| Armstrong extended on 17:02 - Jun 13 with 3009 views | ParkRoyalR |
| Armstrong extended on 07:59 - Jun 13 by daveB |
he's only 20, he'll get better in the next few years, has all the attributes to be a brilliant player. If I was a lower end Prem club I'd buy him and loan him out for a season |
Attributes wise....
Positives - he has strength, pace and desire.
Negatives - he has poor control, poor technical ability (ie does'nt have a trick to beat a player), is very one-footed, not a threat in the air but most worryingly for me he has that lack of flexibility in his hips which results in a heavy touch all too often.
I like the lad but reckon the R Block and Twitter see something I'm missing. |  | |  |
| Armstrong extended on 17:02 - Jun 13 with 3004 views | Northernr |
| Armstrong extended on 16:57 - Jun 13 by ParkRoyalR |
Apologies in advance for labouring the point, but thought that was another of the 'must not lose' games where we got it tactically all wrong,
I get there is a possibility the players may have ignored the game-plan but if you're starting Armstrong as a lone striker what are you expecting you're players to do?
I think it was the stark reality of this game and the Birmingham City home game that brought home to Cifuentes what most of us knew, that if you start Frey or Armstrong as you're lone striker you're not going to win many games or pick up enough points to stay up. |
Cheers Lynd, good luck with the recovery.  |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 17:12 - Jun 13 with 2949 views | ParkRoyalR |
| Armstrong extended on 17:02 - Jun 13 by Northernr |
Cheers Lynd, good luck with the recovery. |
Cheers cobber!
Looking forward to seeing some more of your 7's & 8's next year mate! | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 17:15 - Jun 13 with 2939 views | Antti_Heinola |
| Armstrong extended on 16:57 - Jun 13 by ParkRoyalR |
Apologies in advance for labouring the point, but thought that was another of the 'must not lose' games where we got it tactically all wrong,
I get there is a possibility the players may have ignored the game-plan but if you're starting Armstrong as a lone striker what are you expecting you're players to do?
I think it was the stark reality of this game and the Birmingham City home game that brought home to Cifuentes what most of us knew, that if you start Frey or Armstrong as you're lone striker you're not going to win many games or pick up enough points to stay up. |
Yes, if only serially successful football manager Cifuentes could have seen what the average fan knew well before him, everything would have worked out better.
I expect he expected the players to do much better than they did. Was this not the game he showed them at half time the 20 times they played the same wrong ball? |  |
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| Armstrong extended on 17:17 - Jun 13 with 2934 views | Pdog |
| Armstrong extended on 17:02 - Jun 13 by ParkRoyalR |
Attributes wise....
Positives - he has strength, pace and desire.
Negatives - he has poor control, poor technical ability (ie does'nt have a trick to beat a player), is very one-footed, not a threat in the air but most worryingly for me he has that lack of flexibility in his hips which results in a heavy touch all too often.
I like the lad but reckon the R Block and Twitter see something I'm missing. |
I'd get him in early for pre-season and have size 3 footballs pinged into him with a dev squad defender crawling on his back, on repeat. That should sort his touch and hold-up play. |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 21:21 - Jun 13 with 2675 views | ParkRoyalR |
| Armstrong extended on 17:15 - Jun 13 by Antti_Heinola |
Yes, if only serially successful football manager Cifuentes could have seen what the average fan knew well before him, everything would have worked out better.
I expect he expected the players to do much better than they did. Was this not the game he showed them at half time the 20 times they played the same wrong ball? |
I have you right there Anti,
If Cifuentes had read this forum everything could have worked out better sooner and we would'nt have been relying on those last two games,
One average fan advised him having seen a lot of these players (not as much as some mind) that:
1) We did'nt have the midfielders to play 4-3-3 & needed to change to a 4-2-3-1 (he eventually did)
2) We were playing with 10 men with Dozzell, he needed to drop him (he did asap)
3) We needed a strong spine & to get Dunne, Field & Dykes back in Starting XI (he did, after the Stoke non-performance)
4) We needed to start Dykes in the run-in as Armstrong & Frey were'nt starters (he eventually did, whether by fortune or judgment)
You don't need too many coaching badges to have worked out the above mind | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 01:25 - Jun 14 with 2494 views | CLAREMAN1995 |
| Armstrong extended on 09:29 - Jun 13 by BrianMcCarthy |
We all love personality, Gloucs, but emotionally he's incredibly immature on the pitch. My concern is that this may be hindering him. I have no way of knowing, of course, it's just a concern. Immaturity usually leads to lapses in concentration (offsides?), burning of excess nervous energy (he can't last a game?) and/or an inability to recognise development opportunties as regards developing mental and technical skills (for a player his age who has played in two technical countries, his skills often let him down).
