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If the system isn’t going to change, then it has to be the players – Opinion

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I’ve tried to let this area breathe for a while.

However, this weekend’s defeat to Charlton Athletic was for me the breaking point when it comes to Marcelo Bielsa and style of play.

I’ve tried to let it go by saying that Patrick Bamford has somewhat stepped up this season, and by suggesting that Eddie Nketiah’s odd goal here and there will be able to see us through this season. However, these past two games, but this weekend in particular has pushed me over the limit.

This is not a ‘Bielsa out’ post, nor is it a request for him to change the system entirely, but more a demand to the board to spend, spend, spend in the window.

The act of throwing on Nketiah as a substitute at half-time to me smacked of ‘I need you to be the hero once again’. I said when Nketiah first signed that the board were naïve in bringing him in because it didn’t seem like the right replacement for Kemar Roofe and all his goals from last season.

And even though he has made a bit of an impact so far this season, for us to basically be relying on him to save the day week in and week out as he did against Barnsley, quite frankly that smells of bad management, both from the dugout for seeing him as a last resort, and the boardroom for not investing in a proven Championship goalscorer.

That’s why I’m now officially back on the wagon that we need to sign a proven out and out goal scorer this January if we are to have any chance of getting promoted. If we have to pay over the odds, then so be it. Whatever we spend will be returned to us ten-fold on the other side given the amount of money that you get in the Premier League. We nearly lost Marcelo Bielsa last season, and we may never get a better shot at promotion than this, but we need that last piece of the puzzle if we are to make it a success.

What about you? Do you think that the Charlton game will ultimately be the thing that turns you off of ‘Bielsaball’? Or do you think that there is still some good to come out of it eventually?

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