Perez should only start down the middle.... Gouffran for the wing!

He's just not a winger.

He looks decent at this level as a CF/ST, with decent movement on the ball, but he's not able to handle the pace of english football when it comes to creating and holding the ball up in midfield/the wing.

He looks good in a 4-4-2 next to somebody.

Gouffran is harder working, more suited to hold up play and defensive work on the wing, and is good when working in space as a support attacker/striker.

Gouffran has been slated as ****e for so long but it's only because he's been managed poorly. In first season he was playing a more attacker/support striker role from the wing, then he was turned into, essentially, a LDM in a **** side.

Gouffran, at this level at least, is a good LW/LAM. He has the stamina, pace, work rate and decent finishing ability enough to be a reasonable force for the time being.

 

Perez just shouldn't start. He's vastly overrated and has been dogshit for a long time now.

 

I think Perez would be better coming on as an impact sub, or if he has to play, playing just of the shoulder of a striker.

 

Perez should start on the left...

...hand side of the bench.

He has been ****e up front and wide for well over a season now. There have been the odd flash but he is so overrated. He has decent potential but needs to start learning sooner or later. I notice he has put on a lot of muscle. He needs to start using that to better effect too. He should be watching videos of Aguero/Defoe day and night to learn how slight framed strikers operate successfully in this country.

One thing for sure he should not under an circumstances enter the field of play with the attitude he did last Saturday. That will never be acceptable on any level. Having a bad day can happen. Not trying is not on. He also allowed Borthwick Jackson to bully him. He is a grown man and should not be so weak minded.

 

Think you'll find if you look back to my pre-season comments about our team I said over and over that Gouffran would be good at this level and that Perez would show that he's a 1 in 6 striker whatever the opposition.

 

Perez for me is - at best here - a goalscoring tricky CF. He's not got the vision or the attitude to make a truly decent supporting striker, certainly can't play No.10 and the least said about him out wide the better. In effect, he is to Gayle what Murphy is to Mitrovic; understudies to players who themselves should be understudies.

For me, we have four strikers and that should be that. If Rafa has to rotate because of fitness or niggles then it should be Perez in for Gayle, not playing with, or in a different system. If the tactics/formation don't call for that kind of player - as we found out against Wolves last Saturday, or Fulham (a) - then neither should be playing.

I think we'll get there with understanding the squad; I was under the impression that the whole point in buying who we bought was to give us 2 options, per position, for 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2. It's just taking Rafa a bit of time to work out what he sees on the training ground is not what happens on matchday.

4-1-4-1 seems to be our best tactic; Shelvey getting forward more helps with one sitting. Gouffran is essential on the wing and when/if he's not fit I'd rather Dummett/Lazaar, as the latter will have more of a clue about effort than Perez.

 

That's because he spends most of his time on the LW out of position lol.

Down the center he looks decent. He's looked good most of the time he's played there. He worked well with Gayle vs Reading and he was good vs QPR where he played off the main man.

 

Even when he's started down the middle he's been crap to be fair. He has the odd good game and is anonymous the rest of the time. He also falls over far too easily looking for a foul and sits on his arse when refs wave play on. He should be an impact sub and nothing more.

 

He's ****e now because he is expected not to be

 

Right ho - will go back and do that. However I need to read through Chippy's old match threads and Trevs monologues from the headline competitions first. As long as I havent poked my eyes out with a stick first I should get round to your pre-season threads by mid next week.

 

Good work - get right on that

 

He has been **** down the middle fella. he just loses possession too much and fannies around. I think the disappointing thing is he hasn't progressed at all, indeed if anything he has got worse. One of the good things about him when he came is he would do things early. Little one twos, taking shots early. Now he spends half his time falling over the ball trying to be clever.

 

He's too busy falling over looking for free kicks these days. He's a classic case of the spotlight going to someones head. He thinks he is better than he actually is. At least when he joined his feet were firmly on the ground. The only thing planted firmly on Perez's body recently is the hair wax. Awful player.

 

I don't think he's awful, by any stretch. Has a lot of ability, I refuse to believe Benitez plays him out of some kind of patriotic responsibility. He is just often used wrongly. I would imagine in training, he's got that extra space, those extra seconds, that you don't get on matchday and with that in mind he probably looks fantastic. Matchday, however, needs more discipline and graft. Not always to Pardew's tastes, it's not all about tracking back, but more than from the textbook of Adebayor & Bendtner

It's hard to classify Perez. Easiest way is to think Ben Arfa. Players who have the tricks, the tramlines and a similar interest in defending. Positionally? They want to be "wherever they fancy". They can't play in a disciplined role and that's where it falls apart. The only thing we can do with him is consider him backup for Gayle. Too selfish to be a No.10, too undisciplined to play wide, too small to lead the line effectively. False 9 is probably best description, but that's a position only available at Barcelona FC.

 

I think awful is harsh to be fair. I still think he has a lot to offer. The bottom line is whether up front or left, the excuses ran out some time ago and he should be benched.

I do think he is vastly overrated by many of ours and have always said so. He just needs a spell out of the team and work to force is way way back in through form.

Every time a player underperforms, its amazing how its because he is being misused. Rarely is this true. Certainly in Perez case, its utter bollocks. He was gash up top.

 

I agree with this. He is over rated and not consistant. He is also not a potential talent either. He is at the age where he should be setting things on fire. He's weak. He's a one trick pony.

I'm also not that hung up about gayle as yet. I still like mitrovic.

I also am not sure about Diame. I think he looks slow and lacks quality but I might be wrong on this one.

But back to Perez. He is not the future.

 

Perez would probably be better suited to Spanish football. He can't handle the pace of English football.

 

Perez is a good player up front for when you are dominating games - such as we did against QPR. In that match we were able to play through the middle, down the channels - pretty much however we wanted and our midfield was hardly required to do defensive work.

When we're chasing a game, such as against Wolves, then he isn't the idea player. He is easily muscled off the ball and whilst this sometimes wins free kicks that can ease pressure on the defence, in such a situation you need a target man. He definitely has a place in the squad but in my opinion he shouldn't be starting ahead of Gayle and a target man (likely Mitro) but be used as an impact sub who can pull defenders or of position with his intelligence running (something he doesn't get enough credit for) or when we are in full control of a match.