Adam Idah

Rodgers is trying to build up his confidence. My issue is that I don't believe confidence is the issue. It's fundamentals.

His first touch is poor, his ball control is suspect and he frequently swipes at tap-ins. Not only that, but he is 6'3 and doesn't use his size. I saw him today drift to the far side of a defender while awaiting a cross in the centre. You're not Kyogo, you don't need space, just compete for the header.

There's basically no area that I feel he can even start building upon, he is miles off by pretty much any measure I can think of. There must be something there or surely to * we wouldn't have paid that money but I can't tell you what it is. I just simply don't see it.

 

Has shown on the past that every criticism there is wrong. Therefore it is confidence. The ability is there

 

I think his attitude is showing he could never handle being our number 1 striker here. Despite having all the physical attributes you could want in a striker, he's been poor more often than not this season. His price tag doesn't help either, as perhaps that's piling additional pressure on him. His last 4 starts his contribution has been pathetic. If he was South Korean and been signed for £3M in the summer he'd already be written off as a monumental dud. I hope he can turn things round and be a success here but the more I see of him the less likely it seems. I think if we sign another striker this window he'll find it difficult to get back in the team.

 

What do you mean 'shown in the past'? The last run of games he's had are in the past and he was poor in all the respects I mentioned.

Idah definitely made a contribution last season with some important goals coming off the bench. But was his touch good? Was his positioning? His finishing was better, I'll grant you that, but that's measured over less minutes than he's had this season. Why is that the real him and not just a purple patch?

 

It's a confidence issue I think with Idah, we've seen the same issue with Engels at time. Most of the time the problem is the midfield not supplying enough quality service to the forwards, hence why we are seeing Kyogo running the channels, trying to create something. It hasn't helped Idah either, with Rodgers up until, now swopping the forwards around, and Idah in and out of the team. I think tonight at that chance, he saw Carson come steaming out of his goal out of the corner of his eye, and he feared a collision, which could easily have resulted in either a bad injury or red card, it definitely put him off I feel.

 

Completely agree.

People see a striker who is over 6ft and built like a brick shithouse and think those are 'attributes'.

It isn't when you struggle to hold the ball up and never use your strength or power to bully defenders. You just end up looking like a lump of wood.

Idah can't really dribble, doesn't have a good first touch, isn't particularly fast or strong and isn't particularly good at finishing chances or getting in the right positions.

Like with Kyogo you can see he has class movement. Edouard had excellent link up play and dribbling ability. Dembele was a powerhouse who could stretch teams and hold the ball up. Griffiths had a ridiculous strike on him and good movement. Hooper was clinical. Etc etc.

Idah ranges from poor to average in most of those areas, but is our second most expensive player ever. It's laughable.

 

Just need to forget about him being a starter and get back to utilizing him at what he does best-making an impact from the bench.

 

Giakoumakis was a better player.

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt as he’s still developing and missed the pre season with the team and has been playing catch up, whilst not getting a regular run, but looks quite a limited player at this time.

 

Giakoumakis came to us as his peak age and was years further on in his development, but I still think Idah is the better player. Giakoumakis missed plenty sitters himself and took more than half a season to actually get going. Giakoumakis couldn't buy a goal against the huns either.

 

Needs to bulk up.

 

I think a lot of our squad do to be honest. We've became a team who doesn't like the physical side of things.

 

That also comes down to attitude. We don't tend to sign or keep players who resolve issues with physicality. Iwata was well built for his size. Sold.

 

Mind Kilmarnock away when he rag-dolled them and was unplayable...

He's got it in him. Psychological factors playing a massive part for him I think.

 

Is it wrong?

Outside of about 4 months with us last season, nothing in his career suggests that those criticisms are wrong.

His career was going nowhere before that loan and he’s been mince since he signed permanently. A good loan spell is all he has to show so far, and even then within that he had a lot of really poor performances and bad misses.