Sylla v Smith

[West Acton]

Think we're spoilt with these two fellas

Both are a handful and both have attributes the other does not if we want to rotate. Was clear last night Sylla had also bought into the working hard and closing down ethos and the boy knows where the net is, was a really smart finish yesterdays surprised that finish does not have its own thread was superb how he rearranged his feet to connect

Can anyone else see these two playing together??

[TimPR78]

Was a little surprised to see Sylla start last night but I'm glad he did, he's a really smart finisher and can put his foot through it when needed, don't want to see him get frozen out. Nice to think we have a few now who can finish for us.

[Pinkie]

Always liked sylla west, proper quality striker and didnt like the idea of smith but hes ended being exactly what we needed for a lump its mouthwatering the quality we`ve got allover the park, it really is, cant remember us being so spoilt for choice, and i wont go on about ollie but boy has got them all playing for him now, good times ahead for next season

[Shepherds Mush]

I've been critical of Sylla but he worked his socks off last night and was a constant pain for Barnsley.

Got to say that he is lethal around the 6 yard box.

[Route One]

No question about it for me that Sylla is and will prove to be a better player.

First impressions count and I think that has skewed opinions at the moment

Smith has had a strong start and has played at the top of his game for us and I’ve enjoyed seeing his effort and commitment. But his record and history suggest that the goals wont keep coming. I see him next season being a bench regular and coming on when we are chasing the game and want to pump balls in to the box.

Sylla has a lot more quality, undoubtedly better on the floor and is far more mobile. He is excellent at bringing the ball down under pressure and then laying it off to feet. Smith is more a battering ram and has no real idea where his flick ons are going half the time but i get that he's a big tried hard lump that is easier to relate to for some fans than a black African fella (is true is natural just look at the UFC now as a sporting comparison, the psychology behind this is why they push forward Stephen Thompson, GSP, Bisping over Woodley, Diaz, Ferguson and Maia etc)

But biggest thing is goals.

The most important aspect of a striker is to score goals and over a season its clear that Sylla will find the net a hell of a lot more than Smith. Its crazy but striikers scoring goals really is such an under rated thing these days. If that means Sylla staying central a little bit more rather than chasing a full back or keeper for a ball that’s about to land on one of our centre backs heads anyway then that’s worth it for me

[jmelanie]

I think the competition is helping.

[Lord Charles]

It's not Sylla v Smith

It is Sylla + Smith + (Washington + N'gbakato) / Any formation Ollie wants to try = a 5hitload of goals

[Shepherds Mush]

Smith has had a strong start and has played at the top of his game for us and I’ve enjoyed seeing his effort and commitment. But his record and history suggest that the goals wont keep coming. I see him next season being a bench regular and coming on when we are chasing the game and want to pump balls in to the box.

So we've seen the best of Smith after a handful of games and it's all downhill now?

[Stanley]

Can anyone else see these two playing together??

Not with the form Conor and Yeni are in too. More likely to see Ollie rotating our forwards depending on the the oppo IMO.

[Hubble]

Not with the form Conor and Yeni are in too. More likely to see Ollie rotating our forwards depending on the the oppo IMO.

Precisely. At last we have options in attack and decent options at that. Washington/Smith is a combo that works well and is ideal for certain opponents. Sylla is more suited to when you need a more defensive formation with one up front, he's also a fantastic sub to bring on when defences are tiring. Similarly, Smith can be brought on if we need to go direct. With wingers like Pawel, Yeni and LuaLua and Freeman and Manning in midfield our strikers are finally getting service, which is half the battle and the reason why we're scoring more goals now. Since they all also chip in with goals, the strikers aren't carrying all the weight like they were before, so they are performing better and are more confident - Washington is a case in point.

[qpr]

We simply can't drop Washington at the moment but at some point I think Sycella & Smith could be very interesting as a test