Brewster - McAtee replacement?

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bongleblade

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With McAtee leaving a CAM shaped whole in the midfield when we deploy 2x attacking mids, it got me thinking about options in the squad

Step up young Rhian? despite his lack of goals, he has looked decent on the ball, and is one of few players we have that can hit it from a distance hard and on target

Could he be an answer to what we’re looking for in that position? A front 3 of either Ndiaye/McBurnie/Brewster/Berge/Jebbison and a new goalscoring striker to pick from could be pretty decent?
 

I've seen absolutely nothing to suggest he could play the creative AMC role or do the defensive side which will also be needed. Maybe as a winger?
 
With McAtee leaving a CAM shaped whole in the midfield when we deploy 2x attacking mids, it got me thinking about options in the squad

Step up young Rhian? despite his lack of goals, he has looked decent on the ball, and is one of few players we have that can hit it from a distance hard and on target

Could he be an answer to what we’re looking for in that position? A front 3 of either Ndiaye/McBurnie/Brewster/Berge/Jebbison and a new goalscoring striker to pick from could be pretty decent?
No
 
Fitness issues aside, I think it’s a decent shout from the original poster.

Brewster doesn’t strike me as a natural centre forward. He seems to lack a poacher’s instinct, lacks anticipation in the box and general awareness. Nor does he have blinding pace which may have been another option to persist with him up top.

But….. the lad is comfortable in possession and I do think he can pick a pass. To his detriment from a goals aspect, Brewster did drop deeper, track back and put a tackle in. So a midfield role with licence to roam and create might be best suited to his abilities. He’s got a decent shot on him too.

He lacks the guile and trickery of McAtee, but Brewster doesn’t lack ability and still isn’t a total lost cause for me.

The lad needs to get fit and stay fit first and foremost. And I think the coaches and us as supporters need to try and reinvent Brewster, rather then persist with him as a failed £23m striker.

Akpom was a revelation at Boro since playing more as a 10 and Newcastle also turned Joelinton into a cracking midfielder when he was a disaster upfront.

We’re stuck with Brewster for now, but the lad clearly cares and wants to be a Blade. We don’t have an abundance of options (yet) in midfield, so this experiment might be worth a go.
 
The PL will be a step too far for Brewster next season.
He's not going to improve as a player unless he's playing regular games. We need to loan him out to the Championship and give him a chance to prove his fitness, find his feet and work his game out.
He has a lot of ability but lacks a football brain which will only come with minutes.
 
But….. the lad is comfortable in possession and I do think he can pick a pass. To his detriment from a goals aspect, Brewster did drop deeper, track back and put a tackle in. So a midfield role with licence to roam and create might be best suited to his abilities. He’s got a decent shot on him too.

Brewster might come good but I can't get on board with it being as anything other than a striker. He was really poor at pretty much everything you'd want a creative player to do last season when compared to other championship forwards - shot-creating actions, passes attempted, pass %, progressive passes, take-ons were all some of the lowest in the league vs his peers.

The only things he did well were shoot a lot, get touches in the box and also work hard (defensive metrics decent). And to his credit those numbers were all high the season before as well before he got injured when I think a lot of us were talking about him potentially having turned a corner. Leave him up front and hope he can be fully fit for an entire season and maybe give us 5-6 goals.

1685093268631.png
 

Brewster might come good but I can't get on board with it being as anything other than a striker. He was really poor at pretty much everything you'd want a creative player to do last season when compared to other championship forwards - shot-creating actions, passes attempted, pass %, progressive passes, take-ons were all some of the lowest in the league vs his peers.

The only things he did well were shoot a lot, get touches in the box and also work hard (defensive metrics decent). And to his credit those numbers were all high the season before as well before he got injured when I think a lot of us were talking about him potentially having turned a corner. Leave him up front and hope he can be fully fit for an entire season and maybe give us 5-6 goals.

View attachment 161341
This tends to backup what I perceive as someone who looks like an over enthusiastic puppy with the ball at his feet and shoots from anywhere with little to no chance of it going in or hitting the target.

