Lyle Foster

[Papabendi]

It's simply not working with this guy.

[equinox]

He's got brand new boots that need time to get used to his feet.

[willsclarets]

He's played 9 games.

[agreenwood]

You sure you’re not really an Evertonian Papa?

When Skies are Grey would definitely be your kind of place.

Maatsen, now Foster. Who is next?

[equinox]

He's played 9 games.

Exactly, new boots take ages sometimes.

[IrkthePurists]

If only we had 5 games with nothing riding on them to work with him followed by a full pre season with the best coach ever to grace the championship.

But no, let’s write him off.

[RVclaret]

Really boring.

The lad needs 1. Time 2. Run of games 3. Play with our ‘best 11’ on the pitch.

Grealish cost City 100m and is only just getting to his full potential after over a season!

[equinox]

Grealish took his old boots from Villa with him and still needed loads of time, great point well made.

[Burnley Ace]

Would be nice to see him play against a team that don’t have 10 in the box.

[Funkydrummer]

Come on lads, he's said it's not working, not "it won't ever work"

As has been alluded to, a pre season might just sort him out and,
who knows, we may well just play slightly differently next season
with it being the Premier League.

Let's have a bit of patience with the lad - I have to say that I'm not
too impressed so far though.

[Tricky Trevor]

I’m willing to give him settling in time but he has never been prolific. So I’m not sure what role he’s been brought in to fill.

1647C80E-160B-429E-83DD-183F08BC2C8D.jpeg (122.57 KiB) Viewed 5261 times

[RVclaret]

Would be nice to see him play against a team that don’t have 10 in the box.

This is a good point. From what I’ve seen here and clips from Westerlo, a lot of his best actions are in transition, comfortable on the half turn and dribbling towards goal. I actually thought he looked better in the first half v City when there was a bit more space offered.

[Papabendi]

Rarely see someone look so uncomfortable on a pitch. Out of his depth I'm afraid.

[equinox]

Would be nice to see him play against a team that don’t have 10 in the box.

You do know you can't chose your 'ideal' scenario in professional football, don't you?

[Burnley Ace]

You do know you can't chose your 'ideal' scenario in professional football, don't you?

Yes.

[tiger76]

Would be nice to see him play against a team that don’t have 10 in the box.

Yes his main asset is his pace, difficult to utilise that when teams are camped on the edge of their own box.

Jury is still out for me he's shown flashes of what he can bring, and I hoped he'd kick on after scoring against Wigan, however it's not yet happened.

Far too early to write him off though, and he might well be better suited to the PL when teams will play a higher line and leave the space for him to run in behind.

[equinox]

Yes, happens alot in the Premier League, strikers are regularly left to wander around in space totally unmarked.

[Claretmisterg]

I find that fans always back a player who is either extremely skilled (e.g. Zaroury) or who is obviously putting everything in in terms of effort (e.g Obefami). Ideally both (e.g.Tella). Foster is neither to me, hence the lack of faith in him. He has had adequate opportunity to shine and just not taken it.

[BleedingClaret]

Worth noting that he’s 22 years old
The record he’s got is 5 years from the age of 17
Many a goal scorer doesn’t start bagging in numbers til their mid twenties and beyond

[Carwin261]

I think we’ve struggled a little in the odd game recently when the opposition have sat deep,I don’t think many Premier league sides are going to do that against little old Burnley,although players will be much better,there will be a lot more space for our forwards.

[Claretforever]

We seem to have overpaid. If Foster had cost us £1m nobody would be talking about it. The fact we’ve spent what we supposedly have, and in January knowing we were likely to be playing Premier League football next season, seems a bad decision right now.

[arise_sir_charge]

Is the ‘new boots’ stuff meant to be funny?

[taio]

I think we’ve struggled a little in the odd game recently when the opposition have sat deep,I don’t think many Premier league sides are going to do that against little old Burnley,although players will be much better,there will be a lot more space for our forwards.

How will there be a lot more space? Big step up is the PL especially opposition defences - it's why it's a big challenge for forwards at clubs like ours to score double figures in a season.

[Newcastleclaret93]

I agree regarding the comments about ten men sitting back.

That is just not Fosters game. He’s a player that needs to be utilised against high lines (most commonly prem teams). We saw in flashes against Sheffield what he can bring against a high line (until they lost a man and sat back all game).

Give him the rest of the season to gel and get used to the pace of British football. I am certain we have spent the money we have as the club believe he’s going to be a success in the premier league.

[equinox]

I think we’ve struggled a little in the odd game recently when the opposition have sat deep,I don’t think many Premier league sides are going to do that against little old Burnley,although players will be much better,there will be a lot more space for our forwards.

There won't, honestly there won't, our success this season and hopefully our continued success next is due to the threat of Benson, Zoroury and Tella, you put a decent striker in with that lot (a Danny Ings for example) and you're in business.

