Why didn't Sørloth work for us?

[TristanWhite]

Straight after watching Fulham vs Palace, I switched over to Premier 1 to watch my other team, Valencia, take on Atlético Madrid, where they lost 0-3 at home.

Sørloth is such a quality player, yet in 16 games didn't score a single goal for us (and he was certainly given a good chance to do so). Why could we not get the best out of him? Was it Roy not playing him in the right position. Because he is one hell of a player. He was outstanding at Real Sociedad last season too, was leading goalscorer in LaLiga until last match of season.

 

[iheartcpfc]

Never given a proper run of games. Roy was a striker killer as well

 

[Pete53]

Straight after watching Fulham vs Palace, I switched over to Premier 1 to watch my other team, Valencia, take on Atlético Madrid, where they lost 0-3 at home.

Sørloth is such a quality player, yet in 16 games didn't score a single goal for us (and he was certainly given a good chance to do so). Why could we not get the best out of him? Was it Roy not playing him in the right position. Because he is one hell of a player. He was outstanding at Real Sociedad last season too, was leading goalscorer in LaLiga until last match of season.

My memory tells me that he didn't actually start that many games though, tending to come on from the bench.

I believe he did score one goal for us in the league cup.

 

[Spindle]

I always rated him, I could see he had something but he was very young, his touch was very good. He also definitely scored for us v Chelsea but they incorrectly ruled it out. Playing for Hodgson is a nightmare for that type of player, sat deep and very few crosses. I think he's have worked well in that Pulis side.

 

[Teddy Eagle]

It's not necessarily anyone's fault. It could be as simple as some players just not working out in the Premier League. Arsenal, Man U & Liverpool have had loads of them but it's funny when it happens to them.

 

[crvenaeagle]

16 appearances but not many of them were for more than 10 minutes.
Maybe he was knobbing Roy's daughter and got the Moyes-Zaha treatment. A real waste of an opportunity.

 

[PatrickA]

For me a lot of the responsibility sits with Hodgson.
He sought to use Sorloth, in the limited opportunities he had, in ways that really did not suit his game.
Even now watching him with Athletico, he’s not a target man or a player who’s going to expend energy chasing lost causes.
He’s a finisher with a very powerful left foot shot and a player with a good understanding of how to find space in and around the box.
The play we played under Hodgson he received little or no service to demonstrate these qualities.

I also felt Hodgson was unfair to him publicly which wouldn’t have done anything for his confidence.
It was an away game v Bournemouth which was 1-1 going into the latter stages.
Sorloth conceded a free kick around half way inside our half.
From the free kick Sakho conceded a needless penalty from which Bournemouth scored the winner.
After the game Hodgson tore a strip off Sorloth as opposed to Sakho who was the real culprit.
It left an impression on me as being cowardly of Hodgson to pick on the young player rather than the experienced player who had cost us the game.

 

[cryrst]

For me a lot of the responsibility sits with Hodgson.
He sought to use Sorloth, in the limited opportunities he had, in ways that really did not suit his game.
Even now watching him with Athletico, he’s not a target man or a player who’s going to expend energy chasing lost causes.
He’s a finisher with a very powerful left foot shot and a player with a good understanding of how to find space in and around the box.
The play we played under Hodgson he received little or no service to demonstrate these qualities.

I also felt Hodgson was unfair to him publicly which wouldn’t have done anything for his confidence.
It was an away game v Bournemouth which was 1-1 going into the latter stages.
Sorloth conceded a free kick around half way inside our half.
From the free kick Sakho conceded a needless penalty from which Bournemouth scored the winner.
After the game Hodgson tore a strip off Sorloth as opposed to Sakho who was the real culprit.
It left an impression on me as being cowardly of Hodgson to pick on the young player rather than the experienced player who had cost us the game.

JPM would be the same without Glasner being here.

 

[kevlee]

A striker doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Mo Salah under Hodgson would have labelled useless, because Roy was a defensive manager because of the players available.
However players also have to take their chances and Sørloth never gave the appearance of having the skills for the PL.
Isn’t this the debate going on about Kamada at the moment?

 

[Badger11]

Didn’t Sorloth fail in Belgium and Turkey?

Anyway it took him 3/4 years after he left us to become the player he is now. We couldn't afford to wait that long for a striker to come good.

That is always the risk with younger players that they take time to learn the game at the highest level.

 

[Painter]

A striker doesn’t operate in a vacuum. Mo Salah under Hodgson would have labelled useless, because Roy was a defensive manager because of the players available.
However players also have to take their chances and Sørloth never gave the appearance of having the skills for the PL.
Isn’t this the debate going on about Kamada at the moment?

A young Salah couldnt make it at Chelsea, we had a young Bamford, who was hopeless, but went to be a prolific scorer for Leeds. Sorloth was too young and hadnt developed at Palace, we couldnt afford to wait in case he did. Another example Ferguson at Brighton, started with lots of goals, the next big thing, ended up never being picked by Brighton and now loaned out to W Ham.
Its about players age, they all develop at different ages, some just dont make it.

 

[PatrickA]

Didn’t Sorloth fail in Belgium and Turkey?

