Uche

[The Treasurer]

12 minutes ago, GinRummy said:

 

I don't really watch internationals so couldn't comment on how he does for them up on his own.

 

Maybe with a decent number 10 it could work but I just don't see it. He doesn't seem confident in front of goal and strikes me as more of an assist man.

 

Also if he misses chances regularly and he is the main guy getting chances it could ruin what little confidence he has,

I don't think he lacks confidence, maybe he's just not the natural finisher that you require for a main striker

One thing about Washington is his willingness to work and his intelligent runs, so having a strike partner might be the best option.

[We_are_the_Hearts]

Big man deserves a start on Saturday

[Jim Panzee]

13 hours ago, RobNox said:

The problem for Uche is that he is a big strong guy, but when he was being fouled and staying on his feet, the refs gave him nothing.  It's like they think it's OK to foul someone if they are strong enough to stand up to it.  So in order to win a foul, he needs to go down, otherwise our refs assume there was no foul.

 

yeap - totally agree with this. if he could be coached / learn how to be a tad more canny when going down to win free kicks that would be good. Not cheating, but making it more difficult for the refs to side with the defenders.

 

Berra is good at this at the other end of the park - often winning free kicks when to me it looks 50/50 with the opposing player.

[Last Laff]

1 hour ago, We_are_the_Hearts said:

Big man deserves a start on Saturday

 

Based on what exactly? 

[We_are_the_Hearts]

7 minutes ago, Last Laff said:

 

Based on what exactly? 

Scapegoat for the Ross County game IMO. 
Him and Washington worked well in the Aberdeen game when GW came on. Defo worth another try for me.

[Last Laff]

19 minutes ago, We_are_the_Hearts said:

Scapegoat for the Ross County game IMO. 
Him and Washington worked well in the Aberdeen game when GW came on. Defo worth another try for me.

 

Fair enough, I feel he’s been figured out though and this will be his last season up here.  GW I’m guessing is Washington? 

[We_are_the_Hearts]

2 minutes ago, Last Laff said:

 

Fair enough, I feel he’s been figured out though and this will be his last season up here.  GW I’m guessing is Washington? 

Sorry yeah, typed a G instead of a C. Just think Uche could be better with someone up there with him as was hung out to dry himself a lot last year. If he has 2 or 3 on him then creates space for the likes of Conor and Meshino.

[Last Laff]

Just now, We_are_the_Hearts said:

Sorry yeah, typed a G instead of a C. Just think Uche could be better with someone up there with him as was hung out to dry himself a lot last year. If he has 2 or 3 on him then creates space for the likes of Conor and Meshino.

 

Yeah it’s a very valid point mate! Will we go two up top though and would it lead to just lazily launching balls up to the big guy? It’s a conundrum. 

[We_are_the_Hearts]

1 minute ago, Last Laff said:

 

Yeah it’s a very valid point mate! Will we go two up top though and would it lead to just lazily launching balls up to the big guy? It’s a conundrum. 

We refrained from doing that at Pittodrie and cut them open a few times. Worth a try for me. Big man gives it his all anyway and will be itching to prove a point.

[Firefox]

Uche came from Cambridge United, a league 2 side. We knew he was young and a raw talent when we got him. If he was an out and out goal machine he would have been playing at a higher level in England.  The problem he has has is that we constantly used him as a target man, lumping long balls up to him for him to control with his back to the opposing goal. most teams put 2 men on him and any time he gets the ball they are all over him like a rash. 

He is at his most effective when hes given the ball at his feet and can run at defenders.Used in this way he might not score lots of goals but he will lay chances on for the likes of Washington, Naismith and Claire.  His part in Lafferty's goal against Celtic is a prime example.  He's young, he gives 100% and if used correctly is a very useful player to have in the squad.

[GinRummy]

11 minutes ago, Last Laff said:

 

Yeah it’s a very valid point mate! Will we go two up top though and would it lead to just lazily launching balls up to the big guy? It’s a conundrum. 

