A new found composure to Benik's finishing?

Many might have been in two minds over whether Benik should have gone to the African Cup of Nations to represent DR Congo. While he has good cameo performances for the Cherries of late, he might have had a better chance of getting a run of games in his national side that could have got him firing in the goals ready for his return. But Benik loves his training at AFCB, and he says he wants to make the most of his first full season in the Premier League.

Benik hopes he made the right choice to ignore
calls for him to play in the Africa Cup of Nations.

I find that a really welcoming attitude as when players are not getting regular starts it is easy for them to hop on the first bus out of town, if they have international friendlies let alone a cup competition that only comes around every two years. But Benik never seems to get down when he isn't picked and just gets to work in the hope that he can contribute something to the side when his time comes. Against Watford he had to wait until the 74th minute to come on, and yet he scored in the 82nd minute. There was some fortune in that Christian Kabasele had gone down injured, but Benik himself said that he took his chance with more composure than he had been able to in previous games.

Benik does have a habit of snatching at his chances I feel. He gets into good scoring positions okay but the final shot is often scuffed or does not make the keeper need to make a save. He has to get better at that and he seems to know it. Instinctive strikers will shoot on sight, but I see Benik as a striker who could improve his goal record just be taking that extra moment to ensure he is hitting the target. 

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How many minutes Benik should get is something that I think Howe has been grappling with for some time. A listener and AFCB fan on BBC Radio Solent commented - 'why doesn't Howe ever play Afobe with King up front?' Kris Temple replied that perhaps it was that Howe sees King and Afobe as more physical players than Callum Wilson and more like-for-like. I can understand that point of view, but King did come on in the Swansea game to join up with Afobe, and I think Howe has tried different pairings, but just not that frequently as he rarely plays two up front as a pair these days - the Watford game was unusual for this.

Premier Talk - Bench warming for Aké