Wednesday 9 March 2016

Josh just needs to keep adding more goals

It was a telling interview that Eddie Howe had with Chris Wisely after the Newcastle match about how highly he rates Josh King. Eddie always believed he had the kind of talent that would work well in his team in the Premier League. Making the jump from the Championship has not been a simple transition, but AFCB are starting to see the benefits of being patient with Josh King.
There's more to come from Josh.
My only concern with Josh has been his unfortunate habit to pick up hamstring pulls at regular intervals. I would like to know more about what AFCB's physio team believe is the reason behind it as he had similar problems at Blackburn which made him sit out games. Twitch-fibre nerves are very easily damaged and I suspect that Josh has a high level of them as his bursts of speed are a match for anyone at the club. He is 24 now and his body should be getting used to the strains of being a professional footballer so hopefully he will start to find it easier to stay on the pitch.

Having shrugged off a calf injury in midweek, Josh was excellent up at Newcastle. He has been making much more intelligent runs to create space for others and when he collects the ball in wide areas he is linking much better with Matt Ritchie. I like to see Josh playing in the whole behind Benik Afobe as he brings in midfield players and is a threat himself when positioned centrally, as we saw for the second goal on the day.

Josh still has some way to go to be a natural finisher in my view but he is thinking quicker and holding off defenders better. His first touch was a good one on his goal and with another step to set himself before shooting, he really took the net off with the ferocity of his strike. Josh has four goal this season and it is the area if his game that he needs to improve on next. If he gets that right, AFCB could have a very big talent on their hands.

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