[RVclaret]

How will there be a lot more space? Big step up is the PL especially opposition defences - it's why it's a big challenge for forwards at clubs like ours to score double figures in a season.

More space in behind? Wood used to do a lot of channel running for us. Like we saw at Bournemouth I think 2 of our goals were sort of slid in behind their defence, we’ve actually rarely seen that type of goal scored by us in the Championship this season.

[Newcastleclaret93]

How will there be a lot more space? Big step up is the PL especially opposition defences - it's why it's a big challenge for forwards at clubs like ours to score double figures in a season.

There is more space in behind in the prem. nearly every single team operates a high line press.

The challenge will be trying to beat the press and allowing the likes of foster to run at the defence with pace

[RVclaret]

There is more space in behind in the prem. nearly every single team operates a high line press.

The challenge will be trying to beat the press and allowing the likes of foster to run at the defence with pace

Not comparing the two but I watched Ollie Watkins yesterday destroy Newcastle with his running in behind and in the channels. Villa played through Newcastle’s press expertly and had no answer to Watkins speed and skill.

[taio]

More space in behind? Wood used to do a lot of channel running for us. Like we saw at Bournemouth I think 2 of our goals were sort of slid in behind their defence, we’ve actually rarely seen that type of goal scored by us in the Championship this season.

No. It will be harder for our forwards to score next season and there will certainly be less space in behind opposition defences than we've had this season, which is one of the things that's been particularly noticeable for us this season

[fatboy47]

I tend to look beyond simply how many times he's kicked the ball into the opposition net. That's why I can see just why VK and Bellamy fancied him.

He's operating just a bit too quickly for his team mates atm..he'll adjust..he's clearly been bought for the Prem, as with RV's Man City observation.

[Newcastleclaret93]

Not comparing the two but I watched Ollie Watkins yesterday destroy Newcastle with his running in behind and in the channels. Villa played through Newcastle’s press expertly and had no answer to Watkins speed and skill.

I agree, I watched both premier league games yesterday (don’t get me wrong both Villa and City are playing so well at the moment) there was way more space in behind than what we are used to. The challenge is beating the press, it will be considerably harder in the premier league than what we are used to.

In my opinion that is the difference between the leagues.

[Quickenthetempo]

It's not working.

But that's because our team focus on keeping possession, not creating chances.

I think Foster received one pass just inside the box in the whole game, no chances, no trying to pick him out.
If you watched for the first time anyone would think the team hated him, but we all know it's the same for Barnes and our other forwards.

The only way a Striker gets the ball in this team is if you run back in midfield and get it yourself.

[quoonbeatz]

He's looked OK so far but no more than that. Understandable as it's been very stop start for him so far, after what is a pretty big move.

[Roosterbooster]

Jury is still out for me

I've seen glimpses, but that's all so far
I would have hoped to see more a little earlier for the price tag, but I'm happy to wait

I do think he would benefit from being a player who drops to get the ball on the break with 2 fast players either side such as obafemi and Tella. He takes the ball really well on the half turn. And although he's not as fast as obafemi (I'm not sure anyone in this division is), he stands a much better chance of catching up with his breakaway than Barnes or JRod

[CrosspoolClarets]

Foster has played only 245 minutes in the league and when in the cups is in a much changed team.

The only thing “not working” for him is passport control.

[boatshed bill]

He'd have had a tap-in had Benson not been greedy.

[MDWat]

I agree regarding the comments about ten men sitting back.

That is just not Fosters game. He’s a player that needs to be utilised against high lines (most commonly prem teams). We saw in flashes against Sheffield what he can bring against a high line (until they lost a man and sat back all game).

Give him the rest of the season to gel and get used to the pace of British football. I am certain we have spent the money we have as the club believe he’s going to be a success in the premier league.

I totally agree with this. There have definitely been flashes. But it’ll take time.

[DanH90]

He’s clearly got the raw attributes- strength and pace. But I think raw is very much the operative word.

People can dress it up how they want - he has been pretty far off it so far. That doesn’t mean I’ve written him off, but he has a lot of work to do to make it in the PL.

I don’t think he will ever be a prolific goal scorer, and I’m still not sure what type of striker he is. Is he a Barnes/Jay Rod who plays centrally and holds the ball up (but can also run in behind) or is he a Tella/Obafemi who operates better wider (as he did first half against Sheff U)

Time will tell, but we certainly need at least one striker in the summer, we cannot rely on Foster being our main man in the PL

[Rileybobs]

It’s fine saying he needs time, and look at Jack Grealish after 12 months + at City. Well firstly there’s no guarantee that he will improve given time, and secondly we don’t have the luxury of giving a player like Foster 12 months to settle and adapt.

