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In all fairness, Balo has that same natural " knack" to be in the right spot/area, but also has reaction skill ( see his goal )
However, if you go back 2 years, my biggest knock on Pepi was his lack of "instinctual play" - where do i need to be when the ball is ( at a certain spot, moving a certain way as is the player ) - and i said back then that he needed playing time, at a high level, to round that part of his game out. And this is the result. He now knows when to dart for near post or slow down for back pass- something he didnt do just 2 short years ago. Thats knowing your teammates but more importantly knowing where the space is that your teammate sees developing too. Very nuanced part of a strikers game to materialize and some do quicker than others. Some of the better goal scorers were never the biggest or strongest players, but they absolutely knew where to be and when, and had the ability to finish. ( Mueller, Klinsmann, Lewandowski ( altho he is a big dude ) , Suarez, Cavani, Benzema, etc etc etc )
Both Balo and Pepi seemingly have grasped this ( balo i think is more instinctual than Pepi - but that has more to do with his academy/coaching from young age )
And FWIW this was exactly the score line you would expect vs 73rd ranked team. We didnt "play down" to the competition. Something that had been a bit of an issue over the years. But yeah, lets see what happens in the next window when we play top 20 opposition who arent looking to just "show up".
Liked all of what i say last night. Just gotta keep it going.
I forgot too- we host 2026 so we dont need to go thru qualifications- so our entries into Gold Cup, CONMEBOL etc are going to be our measuring sticks.
