Kezman: Worth Another Go?

I, and Kezman, have both been ridiculed this season. Him for being rubbish. Me for supporting him and wanting him to stay!

At PSV Kezman was terrific, scoring over 100 goals in little more games than that. He was touted by loads of top clubs, with Chelsea winning the race to his signature.

Pre-season he was great, carrying on where he left off, scoring 6 goals in 5 matches.

However Kezman didn’t seem to get that all important first goal for all too long. It finally came against West Ham in the Carling Cup. Howeer he was given little credit, seeing as it was “only the Carling Cup.” He then converted a last minute penalty against Newcastle United. Still, he hadn’t scored in open play.

His big moment came against Liverpool in the Carling Cup final, where his scrappy trademark type goal won us the cup.

The stats can be very deceiving. 4 Premiership goals in 23 or so matches. Not great! However, the vast majority of these games were either as a substitute or when he has started but came off before the end. He was playing in an unfamiliar 4-3-3 formation, that as the lone striker, limited his effectiveness. He was always a sneaky, poacher like striker and as the main target man, his game seemed to have been restricted. He couldn’t find any space to work in and was constantly marked out of games.

Also these stats tell a different story.

Kezman
Total Appearances 23
Starts 6
Substituted 5
Total Minutes Played 717
Goals 4
goal every 179.25 minutes

Drogba
Total Appearances 25
Starts 18
Substituted 11
Total Minutes Played 1602
Goals 9
a goal every 178 minutes

Gudjohnsen
Total Appearances 37
Starts 30
Substituted 18
Total Minutes Played 2546
Goals 12
a goal every 212 minutes

Now compare that with our main competitors:

Van Nistelrooy
Total Appearances 17
Starts 16
Substituted 9
Total Minutes Played 1369
Goals 6
a goal every 228 minutes

Henry
Total Appearances 32
Starts 31
Substituted 1
Total Minutes Played 2827
Goals 25
A goal every 113 minutes

His strike rate isn’t bad after all that slating. A goal every 179 minutes. I don’t want to insult anybody’s intelligence but that’s better than a goal every 180 minutes which is two matches. A good striker is expected to score once in every 2 matches. He is doing this and it appears only Thierry Henry of our main rivals has a better record.

Worth another season? I say so.

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