Josh Kilmister on why Bafetimbi Gomis' patience will be rewarded
With Wilfried Bony hitting his peak in the Premier League, Bafe Gomis hasn’t had much of a look in so far this season; that’s not to say that he isn’t good enough to make it though. People have been quick to criticise Gomis, but from watching him play abroad before joining The Swans, I know he has the ability to produce the goods. He hasn’t been given as much of a chance as I’m sure he expected but he, as well as us, have to be patient.
After we somehow lost to Spurs on Sunday, Ashley Williams came out and said he believes we need to stop relying on Bony to get us goals. For the first few games of the season we had goals coming in from all over the shop; Dyer and Routledge were both backed for an England call up by pundits and players all over the country, and that was down to the goals they were scoring. I understand that as wingers they aren’t going to get the same number of goals as Bony is, but in recent games Ash is right in saying that we’ve been reliant on Wilf.
I feel that this is the main reason that Bafe hasn’t been given much game time. We simply cannot afford to risk dropping Wilf for a striker who isn’t yet certain to score goals. The game time he’s had has been minimal, and he hasn’t really been given a consistent system to work with. Our game is very much built around Bony, and for the games that Gomis has played our style has not changed. Gomis isn’t as physical as Bony - and that’s more of a compliment to Wilf than a dig at Bafe, because Gomis is a very physical player - so to expect him to work the defence the same way as Bony does is ridiculous.
We all remember Bony’s first few months as a Swans player, don’t we? By this time of the season Bony had just four goals in the Premier League, and there were only a handful of fans who were still convinced that he was the right man for us. Of course, this was partially down to a man by the name of Michael Laudrup, who decided to play a very much injured Michu over a hungry Bony time after time, but he still had more game time than Gomis has had by this point.
Gomis has scored just the one goal in thirteen Premier League appearances for The Swans, but don’t let that deceive you. Eleven of those thirteen appearances have been from the bench, and the majority of those appearances have been to see out the last ten minutes of the game. For a striker, that isn’t enough time to establish yourself. Without adequate game time, Bafe’s confidence is always going to be holding him back and that won’t change until he gets his chance.
In case any of you aren’t familiar with Gomis’ past, last season he scored fourteen goals in twenty-five games for French side Lyon, and he a actually only started thirteen of those games. He’s made twelve appearances for the French national side scoring three goals. At the time, he was the first player to score twice on his France debut since the great Zinedine Zidane. This isn’t a Shechter or a Kuqi we’re talking about, Gomis is a great player.
In the New Year it’s been known for a while that Bony will be away with the Ivory Coast, and this is when I think Gomis will come alive. He has the chance to start a few comes on the trot and I think, and hope, that he’ll take advantage of Wilf’s absence. The tournament (January 11th - February 1st) will see Wilf miss up to three games - maybe more depending on when he leaves to meet up with the squad.
As much as I think Bony will be a huge loss for us in January, I think Gomis has more than enough ability to step up and who knows; Wilf may even have to fight for his place when he gets back!
Thanks to Josh for his latest piece. I'm intrigued to see Gomis get a run in the team in January as once his confidence is back I'm sure he'll be a great player for us. I'd have to disagree on Wilf though - I think he'll be straight back in the team! What're your thoughts? Get involved using the comment section below.