Anyway it took him 3/4 years after he left us to become the player he is now. We couldn't afford to wait that long for a striker to come good.

That is always the risk with younger players that they take time to learn the game at the highest level.

His record wasn't too shabby in Turkey.
No doubt the detractors will say it's a Mickey Mouse league.
I think I would trust Simeone's judgement of a player ahead of Hodgso's.
Sorloth's next Champions League game will be against Real Madrid.
You don't play at that level without being a good player.

 

[JHB]

His record wasn't too shabby in Turkey.
No doubt the detractors will say it's a Mickey Mouse league.
I think I would trust Simeone's judgement of a player ahead of Hodgso's.
Sorloth's next Champions League game will be against Real Madrid.
You don't play at that level without being a good player.
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He’s clearly a good player now but he wasn’t for us. I just think we had him very early in his career when he hadn’t developed. As others have said players all develop differently and go through patches of good and bad form. Just look at Mateta

 

[park the bus]

Hodgson, plain and simple and as explained in the posts above. An abysmally defensive minded managed who didn't have routines for attacking play, and one who probably preferred a 0-0 result over everything else. I can't think of one player who improved under his reign, but a few who got worse.
Mateta is the very obvious example of a player who has responded to an enthusiastic and appreciative manager who prefers an attacking game.
Who knows how Sorloth would have turned out with OG guiding him? Well, one can imagine.

 

[BromleyMonkey]

16 appearances but not many of them were for more than 10 minutes.
Maybe he was knobbing Roy's daughter and got the Moyes-Zaha treatment. A real waste of an opportunity.

I always say it’s harsh sometimes with the appearances stats on any striker for the reason you give. I always remember as far back as Victor Moses getting some stick on sky, it was the usually brilliant Jeff Stelling saying he had only scored one goal in 20 appearances. At that time he was only coming on as sub most games for a few minutes late in games and the pundits looking down their nose at our ‘hot prospect’ really pissed me off for spouting that stat

 

[JHB]

Hodgson, plain and simple and as explained in the posts above. An abysmally defensive minded managed who didn't have routines for attacking play, and one who probably preferred a 0-0 result over everything else. I can't think of one player who improved under his reign, but a few who got worse.
Mateta is the very obvious example of a player who has responded to an enthusiastic and appreciative manager who prefers an attacking game.
Who knows how Sorloth would have turned out with OG guiding him? Well, one can imagine.

Maybe or maybe he just wasn’t ready for the EPL. Hodgson gets a lot of stick for his defensive tactics. It was a hard watch at times but then he comfortably kept us up despite us having a poor squad. When he had the players over his career he showed he would play more attractive football.

Maybe Sørloth would have done better under a manager like OG but maybe not. It’s not like Nketiah has exactly become a world beater under him. Sometimes it’s just the wrong time and place for a player.

 

[PatrickA]

Maybe or maybe he just wasn’t ready for the EPL. Hodgson gets a lot of stick for his defensive tactics. It was a hard watch at times but then he comfortably kept us up despite us having a poor squad. When he had the players over his career he showed he would play more attractive football.

Maybe Sørloth would have done better under a manager like OG but maybe not. It’s not like Nketiah has exactly become a world beater under him. Sometimes it’s just the wrong time and place for a player.

I got talking to Bobby Zamora a few months ago and he had a successful period under Hodgson.
He was the prototype of a forward that Hodgson enjoyed working with - hardworking, good at holding the ball up, physical and capable of chipping in with a few goals.
All good attributes, but it doesn’t mean you should automatically be ruled out if you don’t display some of these attributes.
It can’t be proved, but I’m convinced that Mateta wouldn’t have flourished under Hodgson.
Firstly, he didn’t in the period he worked under Hodgson.
Secondly, Hodgson’s defensive approach wouldn’t have led to the chance creation which Mateta is now benefitting from.

This is not to say Hodgson was a lousy manager.
On the whole he did a solid job for us and some of his other clubs, but he did seem to have a blind spot where strikers are concerned.
The emphasis seemed to be on them being the first line of defence as opposed to the cutting edge of the attack taking the game to the opposition.

 

[kevlee]

Hodgson, plain and simple and as explained in the posts above. An abysmally defensive minded managed who didn't have routines for attacking play, and one who probably preferred a 0-0 result over everything else. I can't think of one player who improved under his reign, but a few who got worse.
Mateta is the very obvious example of a player who has responded to an enthusiastic and appreciative manager who prefers an attacking game.
Who knows how Sorloth would have turned out with OG guiding him? Well, one can imagine.

I always thought with your username that you were a disciple of Roy’s fixation with parking the bus from kick off!

 

[MrRobbo]

I always rated him, I could see he had something but he was very young, his touch was very good. He also definitely scored for us v Chelsea but they incorrectly ruled it out. Playing for Hodgson is a nightmare for that type of player, sat deep and very few crosses. I think he's have worked well in that Pulis side.

I remember that goal, and thinking at the time that there was a player there.

If memory serves me, we were in a pretty difficult period which didn't help him

 

[park the bus]

I always thought with your username that you were a disciple of Roy’s fixation with parking the bus from kick off!

Funny enough the user name originated when Roy was England manager...