Borini's goal versus West Brom yesterday

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Start at about the 28s mark. Gets the ball, picks out a square pass to an open team mate, continues his run into the box between defenders to meet the nicely-dinked return ball and finishes with a volley. Very nice and smooth move and finish.



I still like the guy. I hope he stays healthy next season (like he has this season), and gets a chance to fight for his spot in the team next season.

 

[moron]

I actually think we need him to stay. Next season i am hoping BR is not forced to use sas all the time because both of them looked exhausted.

 

[Bradley]

He has come into some form and been scoring a decent amount of goals. He would certainly have been a better option on our bench this season than Aspas. Will be good to have him back as a 3rd/4th option next season.

 

[Mystic]

My fear is that he's only doing so well because he's playing every game, I don't think he's suited for a bit part role.

 

[FoxForceFive]

My fear is that he's only doing so well because he's playing every game, I don't think he's suited for a bit part role.

You dont know that though. Very few players are truly suited to a bit part role, but I think he simply needed time to adjust to the pace & aggression of the league & the amount of games has given him that.

Once you factor in CL, fa & league Cup games he'll have plenty of chances to prove himself & play.

 

[jexykrodic]

He's not going to displace Suarez or Sturridge but he's shown he's very capable and has earned a return to our first team squad.

I'd only spend money on other strikers if they were proven quality.

 

[Judge Jules]

Top class attitude too. He's knuckled down and done well for them, alongside making it clear that he wants to come back to LFC. The Mackems are going to miss him.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

he should be our 3rd striker next year - he's a good player, a good finisher and gives 100% every time he's on there. With Rodgers as the gaffa, I think he can take another step next year even as a bit part player (i.e. 20-30 games)

 

[Judge Jules]

That last point is particularly important IMO. Even those on the fringes of the first team are going to get their share of opportunities because of the number of games in which we'll be involved.

I'm prepared to make an exception to my "No more Italians" rule for this lad. 😉

 

[redhorizon2]

he should be our 3rd striker next year - he's a good player, a good finisher and gives 100% every time he's on there. With Rodgers as the gaffa, I think he can take another step next year even as a bit part player (i.e. 20-30 games)

He had 31 games scored 6 and assisted in 2. I think a fair few of those were penalties. He is not a natural goal scorer. If we have an offer of £15m plus I would sell (I doubt anyone would offer that mind you).

 

[FoxForceFive]

Also, a factor I can't see mentioned anywhere, Mr Rodgers.

He has now shown at every stage in his career that he can develop players extremely well, Borini has seemingly done that with Poyet, who, with all due respect, I doubt is anywhere near as good at developing players as Mr Rodgers is.

So we'll be getting back a determined relatively young striker who has adjusted to this league. There's no reason Mr Rodgers can't get even more out of the lad working with him every week, he's obviously got the right attitude & a lot of the skills, which is half the battle won.

 

[Judge Jules]

Unless you're bankrolled a la Citeh, your stand-ins aren't going to be as consistently good as your first team regulars. The question is whether they've got enough about them to be able to improve through good coaching and taking their opportunities when those arise. Borini looks to me to fit that description.

 

[Ryan]

Look at the lack of pressure on the ball carrier for that second goal. 7 passes played without West Brom player getting even close to the S'land player in possession.

Garbage football.

 

[RolandG]

Borini deserves a chance at the very least. He is miles better than Aspas.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Look at the lack of pressure on the ball carrier for that second goal. 7 passes played without West Brom player getting even close to the S'land player in possession.

Garbage football.

Actually only 4 passes, unless you count the short dribbles. There's a segment in the clip just before the action starts at the 26-second-mark which isn't the part of the same sequence (you can see the jitter and the change in timestamp). But yes, West Brom is a shit team.

 

[Judge Jules]

They are indeed. They were my tip to go down with Cardiff and Fulham and I'm still a bit surprised it hasn't turned out that way.

 

[peterhague]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed he'll be sold, he's not good enough for us.

 

[Portly]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we will manage to hang on to Borini. He would be very useful to have around in future seasons. He's a quick-witted forward and has a very good attitude (for an Italian 😉). Our squad still isn't exactly over-loaded with strikers compared with most teams in the top half of the table.

 

[LeTallecWiz]

He had 31 games scored 6 and assisted in 2. I think a fair few of those were penalties. He is not a natural goal scorer. If we have an offer of £15m plus I would sell (I doubt anyone would offer that mind you).

He's barely played as a STRIKER ... watch his games as a striker for us (not many goals his first year, but he's always in the right positions - i.e. instinct) and for Roma (where he had a phenomenally high goal per minute ratio). He's good, and we don't need to splurge on a striker if we intend to keep him.

