Can anyone enlighten me re Zungu’s role in the squad?

DougieJones

DougieJones

Well-Known Member
First up - this is not a thread intended to bash the guy, he looks neat and tidy, good attitude, useful for seeing out games where we’re ahead, but, is that it? I was expecting a. a goal threat from midfield and b. a physical, driving presence in the engine room. So far I’ve seen next to nothing in an attacking sense and the fact he’s scarcely mentioned when we’re 2 key mids down is slightly concerning.

Do we think he’s just settling in? Or is he turning out to be a square peg in a round hole kind of player? Given he’s only another 3 months to get a deal we better find out soon I think.
 
The coaching staff will know more about him than any of us but the seeming reluctance to use him is a bit worrying.
 
  • Like
Reactions: WBD
From what ive seen so far he just doesnt seem to offer anything different to kamara and davis.
 
Form the little we’ve seen Zungu looks willing to take on a shot, which was badly lacking today.
 
I said something similar to my pal earlier. Can’t help but read into the fact we are two midfielders down yet he can’t get a start.
 
I would be shocked if he was here next year.

In his short cameos he hasn’t really asserted himself enough and the start he got against St Mirren ... the least said the better.

We can do better than him in that position I’m sure, Ross Wilson will be on the case as Davis can’t go on forever.
 
DougieJones said:
First up - this is not a thread intended to bash the guy, he looks neat and tidy, good attitude, useful for seeing out games where we’re ahead, but, is that it? I was expecting a. a goal threat from midfield and b. a physical, driving presence in the engine room. So far I’ve seen next to nothing in an attacking sense and the fact he’s scarcely mentioned when we’re 2 key mids down is slightly concerning.

Do we think he’s just settling in? Or is he turning out to be a square peg in a round hole kind of player? Given he’s only another 3 months to get a deal we better find out soon I think.
Click to expand...
He’s averaged about 1 goal a season over the last 5 years so I wouldn’t go expecting a goal threat or a driving presence in the engine room. His history suggests he’s not that sort of player. Defensive mid, deep lying midfielder. His best work will be around the half way line.
 
DougieJones said:
First up - this is not a thread intended to bash the guy, he looks neat and tidy, good attitude, useful for seeing out games where we’re ahead, but, is that it? I was expecting a. a goal threat from midfield and b. a physical, driving presence in the engine room. So far I’ve seen next to nothing in an attacking sense and the fact he’s scarcely mentioned when we’re 2 key mids down is slightly concerning.

Do we think he’s just settling in? Or is he turning out to be a square peg in a round hole kind of player? Given he’s only another 3 months to get a deal we better find out soon I think.
Click to expand...
How did you come to your expectations?
From what I read, I’m thinking more Jack than Davis.
 
He's looked good in all bar maybe one appearance he's made for us so far, he was particularly impressive in Poland imo.

Giving a player 10 minutes a week and expecting the world is never ending the way we want it to go, he needs starts.
 
DougieJones said:
First up - this is not a thread intended to bash the guy, he looks neat and tidy, good attitude, useful for seeing out games where we’re ahead, but, is that it? I was expecting a. a goal threat from midfield and b. a physical, driving presence in the engine room. So far I’ve seen next to nothing in an attacking sense and the fact he’s scarcely mentioned when we’re 2 key mids down is slightly concerning.

Do we think he’s just settling in? Or is he turning out to be a square peg in a round hole kind of player? Given he’s only another 3 months to get a deal we better find out soon I think.
Click to expand...

He had 11 goals in something like154 league games before he joined us.

has he actually had a shot since he joined us ?

from the usual youtube videos he looked like a deep lying midfielder spraying the ball about, not one breaking into the box.

he must wonder what is going on if he can’t get on in a game like today.
 
I'm wondering if there's a clause in the deal that we must sign him on a permanent basis if he plays a certain amount of games in his loan, and he's not shown enough in training to merit that.
 
I remember when we were first linked with Zungu there was a guy on here adamant for weeks that he’d be a better player than Davis.
 
I don't see Zungu being the long term replacement for Davis. Nothing we've seen thus far - which is very little so far (maybe a bit harsh) - suggests that. Even when the games have come thick and fast, Jack/Arfield out, we've gone with Davis and Kamara.

I'm not even sure he'll be around next season. He's another option in the squad. One we can turn to to when seeing out matches. He was good in Poland and had a solid 30 minutes in the cup defeat in Paisley. Other than that it's hard to judge Zungu.
 
