The Subhuman wrote: ↑Tue Feb 24, 2026 11:09 am
I know, but he's one of the 5 best players at the club for me, so I'll keep sticking him my team.
You're blinded to the defensive frailties we have when Gnonto starts. See the 1st minute concession against Man City as a good example and how we improved 2nd half after Willie was hooked.
I'm not knocking Gnonto by the way but at this moment in time we have to keep things as tight as possible.
Jammy 07 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 11:06 am
You're blinded to the defensive frailties we have when Gnonto starts. See the 1st minute concession against Man City as a good example and how we improved 2nd half after Willie was hooked.
I'm not knocking Gnonto by the way but at this moment in time we have to keep things as tight as possible.
We start 9 defenders, and he's not a bad defender, much better than Okafor.
"A mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work if it's not open"
The Subhuman wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 11:09 am
We start 9 defenders, and he's not a bad defender, much better than Okafor.
Okafor gives us more as he has superior pace. This helps defensively as well as his full back is less keen to overlap and leave his team exposed down that flank. Gnonto works hard but sometimes does get caught out positionally.
Watching both players live you can clearly see that they offer different things and it's obvious why Farke favours Okafor's ability to travel with the ball and get us up the pitch over Gnonto's approach of using skill and trickery.
Jammy 07 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 11:18 am
Okafor gives us more as he has superior pace. This helps defensively as well as his full back is less keen to overlap and leave his team exposed down that flank. Gnonto works hard but sometimes does get caught out positionally.
Watching both players live you can clearly see that they offer different things and it's obvious why Farke favours Okafor's ability to travel with the ball and get us up the pitch over Gnonto's approach of using skill and trickery.
And now you're massively under rating Willys passing abitlity which moves the ball with more effect than Okafor's blind alley running... Gnonto probably the best passer of the ball at the club with both feet, close to the best crosser of the ball...
Pace wise, bet there's not much in it over 40 yards. I don't think Okafor is a burner like Dan James
"A mind is like a parachute, it doesn't work if it's not open"
The Subhuman wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 11:22 am
And now you're massively under rating Willys passing abitlity which moves the ball with more effect than Okafor's blind alley running... Gnonto probably the best passer of the ball at the club with both feet, close to the best crosser of the ball...
Pace wise, bet there's not much in it over 40 yards. I don't think Okafor is a burner like Dan James
Gnonto is great in the final third but we don't spend enough time on the ball there for him to work his magic. Whereas Okafor can just go past his man on the outside from the half way line onwards.
If there was speed test over 40 yards Okafor would be 2nd to DJ but not by much as he's deceptively quick after the first 10 yards or so.
As I said previously I like Gnonto but can see why Farke has gone with Okafor when fit.
Jammy 07 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 11:49 am
Gnonto is great in the final third but we don't spend enough time on the ball there for him to work his magic. Whereas Okafor can just go past his man on the outside from the half way line onwards.
If there was speed test over 40 yards Okafor would be 2nd to DJ but not by much as he's deceptively quick after the first 10 yards or so.
As I said previously I like Gnonto but can see why Farke has gone with Okafor when fit.
As I can see too, Jammy.
Okafor is deceptively quick, not great defensively, but he had improved in that department, prior to his current injury.
I also think the lacking defensive atttibutes of both Gnonto & Tanaka is clearly evident at PL level.
Dan James defended brilliantly when he replaced Nmecha for the final fifteen minutes at Chelsea.
Now that Okafor has worked out that he needs to track back and get stuck in a bit if he wants to start, he's probably the better option for Farke. Worth noting that he wasn't fit early season, and I think he understands the club ethos better now too.
I agree with faaip that Willy is the best crosser we have, unfortunately his limited physicality and end product tend to let him down.
If we can come out of this weekends set of fixtures and still have the same points total between us and the teams below us then thats going to be good.
Going to be really hard to get anything from this game, but, there is always hope and with our good record at home and the fans behind us then you never know.
Dont want to see us put in a below par performance though, just give it a proper go and see how we cope. Another good home showing will be good for confidence going into the remaining games of the season showing we can compete with the best of them, apart from Arsenal
BlackHillsPaul wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 9:34 pm
We need two Strikers and a willingness to attack in this game. So I'm going with Nmecha and DCL up top in a 3-5-2.
Personally I think Okafor is a step down from Ramazani for what it's worth.
Imo Gnonto and Ramazani would be a stronger pair of options than Okafor and Gnonto.
Just my opinion.
Of Gnonto or Okafor I'd prefer Gnonto.
We have lots of players who can run around and work hard.
We don't have many with a reliable end product especially creatively.
That is where Willy has the edge.
Okafor is neither exceptionally hard working nor particularly creative or good offensively I don't think.
So for me personally I don't see the money spent on Okafor to replace Ramazani as a good trade off.
Okafor may be marginally harder working (he's hardly relentless) but we lose more offensively than he gives defensively imo if that makes sense.
I think the money could have been spent elsewhere and between Gnonto or Okafor I'd prefer Gnonto as we have enough players able to do the running around bit.
Cjay wrote: ↑Wed Feb 25, 2026 10:41 pm
Personally I think Okafor is a step down from Ramazani for what it's worth.
Imo Gnonto and Ramazani would be a stronger pair of options than Okafor and Gnonto.
Just my opinion.
Of Gnonto or Okafor I'd prefer Gnonto.
We have lots of players who can run around and work hard.
We don't have many with a reliable end product especially creatively.
That is where Willy has the edge.
Okafor is neither exceptionally hard working nor particularly creative or good offensively I don't think.
So for me personally I don't see the money spent on Okafor to replace Ramazani as a good trade off.
Okafor may be marginally harder working (he's hardly relentless) but we lose more offensively than he gives defensively imo if that makes sense.
I think the money could have been spent elsewhere and between Gnonto or Okafor I'd prefer Gnonto as we have enough players able to do the running around bit.
See, my problem with Willy is his almost total lack of end product.
Great cross for the DCL header against Brentford but that’s mostly it. Limited minutes I grant you, but it’s a catch 22.
