Exactly^
Matri isn't good enough to work alone up front - he needs someone like Pepe, a hard worker, right behind him.. Matri is not enough fighter to playthis position in these tactics of Conte. Boriello has far more spirit and workrate up front and that appears to be what Conte asks for.
Actually i think its the other way around. When we were signing Matri we knew that he is not WC, he is not coming from a WC team and he is now a prolific finisher.
The elements he had was young enough to adapt into new roles and decent general skills as an all around forward.
With decent pass, decent vision, decent dribblin, decent header and decent shoot, even decent pace, he can adapt to fit into any system that doesnt need a highly specialized forward.
2 man or one man forwards lines are high demand for that.
3 man forward lines though, need special skills on special areas, certain roles.
We have been gathering SSs for far too long and we were a need of a finisher, a target man specifically.
MAtri has the skill to achieve that, but not in a span of 3-5 games. Thats the opportunity Conte gave him to adapt, he wasnt teri-bad and it wasnt his fault, that he was not already optimized for this job.
IMO it was Marottas fault not acquire a player with this profile. (Toni was such a man, but we signed him as a NT standard bearer and not a viable first team solution)
Matri, inevitably reverted to his other talents, in order to offer the best he could and what he felt his team needed the most, so he was playing a bit deeper, he was moving swiftly off the ball, dribble fast and pass the ball away to the other forwards with quick one touches.
And this was his bane! Conte wanted a slow target man, unable to dribble and to pass, that would solely depend on the 2 SSs and his duty would be to keep the ball pinned in front the box and the 2 CBs busy on the center of the opposition box, so that our side forwards would only have to pass, dribble, cross, penetrate through the opposition wingbacks.
It doesnt matter if this will work or not, the point is to keep them in a defensive stance, slow the tempo of the game and let us keep the control and possession of the game.
Matri was simply too talented to play the crippled scarecrow in front of the box and he has failed in that role.
Thatsway a half crippled man like Borriello was favored.
Boriello even if he wanted, he cant do what Matri have been offering for 2 seasons, he simply cant.
Thats he predictably stays in front of the box doing nothing, but keeping busy the CBs, with the only chance to score being from a header after a cross.
Kovacevic would also be a perfect fit for that role, Zalayeta too, Vieri nearly ideal. Klose now would be excellent as well.
Thats why i believe that Dzeko would fit into this system better than Higuain, despite considering Higuain as the more complete forward.
Practically we need a slow, tall finisher, who excells as targetman and dont even try to dribble and pass, even if he cans a new Treze.
Matri can easily become one too, as long as he is trained specifically for that role, but as i pointed out when we were signing him, he is more of a SS than an all out finisher.
Turning Matri into a target would have the advantage that we would be fullfilling our needs without extra cost and the disadvantages, of amputating him of his full potential and rely on his finishing which is not quite his strongest point.
Exactly the argument i brought when we were signing him... However we made the huge investment on him and now it wouldnt be wise to lay waste of all the capital we invested on him.
He still is our best scorer and he is now a champion, we made him a champion, so that it means that his value ought to be higher than ever.
Conte should use him more,just for the advertise, so we profit from this and sell him for a decent price, he didnt, we extended his contract, he has accepted a sub role without issues, so i guess we have another role for him in mind.
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