 

Not wanting to turn this into a Levein thread but surely if players are instructed to play a certain way (ie not bullet the ball up the park) then that's just what they need to do. Read comments from Berra a while ago saying the first player he looks for when he gets the ball is Uche. If instructed to play a short easy pass and play through the midfield then surely players must try and do that.

[Cruyff Turn]

I’m sure he will start on Saturday with Washington.

[davemclaren]

57 minutes ago, Firefox said:

Uche came from Cambridge United, a league 2 side. We knew he was young and a raw talent when we got him. If he was an out and out goal machine he would have been playing at a higher level in England.  The problem he has has is that we constantly used him as a target man, lumping long balls up to him for him to control with his back to the opposing goal. most teams put 2 men on him and any time he gets the ball they are all over him like a rash. 

He is at his most effective when hes given the ball at his feet and can run at defenders.Used in this way he might not score lots of goals but he will lay chances on for the likes of Washington, Naismith and Claire.  His part in Lafferty's goal against Celtic is a prime example.  He's young, he gives 100% and if used correctly is a very useful player to have in the squad.

Yeah, he can certainly play a role for us in the right formation. 

[NB GIN]

2 hours ago, We_are_the_Hearts said:

Scapegoat for the Ross County game IMO. 
Him and Washington worked well in the Aberdeen game when GW came on. Defo worth another try for me.

Agree his work rate is infectious 

[NB GIN]

1 hour ago, Cruyff Turn said:

I’m sure he will start on Saturday with Washington.

I don’t think he will 

 

think it will be a 3 behind Washington of Clare Mulraney and the Japanese lad 

 

woukd rather see uche and washington up top than Clare behind Washington for sure 

[Natural Orders]

5 hours ago, Jim Panzee said:

yeap - totally agree with this. if he could be coached / learn how to be a tad more canny when going down to win free kicks that would be good. Not cheating, but making it more difficult for the refs to side with the defenders.

 

Berra is good at this at the other end of the park - often winning free kicks when to me it looks 50/50 with the opposing player.

yeh he goes down far too easily and then waves his arms up in the air

[been here before]

3 hours ago, Natural Orders said:

yeh he goes down far too easily and then waves his arms up in the air

 

Sounds a bit of a panzy.

[Lovecraft]

I think he will start against Hibs.

 

They are weak all over the park.

 

 

[Smith's right boot]

He needs to stay on his feet and play the ****ing ball. 

 

When he does that he's good. 

Back to goal he's poor but running with the ball he has something about him. 

 

Running, about, too many touches then falling over or not even touching the ball and falling over is all to regular recently tho. 

 

Get the ball out your feet, run, then pass or hit a shot. 

 

Don't worry about close lining or body slamming the defender, not required. 

 

I'd play him out wide as well maybe. 

[stevie1874]

38 minutes ago, Lovecraft said:

I think he will start against Hibs.

 

They are weak all over the park.

 

 

According to my Hibby mate they are weakest in midfield, I think we’ll flood the midfield so could see us playing 1 up top. 

[Sagan]

Fifa is reasonably accurate when it comes to rating players. 

Uche has been giving a good rating for strength, which is accurate!

Does uche go down easily at times? Yes he does!

The bullying of the OP from the usual posters is unacceptable in my opinion. 

[Robbo-Jambo]

5 hours ago, Natural Orders said:

yeh he goes down far too easily and then waves his arms up in the air

He doesn't go down too easy that's the problem.

 

He tries to stay up too long and the defender gets the foul.

 

He needs to get more savvy. 

[stevie1874]

38 minutes ago, Smith's right boot said:

He needs to stay on his feet and play the ****ing ball. 

 

When he does that he's good. 

Back to goal he's poor but running with the ball he has something about him. 

 

Running, about, too many touches then falling over or not even touching the ball and falling over is all to regular recently tho. 

 

Get the ball out your feet, run, then pass or hit a shot. 

 

Don't worry about close lining or body slamming the defender, not required. 

 

I'd play him out wide as well maybe. 

Uche is an asset, but when on the pitch he needs to mix up his game, sitting on the last man, dropping well short and moving out wide also making runs when he’s not going to get the ball to drag defenders all over the place. Other teams have sussed out the big target man who holds up the ball standing beside the centre half. Other players in the team need to be clever when giving him the ball ie not always a lump forward when he’s got his back to goal. 

