door soon, maybe we'll see more of Cucho soon
Don't forget Dennis is about to get a one-game ban, too - so there'll be another space opening up for at least one match. Plus, as you say, there's very likely to be a new coach coming in, and if he's anywhere near not-blind enough to have a chance of saving us, he will see how rotten the idea of fielding Ken Sema in the Premier League is.
Him scoring that beaut against Villa was probably the worst thing for him, he's tried to recreate it 5 times a game since! Apart from that, he's starting to look like a decent player. Great work rate and attitude and when he gets the opportunity to cross, seems to have good quality
You certainly couldn't accuse him of not tracking back or shirking based on today, far better all-round player than Sema who is one-footed and spends most of the time in one segment of the pitch. He may not have set La Liga alight in the last two seasons, but of course he's still very young, and based on his performances at Huesca it's scary to think what he could have done to opposition defences and how many points we could have got last season had he been in the squad.
Are there? I thought he had potential but Xisco didn't know how to use him. Easily his best performance today but I think that's down to him knowing what was required of him in the game plan and having support and options.
Well, after today I'm feeling a lot less nervous at the prospect of Dennis getting a ban! A very different type of threat, but a threat nonetheless!
Hopefully he'll get a little run in the side now so we can see his potential. I liked particularly his attitude yesterday and like JP is no pushover. Apart from King obviously he was the one who impressed the neutrals in the pub.
One thing I noticed during the extended highlights is his pull backs when he's through just needs a bit of patience. For the 4th goal, he was played in by JP, he looked up and maybe he thought JP would conitnue his run, but he played it to where 3 Everton defenders were. Fortunately they decided to have a group hug to allow JP's scuffed shot through to King. He just needs to be a bit more patient, but that's a very very minor criticism for an otherwise excellent game.