Semenyo

[Shuffle]

Thought he was superb today and looked a real threat with his strength and pace. Been critical of him in the past but was a handful all game and my mom. Well played Antoine and we forget he’s only 21 so lots more to come.

[pongo88]

A big improvement over previous performances as he managed several shots on target. If he can keep it up…….

[Davefevs]

5 minutes ago, Shuffle said:

Thought he was superb today and looked a real threat with his strength and pace. Been critical of him in the past but was a handful all game and my mom. Well played Antoine and we forget he’s only 21 so lots more to come.

My City MOTM today.  Nige wants pace and power up front, he’s got one here already….needs another.

[Numero Uno]

3 minutes ago, pongo88 said:

A big improvement over previous performances as he managed several shots on target. If he can keep it up…….

Whether you rate him or not we have seen a significant increase in the team's goal threat since he has come back from injury. If we had a younger, more mobile version of Chris Martin alongside him that would increase our threat even more significantly.

[GrahamC]

Really good.

His first touch was massively improved & he has clearly been told not to be frightened to have a shot, as he did several times today & was really unlucky with the one that hit the post.

If he gets a few goals he will be some player, because he has the pace & strength that will scare defenders.

[HappyClapper]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

My City MOTM today.  Nige wants pace and power up front, he’s got one here already….needs another.

His best game in a city shirt for me. He’s going to be some player in 18 months. Really excited about him.

[grifty]

Couldn’t watch todays game but delighted to hear this. Saw he got two assists today too.

[Taylor10]

Has made a huge difference since his return to the side. His pace and power is a real asset and we look much more dangerous. 
 

He has been a real big plus the last few weeks.

[Ben1980]

Agree - he was great. He was 10/1 to score the first goal with William Hill which (although unsuccessful) I thought was great odds. Our best player today by a mile. Great to see some more pace/threat up top. 
 

Nakhi came on and missed another good chance. Couldn’t finish his dinner that bloke. 

[Sandhurst Red]

38 minutes ago, Shuffle said:

Thought he was superb today and looked a real threat with his strength and pace. Been critical of him in the past but was a handful all game and my mom. Well played Antoine and we forget he’s only 21 so lots more to come.

Totally agree. Looks like he's worked on many aspects of his game. Feel like we have a great player coming through next season. 

[Dr Balls]

Agreed he was much better today. However having seen him in the warm up, he clearly needs to spend a lot of time practising his shooting. Until he can more consistently hit the target, he will remain a nuisance to oppositions rather than a threat. 

[REDOXO]

I thought he played well too. We just seemed to lack the ability to get him in, but the improvement is huge!

[Sleepy1968]

Turning down the opportunity to shoot in the first half last week must have dislodged that penny, because it certainly seems to have dropped now. Thought he was an 8 today - his best City performance deserved a little more than a loss.

[ProfitInMyPocket]

Assists with both feet, almost broke the post with his weaker left foot too. About time we have someone who isn't so easy to read when we are attacking. 

Hasn't done much wrong since being put up top, keep him there till the end of the season and get him a proper strike partner.

He's only going to get better, let's get behind this lad. 

[The Bard]

Easily the best I've seen him play live.  We looked a proper threat for considerable periods of the game today and that was down to him.  

If he can put a few performances in a row, his confidence will mushroom.  He's got all the ingredients to go a very good player.

[Davefevs]

If you could somehow pair him with Weimann (9g / 4a in 23 apps)???

[Rossi the Robin]

Holds it up well, great control 

[Red Shadow]

I had a conversation with a member of Newport's staff when Antoine was on loan there. He was convinced that he had so much ability that he will one day play at the top level.

[Pezo]

27 minutes ago, Red Shadow said:

I had a conversation with a member of Newport's staff when Antoine was on loan there. He was convinced that he had so much ability that he will one day play at the top level.

I don’t see why not but the odds are stacked against him, something incredible would have to happen, I’ve seen hundreds of more skilled footballers not even make it professionally.

It’s nice that he’s got that self belief, that confidence may have taken an absolute battering when he played in the championship for the first time and looked lost, pride comes before a fall and all that.

best of luck to him if that’s what he wants to do.

[Rocking Red Cyril]

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

If you could somehow pair him with Weimann (9g / 4a in 23 apps)???

Not sure how you see those two working together. To me he needs a big target man up front with him

[AshtonRobin21]

I like the options that Semenyo and Weimann offer us. 

Flexibility to rotate between formations. The main issue facing us currently is that the two of them are linking up nicely, but Martin is rarely in the box. 

A mobile striker could make for an exciting front three, whilst albeit all 3 players playing narrowly. Add in the width of Benarous and Alex Scott and that's a very decent attack. 

