2022/23 Ellis Simms

[andy4efc]

I'm not sure Simms is a Richarlison. He's more of a Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Sorry, I wasn't saying he was. Richy has more to his game than the pair of them combined.

What I was getting at is that Richy posseses two key assests which Dyche, in this current system would absolutely adore. His ability to fight and hold the ball even with tricky passes into him, and his ability to draw free kicks.

He's also a good finisher and can score with both feet and his head. That would allow Simms the time to learn and see more of how Richy does it in holding the ball, using strength to battle with defenders and so forth. Richy would work just as well in this system as anyone because it would play to things he's good at.

DCL isn't particularly strong really and his hold up play isn't particularly great. Simms may be more of his mould in size and a bit stronger, but hte key parts of the game that Simms would need to thrive (as well as taking chances ofcourse), Richy possesses and would be a good understudy role for him while he's still learning the league and getting minutes from the bench.

I dont believe SImms is the long term answer and i'm certain he's not ready to be leading the line from kick off. However I've changed my mind on him in the past few weeks in terms of does he have something to offer. He does. He can score the scruffy goals and he's not scared to have a shot, a decent one too.

 

[allen]

Sorry, I wasn't saying he was. Richy has more to his game than the pair of them combined.

What I was getting at is that Richy posseses two key assests which Dyche, in this current system would absolutely adore. His ability to fight and hold the ball even with tricky passes into him, and his ability to draw free kicks.

He's also a good finisher and can score with both feet and his head. That would allow Simms the time to learn and see more of how Richy does it in holding the ball, using strength to battle with defenders and so forth. Richy would work just as well in this system as anyone because it would play to things he's good at.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin isn't particularly strong really and his hold up play isn't particularly great. Simms may be more of his mould in size and a bit stronger, but hte key parts of the game that Simms would need to thrive (as well as taking chances ofcourse), Richy possesses and would be a good understudy role for him while he's still learning the league and getting minutes from the bench.

I dont believe SImms is the long term answer and i'm certain he's not ready to be leading the line from kick off. However I've changed my mind on him in the past few weeks in terms of does he have something to offer. He does. He can score the scruffy goals and he's not scared to have a shot, a decent one too.

I disagree pretty fundamentally with that. His hold-up play is his best asset.

I think a fit DCL is a better template for Simms than Richarlison, but I agree that Richarlison is a better player.

 

[andy4efc]

I disagree pretty fundamentally with that. His hold-up play is his best asset.

I think a fit Dominic Calvert-Lewin is a better template for Simms than Richarlison, but I agree that Richarlison is a better player.

I assume you're going with DCL's hold up play is his best asset? (Just to be sure as I tihnk Simms has more about him in hold up).

Not sure on that, his first touch is terrible. When he's fit and up for it, he is a nightmare for defenders but his first touch more often than not isn't good at all.

I've given him the benefit in some games this season as he's never been 100% and has looked off the pace, but hold up play, in a lone striker role relies on your first touch often enough, which he doesn't have a great one.

His best asset is when he's instructed to stay within the posts and be on the end of things. He's not got any conviction in his shooting but he's superb at scrapping for goals as Ancelotti showed (and DCL said that, he was told to stop going everywhere and focus on being the goalscorer within the goalframe).

On the flip side of that, the team he was bagging in did have plenty of creativity at that point so another reason to why that was working so well.

 

[allen]

I assume you're going with Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hold up play is his best asset? (Just to be sure as I tihnk Simms has more about him in hold up).

Not sure on that, his first touch is terrible. When he's fit and up for it, he is a nightmare for defenders but his first touch more often than not isn't good at all.

I've given him the benefit in some games this season as he's never been 100% and has looked off the pace, but hold up play, in a lone striker role relies on your first touch often enough, which he doesn't have a great one.

His best asset is when he's instructed to stay within the posts and be on the end of things. He's not got any conviction in his shooting but he's superb at scrapping for goals as Ancelotti showed (and Dominic Calvert-Lewin said that, he was told to stop going everywhere and focus on being the goalscorer within the goalframe).

On the flip side of that, the team he was bagging in did have plenty of creativity at that point so another reason to why that was working so well.

I think we watch two separate players.

Balls fired up to DCL stick.

 

[Lanolin]

I assume you're going with Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hold up play is his best asset? (Just to be sure as I tihnk Simms has more about him in hold up).

Not sure on that, his first touch is terrible. When he's fit and up for it, he is a nightmare for defenders but his first touch more often than not isn't good at all.

I've given him the benefit in some games this season as he's never been 100% and has looked off the pace, but hold up play, in a lone striker role relies on your first touch often enough, which he doesn't have a great one.

His best asset is when he's instructed to stay within the posts and be on the end of things. He's not got any conviction in his shooting but he's superb at scrapping for goals as Ancelotti showed (and Dominic Calvert-Lewin said that, he was told to stop going everywhere and focus on being the goalscorer within the goalframe).

On the flip side of that, the team he was bagging in did have plenty of creativity at that point so another reason to why that was working so well.

Calvert Lewin's hold up play is genuinely in a different stratosphere to Simms'. Simms has shown one or two nice touches with his back to goal recently but it's widely recognised as a major weakpoint for him. Calvert Lewin (when fit) is one of the best target men in the league.

