The way in which Josh King finished last season, it is no wonder that he was being linked with a move to Spurs and Everton over the summer. Yet, he has had a very quiet start to this season and is probably wondering why it took him until the Carabao Cup game last night to get on the score sheet.
Josh has had to move from being the number nine striker to playing just behind Jermain Defoe. While that means he will be a bit deeper, it should not have that much of a difference in seeing King get a few chances. In short, the chances have been limited for both strikers and it is hard to score when you are starved of the ball.
Josh is one of the players that drives at the opposition, but that too has hardly been evidence. King's physicality is a big part of his game and we need to see more of that. Hopefully, that is changing though with the performance he put in against Brighton in mid-week, when he was able to make an impact as a sub. Marc Pugh found him in a good position, just inside the box, and King almost skipped his way past three Brighton defenders, as if on ice, before poking the ball over the line.
He has started in all five Premier League games and he was probably due a bit of luck in front of goal. I'd like to see him play even closer to Defoe, if he can, on Saturday as by both of them going through the middle at pace, Bournemouth should be able to give problems to Everton. The real threat of King comes when AFCB's wingers or full backs get behind teams and pull the ball back for him. At the moment the team is struggling to do this at pace and much of the play has been predictable.
It's noticeable that Bournemouth have not been awarded any penalties yet either and I wonder who has pulled rank on taking them? Defoe likes to take them and yet Josh has a pretty good success rate. We'll find out soon enough. But Josh will know that he needs to get going, Junior Stanislas is on his way back and Callum Wilson will only be a month or so behind at my guess.
The pressure is always on strikers to score, but King adds so much more to the team than just that, so I'm hoping he gets one or two more at Everton.
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| King tip-toed his way to the winner. |
Josh is one of the players that drives at the opposition, but that too has hardly been evidence. King's physicality is a big part of his game and we need to see more of that. Hopefully, that is changing though with the performance he put in against Brighton in mid-week, when he was able to make an impact as a sub. Marc Pugh found him in a good position, just inside the box, and King almost skipped his way past three Brighton defenders, as if on ice, before poking the ball over the line.
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It's noticeable that Bournemouth have not been awarded any penalties yet either and I wonder who has pulled rank on taking them? Defoe likes to take them and yet Josh has a pretty good success rate. We'll find out soon enough. But Josh will know that he needs to get going, Junior Stanislas is on his way back and Callum Wilson will only be a month or so behind at my guess.
The pressure is always on strikers to score, but King adds so much more to the team than just that, so I'm hoping he gets one or two more at Everton.
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