Semenyo is at his best through the middle. He looked a handful during the early phases of the game, and seems eager to get his shots away. 

Another option could be to have COD as the LWB, Scott as RWB and then move Benarous into the '10' role that Weimann currently plays, and try a strike partnership of Weimann and Semenyo. 

[Garland-sweden]

Like him and since he came in our team we create chances and scores. He is very strong and he is hard to stop. He is gettin better and better. Hit the post yesterday and had a nice assist.

[Dodgy_Giefer]

Great first touch and control from him yesterday and he gave us a platform to get up the pitch which has been lacking.

[Davefevs]

13 hours ago, Rocking Red Cyril said:

Not sure how you see those two working together.

That’s what I’m implying, I don’t think they feel like a natural pairing, but goals / assists output from both (Semenyo - small season sample) they look like offering us a good amount of goals.  But maybe they do?  They both can play in the holes and run the channels.

To me he needs a big target man up front with him

I’m not convinced that a target man is the be-all and end-all.  I think it forces us to play direct, and I think in recent games we’ve shown we are better (low bar) when we try to play.

 

[chinapig]

24 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

 

Perhaps if we removed the comfort blanket of having a big man to hoof it towards we might actually start passing progressively?

Unless hoof it towards Martin is exactly what Nigel wants of course.

[Meh]

I have been critical too (I don’t post much and I think my last post was about not thinking he was the answer).

BUT - yesterday he was all pace and power and the defence was terrified of him from the first minute (shame Martin cannot strike that fear but that is another argument).

I hope this is the start of a long period of continuing in the same way and getting better and really making me eat my words !!

However there is that slight concern that my previous post was based on a few false dawns with Antoine about realising his potential but never actually performing consistently so let’s see if he can maintain it - hope so as one of the few joys to watch yesterday!!

[grifty]

14 minutes ago, Meh said:

I have been critical too (I don’t post much and I think my last post was about not thinking he was the answer).

BUT - yesterday he was all pace and power and the defence was terrified of him from the first minute (shame Martin cannot strike that fear but that is another argument).

I hope this is the start of a long period of continuing in the same way and getting better and really making me eat my words !!

However there is that slight concern that my previous post was based on a few false dawns with Antoine about realising his potential but never actually performing consistently so let’s see if he can maintain it - hope so as one of the few joys to watch yesterday!!

I don't think there's anything wrong with having concerns over him. He seems to be a confidence player and you can see by the relief in his face when he finally scored with his foot (although he had to play a one-two with the post) rather than his arse after blocking the goalie and then backed up by his performance yesterday where while he didn't score, he set up two and had a few good strikes.

His style of play is impossible for defenders to predict because I'm not sure Antoine knows what he is going to do next. The way he breezes past players with strength (similar to JET) and then can turn on the pace (not similar to JET) as well as the way he can strike the ball both footed with so much power (similar to JET) is enough to get fans up on their seats and raise the atmosphere in the ground.

The problem with those raw attributes is he is not going to be consistent and we could seeing him going crazy and scoring 7 goals in 4 games, but then not scoring for 5.

Edited December 19, 2021 by grifty

[Davefevs]

2 minutes ago, grifty said:

The problem with those raw attributes is he is not going to be consistent and we could seeing him going crazy and scoring 7 goals in 4 games, but then not scoring for 5.

If take that!

He had 6 shots yesterday (not forgetting two assists)….he might be a bit erratic, but in the last 12-18 months that’s more from one player than we e managed as a team in some games!

He gives some hope.  I’m not sure what his ceiling is, physically he probably isn’t gonna get more imposing, so it’s how he develops the techy bits that will dictate how far he goes.

In the equivalent of 4 90min matches this season he has 1 goal / 4 assists.  Definitely gives us a different (and better) dimension.  And I’m sure he’s more the striker version Nige wants.

[Major Isewater]

This will probably mean, the need for a striker in January is diminishing,unless Well’s agent has been working some magic in which case we’d be a forward down.

It is something of a risk with AS because we don’t know if he will maintain his progress and provide us with the necessary goals but it looks promising. 

We have sadly had Conway injured as well so equally we can’t judge if he can do the business regularly as yet.

Twist or stick ? 

It probably depends on who is available and willing to come here. 

[Mad Cyril]

22 hours ago, pongo88 said:

A big improvement over previous performances as he managed several shots on target. If he can keep it up…….

He is a footballer not a porn star, so that is hardly relevant...

[Davefevs]

1 hour ago, JonDolman said:

I'd like to see him in the lone striker role. I think we should have gone with that 2nd half yesterday and had an extra player in midfield. Or maybe 2 extra in midfield by changing system to 4 at the back.

