rudekid wrote:I'd be happy with Antonio up there. I think striker is his best position imo.
Always fascinated as to what people's evidence is for this. According to Transfermarkt he's played a total of 26 games up top in his entire career and scored all of 5 goals there (2 of which were in the Championship and 1 in the League Cup)??
He's got some great attributes which seem to fit for a CF, sure, and he goes on some great goalscoring runs at times,
but it's a completely different ask to make someone play predominantly with their back to goal, playing up on their own marked by two CBs most of the time these days, and having to bring others into play through close control and smart distribution.
Compared to playing wide, he'd have much less opportunity to run at or behind defenders, and he'd lose the option to arrive late in the box and to bully FBs, which are two of the things that make him so potent.
Doesn't make any sense to me and it'll be a sign of very bad transfer window if we end up relying on it.