[Sagan]

5 minutes ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

He doesn't go down too easy that's the problem.

 

He tries to stay up too long and the defender gets the foul.

 

He needs to get more savvy. 

 

I disagree, he's a beast of a man in football terms. He goes down like a PANSY at times. 

He needs to just stay up and pass the ball. 

 

I've just realised that i've agreed with smith's right boot there, Unbelievable jeff. 

 

Uche is a very good player to have in your team when he's fit and match sharp. If he could add being more of team player (passing the ball more) instead of just wanting to ram his way through 9 players then fall over, he would be one of our main assets.

Edited Thursday at 19:25 by Sagan

[Robbo-Jambo]

1 minute ago, Sagan said:

 

I disagree, he's a beast of a man in football terms. He goes down like a PANSY at times. 

He needs to just stay up and pass the ball. 

Watch closely when he has 2 men on him he tries to barge his way through then the defenders get the decision.

 

He needs to be more streetwise imo.

[Robbo-Jambo]

9 hours ago, Firefox said:

Uche came from Cambridge United, a league 2 side. We knew he was young and a raw talent when we got him. If he was an out and out goal machine he would have been playing at a higher level in England.  The problem he has has is that we constantly used him as a target man, lumping long balls up to him for him to control with his back to the opposing goal. most teams put 2 men on him and any time he gets the ball they are all over him like a rash. 

He is at his most effective when hes given the ball at his feet and can run at defenders.Used in this way he might not score lots of goals but he will lay chances on for the likes of Washington, Naismith and Claire.  His part in Lafferty's goal against Celtic is a prime example.  He's young, he gives 100% and if used correctly is a very useful player to have in the squad.

Good post.

 

We should play to his strengths.

[Sagan]

1 minute ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Watch closely when he has 2 men on him he tries to barge his way through then the defenders get the decision.

 

He needs to be more streetwise imo.

He needs to stop looking for fouls!

Barge your way through 9 mine by all means, but keep your head up and look for the pass. 

[Lovecraft]

30 minutes ago, stevie1874 said:

According to my Hibby mate they are weakest in midfield, I think we’ll flood the midfield so could see us playing 1 up top. 

Yeah, it was a Hibby at work that was saying they are weak and get bullied easily.

 

 

[J80MBO]

11 hours ago, Last Laff said:

 

Based on what exactly? 

His opinion

[Last Laff]

46 minutes ago, J80MBO said:

His opinion

 

Yes and thankfully he justified what his opinion was.  It would be a shit place to discuss football if it was just based on opinions without any clarification smart arse. 

[Jim Panzee]

21 hours ago, Natural Orders said:

yeh he goes down far too easily and then waves his arms up in the air

you misunderstand me. Uche is still being fouled when he goes down. hopefully with more coaching / experiencing / learning from our senior pro's he will start to learn how to get the ref to change decisions in his favour.

[doctor jambo]

Do we still use the word pansy?

[Peebo]

Seems to have zero footballing intelligence. Tries hard and has some ability, but his style of play will never work here. A walking yellow card.

[dode]

3 minutes ago, Peebo said:

Seems to have zero footballing intelligence. Tries hard and has some ability, but his style of play will never work here. A walking yellow card.

the guy has to go back south as every ref has bought the big laddie looks after himself media line .

the last minute today he was physically assaulted and the ref didn’t care .

He will get feck all like De vries before him.

[Gorgiewave]

Negatives: whines, too many stupid bookings, scores too few goals, is ball greedy, is slow.

Positives: tries hard, is powerful.

 

I'd make him a sub at best.

 

[The rat catcher]

4 minutes ago, Gorgiewave said:

Negatives: whines, too many stupid bookings, scores too few goals, is ball greedy, is slow.

Positives: tries hard, is powerful.

 

I'd make him a sub at best.

 

 

Where does that leave Clare, Maclean, Mulraney, Brandon, Irving etc? 

[Gorgiewave]

12 minutes ago, The rat catcher said:

 

Where does that leave Clare, Maclean, Mulraney, Brandon, Irving etc? 