That would require him to be positionally more disciplined…which would take away lots of the good things he can do by drifting around…and waste what he brings to the team.  Let the boy roam, let him roam!

[Davefevs]

1 minute ago, JonDolman said:

Yep just going on what Semenyo said himself about what they're working on.

The problem with Martin is he's so slow at getting in the box. If Semenyo doesn't do that enough then we would have little goal threat other than Weimann's runs from midfield.

Maybe he's concentrating more on roaming into the half spaces rather than the wide channels and then being too far away from goal. Who knows exactly.

Maybe Martin isn’t the right partner, rather than having no partner at all…..

[Red-Robbo]

5 hours ago, JonDolman said:

I'd like to see him in the lone striker role. I think we should have gone with that 2nd half yesterday and had an extra player in midfield. Or maybe 2 extra in midfield by changing system to 4 at the back.

 

The trouble with that is a lone striker scores goals - and Semenyo has not much pedigree there.

THAT SAID, he looked hot to trot yesterday and I agree with those who made him MOTM.

He might evolve into the sort of player you frame him as, but he's not quite there yet.  More games like yesterday and he might yet do so. 

[The Constant Rabbit]

The mans confidence is on the rise.

It shows in his play.

I'd like to see him start the next 5 with Wells, and AW out wide mid.

Martin off the bench for last 20 if we need game management or a goal.

 

Make him feel like the main man. He clearly is a shy type who has his confidence easily dented - he is now scoring, but more importantly, playing INTELLIGENT football, which he wasn't before. Wells for me, is the one who would thrive on his assists.

The more he assists others, the more he is likely to continue to grow and start to score regularly. 

I rated him a L2 player - Saturday changed my mind - but he must play every game now - preferably alongside Wells, who for all his perceived faults on here CAN finish.

 

Under NP - Semenyo, Benarous, Conway and Scott et al all now look like players with a future - I'm not sure they would have got the opportunities under Holden and Johnson.

[bcfc01]

Semenyo is a big positive amongst the negativity and was my MOM saturday.

Last two games I thought he's showed what he is really about, pace, strength, and a goal threat, scoring as well as assisting 2 goals.

I've complained in the past that his feet are quicker than his thought and his touch, and control of the ball are poor, but the last two games that has improved immeasurably. His touch and control on saturday was generally excellent and his awareness was also vastly improved on his past performances, witnessed by his assists.

He's only 21 so the consistency may not yet be there, and its only a couple of games, but there's enough to be optimistic that we have that elusive striker already on the books. The next two or three games we'll find out, but he's looking very much up for the challenge.

I also rate Conway highly and it'll be interesting to see his progress this season as well, and with him, Semenyo, Scott, and Benarous, as well as the potential of Tanner and Atkinson, the future is looking ok.

 

[Davefevs]

30 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

I also rate Conway highly and it'll be interesting to see his progress this season as well, and with him, Semenyo, Scott, and Benarous, as well as the potential of Tanner and Atkinson, the future is looking ok.

Me too.  Such a shame he’s been injured, and I think he’s gonna take a while to get back into a position to get regular minutes this season, but he has something imho.

Youre right, Tanner, Atkinson, Massengo, Scott, Benarous, Semenyo and Conway is something to look forward to, coupled with the right players around them.

[1960maaan]

52 minutes ago, bcfc01 said:

Semenyo is a big positive amongst the negativity and was my MOM saturday.

Last two games I thought he's showed what he is really about, pace, strength, and a goal threat, scoring as well as assisting 2 goals.

I've complained in the past that his feet are quicker than his thought and his touch, and control of the ball are poor, but the last two games that has improved immeasurably. His touch and control on saturday was generally excellent and his awareness was also vastly improved on his past performances, witnessed by his assists.

He's only 21 so the consistency may not yet be there, and its only a couple of games, but there's enough to be optimistic that we have that elusive striker already on the books. The next two or three games we'll find out, but he's looking very much up for the challenge.

I also rate Conway highly and it'll be interesting to see his progress this season as well, and with him, Semenyo, Scott, and Benarous, as well as the potential of Tanner and Atkinson, the future is looking ok.

 

It was interesting to hear Pearson make a distinction between a good dribbler with the ball, and a good runner with the ball. Semenyo being firmly in the latter category .
He does look ungainly when he runs with it, but can be effective.  I'd like to see him with the more mobile Weimann up front, or let them both have their heads. They would be tough to keep an eye on. AW mobile clever and AS strong and quick. Would make a nice change.
I don't want to get ahead of myself with Conway, but to me he does look a class act. Technically very good, clever movement and an eye for goal. Just hope he comes back with no lasting effects.