Josh - you are allowed to pass the ball

B

brightontangerine

Well-known member
I've started to watch him very carefully. He has a tremendous talent for taking people on and clearly relishes the task and at times the ball seems glued to his boot. I know he has scored a few you and created a lot of havoc with defences and in that respect he is priceless. However he has a propensity to do all the hard work and then shoot wide. I know he will score a few more goals over the season doing what he does best. But what I would really want to see him doing more is lifting his head up and knowing when the better option is passing to a player he has created space for by having a mob of defenders mocking him. There was one example yesterday where he weaved his way to the centre of the box and Jerry was stood in the d in plenty of space to have a good shot at the goal. Now I would suggest that jerry is by far the better striker than Josh so why did he not just lay it off. I think there's been numerous examples of where I think we would have stood a far better chance of scoring had Josh not being quite so greedy. I don't mean every time because you wouldn't want to knock that spirit out of Josh but what NC must tell him is that he is allowed to occasionally pass the ball to a teammate who is in a better place to score.
 
Naturally that should have said marking rather than mocking as I can't think of many defenders who would be mocking a guy who was just made idiots of them.
 
brightontangerine said:
I've started to watch him very carefully. He has a tremendous talent for taking people on and clearly relishes the task and at times the ball seems glued to his boot. I know he has scored a few you and created a lot of havoc with defences and in that respect he is priceless. However he has a propensity to do all the hard work and then shoot wide. I know he will score a few more goals over the season doing what he does best. But what I would really want to see him doing more is lifting his head up and knowing when the better option is passing to a player he has created space for by having a mob of defenders mocking him. There was one example yesterday where he weaved his way to the centre of the box and Jerry was stood in the d in plenty of space to have a good shot at the goal. Now I would suggest that jerry is by far the better striker than Josh so why did he not just lay it off. I think there's been numerous examples of where I think we would have stood a far better chance of scoring had Josh not being quite so greedy. I don't mean every time because you wouldn't want to knock that spirit out of Josh but what NC must tell him is that he is allowed to occasionally pass the ball to a teammate who is in a better place to score.
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I agree it’s the decision making he needs to get right. When to pass & when to keep the ball & when to have a shot himself. I don’t know if this can be coached or if it’s just instinctive.
 
Sooty59 said:
I agree it’s the decision making he needs to get right. When to pass & when to keep the ball & when to have a shot himself. I don’t know if this can be coached or if it’s just instinctive.
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I think now, he is what he is. If he could balance his obvious pace and skill with a better end product, he’d be playing PL football. It won’t have been for the lack of coaching that he’s not ticked that box.

For me, Dimi will get more game time, when he’s fully fit. He is a more rounded player, and links better with others. Bowler is an impact sub.
 
there were several times when he should have just passed the ball to someone in space but decided to run the ball into a group of players, his instinctive point of view seems to be to run at players. the thing ive noticed about him in the last two games is the way hes running into space to get onto through balls which he wasnt doing at the beginning of the season. His decision making will come, but i suppose NC understands better than most that you cant and shouldn't train out his natural instinct to run at the opposition. its a massive asset. at the moment probably 1 in 8 or 10 of his runs end in a chance if he could get to 1 in 5 or so youve got a very dangerous asset
 
I think the more he plays in the side the more of an understanding he will start to get of what positions the forward line will be taking up.
 
Yeah he definitely can improve that aspect, but even when it’s not happening for him you can see opposition defenders scared to death and doubling up. There is value in that and I’m a huge believer that you can improve players with the right coaching and I believe we have that. Big asset to the squad and team IMO.
 
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brightontangerine said:
I've started to watch him very carefully. He has a tremendous talent for taking people on and clearly relishes the task and at times the ball seems glued to his boot. I know he has scored a few you and created a lot of havoc with defences and in that respect he is priceless. However he has a propensity to do all the hard work and then shoot wide. I know he will score a few more goals over the season doing what he does best. But what I would really want to see him doing more is lifting his head up and knowing when the better option is passing to a player he has created space for by having a mob of defenders mocking him. There was one example yesterday where he weaved his way to the centre of the box and Jerry was stood in the d in plenty of space to have a good shot at the goal. Now I would suggest that jerry is by far the better striker than Josh so why did he not just lay it off. I think there's been numerous examples of where I think we would have stood a far better chance of scoring had Josh not being quite so greedy. I don't mean every time because you wouldn't want to knock that spirit out of Josh but what NC must tell him is that he is allowed to occasionally pass the ball to a teammate who is in a better place to score.
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Agree.
 
I actually think it’s a really difficult one to coach because his main strength is how direct he is.

You see him pick up the ball and just instantly attack the defender and it’s great to watch.

Critch now has the job of keeping that direct and attacking flare we all love while balancing it with a little bit more composure and better decision making.

Like many in this squad, he will improve the longer he plays for us.
 
I said a few weeks ago that it’s all well and good beating the full back everytime he has the ball but his crossing, passing and decision making were awful. Got pelters for it. Not seen anything to change my opinion so far.