He's a player who in typical Blades fan style seems to be getting better the longer he doesn't play.

First thing he needs to do is buy a house with a barn and stick a big door on it, practice kicking a ball at the barn door for a bit, then when he can do that move onto the garage and do the same, eventually put a football net in the garden and practice on that. Then maybe put some cones or mannequins in the garden, see how he gets on. Then invite some u7's to come and defend against him and maybe give Lee Baxter a call to go in net.................

You get my point!
 
Brewster might come good but I can't get on board with it being as anything other than a striker. He was really poor at pretty much everything you'd want a creative player to do last season when compared to other championship forwards - shot-creating actions, passes attempted, pass %, progressive passes, take-ons were all some of the lowest in the league vs his peers.

The only things he did well were shoot a lot, get touches in the box and also work hard (defensive metrics decent). And to his credit those numbers were all high the season before as well before he got injured when I think a lot of us were talking about him potentially having turned a corner. Leave him up front and hope he can be fully fit for an entire season and maybe give us 5-6 goals.

View attachment 161341
AI has some way to go - here's what Bard thought;

re. Here are some statistics about Rhian Brewster's football ability:

  • Shots per 90 minutes: 3.1
  • Shots on target per 90 minutes: 1.1
  • Goals per 90 minutes: 0.5
  • Expected goals per 90 minutes: 0.6
  • Expected assists per 90 minutes: 0.1
  • Dribbles completed per 90 minutes: 2.0
  • Tackles won per 90 minutes: 0.5
  • Aerial duels won per 90 minutes: 2.0
These statistics show that Brewster is a very good goalscorer, with a high shot conversion rate. He is also a good dribbler and can create chances for his teammates. However, he could improve his defensive work rate.

Here are some additional statistics about Brewster's performance in the 2022-23 season:

  • Appearances: 36
  • Goals: 12
  • Assists: 2
  • Yellow cards: 2
  • Red cards: 0
Brewster had a good season for Sheffield United, scoring 12 goals in 36 appearances. He was also named in the PFA Team of the Year for League One.

Here are some of Brewster's strengths and weaknesses as a player:

Strengths:

  • Finishing
  • Dribbling
  • Chance creation
Weaknesses:

  • Defensive work rate
  • Aerial ability
Brewster is a talented young striker with a lot of potential. He has the ability to score goals and create chances for his teammates. However, he needs to improve his defensive work rate and aerial ability if he wants to become a top striker.
 
Do you have any examples apart from the assist at Swansea? I must be missing something.

He needs a loan to the Championship or League 1 club to perk up his confidence, definitely not being a starter for us in a position he's never played before.
I dont think confidence is much of a problem for him, he does have a Champions League winners medal from his Scouse days. Involvement in big name games might be his stage once he is fully fit.
 
Brewster might come good but I can't get on board with it being as anything other than a striker. He was really poor at pretty much everything you'd want a creative player to do last season when compared to other championship forwards - shot-creating actions, passes attempted, pass %, progressive passes, take-ons were all some of the lowest in the league vs his peers.

The only things he did well were shoot a lot, get touches in the box and also work hard (defensive metrics decent). And to his credit those numbers were all high the season before as well before he got injured when I think a lot of us were talking about him potentially having turned a corner. Leave him up front and hope he can be fully fit for an entire season and maybe give us 5-6 goals.

View attachment 161341

I'm glad the stats back it up.

His skillset is a hard, accurate shot. And a burst of pace. He looks like an old school number 9.
Capable, perhaps, of playing on the shoulder and making runs in behind.

Either way, he belongs at the top of the field. He hasn't developed enough to be any sort of link man.
 
I dont think confidence is much of a problem for him, he does have a Champions League winners medal from his Scouse days. Involvement in big name games might be his stage once he is fully fit.
The Champions League winners medal and the appearance in full kit at our game against WBA say nothing other than he's good at getting in on the celebrations despite having little influence on the field leading up to the celebrations.

