I don't think I'm the only one who thought Benik Afobe looked stunned when he missed his end of game headed effort on goal against Middlesbrough. He may have thought he'd already scored as Adam Smith sent the ball over to him from the free kick, but he mistimed his header and the ball came off his shoulder as well to send it on to and over the bar.
Benik was not the only one to see the goal and then see it close up in front of him. Charlie Daniels was gifted a great ball by Wilshere and then beat players at will before passing up the chance to shoot from just a few yards. I'm less curious about that though as defenders are more likely to look for sharper shooters to finish the job. But you want your number nine climbing over walls to get the chance to head in from a few yards.
You can take a lack of match fitness and too much time to think about scoring as plausible excuses if you like. But Benik won't get too many opportunities to play 40 minutes or mere if he does not make the keeper work. It was like when Eddie Howe talked about Callum Wilson scoring against Watford, if I recall correctly. He wasn't surprised, rather it was Callum's job to score. And it's Afobe's job to score as well when he is on that pitch. It is likely that Benik has lost some of his confidence after not carrying on his great early start to his career at AFCB, but he has to just get his scoring going again and find the grove. He can be a good finisher as we have seen it before from him.
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| Benik may get another chance on Saturday but will he get enough time to get off the mark with some goals? |
You can take a lack of match fitness and too much time to think about scoring as plausible excuses if you like. But Benik won't get too many opportunities to play 40 minutes or mere if he does not make the keeper work. It was like when Eddie Howe talked about Callum Wilson scoring against Watford, if I recall correctly. He wasn't surprised, rather it was Callum's job to score. And it's Afobe's job to score as well when he is on that pitch. It is likely that Benik has lost some of his confidence after not carrying on his great early start to his career at AFCB, but he has to just get his scoring going again and find the grove. He can be a good finisher as we have seen it before from him.
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The option for Howe to stick with Benik on the bench or to give Lys Mousset or Lewis Grabban the spot has been fairly consistent. But Benik has to start putting away his chances soon. 
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