 

[blueloon]

Calvert Lewin's hold up play is genuinely in a different stratosphere to Simms'. Simms has shown one or two nice touches with his back to goal recently but it's widely recognised as a major weakpoint for him. Calvert Lewin (when fit) is one of the best target men in the league.

That’s spot on. At u18 Simms had no hold up play at all, they passed the ball ahead of him , he ran through, shot and most often scored . At u21 he had to learn how to hold up the ball, at times he looked cumbersome in doing so but fair play to him and the coaches he’s improved a lot, plays it simple , but is nowhere near DCL as a target man. I said a few pages back that people think he’s a target man because of his size but for me he’s a” finisher” more than a target man.

 

[Zatara]

That’s spot on. At u18 Simms had no hold up play at all, they passed the ball ahead of him , he ran through, shot and most often scored . At u21 he had to learn how to hold up the ball, at times he looked cumbersome in doing so but fair play to him and the coaches he’s improved a lot, plays it simple , but is nowhere near Dominic Calvert-Lewin as a target man. I said a few pages back that people think he’s a target man because of his size but for me he’s a” finisher” more than a target man.

From my limited viewing...he looks like someone you bring off the bench as a last throw of the dice for 10-15mins when youre going to throw the kitchen sink at the opposition goal.

 

[TheBigIguana]

I'm not sure Simms is a Richarlison. He's more of a Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

He's not really either. Richarlison is an in between player who hasn't really mastered playing centrally or wide and DCL is much more of a target man and physical player than Simms looks to be so far. I also think Simms has a natural goal scoring ability that alludes Dom unfortunately.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Calvert Lewin's hold up play is genuinely in a different stratosphere to Simms'. Simms has shown one or two nice touches with his back to goal recently but it's widely recognised as a major weakpoint for him. Calvert Lewin (when fit) is one of the best target men in the league.

But Simms might score goals at a decent rate which would be nice to give a try for awhile.

 

[Connor]

I like his link up play, always seems to be able to get the ball wide

 

[Lanolin]

But Simms might score goals at a decent rate which would be nice to give a try for awhile.

He might. I was really just addressing the idea of Simms having better hold up play than Calvert Lewin, which I think is one of the most bizarre takes i've seen on here. I'm not sure he's got enough about him to start at the moment but now that Doucoure's out it might be worth a try. He can definitely score, but I don't think we should underestimate the importance of Gray to our overall performances, and i'm not sure Simms is capable of replicating that.

 

[TheBigIguana]

He might. I was really just addressing the idea of Simms having better hold up play than Calvert Lewin, which I think is one of the most bizarre takes i've seen on here. I'm not sure he's got enough about him to start at the moment but now that Doucoure's out it might be worth a try. He can definitely score, but I don't think we should underestimate the importance of Gray to our overall performances, and i'm not sure Simms is capable of replicating that.

We just desperately need to score more. I'll sacrifice a bit elsewhere in pursuit of goals.

 

[Lanolin]

We just desperately need to score more. I'll sacrifice a bit elsewhere in pursuit of goals.

I'd definitely sacrifice a bit elsewhere. My point is more that I think it would potentially undermine the whole system rather than just be a bit of a change. It's easy to say - for example - that we'd have been more likely to score from one of the dangerous situations we had last night if Simms was playing. But then I'm not sure we'd have created as many dangerous situations if we'd had Simms instead of Gray, so we might not actually have been any more likely to score. We need to find a way to get more goals, but I'd be very wary of doing anything that changes the fundamental principles which are leading to us getting results at the moment. It would be down to Simms to prevent that from happening, which I think would mean he needed to show significant improvement to his all round game in comparison his previous starts (including while at Sunderland).

 

[Lineker]

Calvert Lewin's hold up play is genuinely in a different stratosphere to Simms'. Simms has shown one or two nice touches with his back to goal recently but it's widely recognised as a major weakpoint for him. Calvert Lewin (when fit) is one of the best target men in the league.

Target man and hold up play are two different things, which are often but not always found in the same player.

 

[TheBigIguana]

I'd definitely sacrifice a bit elsewhere. My point is more that I think it would potentially undermine the whole system rather than just be a bit of a change. It's easy to say - for example - that we'd have been more likely to score from one of the dangerous situations we had last night if Simms was playing. But then I'm not sure we'd have created as many dangerous situations if we'd had Simms instead of Gray, so we might not actually have been any more likely to score. We need to find a way to get more goals, but I'd be very wary of doing anything that changes the fundamental principles which are leading to us getting results at the moment. It would be down to Simms to prevent that from happening, which I think would mean he needed to show significant improvement to his all round game in comparison his previous starts (including while at Sunderland).

I think the all around play criticism is a preconceived one by people looking to explain why a player that scores as frequently as he does keeps not playing regularly. I've seen nothing to suggest he can't handle it when he's given a real level of support (that's to say what was he really supposed to do at Anfield?). But yeah the guy who is dribbling Koulibaly and dropping into a 10v11 situation and combining well against Spurs doesn't give me all around play concerns to the level that he shouldn't be on the field.