What a frustrating player Jon Forte is!
In the last home game, he came on as sub and worked his backside off for 20 minutes, despite picking up a knock, and undoubtedly played a significant part in getting us back from 3-0 down.
Today, he earns his first-team start on the back of that performance and shows nowhere near the same level of work rate, rarely running the channels and generally just waiting for the ball to come to him. His body language got worse as the game went on, and the only person in the ground who could have been surprised when he was substituted was him. Young Callum then came on and did everything Forte hadn't.
The life of a striker is that you'll get games when the ball never drops for you or you're not getting the right service, so you might not score that day, but you can still show so much aggression and work so hard that the manager will keep you on the pitch if only to annoy hell out of the opposition defenders.
I hate hearing the old "He's not that sort of player" excuse. There should be no other "sort" of player. As far as I'm concerned, you can't control the amount of natural talent and pace you're blessed with, but there isn't a footballer anywhere at any level who is not capable of showing hard work, aggression and sheer desire. These attributes do not require God-given talent, and there are a fair few otherwise limited players who have reached even the Premier League level through sheer week-in, week out application. It's all about how much you want it.
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are blessed with phenomenal talent, but they've got the desire and hunger to go with it, which is why they are absolute world class.
Reply With Quote