Compared to Mitchell who has played for an hour this season and already has an assist to his name.
 
I'll defend him a bit. Sure he needs to get his head up and look what's on but I've said it before, we get the ball out to him and then leave it to him. Players need to get closer to him in order that he can make that pass. Other players need to look for space so they are able to receive the ball from him, especially on the edge of the box. How many goals have we scored from shots outside the box? Any? Not many times that our midfield get themselves round the edge of the box. Sort of like Dougall did with his two goals at Wembley.
 
He had a very near miss against Hull, that flashed just wide, but arguably there were players in a better position. Had he scored, there wouldn’t have been any debate.

One hundred percent of shots not taken don’t result in a goal, I believe Garry Nelson wrote in his book. You have to buy a ticket if you want to win the lottery…etc, etc.

He’s still learning on the job and I think he’s doing alright.
 
He's got tremendous ability on the ball & is so exciting to watch when he's running at the opposition. However, this criticism has now become a regular theme & the forwards and NC will eventually lose patience with Josh.
As Larry says above; his loss of the ball, often puts us on the back foot & when that happens, most teams in this league will punish us.
It's a team game Josh, so watch some videos of Wes, then develop and learn and you will become a PL star like him ;)
 
Reminds me of Matt Phillips at a young age. Takes some players a bit longer to learn the art of the final pass or finish. Just needs drilling into him.
 
Scaramanga said:
There was an incident yesterday where he should of passed it to keshi but decided to shoot instead, they then proceeded to have a 5 minute argument about it.
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I noticed that too. Keshi was (quite rightly) going berserk at him. Lavery did the same too against Barnsley. Bowler is quickly becoming my most frustrating player. He scored a good goal v Fulham and hasn't passed to anyone since. He cost us on Tuesday several times when he came on. He has the talent, and hopefully with good coaching from Critchley he may improve
 
In the second half, when he ghosted into that inside left position unchallenged and shot just wide, I couldn't believe the space he had. Keshi was just to his right and a little behind him. He could have squared it and Keshi would have had the goal at his mercy. HOWEVER, if he had done that and Keshi missed or fluffed it we would have been screaming why didn't you shoot. The main thing is the team is creating these opportunities and sooner or later someone's going to get a thumping.(please let it be PKE).
 
Teams are identifying his threat , when he attracts 2/3 defenders in front of him on most occasions that's the improvement Critchley
will want when playing that incisive pass for his team. The more he does it the more experience he will have the better he will become IMO.
 
His decision making is often poor and too many times there is no end product. He thinks he can dribble through every situation, when a pass or cross may be more productive. I wish he would switch wings occasionally to see if he can deliver a decent cross with his left peg.
 
Thepoolaregoingup said:
He had a very near miss against Hull, that flashed just wide, but arguably there were players in a better position. Had he scored, there wouldn’t have been any debate.

One hundred percent of shots not taken don’t result in a goal, I believe Garry Nelson wrote in his book. You have to buy a ticket if you want to win the lottery…etc, etc.

He’s still learning on the job and I think he’s doing alright.
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Yeah that’s right, there would also have been no debate with Keshi second half yesterday if that shot had gone bottom corner when it went just wide. I also think he’s doing alright.
 
20togo said:
I'll defend him a bit. Sure he needs to get his head up and look what's on but I've said it before, we get the ball out to him and then leave it to him. Players need to get closer to him in order that he can make that pass. Other players need to look for space so they are able to receive the ball from him, especially on the edge of the box. How many goals have we scored from shots outside the box? Any? Not many times that our midfield get themselves round the edge of the box. Sort of like Dougall did with his two goals at Wembley.
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The example I gave 20s was with jerry 2 to 3 yards away from him in space on the edge of the box. He was so close he must have seen him standing there perfectly poised to take a shot. When there's nothing obvious I'm quite happy to see him have a go himself
 
He flatters to deceive. His decision making under pressure is dreadful, and will cost Pool more goals than he will score. He is an impact sub, someone rather different to the opposition than they have been used to for about an hour.
 
Critch will sort him out with his passing and end product, but again yesterday most times when he got the ball he was closed down by 2/3 defenders.
 
The big issue for me is that I think he is playing out of position. I’ve said this on other threads but he is so left footed that in my opinion the right just does not suit him. I think the defenders sussed him out quite quickly and realise that they just have to show him the outside

I know that “inverted wingers“ are all the rage, but they work a lot better when the player can use both feet. Bowler does seem very very left footed

At the very least I would have him and Anderson swapping occasionally, I genuinely think he would do a lot more damage on the left flank
 
He is a player who gets fans out of their seats and we could only have dreamt of having him and Lavery last season.