 

[Mors]

I think he's good enough to come back and be the 3rd striker and fuck aspaz off. Then we can spend the 50p from aspaz elsewhere on the team.
I do worry if he'll progress or go backwards if he's not playing regular football with us though.

 

[Portly]

I agree we don't know how Borini would take to warming the bench, but as I said we aren't overloaded with quality strikers, so I think in practice he would get plenty of games what with injuries and suspensions. United struck lucky with Solskjaer, a good striker who was happy to stay on the bench until required.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Sell.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

Stats-wise, it's quite remarkable how close Borini's and Schurrle's numbers look:

Schurrle:
League - 15 starts 14 subs - 7 goals 1 assist (ranked 4th in scoring for Chelsea)
Cups (CL, FA, CC, Super) - 9 starts 5 subs - 1 goal
TOTAL: 24 starts 19 subs - 8 goals 1 assist

Borini:
League - 24 starts 7 subs - 6 goals 2 assists (ranked 2nd in scoring for Sunderland)
Cups (FA, CC) - 5 starts 5 subs - 3 goals 1 assist
TOTAL: 29 starts 12 subs - 9 goals 3 assists

In terms of playing style, they're pretty similar too, with them usually starting out as the wide forward and drifting into the middle during the game now and then.

I'd trust Rodgers to assess how Borini pans out during the pre-season, now that we have finally arrived at a successful playing style. I do think there's more to come from him, but I'm not sure Rodgers will keep him. It's good to know he's got a knack for scoring in important games though - another Kuyt trait. I just can't help but link him to Kuyt. 😉

 

[localny]

Agreed, better than what we currently have, but we should be aiming higher. HIgher than Borini, Higher than Crouch , Higher than Morientes

 

[Dirkus_Circus]

Top class attitude too. He's knuckled down and done well for them, alongside making it clear that he wants to come back to LFC. The Mackems are going to miss him.

His attitude is the biggest reason I want LFC to keep him. He has given 100% for Sunderland and he is competitive as all get out, I don't think you can underestimate what that type of drive and desire can bring to a team.

 

[Vlads Quiff]

I wouldn't be in a hurry to sell him if he does want to stay and have a scrap. Deffo sell Iago though.
We could still do with some old arse who has had better days elsewhere but still knows where the goal is on a free

 

[peterhague]

I just don't think he's good enough. We need a genuinely good 3rd striking option, *particularly* as we play with 2 in the first team and one of them is fairly injury prone. We've been lucky this season to cope as well as we have, and it's *still* ended up costing us the league.

 

[hamstrung_pigeon]

I just don't think he's good enough. We need a genuinely good 3rd striking option, *particularly* as we play with 2 in the first team and one of them is fairly injury prone. We've been lucky this season to cope as well as we have, and it's *still* ended up costing us the league.

I think Rodgers plays two strikers only because he's got two fantastic strikers to work with and it'd be a bit of a waste to drop one or shift one out of position. Unless we had another striker close to their class, I think he'll revert to one up front when one of Suarez or Sturridge isn't available. If Borini can convince Rodgers that he's good enough, he might get the nod to play as one of the front two when one of Suarez/Sturridge isn't available, but otherwise, he'll probably end up in a wide forward spot in a 4-3-3 when that happens.

What don't you fancy about him anyway? His pace, shooting ability, ball skills, quickness, etc? Whenever I've seen him, I've come away with the impression that he's not the fastest or quickest, but he seems to have a good shot (and it's not just a blast; there's a good variation of shots as well) and he knows the runs to make and positions to take up inside the box to get a shot away. As a provider outside of it, he doesn't look that great, I admit.

 

[localny]

I wouldn't be in a hurry to sell him if he does want to stay and have a scrap. Deffo sell Iago though.
We could still do with some old arse who has had better days elsewhere but still knows where the goal is on a free

Do those players exist anymore Vlad? Morientes was a shoo in on that basis, but in the PL, since it's got so fast once the legs go, the goals go..

 

[King Binny]

On a sidenote, Sunderland only scored 40 league goals.

Adam Johnson
27(8) appearances 8 goals 4 assists

Fabio Borini
24(7) appearances 6 goals 2 assists

Connor Wickham
9(5) appearances 5 goals 1 assists

Emanuele Giaccherini
16(8) appearances 4 goals 4 assists

Jack Colback
27(5) appearances 3 goals

Regardless of penalty or not, of his goals, 2 were winners.That's 4 points he helped earned for them. Scored in the League Cup ties against Chelsea, Man Utd and Man City too.

11/12 was his 1st full season in top flight football (but only 30 appearances in total). This is arguably his 2nd 'full season' (39 total appearances).