Shearer used to talk about the 'ten-second reset'. He gave himself ten seconds to get over a miss. I suspect it's less than ten seconds now. In Gaelic Games it's five seconds, because that's how long it takes for the next kick-out/puck-out so you better be ready and in position or we lose possession and spend the next sixty seconds fighting to regain it. Armstrong often spends ages remonstrating with officials and/or himself while the game continues all around him. Even if he was hard done by, and he often isn't, his team-mates need him and need him now.
He's 21. He's no babóg. |
Are you able to watch Ireland U21s play Brian and if yes does he play the same for them as QPR.
Being offside all the time is frustrating for fans but must be worse for his teammates and staff its no wonder Marti adressed it right away and fairly succesfully.
Running free towards the opposition goal is something very few strikers get a chance to do yet SA seems to have the ability/skill/ luck to find himself in that position lots of times . Of course he normally fcuks it up but I feel he can continue to progress there and score more goals as he develops under Marti hopefully.
I am in the keep him camp but if he wants to get away to greener pastures then its out of our hands |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 06:04 - Jun 14 with 2414 views | PlanetHonneywood |
| Armstrong extended on 01:25 - Jun 14 by CLAREMAN1995 |
Are you able to watch Ireland U21s play Brian and if yes does he play the same for them as QPR.
Being offside all the time is frustrating for fans but must be worse for his teammates and staff its no wonder Marti adressed it right away and fairly succesfully.
Running free towards the opposition goal is something very few strikers get a chance to do yet SA seems to have the ability/skill/ luck to find himself in that position lots of times . Of course he normally fcuks it up but I feel he can continue to progress there and score more goals as he develops under Marti hopefully.
I am in the keep him camp but if he wants to get away to greener pastures then its out of our hands |
I saw bits of an U21 game he played in, and formed this view: yeah, he stood out, but more in a Anthony Joshua bossing middleweights way than Sophia Vergara being the standout among the South African scrum. |  |
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| Armstrong extended on 08:43 - Jun 14 with 2270 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Armstrong extended on 01:25 - Jun 14 by CLAREMAN1995 |
Are you able to watch Ireland U21s play Brian and if yes does he play the same for them as QPR.
Being offside all the time is frustrating for fans but must be worse for his teammates and staff its no wonder Marti adressed it right away and fairly succesfully.
Running free towards the opposition goal is something very few strikers get a chance to do yet SA seems to have the ability/skill/ luck to find himself in that position lots of times . Of course he normally fcuks it up but I feel he can continue to progress there and score more goals as he develops under Marti hopefully.
I am in the keep him camp but if he wants to get away to greener pastures then its out of our hands |
Ya, I've watched a lot of his Under-21 games, Bannerman.
Good question, as they do play differently to us. He plays more as a back-to-goal centre-forward who traps, lays-off and spins. Himself and the wingers do change position a lot, though, so he does get one-on-ones, particularly coming in from the wings.
In the games I've seen, the Irish underage teams create lots of chances and most fall to Armstrong. His conversion rate is low, with control, composure, decision-making holding him back. I would say that technically he is below average for the modern Irish youth player, but the crowd love that power and speed and he's a bit of a cult hero, and I don't mean that in a derogatory, patronising way either. |  |
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| Armstrong extended on 10:31 - Jun 14 with 2113 views | Burnleyhoop |
| Armstrong extended on 14:24 - Jun 12 by Antti_Heinola |
I agree, but I remain sceptical we'll get another striker. We only play with one, and we have three already. We can't afford to have 2 on the bench and one not even in the squad. One has to go before one comes in, I suspect. And I can't see anyone taking any of the three we have. |
The big unknown is Frey. We didn’t see much of him last season before injury polished him off. He looked unfit and painfully slow. Will a full pre-season bring him to a level that negates the need to buy another striker?
He must have something about him otherwise Marti wouldn’t have brought him in. | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 10:45 - Jun 14 with 2063 views | Burnleyhoop |
| Armstrong extended on 07:18 - Jun 13 by cpgerber |
I think with some proper coaching he can be a useful player. His decision making has been poor, for me.
