Will Azeez score before Christmas?

[CountryRoyal]

[Brogue]

No

[Hound]

Which year etc etc

[Pepe the Horseman]

Nope.

[CountryRoyal]

Which year etc etc

[Pepe the Horseman]

2 goals in his entire Reading career.

[Snowflake Royal]

Yes. I have faith.

He's got the quality. Apart from then. And a lot of other times.

[CountryRoyal]

I voted yes because no one can consistently mess up good opportunities time after time.

[Snowflake Royal]

I voted yes because no one can consistently mess up good opportunities time after time.

You should see me play.

[leon]

I’d be very surprised because he’s quite shit. A home grown Paul Brayson.

[Sutekh]

He'll score but it will probably take changes in both ownership and management to make it happen.

[Stranded]

Azeez is bizarre - he has all the attributes to rip sides apart at this level but, to be frank, he seems to be completely devoid of a footballing brain. Almost without fail last night, whenever he got the ball and had 2 options, he took the wrong one every single time.

I appreciate this will mainly be down to confidence but there comes a point where you have to say, Femi, it's not working, so we're going to take you out of the spotlight for a bit - go and get a few games with the U21s and see if the goal comes. Sadly, he is a liability at the moment (but he's not alone there).

[YorkshireRoyal99]

I'm seriously hoping that our other youngsters coming through in attacking areas (Kelvin E, Vickers, Camara etc) don't all go down the same path as Azeez, a lot of promise but fails to deliver. Otherwise we are going to end up in L2 for sure.

If we had to change it up for him, I'd say stick him on the left and make him more of an old fashioned winger. Either hug the touchline or go from in-to-out to get round a full back with his pace and get some balls knocked into the box, preferably with quality obviously but even if he's just hitting an area of the box (i.e. the penalty spot) then something could happen from that.

[Royal_jimmy]

Whilst Azeez has been poor and it's clear he's low on confidence, the management are to blame for this. He came in 2 years ago with potential but if we're not careful we could ruin his career and he may end up as a non-league player. The formation and role he's been asked to play doesn't suit him at all. The same goes for Knibbs who should be under the spotlight as well. He's done absolutely nothing for us. Created nothing, not scored.

[morganb]

Whilst Azeez has been poor and it's clear he's low on confidence, the management are to blame for this. He came in 2 years ago with potential but if we're not careful we could ruin his career and he may end up as a non-league player. The formation and role he's been asked to play doesn't suit him at all. The same goes for Knibbs who should be under the spotlight as well. He's done absolutely nothing for us. Created nothing, not scored.

So, who can sort the bit in bold out then? Azeez probably gets as much flack , if not more, than Selles as he is the one out there on the pitch, but Selles is the one who can change his role or the overall formation to suit him.

The alternative is for Azeez to learn how to play how Selles wants him to play. The good thing is that Azeez looks to be a trier and hasn't given up (yet), the problem is that it just isn't working for him.

Would benching him or dropping him to the U21s break what little confidence he still has?

[Snowflake Royal]

Azeez is bizarre - he has all the attributes to rip sides apart at this level but, to be frank, he seems to be completely devoid of a footballing brain. Almost without fail last night, whenever he got the ball and had 2 options, he took the wrong one every single time.

I appreciate this will mainly be down to confidence but there comes a point where you have to say, Femi, it's not working, so we're going to take you out of the spotlight for a bit - go and get a few games with the U21s and see if the goal comes. Sadly, he is a liability at the moment (but he's not alone there).

Yeah. The problem is, his competition is:

Knibbs - barely involved in games.
Elliott - equally as poor decision making at times and goes completely missing half the time
Mukairu - rather average and awkward
Camara - even less experienced and struggles a bit with fitness.
Vickers - very young and a bit lightweight

I can see why we persist with Azeez. Because he's doing everything else he needs, if he can just accidentally make a couple of good decisions we're away.

[blythspartan]

Maybe he is scoring and that’s the problem.

Honestly, he has flattered to deceive and he’s not learning. He has absolutely no end product and I don’t know if that’s something he will ever have.

[South Coast Royal]

A few weeks ago I remember Azeez doing that stupid thing that players do where they raise their arms to get the crowd going when in fact he had done his normal oxf*rd all to inspire such support.

The trend of late has been this idea of playing left-footed wingers on the right as in Saka, Bernardo Silva, Bowen and Salah and we do the same.
The difference is that those are top players who, even if weak on their right , have the ability to beat a man either with skill or pace and they also score loads of goals.

In Azeez we have a player with neither the skill to beat a defender nor the pace, doesn't score goals and is unable to cross with his right foot.
Those top players don't need to be good with their right foot as they are so good with their left.

The only solution to getting something out of Azeez IMHO is to put him back wide left (he used to occasionally look quite threatening playing there) as he can cross a ball with this left foot and wouldn't get in a tangle with his feet as often happens now.
Likewise Knibbs-a right-footed player who would surely be more constructive playing on the right.

The trouble is that, as with playing out from the back, coaches of lesser teams are copying the best when the players at their disposal aren't good enough to do the same.

[andrew1957]

I am beginning to think the club is just a black hole. Whether managers, decent players we bring in from elsewhere, or even our Academy products, as soon as they get to the club/first team they just suddenly become shite...

There are clearly massive problems behind the scenes and it seems to be affecting the whole club from top to bottom. In Azeez case he looks like he should be an excellent payer but for whatever reason this is just not translating into goals/assists. I think it all comes down to confidence and surely that is down to the manager.

[NathStPaul]

I am beginning to think the club is just a black hole. Whether managers, decent players we bring in from elsewhere, or even our Academy products, as soon as they get to the club/first team they just suddenly become shite...

There are clearly massive problems behind the scenes and it seems to be affecting the whole club from top to bottom. In Azeez case he looks like he should be an excellent payer but for whatever reason this is just not translating into goals/assists. I think it all comes down to confidence and surely that is down to the manager.

I blame the vaccine.