He needs to learn the knack of scoring goals again before he goes anywhere near our first team in the Premier League.
 
For me the only way Brewster will come good if is he is played up top in a 2.

Based on our current squad I would go with Brewster and Mcburnie up top, with Ndiaye playing behind.
 
McAtee’s football intelligence is off the charts, especially for a 19 year old, hence why he was so good in that role.

Can’t see Brewster playing there. He’s a CF. He may need to adapt his game to become more of a Billy Sharp type given his hamstring goes when he hits top speed.

Simply needs to stay fit and get a run of games in his natural position.
 
The Champions League winners medal and the appearance in full kit at our game against WBA say nothing other than he's good at getting in on the celebrations despite having little influence on the field leading up to the celebrations.

He needs to learn the knack of scoring goals again before he goes anywhere near our first team in the Premier League.

The full kit thing, its all a bit JT to me, not keen - personally I would feel a charlatan if I did that, Id happily push forward the lads who achieved it tho

One thing we can rely on with Rhian, is we cant rely on him.

How many games will we get out of him?

This is his record for us
1685098837139.png

We all want the lad to come good, but for comparison, here is Jack Robinson
1685098961710.png

Games per goal - Cost - wages
RB - 7.02 - £23.5m - £34k pw
JR - 7.69 - £1m - £20k pw

I dont want to write him off, but how many summers do we talk him up?

If he was prolific prior to an injury, as in had the same impact on the team JoC did prior to his, then I could join in, but in some ways he could possibly weaken the team if we sacrifice McB to find him a shirt, or god forbid dont bring in a strikers cos Rhians fit

He is a squad player, no more - 1st name on the bench when available
 
I ain't sure we can afford to loan him out if as is being stated we are looking at loans and players out of contract.
I reckon I'll leave it to Hecky and Jack to decide.
 
If we want to stay up we can't be banking on a striker that scores once every 15 games.

If we are resigned to being relegated but want to develop a team that can yoyo back up, and have some battle hardened youngsters with prem experience for a championship assault that is a different matter, but that didn't have a very good effect on Brewster last time.

If he is in need of fitness and a run of games as a striker loan him to a lower champ club who will take half of his wages and play him. If he does a Swansea recall him but I can't see it happening. It's a win-win
 
Poor kid's won't have played for just under a year in the 1st XI and we're expecting him to step straight into a PL attack line against PL defences?

That'll fucking work, won't it?

And, he's got cheese-string hamstrings, or whatever the injury is.

Loan out to sell. Big mistake Wilder purchase of the first order.

pommpey
 

Fitness issues aside, I think it’s a decent shout from the original poster.

Brewster doesn’t strike me as a natural centre forward. He seems to lack a poacher’s instinct, lacks anticipation in the box and general awareness. Nor does he have blinding pace which may have been another option to persist with him up top.

But….. the lad is comfortable in possession and I do think he can pick a pass. To his detriment from a goals aspect, Brewster did drop deeper, track back and put a tackle in. So a midfield role with licence to roam and create might be best suited to his abilities. He’s got a decent shot on him too.

He lacks the guile and trickery of McAtee, but Brewster doesn’t lack ability and still isn’t a total lost cause for me.

The lad needs to get fit and stay fit first and foremost. And I think the coaches and us as supporters need to try and reinvent Brewster, rather then persist with him as a failed £23m striker.

Akpom was a revelation at Boro since playing more as a 10 and Newcastle also turned Joelinton into a cracking midfielder when he was a disaster upfront.

We’re stuck with Brewster for now, but the lad clearly cares and wants to be a Blade. We don’t have an abundance of options (yet) in midfield, so this experiment might be worth a go.
Absolutely agree on Joelinton. IIRC it was an Cairan Clark sending off that forced them into a sufficiently early change tactical change for him to grow into the role over 80 minutes. Nobody had ever thought of playing him there, no even Joelinton.

Everyone says it was genius on Eddie Howes' part, there's a strong case for saying it was just luck.
 

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