Gilzeantoscore
Justin Edinburgh
Townsend is not quick. Also very weak on the ball. How many games, how many assists, how many goals? Not anywhere near good enough.
I remember Stewart Downing bursting onto the scene at Middlesbrough, earning rave reviews and big moves... then we all decided he was terrible and he went to West Ham, where he is having a bit of a resurgence, but still he isn't on our wanted list.
Yet even at that time, people said forget Downing, there is this other guy called Adam Johnson who is even better, just you wait... he too got rave reviews and a big money move... and has now been dumped at Sunderland for years.
That is the kind of level Townsend aspires to... shows promise, scores some beautiful goals, everyone gets excited, England call up, play for a big club... but then dumped on the tarmac head first.
Downing had learnt the biggest lesson any footballer can, GET YOUR HEAD UP AND LOOK FOR A PASS.
Downing had pace but not huge amounts and fair play to the lad, rather than continue to go down the head down and hope route (Gillespie and Etherington) he has adapted his game, head up, picks pass, good range of passing, creates and scores.
When a player like Townsend rely on pace or perception of pace, getting their head up and seeing whats on is near on impossible, they are trying to pass the player or get a shot off (often not looking at where they are shooting)
Downing is still one of the fastest players in the Premier league...
I must say his interplay, run and pass for THAT Soldado miss against Burnley was a real eye-opener for me; he would not have done that last season and if Soldado hadn't missed that, it would have been one of our best ever breakaway goals ever imo, plus Townsend would have bagged an amazing assist.
He IS learning it seems.
Needs to be kept now imo
In that move he showed he offered something Lamela can't provide - a quality deliver with his right foot. Lamela would have shifted it on to his left and the chance would have been gone.
Townsend always had real potential he just needed confidence and a bit of coaching. Look at his displays for England he's looked one of England's best players each time. Some commentators have debated who is better between him and Sterling yet some on here claim he is championship standard.
He's so frustrating, because he clearly has the ability. If he was just crap, then there'd be more ambivalence about him.
Personally I really like him. I love his attitude. If something goes wrong, he doesn't hide or take the easy option next time, he just keeps trying to be assertive. I was playing last night and nothing was working, so instead of withdrawing, I consciously said to myself 'be more Townsend', so I just kept demanding the ball and trying the more ambitious stuff. I think it's a really commendable quality.
Even if you say so yourself.....
Townsend has potential and he is exactly the type of player that Poch developed at Soton. Yes he is frustrating but if he can combine his increased awareness and team play with more confidence then he would be ahead of Lamela IMO (not that this is saying much currently)
If he can continue putting in crosses with his right like he did against Burnley it shouldn't make much difference really