The goals just keep on coming for Josh Sargent.
Sargent registered his first brace of the EFL Championship season on Saturday in Norwich City’s 3-1 league win over Ethan Horvath and Cardiff City. The U.S. men’s national team forward extending his goalscoring streak to four-consecutive matches, which now gives him 10 total tallies this campaign.
The visiting Bluebirds captured a 19th minute lead through Jamilu Collins but Norwich City would battle back. Sargent’s right-footed equalizer 20 minutes later made it 1-1 for David Wagner’s men.
Gabriel Sara boosted the Canaries ahead before halftime ahead of Sargent’s second goal of the afternoon. A confident right-footed finish in the 54th minute extended Norwich City’s lead to 3-1 and capped off a strong performance for Sargent.
Christian Fassnacht added an insurance goal for Norwich City in the 77th minute.
The 23-year-old Sargent’s hot run of form has helped Norwich City extend its unbeaten run to four matches during its promotion push. It’s certainly also boosted Sargent’s chances of cracking Gregg Berhalter’s roster for the USMNT’s CONCACAF Nations League schedule this March.
Norwich City next visits Blackburn Rovers on Feb. 24.
Quite gew EPL teams could use a striker. I could see Josh in Tottenhams lineup.
Sargent starting, scoring a goal + per 90 minutes and Pepi scoring at the same rate as a sub. Meanwhile Hagi Wright haas scored 11` in 31 appearances. Balogen going through a rough patch.
Things could be worse.
“Pretty durn impressive run, for sure. And it definitely comes at a good time for us with Balogun and Pepi not in top form.”
Ever notice how often on SBI praising USMNT players requires pointing out how shitty a time their competition for Gregg’s attention are having at that moment.
This is, of course , only natural, but the fact that it seems to be SOP shows us just how super thin USMNT actual depth is. Josh is likely to cool off at some point but what if Flo and Pepi don’t come back to form?
Overall, we have more quantity than we used to.
It doesn’t mean we have more quality.
What I hope for is that when Copa America time comes around that as many of our guys as possible, Josh, Balogun, Pepi and everyone else , are in the kind of form Josh is in right now.
Pepi seemingly just needs opportunity. He’s got a really good rate of return in the limited minutes he’s been given – I mean, he’s got 5 goals in a little over 500+ total minutes, which is almost up to the ridiculous goals-per-90 level Josh Sargent’s achieving with Norwich. The problem is that Pepi’s got Luuk de Jong ahead of him and de Jong’s been really sharp all season. (Though I do think Pepi should have been given more than he’s gotten. Why spend so much on a talented young guy who shines every time you play him…and then not play him?)
Pepi will still likely be fine long-term, IMHO. He’s too talented and he’s too clutch a mentality to fail unless injuries hit. I do worry about his form coming into Copa America…but he’s also always produced with the Nats, and again, this is a guy who does seem to take his chances.
Not sure what’s up with Balogun. I don’t have beIN so I haven’t really watched him all season. While he’s gotten more minutes, he’s also sort of in the same situation as Pepi, though, in that he’s got a dominant older striker in Ben Yedder ahead of him who is apparently showing little interest in stepping aside. But Balogun is without question a major talent himself though I haven’t seen enough of him to know if he’s got a strong mentality like Pepi obviously does – setbacks have not deterred Pepi but instead seem to motivate him. We’ll see if that’s true of Balogun.
“Why spend so much on a talented young guy who shines every time you play him…and then not play him?”
Because DeJong is having a better year, a monster year in fact. And PSV are having a ridiculous year as well. Coaches tend to not want to fix things that ain’t broke. Hot as he is, there is no reason to sit him down so that Pepi is in better form for Copa America. I would argue that they are giving Pepi just enough time to keep him fresh for Copa America.
Earnie signed him to sit behind DeJong, who is arguably the best center forward in the Eredivisie at the moment, and learn from him. Pepi is still quite new at this compared to him. They signed him because they thought he was good enough to maybe one day either replace DeJong or be sold for some huge amount of money. That’s quite a compliment.
PSV has their own agenda with their players . They don’t develop them for the USMNT and its impatient fans. They develop them either for themselves or for sale. When Wenger was at Arsenal his teams were often pretty sparse on English players. HIs answer to that was something like “I work for Arsenal, not England”.
“Not sure what’s up with Balogun. …….. While he’s gotten more minutes, he’s also sort of in the same situation as Pepi, though, in that he’s got a dominant older striker in Ben Yedder ahead of him who is apparently showing little interest in stepping aside.”
Yes Yedder is also having a huge year. The difference is, he was accused of rape, sexual assault last year and the case is pending. He was also found guilty of tax fraud not that long ago. Yedder may not be around next season.
I suspect Monaco were hoping Flo would be doing more to help people forget about Yedder but there is still time. While PSV seems to be set up to make good use of Pepi, Flo has to learn a new system in Monaco.
Keep doing what you’re doing kid!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yJ06YEKZHw
So…those were goals #9 and #10, apparently…which ties him for 11th place on the EFL Championship’s scorers’ table. Which is, you know, kind of good, since he’s only appeared in 13 games, and some of the guys on that list have appeared in as many as 33. He’s got a kind of absurd rate of 1.13 goals per 90 minutes played, which leads the Championship by, like, 0.5 goals. He’s also #1 by an absurd mile in conversion rate (42%) and shot accuracy (79%). The only guy who’s close in either category is Jamie Vardy.
Those are some seriously lopsided stats, the kind that can jump out at anybody who can read a chart. You have to think if his form continues there’s going to be all manner of Premier League teams messaging his agent even if Norwich ends up not being promoted.
You also have to think he’s increasingly a lock for not just making the USMNT roster, you wonder if he’s got a chance of starting, since Balogun is in absolutely wretched form at the moment and Pepi’s having a hard time seeing the field for PSV.
Pretty durn impressive run, for sure. And it definitely comes at a good time for us with Balogun and Pepi not in top form.