Many fluent attacks upfield he seemed to slow it down by just hanging on to it with people streaming forward into good positions. And then when he had to slow it down and wait for support, he snapped at it or tried a shot from impossible angles.
His first touch though has let him down on many occasions. Not sure how much that can still be improved, I guess a lot of practice will help. |
If you can’t trap a ball as a 20 year old professional footballer I would suggest you change your day job. It’s what they teach and embed in toddler coaching drills and what you practice endlessly for as long as you continue to play the game. A basic requirement would be an understatement. | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 11:09 - Jun 14 with 2008 views | loftboy |
| Armstrong extended on 10:45 - Jun 14 by Burnleyhoop |
If you can’t trap a ball as a 20 year old professional footballer I would suggest you change your day job. It’s what they teach and embed in toddler coaching drills and what you practice endlessly for as long as you continue to play the game. A basic requirement would be an understatement. |
Michael Owen couldn’t trap a bag of cement! But he knew how to finish, I’d take a player who can score regularly over one that know the basics but cant score! |  |
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| Armstrong extended on 11:33 - Jun 14 with 1952 views | Pdog |
| Armstrong extended on 11:09 - Jun 14 by loftboy |
Michael Owen couldn’t trap a bag of cement! But he knew how to finish, I’d take a player who can score regularly over one that know the basics but cant score! |
Not sure about that.. Owen would not have played at the very highest level for so many years or even made it that far had he a bad touch, it just isn't true.
I agree there's levels to this, not all will have Berbatov esq control but the higher up you go unless your touch is good you'll be found out as much less margin for error, only so many times can one lose possession and have moves break down before they're binned and drop to their true level. | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 12:03 - Jun 14 with 1894 views | Stainrod |
| Armstrong extended on 10:31 - Jun 14 by Burnleyhoop |
The big unknown is Frey. We didn’t see much of him last season before injury polished him off. He looked unfit and painfully slow. Will a full pre-season bring him to a level that negates the need to buy another striker?
He must have something about him otherwise Marti wouldn’t have brought him in. |
I see Frey as more of a Matt Smith type striker - useful sub. If he could play like he did against WBA every week happy to change my opinion. | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 12:15 - Jun 14 with 1839 views | QPR_Jim |
| Armstrong extended on 17:02 - Jun 13 by ParkRoyalR |
Attributes wise....
Positives - he has strength, pace and desire.
Negatives - he has poor control, poor technical ability (ie does'nt have a trick to beat a player), is very one-footed, not a threat in the air but most worryingly for me he has that lack of flexibility in his hips which results in a heavy touch all too often.
I like the lad but reckon the R Block and Twitter see something I'm missing. |
I broadly agree with what you said, would add doesn't score enough. However the major caveat is that the positives can't be trained into a player whereas you can work on the negatives. You're never going to get dykes as fast as Armstrong no matter how well you train him. We could possibly get Armstrong to make better runs or improve his first touch or even time his jumps better to win headers. That's why I personally still have hope for Armstrong despite his performances not being outstanding. |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 12:16 - Jun 14 with 1829 views | BrianMcCarthy |
| Armstrong extended on 12:15 - Jun 14 by QPR_Jim |
I broadly agree with what you said, would add doesn't score enough. However the major caveat is that the positives can't be trained into a player whereas you can work on the negatives. You're never going to get dykes as fast as Armstrong no matter how well you train him. We could possibly get Armstrong to make better runs or improve his first touch or even time his jumps better to win headers. That's why I personally still have hope for Armstrong despite his performances not being outstanding. |
Fair comments, Jim. | |
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| Armstrong extended on 12:38 - Jun 14 with 1776 views | daveB |
| Armstrong extended on 17:02 - Jun 13 by ParkRoyalR |
Attributes wise....
Positives - he has strength, pace and desire.
Negatives - he has poor control, poor technical ability (ie does'nt have a trick to beat a player), is very one-footed, not a threat in the air but most worryingly for me he has that lack of flexibility in his hips which results in a heavy touch all too often.
I like the lad but reckon the R Block and Twitter see something I'm missing. |
Those are all things that can be worked on and fixed, he's only 20.
Les Ferdinand at the same age was playing at Hayes and lacked a lot of things until he was about 24/25 |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 12:51 - Jun 14 with 1698 views | ngbqpr |
Interesting debate...with almost everyone, pro- and anti-, adding caveats.