It seems he's only ever going to be played in the no.6 position which is Davis' role who is arguably our most consistent player right now. Even when he's came on as a sub and Davis has still been on the pitch, Davis has been moved to the no.8 position.

Personally, I don't think he's going to secure a permanent move unless he plays more games and that's only going to happen if he can play in one of the 8s roles which Gerrard doesn't seem to fancy him in.
 
Jack, Kamara, Davis and Arfield are all better options than him at present

I’d be quite disappointed if we sign him in the summer, seen nothing to suggest he’d be good enough to hold down a regular starting position for us
 
If he can’t get game time now when two midfielders are out I don’t hold out much hope.

Very much doubt we will be prepared to pay a fee for him in the summer
 
Teddyjohn said:
I remember when we were first linked with Zungu there was a guy on here adamant for weeks that he’d be a better player than Davis.
Click to expand...
Wasn't me but I'll come out and agree.

He is 100% better suited to the role and would make it his own if given the chance.
 
Its-Sebo said:
He’s looked fine any time he’s came on, can’t blame him for the form of Davis and Kamara.

Hard to truly judge so far
Click to expand...
I would have thought he could have replaced Kamara today, any time after 20 minutes. - but then so could you have and we would have looked better :)
 
I was very much hoping that when we were winning the lead at a canter, he would’ve got a start in midfield today instead of trying shoehorn Aribo in there. Play Aribo up next to Morelos in place of Hagi.

If we can’t use this point in the season to bring in an experience international signing, there’s no point having him.

It’s ridiculously unfair to keep giving him 5/10 minutes when he has no chance to adapt to our system.
 
For me he has been brought in for games where we will be up against teams that don't sit with 10 men behind the ball all game. A defensive/holding midfielder that can quickly change the direction of play whilst still being able to get involved in the battles.

The reason he's not playing? We haven't had many of those matches so far this season.
 
DocStone said:
For me he has been brought in for games where we will be up against teams that don't sit with 10 men behind the ball all game. A defensive/holding midfielder that can quickly change the direction of play whilst still being able to get involved in the battles.

The reason he's not playing? We haven't had many of those matches so far this season.
Click to expand...
Then why didn’t he play against the rhats going by your theory?
 
AppleBear said:
I was very much hoping that when we were winning the lead at a canter, he would’ve got a start in midfield today instead of trying shoehorn Aribo in there. Play Aribo up next to Morelos in place of Hagi.

If we can’t use this point in the season to bring in an experience international signing, there’s no point having him.

It’s ridiculously unfair to keep giving him 5/10 minutes when he has no chance to adapt to our system.
Click to expand...
Before Aribo got injured earlier in the season, he was playing in a role that seemed specifically created for him in a 4231 and he was unbelievably good, he got injured so we reverted to a 4321 to suit Arfield and haven't looked back since. Hagi is a better option than Aribo as the RF.

The issue with our midfield at the moment is that Davis' shortcomings in the role become much more apparent without Jack or Arfield in the side. Kamara and Davis are great at recycling possession but that's pretty much all they do without Jack or Arfield to take the ball and look for openings further up the pitch.

Davis does always look up to see what's on further up but he will rarely actually use that option, he is capable of playing some very nice passes so it can become quite frustrating.

Zungu's range of passing is consistently more impactful on the game, I would also argue that he is better at intercepting danger.
 
Davis is better than him , certainly in the short term , but the northern Irish maestro cannot go on forever , so zungu is possibly a longer term option.

Once we go back to 2 games a week , we will have to play him & hopefully he’ll do well enough for us to consider making his move permanent . Having said that , I’d keep him , & I’d also keep Steven Davis as well .
 
DougieJones said:
First up - this is not a thread intended to bash the guy, he looks neat and tidy, good attitude, useful for seeing out games where we’re ahead, but, is that it? I was expecting a. a goal threat from midfield and b. a physical, driving presence in the engine room. So far I’ve seen next to nothing in an attacking sense and the fact he’s scarcely mentioned when we’re 2 key mids down is slightly concerning.

Do we think he’s just settling in? Or is he turning out to be a square peg in a round hole kind of player? Given he’s only another 3 months to get a deal we better find out soon I think.
Click to expand...

THE JUDGE
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Latest posts

Back
Top