Felt for a while now that Darwin for those who have made their mind up about him being a failure/waste of money/shite in the media or any SM forum will never be swayed regardless of what he achieves as there’s a growing trend of people who are never wrong. So when he does play well, which is far more frequent than is made out, scores a screamer or plays in Mo for another assist it will just be but ah he cost £85M, which he didn’t, or remember when he hit the post/run offside/cracked that Colombia fan etc etc. Couldn’t agree more Andrew Darwin does indeed deserve better punditry
This like when people totally rely on xG for who "should" have won a match. xG is a strong indicator, but not the be-all and end-all. You look at Darwin's numbers and almost everything says he's an ideal forward; not least the fact that he gets into so many good positions to take advantage of those chances. But the end product is what many will say is the only thing that matters. But I think too many are expecting Mo or Sadio-level output from someone who may simply not be that kind of player. The other problem that he has beyond pundits and highlights of him not hitting the net is his price tag, especially when playing on a squad with one of the steals of the century (Mo) and another who presents as a better finisher (Diogo) for half the cost. It's funny that Darwin is kind of a mix of Diogo and Naby Keita. The latter's numbers were almost always superlative, but he never seemed to provide that final X element that everyone had been hoping for in a box-to-box guy; partially because, like Diogo, he spent so much time off the pitch. I still have faith in Darwin. He's only 25 and he is still producing solid play, even if it doesn't always include goals.
Felt for a while now that Darwin for those who have made their mind up about him being a failure/waste of money/shite in the media or any SM forum will never be swayed regardless of what he achieves as there’s a growing trend of people who are never wrong. So when he does play well, which is far more frequent than is made out, scores a screamer or plays in Mo for another assist it will just be but ah he cost £85M, which he didn’t, or remember when he hit the post/run offside/cracked that Colombia fan etc etc. Couldn’t agree more Andrew Darwin does indeed deserve better punditry
This like when people totally rely on xG for who "should" have won a match. xG is a strong indicator, but not the be-all and end-all. You look at Darwin's numbers and almost everything says he's an ideal forward; not least the fact that he gets into so many good positions to take advantage of those chances. But the end product is what many will say is the only thing that matters. But I think too many are expecting Mo or Sadio-level output from someone who may simply not be that kind of player. The other problem that he has beyond pundits and highlights of him not hitting the net is his price tag, especially when playing on a squad with one of the steals of the century (Mo) and another who presents as a better finisher (Diogo) for half the cost. It's funny that Darwin is kind of a mix of Diogo and Naby Keita. The latter's numbers were almost always superlative, but he never seemed to provide that final X element that everyone had been hoping for in a box-to-box guy; partially because, like Diogo, he spent so much time off the pitch. I still have faith in Darwin. He's only 25 and he is still producing solid play, even if it doesn't always include goals.
Predict the mundane pundit's comment, yes, I was playing that too, with Shearer on Núñez.