Problem is tho...it looks like his agent doesn't want him to sign a new deal even if the club wants him to. |  |
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| Armstrong extended on 12:52 - Jun 14 with 1697 views | DavieQPR |
| Armstrong extended on 12:38 - Jun 14 by daveB |
Those are all things that can be worked on and fixed, he's only 20.
Les Ferdinand at the same age was playing at Hayes and lacked a lot of things until he was about 24/25 |
21 next week, Worry is his advisors giving him delusions of grandeur and persuading him he is better than he actually is. That can affect a willingness to learn. |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 13:00 - Jun 14 with 1630 views | Ned_Kennedys |
| Armstrong extended on 16:30 - Jun 13 by BazzaInTheLoft |
Ah, well I disagree. Hope you are ok. |
I’m well thanks.
Be interested to know who you think are sh1t Championship central defenders as most seem to be able to do the basics of heading, kicking and marking quite well to me. At the moment most of them can cope quite well with Armstrong apart from in a foot race and even then he decides to fall over too often. He needs to work on how he can get the better of average defenders. |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 13:12 - Jun 14 with 1559 views | BazzaInTheLoft |
| Armstrong extended on 13:00 - Jun 14 by Ned_Kennedys |
I’m well thanks.
Be interested to know who you think are sh1t Championship central defenders as most seem to be able to do the basics of heading, kicking and marking quite well to me. At the moment most of them can cope quite well with Armstrong apart from in a foot race and even then he decides to fall over too often. He needs to work on how he can get the better of average defenders. |
Nah, you’re alright. |  | | |
| Armstrong extended on 13:13 - Jun 14 with 1544 views | 1JD |
| Armstrong extended on 12:38 - Jun 14 by daveB |
Those are all things that can be worked on and fixed, he's only 20.
Les Ferdinand at the same age was playing at Hayes and lacked a lot of things until he was about 24/25 |
It’s possible, Dave but he’s got to develop significantly. Whilst Ferdinand played in the same position, I think Kakay is a more recent example of how difficult it is to develop the technical side of the game to succeed at championship level, despite playing 100+ games.
Armstrong is weak on all similar technical characteristics- touch, technique, composure, awareness etc- and instead excels at the athletic side of the game - strength, pace, power. Kakay likewise was more of an athlete, stamina, energy, robustness, than footballer, and was unable to raise his game.
Still early days but the jury is out. Contract situation complicating things considerably. | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 13:25 - Jun 14 with 1473 views | Northernr |
| Armstrong extended on 12:51 - Jun 14 by ngbqpr |
Interesting debate...with almost everyone, pro- and anti-, adding caveats.
Problem is tho...it looks like his agent doesn't want him to sign a new deal even if the club wants him to. |
Nuance? That's our secret word for the day!
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| Armstrong extended on 13:31 - Jun 14 with 1435 views | TK1 |
Armstrong's a substantially better (if similar) player to Les Ferdinand at 21, far more experienced already, with more than one type of goal in him - as proven last season: compare the goals he got v Leicester, Bournemouth and Millwall. In another 50 games, he'll be putting those together regularly (and perhaps even winning headers). By 24, he'll be an absolute monster. Les didn't become a regular goalscorer until he was 25 in England. Like LF, Armstrong has come to the position later than many of his rivals, but it's all there to grow into. (Ian Wright is another example).
If he escapes serious injury, he'll be playing successfully at a much higher level. It's weird to me that others can't see this in this just turned 21-year-old. Already he changes games and worries defenders at this level. He should sign a two-year extension and kick on.
Having said that, if he doesn't want to stay we have to sell now. I feel the same about the manager too: he belongs at a higher level and will get there too, but if he's ready to go now, so be it. We can't get hung up on staff or players. | | | |
| Armstrong extended on 13:43 - Jun 14 with 1390 views | QPROslo |
| Armstrong extended on 12:51 - Jun 14 by ngbqpr |
Interesting debate...with almost everyone, pro- and anti-, adding caveats.
Problem is tho...it looks like his agent doesn't want him to sign a new deal even if the club wants him to. |
Sounds like Sinclair needs a new agent. Have no evidence for this, but I think many find him an exciting player to watch and would guess that if he's expected to play a part of a game he gets a few more people at games and watching from wherever, to the Clubs benefit as well of course. I'll be delighted if he's with us this next season, but hope he signs a new contract. | | | |
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