Wednesday 10 February 2016

Stanislas' crossing is a weapon AFCB must utilise

To see Junior Stanislas miss out on playing some games after his late injury at Sunderland was a bit worrying at the time. He had been in startling form and it was great to know that he was back on the bench for the Arsenal home match. I expected him to be a bit game-rusty having not played in a while and watched him very keenly when he came on for Matt Ritchie.
Junior Stanislas is pushing for a start already.
The pace and crossing power of Junior was quickly evident. I thought he lifted the team along with Josh King as soon as they made their entrance. Having wondered how Junior Stanislas would possibly be able to get back in the team, I'm now more inclined to think that Eddie Howe has to find a place for him as a lot of the last opportunities in the game were created by Junior's boot and his assists are just as important as his goals.

That could mean that one of the regular wingers is dropped to the bench and on recent performances it may well be Matt Ritchie who has to take a breather. That may come as a shock to a few, but Matt is not hitting the target at the moment and playing has not really sharpened him up in front of goal. With Junior on the right wing we have already seen how Benik Afobe profited from his early delivery at Sunderland and that must be something that Eddie Howe will look at.

AFCB have changed their style slightly in that Simon Francis no longer bombs up the right wing and the need to find consistent crosses from the right has been difficult. Junior looks very well balanced when he plays there and team selection is now becoming very important with critical games ahead. So don't be surprised if Junior gets a start soon.

Yesterday, AFCB's development squad saw action against a Leyton Orient side hammering them 8-3 with Juan Iturbe netting a hat-trick. Josh King, Lewis Grabban and Tommy Elphick were among those having a run out.

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