Clare: release/sell.

Maclean: release/sell or retire.

Mulraney: improved and has pace. Play through centre more.

Brandon: reserve right back.

Irving: possibly the pick of the recent youngsters.

[Russ1977]

Tries like a bear but just not very good. His attempted lay off in the lead up to their second sums him up completely. What should have been a simple pass and us attacking ends up with us conceding. 

[JamboAl1965]

like him, but no touch and absolutely zero game intelligence.

[TheOak88]

Man of the match today. 

[Saint Jambo]

1 minute ago, JamboAl1965 said:

like him, but no touch and absolutely zero game intelligence.

 

Add to that, more interest in creating contact with the defender than paying attention to the ball, horribly slow, and with no natural finishing ability. Useless.

 

On top of that he gets nothing from referees and when we play him we go long ball. Neither of those things are his fault (well both are a bit due to other flaws in his game but not totally his fault at least) but both reasons not to play him. Can't see him starting under a new manager.

[allystrachan]

Great defence splitting pass for the Motherwell goal today. If he could just pass to an attacking hearts player like that we would have a little progress.

[Lord BJ]

10 minutes ago, Russ1977 said:

Tries like a bear but just not very good. His attempted lay off in the lead up to their second sums him up completely. What should have been a simple pass and us attacking ends up with us conceding. 

 

This, however, that still was sufficient to make him arguably our motm!?!?

 

I find it hard to criticise uche. At no point can I doubt what he can control, his effort, commitment, work rate etc. The guy gives everything he can every time he steps on the park and wants it. 

 

Unfortunately his abilities do not anywhere near match his efforts. Not his fault a bit like myself his foot all skills are limited.

 

He’s not good enough for first team but I do think he is a good squad player to mix it up/change of pace. 

 

Guy leaves nothing out there imo.

 

 

 

[BarneyBattles]

2 minutes ago, TheOak88 said:

Man of the match today. 

 

Do you mean he got sponsors man of the match or something or that you think he was man of the match? I was away long before they announced it. 

 

I like Uche but he needs to concentrate more on the ball rather than the opposition and ref. He’s constantly looking to barge or climb over an opponent and looking to see if the ref has seen this or that rather than just getting on with the game. 

 

He’s not alone in this in our team. 

[Yoda]

7 minutes ago, TheOak88 said:

Man of the match today. 

You're having a laugh.  Primarily responsible for the 2nd Well goal.

 

Ball either bounces off him or he fails to make the obvious pass.  When the ball is played to him at chest height, instead of trying to kill the ball and bring it down, he seems to flip it up in the air like he's doing keep-uppy.

 

Can't fault his effort, but just not good enough.

[S Form]

Uche is never a footballer. Perhaps an option to have on the bench but anyone who thinks he’s a starter has completely lost the plot.

[Jamhammer]

7 minutes ago, Yoda said:

You're having a laugh.  Primarily responsible for the 2nd Well goal.

 

Ball either bounces off him or he fails to make the obvious pass.  When the ball is played to him at chest height, instead of trying to kill the ball and bring it down, he seems to flip it up in the air like he's doing keep-uppy.

 

Can't fault his effort, but just not good enough.

Sponsors man of the match, Fact. Can only assume they were pissed

I'd be very interested to see how he played under a different manager before I binned him to be honest.

Edited Saturday at 19:55 by Jamhammer

[been here before]

12 minutes ago, BarneyBattles said:

 

Do you mean he got sponsors man of the match or something or that you think he was man of the match? I was away long before they announced it. 

 

Sponsors. It was announced on the way out to much merriment and mirth.

[BarneyBattles]

1 minute ago, been here before said:

 

Sponsors. It was announced on the way out to much merriment and mirth.

 

That’s ludicrous. He was totally shit apart from a decent jump for an open goal. 

 

At at one point he slipped a nice ball past a defender then instead of just running around him decided that clambering all over him giving away a foul was a better idea. 

[Famous 1874]

Utter shite today. Bar that one good run in the first half. 

Physical beast, terrible footballer.