Quote Originally Posted by Darth Vela View Post
Yeah, he's exactly like Heskey in that he works hard and helps players around him rather than Defoe-ing it up, that kind of striker never gets the credit he deserves, take a look at the general opinion of Kuyt as well.

It may well be delusion but I deal with what I saw at that time, he worked hard and held the ball up well, it benefited those around him and the team did well, were we perfect in that time? No, of course we weren't but Chamakh brought a lot to our attacking game, including those penalties and a fair few goals as well so despite him not being that clinical guy (who we, admittedly, needed after Vela continued being Vela) he did well for us, if he continues being a bit shite this year without contributing then I'm happy to write that off as simply a purple patch and move on and get someone else in but until then I'll maintain his good contributions were good contributions. I seem to remember you haven't ever liked him so that isn't gonna persuade you but it's the way I see it.

I can't, and wouldn't, deny most of the things you've said about him but if you ignore the good points and the relative merits of a player like that with the guys we have playing off him then he looks bloody awful whereas he's actually a useful player to have.

I'm sure playing off Chamakh suited Nasri quite well but yeah, given his recent attitude it might well be he just got a bit lazy.
I know the type of striker you're talking about and he's nothing like Heskey. On my part, there is no confusion about his function in the team. I know he's not the quick clinical type of striker, that's obvious. There is no point in comparing him to Defoe because they are separate players. I didn't expect him to be like that either.

But when you compare him to guys like Drogba and what he offers to his team without the goals, he's nowhere near as effective. It's the same case for Heskey, Carroll or even that thug Davies. These type of players have a weight and height advantage over most players and they fully exploit it. In essence, they work hard and bully their opponents. Chamakh doesn't do that. He can't handle the physicality of the Prem league. He gets bounced around and can't impose himself because he's soft. You won't see that happening with Heskey, that's why it's the wrong comparison.

Chamakh may work hard for the team but that's as far as the Heskey comparison goes.