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This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…
Charlton’s excellent start to the campaign has hit the rocks recently, unsurprisingly after Lyle Taylor picked up an injury while on international duty.
The Addicks had won four and drawn two of their opening six Championship games, but after Taylor got injured while with Montserrat, the south Londoners have lost their two games without the 29-year-old.
Taylor looks set to be out for around two months, so let’s look at two alternatives Lee Bowyer could deploy in place of the league’s joint-top scorer…
Tomer Hemed
The Israel international – signed after leaving Brighton in the summer – has started both games against Birmingham and Wigan since Taylor’s injury, but has failed to impress as of yet.
Hemed – who has an impressive 17 goals in 38 caps for his country – had no shots on target across both of those matches against the Latics and the Midlands-based side, which ended with the Addicks failing to score in either game.
The 32-year-old has nowhere near the kind of pace Taylor has, and his predatory instincts are yet to rear their head at The Valley.
Improvement is needed from the former QPR striker while the Montserrat international remains out.
Chuks Aneke
Having played the entirety of last season as a centre-forward for MK Dons, scoring 17 goals in League Two, you would assume that Aneke was signed to play a similar position.
However, Bowyer recently said that he was yet to be impressed with the former Arsenal man in a centre-forward role, and mentioned that he sees the 26-year-old as more of a No.10 in an attacking midfield position based on his impressive performances in that area.
While Taylor is out, however, it’s no good playing Aneke as a No.10 if Hemed continues to misfire in attack, so as things stand, Bowyer’s two alternatives to his injured talisman really don’t look capable of covering for Taylor adequately.
