The attacker from Ukraine, who was added to the starting lineup on Saturday, displayed some really promising moments. We solicited feedback from our authors regarding his performance.
explains Andrew Smithson:
I thought the boy’s complete debut was encouraging because he ran himself into the ground and remained alert the entire time.
He may have been playing through the middle for the first time, but even though he’s not the biggest, I doubt center backs will enjoy facing him if he keeps pushing and being an annoyance.
However, Rusyn won’t have the last say in whether or not he may set goals.
Although we don’t know how composed he is, the manner we play makes it unlikely that he will receive negative feedback limitless possibilities.
It’s difficult to expect a striker to be on fire when they don’t get opportunities to get their eye in, even if he is a neat finisher.
I don’t recall many more instances where we were consistently blasting crosses in or bringing the ball back across goal except the Preston North End game.
Our attacking play, which has worked for us, is instead more focused on cutting inside or having players run into the box from deep and in the middle. Sure, having a danger through the middle would be beneficial as well, especially in some matchups, but changing things around can potentially make other players or aspects weaker and prevent us from playing to our strengths.
He had some terrific but undetected runs on Saturday, and he seemed to have a strong football brain.
Although it was unfortunate that he had left the field before play had heated up and we had a couple more opportunities to score, we should have a better understanding when we play Swansea City away.
Once a striker strikes, we might discover that the floodgates open, but for now, that would be a bonus. People can help in different ways, and considering the Norwich City game, Rusyn might be a good choice This Saturday.
Says Anthony Gai
Isn’t football a strange sport? Despite not having a goal-scoring striker, we are scoring goals frequently from various parts of the field.
The 1990s are long gone.
However, “Ukraine Bolt’s” first start changed the attack, as he seemed to be able to get inside more freely when defenders tried to play him on their shoulders.
Rusyn up top made it easier for Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts to cut inside the full back, and the advancing defence allowed the center players to find space in the box.
Rusyn’s speed and attacking skill are exciting, and if we can add goals to that, I think we’ve struck a crazy deal.
Says Jonny Hawley
Three qualities that set him far apart from his competitors right now are Rusyn’s speed, directness, and genuine attempt to shoot!
His quick thinking and direct running paid off during his sixty-minute stint against Norwich. He drags defenders all over the place to open up space for our runners in the midfield, which Jack Clarke and Dan Neil exploit brilliantly to score the second goal.
Another incident included him darting past the full back and taking the ball down the right side, whereupon he played a tease of a cross into the box that Clarke was unfortunate not to be able to put in.
Do you think Hemir or Mason Burstow can play that ball and make that run? For sure, I don’t.
He was also unlucky not to capitalize on Clarke’s pull back in the six-yard box right before he was substituted. He snuck in front of the defender to try to push it home, but he was smothered and was unable to get a clear look at the goal.
It’s a really positive sign that Burstow has been providing less of a goal threat than Dan Ballard!
Rusyn leading the line made us look better going forward, even with all of his individual moments.
More mobility meant that there was more room, which gave Clarke and others the chance to break into the box
and get shots off, as well as providing them with a target for their passes.
That’s just from his first outing; after a decent run of games, we might actually begin to thrive For me, it’s Rusyn’s shirt until he gives it up.
The most positive thing about Rusyn starting on Saturday, in Mitch Marshall’s opinion, was Tony Mowbray’s willingness to rotate our misfiring attackers. He also gave a very accurate explanation for why he chose to play the Ukrainian ahead of Mason Burstow.
It was the right decision to give one of our permanent signings a chance in that role as the young Chelsea loanee has shown promise in his link-up play and defensive work, but his lack of goals has obviously been putting pressure on him. He has looked impressive in his cameo appearances and reserve games thus far.
Rusyn’s Saturday contribution pleased me, though I wouldn’t say it was significantly better than Burstow’s done so far this season.
They don’t seem to actually get many shots off, but they do well on runs in behind that are frequently missed or ignored in favor of slower buildup play.
In terms of work rate, Rusyn undoubtedly matched Burstow, and in my opinion, he has a somewhat more muscular build. Early in the first half, he made a fantastic body check that, at the time, I couldn’t see Burstow pulling off.
We’ve evolved a style of play where a striker’s value isn’t just determined by how many goals they score, and this past weekend we amassed a respectable total without any of our forwards even managing to assist.
Rusyn’s feint run to get opponents out of position for Dan Neil’s goal is, as others have noted elsewhere,
more the kind of stuff we could have to assess our strikers on in the future, even though Mowbray insisted time and time again that we really require our center forwards to begin scoring goals.
All of which means that I don’t think we’ll have a “nailed on” starting center forward for the foreseeable future until those goals start coming in.
As much as anything, the attackers’ role is to inject energy into the game and link it up, thus I believe Rusyn and Burstow will split time, especially with the frantic holiday season quickly approaching.
Hemir looks to be playing a little bit below average overall, so I think he’ll stay third, but if Eliezer Mayenda comes well at last, he might bring another dimension and offer a potential resolution to this puzzle.
I believe this is a reasonable approach to handling players who are still getting used to Championship football—as usual from Mowbray.
They all have a role to play, and their rivalry for positions will only serve to motivate them to start scoring a few more goals—or any goals at all—in addition to their positive, all-around play.
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