Big Ben

[ILD]

He's doing well isn't he? I wasn't mad for us to go all out for him but was happy to support him. The general consensus was that he was a good player but maybe not best suited for us. Obviously he had his fair share of fans and early adopters so kudos there.

He has played 14 games in total (a few of them coming on as a sub) and he has 5 goals and a few assists to his name. He has scored a few important goals, the winner against Bournemouth and the winner last night. It's also good to see him scoring against United and Chelsea too. I didn't realise he was only 24 btw.

Keep it up!!!

 

[Mystic]

He blows hot and cold, that's my only concern with him, but you can't argue with his contribution thus far. Alternating between him up top, and the fluid front line we saw against City gives us great options and makes it much more difficult for opponents to line up against us!

 

[hmmmmm1]

He is good option for us but misses too many changes to ever be top class.

The cut back from frim on in second half was case in point, his shot was miles from the goal.

 

[Modo]

I like the way he gets us goals from pretty much nothing.
The only thing that worries me is that he and our little Brazilian wizard don't seem to be on the same wave length.

 

[Silver Sean]

I still don't like him and don't believe he'll be here in a year.

 

[Aidan O' Neill]

He's doing very well. He annoys me sometimes in his build play and it can't be just me who thinks he looks slower than he did at Villa, but his scoring record since he came is very good and you can't ask for much more as a striker. I like that we have different options now (if you include Firmino as a striker, because Sturridge is so crocked).

 

[Mystic]

I still don't like him and don't believe he'll be here in a year.

He's our top goalscorer, no chance.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

We sell our top scorer most seasons.

 

[tombrown]

I hate to admit to this, but I actually found myself agreeing with Owen when he said his movement was poor last night. A number of times he seemed to be standing in the box waiting for a pass to get to him, rather than attacking it, allowing a defender to nip in & take it.

Goal was excellent though

 

[Judge Jules]

Fair comment - he's clearly not the finished article as a Liverpool player yet. That said, I've seen enough to think there's a decent chance that he can go on and prove himself up to the job long-term.

 

[Frogfish]

He is good option for us but misses too many changes to ever be top class.

The cut back from frim on in second half was case in point, his shot was miles from the goal.

That's tough (or naive) criticism. The pass was slightly behind him ... not many could get that on target and the result was always likely to be a skied shot.

 

[Frogfish]

I still don't like him and don't believe he'll be here in a year.

Klopp liked him, wanted him ... and now he's got him. I honestly think he won't be anywhere but up front a year from now.

I also like we now have a genuine headed goal threat. We've been without that for a while and it's cost us.

 

[FoxForceFive]

I hate to admit to this, but I actually found myself agreeing with Owen when he said his movement was poor last night. A number of times he seemed to be standing in the box waiting for a pass to get to him, rather than attacking it, allowing a defender to nip in & take it.

Goal was excellent though

I don't think he's anywhere near full fitness.

I'm guilty of this as much as anyone, but when a player comes back from a lay off or injury we give them a break for a week or two from criticism, then forget all about it & wonder why they're not as fast/clinical/aggressive as usual.

It takes players a few weeks at least to get up to speed, some a lot longer to find their real form.

Benteke isn't exactly quick, so if he's ten percent slower than usual he'll look positively cumbersome.

I wouldn't be surprised if he looks a lot quicker & more clinical in a couple of weeks.

Just in time to bang a couple in against Arsenal & Utd

 

[6TimesaRed]

Andy Carroll, But with a little more to his game.. and less injures

He won't be here in a year...

 

[Dreambeliever]

He's doing very well. He annoys me sometimes in his build play and it can't be just me who thinks he looks slower than he did at Villa, but his scoring record since he came is very good and you can't ask for much more as a striker. I like that we have different options now (if you include Firmino as a striker, because Sturridge is so crocked).

Can't ask for more? 1 in 3 is not good enough for a 32m striker

 

[ILD]

Andy Carroll, But with a little more to his game.. and less injures

So not Andy Carroll then?

 

[Modo]

Funny that people are comparing him to Carroll. Benteke is twice the player Carroll is and that's not saying much about Carroll.

 

[ILD]

They are both tall and like headers?

 

[Woland]

The injuries are the only concern. 'He misses chances' is not an argument. So does everyone, his stats show he's more clinical than most. Than Aguero. Whether we play to his strengths is the thing, but even if we don't most of the time, having him on the bench is clearly ace.

 

[Aidan O' Neill]

Can't ask for more? 1 in 3 is not good enough for a 32m striker

A 32 million striker adapting to a new team, new manager (then another manager), who has picked up a couple of knocks and been playing in a team that's been mostly shit this season. Plus we all know he's not a 32 million player, but that's the market now. 1 in 3 (a number of those being sub appearances) is decent so far especially so early into his time here.

 

[Gerry_A_Trick]

Yeah. The problem always was how we'd fit him in with Sturridge, but it looks like that will rarely be an issue.

 

[Hansern]

Should be banned for comparing him to Carroll.

 

[Skullflower]

I hate watching him play until he scores.

 

[Jack D Rips]

Funny that people are comparing him to Carroll. Benteke is twice the player Carroll is and that's not saying much about Carroll.

Not a great recommendation. 2 x 0 = 0

 

[Modo]

Not a great recommendation. 2 x 0 = 0

Well yeah, I guess I pulled down Benteke along with Carroll.
It's more like 1,5 x 2.

 

[cloggypop]

Can't ask for more? 1 in 3 is not good enough for a 32m striker

He's consistently a 1 in 2 striker.

 

[hmmmmm1]

That's tough (or naive) criticism. The pass was slightly behind him ... not many could get that on target and the result was always likely to be a skied shot.

Also the runs he was making were rather brainless and obvioisly going to be offside e.g. the pass from Ibe was a case in point

 

[cloggypop]

He just won us a penalty and then scored a boss goal.

 

[6TimesaRed]

Carroll used to do that too.

He was also unplayable at times, the Tag Benteke gets...

He is a better player to be fair, But I don't see him as a first choice. More a great option to have from the bench...

Our whole style has to change to accommodate him, from the bench can be useful to have to help break stubborn teams down...

Never worth 35 million..

 

[Aidan O' Neill]

I hate watching him play until he scores.

Ha. You hit the nail on the head there.