I agree we should do our best to give him as much game time as possible for the remainder of the season, but as things stand can anybody honestly say they’d be happy with him leading the line next season? The notion that he will be more effective in the Premier League is pure fantasy.

[warksclaret]

The jury is out for me too on this guy.I am certain that had he cost us a few million like Churlinov and Obefami that he would have featured even less than he has. VK has obviously seen something in him to spend £8m on him, and I think VK is starting him in a number of games , such as Man City, in order to give him a feeling of worth , and hoping it will click with him. I have been watching Burnley since the early '60's and can name a number of players who had slow starts and went on to be great players for us, but you would often see a flash of brilliance in those guys from the early games. Unless we see a big improvement during close season and pre-season, he will not be someone that can play week in week out in the PL. For me right now Obefami offers a lot more to our style of play, and I have seen less of him

[Boss Hogg]

Early days but surprised how much we paid for him based on what we’ve seen to date.

[Robbie_painter]

Give it a rest lads,12 points clear at the top and you think there’s a need to pick someone out for criticism.I never used to think Burnley fans were like this,I was wrong.

[ElectroClaret]

I agree we should do our best to give him as much game time as possible for the remainder of the season, but as things stand can anybody honestly say they’d be happy with him leading the line next season? The notion that he will be more effective in the Premier League is pure fantasy.

Agree with this, give him time, but recognise if it's not working.
Got the rest of the season to work on him, I'll leave it to the manager
to sort it out. Not got a bad track record so far.

[No Ney Never]

The assessment made by the coaching staff could have several parts of his game that needs work and areas of improvement.
This would then be evaluated and a program drawn up and timescales for achievement of each section agreed.
Next is to work on the first part of the program in training, with the results visible in a competitive match. All the analysis will indicate if the player is capable and improving against the development program.

What we don't know is what he's being asked to do and concentrate on in each game, also, what he's been told not to worry too much about at the moment.

Maybe positioning, framework, link up, first touch, looking after the ball, etc, have been identified as more important at the moment than finding a finishing position or scoring.

[Coeus]

It’s an old gripe of mine but if his strength is pace then why don’t we leave him on halfway line when opposition have a corner or even close free kick. He may get a chance but he will no doubt occupy 2 defenders. With one player taking corner and inc keeper they have possible 7 in box opposed to our 10. Stats will no doubt prove me wrong but not seen a stat score yet.

[Ampth7]

I personally thought he did okay yesterday. Held the ball up well, won his fair share in the air, and generally worked hard throughout.
Difficult for everyone yesterday attacking wise with 10 defenders sat in the penalty area, plus the ref and lino very much on their side, but it’s not as though he missed several sitters.
Needs time and patience which I do appreciate isn’t a thing in football sadly.

[ksrclaret]

Okay, so here's where we're at with Foster:

1. Against Wigan, he produced an outstanding finish
2. Against Man City and Sheff Utd, where we set up more conservatively and the opposition held a higher line than we're used to, Foster actually did okay - he threatened in behind and linked play quite well

However:
3. Against lower ranking teams, he has looked quite awful on some occasions - he didn't look like he knew what he was supposed to be doing in terms of positioning and linking up with colleagues
4. He simply doesn't put himself into a position to get chances. The comparison with Dawrin Nunez is a false one because his problem is a lack of composure in front of goal (relatively for Liverpool), Foster's issue is he just isn't anywhere near an opportunity

So, I have sympathy for both arguments that he needs more time to improve, but that we've not seen anywhere near enough in the time he has been afforded.

How often to players who've struggled at Championship level then step up to the PL and look so much better? It's unlikely, but we've got to hope and expect that Kompany and Bellamy have bet on the right horse.

[Cooclaret]

I think it’s almost certain we won’t have as much possession in the Premier League. We will need to provide pace to threaten opponents back line as they press us in. Pace in translation will be the most important aspect of our set up imo.

With CB’s that can break a press with a pass, or by carrying into midfield we need forwards with pace to push into those channels in behind. Foster, Tella, Benson, and so on offer us that.

I think this is why he’s been brought in early. How many of us bemoaned not getting in players a window before to allow them to settle personally and at the club before we expect them to perform.

He’s a valuable asset imo.

[boatshed bill]

I personally thought he did okay yesterday. Held the ball up well, won his fair share in the air, and generally worked hard throughout.
Difficult for everyone yesterday attacking wise with 10 defenders sat in the penalty area, plus the ref and lino very much on their side, but it’s not as though he missed several sitters.

You are pretty much describing what Barnes has been doing, except Barnes gets praise for it.

[SouthLondonexile]

I’m thinking he has impressed the gov.
I am thinking at the age of 22 cut him some slack.
We would obviously like more goals but many others have been scoring. Leave him alone , come back in a few months with your assessments when he has started more games.