Hangermans wrote:Stats as i hope we know do not tell the whole story. He looks utterly pedestrian when carting the ball up, is easily dealt with which leads to a slow play the ball. There is more to being an effective forward than simply meters gained. He looks a championship player through and through to me, causes absolutely no problems for the opposition at all. To be an effective forward at this level you have to be able to either offload, 'get your nose through the tackle' for a fast play the ball, or have some distribution skills. Clough has none of these and is a waste of a play every time he gets the ball.
Regarding Mamo, he may not be getting everything right, but he is a breath of fresh air to me. He has bags of enthusiasm, and in his first match was trying to get on the end of everything we were creating, which is great. I hope he drags certain players level of enthusiasm upwards and not visa versa!!
The first and foremost job of a forward is to make metres.
Offloads, quick play the balls and distribution skills come second.
I know stats don't tell the whole story.
Let's say a penalty gives the oppo 25 metres from the kick.
That would drop Ikahihifo's nett metres made down to 4.96 average against Clough's 6.99.
Both players give something to the team in different ways - if we could get someone on the end of those Ikahihifo breaks then the penalties he gives away would be worth it.
As it is Clough is making a bigger contribution to consistently getting the team upfield at the moment.