He's a good player. But the available data suggests a solid player, no more or less. In this USMNT, there may or not be a place for that. It's nobodies fault, it's just how players develop. That said, I hope for a quantum leap at some point but I won't hold my breath.
Wait - are you saying you didn't just cut and paste the second half of that Lew stuff off wiki? I was responding to Lou, who is rather famous in these parts for his, uh, slow walk to the research aisle. I don't put anyone on ignore. I'd miss all the nutritional value! Man cannot live on snark alone!
The data suggests he's an average starter for a bottom feeder Bundesliga team at 20. Too early to say what he'll be for Norwich but they clearly value him and have given him minutes before he even really had a chance to know his teammates' names. His is just 21. He's better than Jozy was at this age. It's not a quantum leap for him to go from bottom feeder starter at 20 to mid table starter at 25. That's basically what John Brooks has historically been. That's a player who has a big role on our team even if Pepe and/or Dike becomes everything we hope.
Someone here said the Norwich staff is disappointed in him. Obviously provided no proof of that, but that doesn't matter. So clearly you're wrong.
Watford....the right opponent at the right time. Beatable team and Norwich at home Nice to see Farke talk about Josh in terms of 'availability for 90 minutes'. Def sounds like he is seen by the coach as potential starter for near-future, regardless of what happens this match. Hoping for 'feel goods' all the way around, including Josh. A win could really boost their confidence for biggest challenges on the schedule. Not absolutely critical that Josh open his account this match, but sure would be nice.
Watford home are the games Norwich will need to get points from if they want to have a hope. That said, despite their record Watford have not been getting blasted out of the stadium. Be great to see Norwich grab at least one here.
Pretty sure the lone goal was a PK. If Sarge could get a ball or two in the net in his early chances, he could see a lot of minutes. I doubt it's realistic to hope for Pukki to have another double digit season. Someone else is going to have to step up.
If Josh ever gets a start against a lower half team, I predict he scores — just to watch a few heads explode here.
Looking ahead....a good stretch of games for Norwich to gain some points and for Josh to get minutes as well before next break: BEFORE OCT BREAK - Watford (H), Sat - Liverpool (H) Cup, this Tues - Everton (A) - Burnley (A) AFTER OCTOBER BREAK - Brighton (H), Oct. 16 * Except for Liverpool, all sides that Norwich has a decent/good chance to point or tie. If Josh doesn't start against Watford, very good chance he will against 'Pool Opportunity definitely there for an uptick (perhaps substantial) in the team's fortunes or Josh fortunes.....or both Would be best for Norwich is they could get bounced from Cup on Tuesday, so they can fully focus on staying in the Prem.
Josh has scored 8 goals for his league club(s) during the last 8 months of competitions. Would count as 9 goals (if ref didn't make horrible call in BL last year). 9 goals in 8 months.........so the exploding heads maybe best take out some insurance, just in case. 9 goals in last 8 months 6 goals in previous 24 months to that = Progress
It will be interesting to compare this to Jozy's Hull season which was something like - 1G 7A, 1 non-league G over 31 games (and a WC G v. Slovenia and friendly v Turkey.) I think Sarge is very much a Jozy level player - and on the right team could out-produce Jozy in the EPL, but I'm not convinced Norwich is the right team. Probably get similar numbers with a few more goals. If Josh can manage 4 goals/7 assists in the EPL that's a good season.
I think there is a lot right in your post and the Jozy/Hull comparison is a fair one, albeit he was younger and less seasoned in Europe than Josh. 4 goals/7 assists also sounds like a decent/good return if he is a 3/4 starter as a Pukki support role and plays 2/3 of available minutes- agreed! The absolute most difficult thing to predict is......how much growth is going on between these players ears? That is the big, big difference in most cases between elite players and players below that level. The mechanical differences are often not as great as one would think (between elite and middling players) The mental aspect will be the bigger factor between Josh getting 10+ goals or 4 goals or less. The light turns on when it turns on for these kids (cue the Norm McDonald moth joke) It was sad to see Jozy in his time at Sunderland. He clearly had some impressive tools, but played carrying a piano on his back and mush brains due to lack of confidence. At Hull, it seemed like the mental aspect/game was often to fast for him. He just didn't know where to go or where to run. He didn't get enough top goal chances either, but still that's a horribly weak return as much as he played that year. But he did have an impressive, glorious very athletic/skillful winning assist in the his first game at Hull. And the goal he scored and celebration in the game after the Haiti tragedy...quite touching stuff. I'm optimistic that a lot of what happened at Bremen (which did not seem visible progress at the time) will actually be revealed as definite progress w/tangible results in the next couple years of his career. Grasshopper...be patient...
While much of Jozy's issues at S'land might have been confidence, a lot of it was they were just a terrible team coach by a lunatic. I think too little consideration is sometimes given to the organization the player is in, which is why Sarge's production at Norwich might not reflect his quality, but, unfortunately, may affect his opportunities. But if he can get 4 or so goals and a half-dozen or more assists, he should have good options even if Norwich goes down. If he can't contribute enough to get notices, he will likely be a Champs player next season.
I think confidence was an issue with Jozy. The speed pf the game in the Prem is at the top and to me it looked like even when Jozy had a reasonable chance, he felt the need to rush it and it wouldn’t work out. I remember Eddie Johnson’s debut with Fulham and he was like a deer in the headlights because the game was moving so fast. Josh only has 40 minutes in the Prem so hard to say but I thought he at least didn’t appear taken aback by the speed of play. We’ll see where it goes from there.
I don't disagree it's part of it, but that team was also so barren (as was Hull) that it's very hard to imagine how anyone gets there confidence there, especially someone trying to be a "team player." That's the worry with these kinds of moves, to me. If you need goals to get confidence, clubs that pay not to lose and score 20 - 30 goals across 38 games make that a tough assignment for a young sub. You have to really break out or find some other way to get your head on and contribute and be noticed. Hopefully, Norwich find some rhythm but they look to me like a team that will, at best, grind out some points in low-scoring battles here and there. Hope I'm wrong, but that's a tough row to hoe as a young striker.
If I had missed some of the shots Jozy missed with Sunderland, my confidence would also have gone to the dogs.