All the team are working hard (even the loan players) and the manager is getting plenty out of them. We just need to keep upgrading as we go and we can really go places. A great time to be a Blackpool fan and hopefully we can get some of our lost generation of fans back and behind the team.
 
brightontangerine said:
The example I gave 20s was with jerry 2 to 3 yards away from him in space on the edge of the box. He was so close he must have seen him standing there perfectly poised to take a shot. When there's nothing obvious I'm quite happy to see him have a go himself
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no problems brighton, said it before he's still a lot to learn. But for me, I'd always want him starting. He's a massive threat to the opposition.
 
tangible said:
In the second half, when he ghosted into that inside left position unchallenged and shot just wide, I couldn't believe the space he had. Keshi was just to his right and a little behind him. He could have squared it and Keshi would have had the goal at his mercy. HOWEVER, if he had done that and Keshi missed or fluffed it we would have been screaming why didn't you shoot. The main thing is the team is creating these opportunities and sooner or later someone's going to get a thumping.(please let it be PKE).
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I agree with a lot of that. Have said to my mates the amount of chances and I mean excellent chances infront of goal we create that one day when it goes right we are seriously going to give someone a thumping. And obviously please God let it be them knobers....
 
Bowler plays with no agenda
He runs attacks defenders they haven’t a clue what he is going to do, I honestly believe he doesn’t know either
Yes could be brilliant then runs into a brick wall
Doesn’t pass, then passes when he shouldn’t
He will learn and get better for sure
 
20togo said:
I'll defend him a bit. Sure he needs to get his head up and look what's on but I've said it before, we get the ball out to him and then leave it to him. Players need to get closer to him in order that he can make that pass. Other players need to look for space so they are able to receive the ball from him, especially on the edge of the box. How many goals have we scored from shots outside the box? Any? Not many times that our midfield get themselves round the edge of the box. Sort of like Dougall did with his two goals at Wembley.
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From what I've seen 20's the players don't seem to trust him to play them in at all
 
haggertyf said:
From what I've seen 20's the players don't seem to trust him to play them in at all
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I'm not sure I'd trust him to play them in but my point is more about making themselves available for the simpler pass. We all know Bowler just loves to run at the defence but more often than not I don't think he has that simple pass on. A player hanging round the edge of the area for a pull back type of pass. He's still a lot to learn though but that pace and skill scares the life out of defenders.
 
20togo said:
I'm not sure I'd trust him to play them in but my point is more about making themselves available for the simpler pass. We all know Bowler just loves to run at the defence but more often than not I don't think he has that simple pass on. A player hanging round the edge of the area for a pull back type of pass. He's still a lot to learn though but that pace and skill scares the life out of defenders.
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I think they are just hanging around hoping for a deflection rather than a pull back type of pass 20's and I can't say I blame them, Bowler is a bit of a flakey player I'm afraid.
Edit,I hope he proves me wrong though and develops into a more rounded player
 
I think it's a balance of all the opinions on here. Yes he's quite a lot greedy but would you want to leave him out? Not for me. The lad will learn the nuances of what to do as he get's more coaching and experience.
 
He's not really played much league football in his career.

Also, have to take into consideration that he's now getting marked by 2 players, which opens up space and pulls people out of position.
 
I've said it before but I'd like him to move around the pitch more. He does take two players with and I believe dragging players and probably different players out of position across the pitch rather than restricting him to the wing will create even more space.
 
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haggertyf said:
I think they are just hanging around hoping for a deflection rather than a pull back type of pass 20's and I can't say I blame them, Bowler is a bit of a flakey player I'm afraid.
Edit,I hope he proves me wrong though and develops into a more rounded player
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each to our own. I'd always start him even though he has a lot of work to do to become a more all round player. He's the type of player who'll be a matchwinner on a good few games but others he'll struggle to make an impact.
 
Bowler can play strikers in, he provided excellent assists for Lavery at Bristol and Millwall. He then scored his individual goal against Fulham. He seems to have been trying to recreate that goal ever since, and Critch needs to knock that out of him.
 
When all fully fit we will have Bowler, Demi ,& C J all vying for the same position. A welcome problem for the manager, a nightmare for opposition managers. This competition for one place should bring out the very best in these players and ensure that given the shirt players know they have to perform. I should also add that I can not understand how lads coached by professionals from 6 year old can't use both feet
 
Reminds me of Sterling for England. Runs up dead ends a lot, doesn't always do the right thing, but has pace and a willingness to attack defenders and excite the crowd - if JB can be coached to sometimes(!) pass and keep the defenders guessing then he could become a really good player.
(How many times would the same criticism have been directed at Chris Waddle, Ryan Giggs, Steve McMannaman etc.?)
 
Not much to add that others haven't already said, but I think Critch will stick with Bowler because of his ability to get us up the pitch very quickly. It's always an asset. When you add it to his driving runs at pace around the box, you have a player who can cause the opposition problems and he'll create chances and also potentially win penalties because of the pace he's going at with the ball at his feet.

It's interesting though, that to my mind, Lavery also has a similar issue of sometimes putting his head down and going full pelt down a blind alley. Both players are some way behind a player like Yates for having a bit of football intelligence. I don't see any comments about Lavery needing to improve here. So maybe consider that players like this are inexperienced (in terms of game time in the Championship) and are learning. Both have the raw materials to be developed into something better and - potentially - very dangerous. If NC can improve them, like we've already seen with players like Yates, Anderson and Ekpiteta, then we will benefit.
 
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