Hemed is still an enigma.
I do wonder when he looks good with some little flicks etc. and they come off is just because his control is pants and he knows it.
Unfortunately the subs we made just before Mac scored didn't suit the remainder of the game. Waine, nice crosses but probably had the best chance at the end of the game to score from a corner. In general our finishing was terrible, only 2 shots on target.
I do wonder when he looks good with some little flicks etc. and they come off is just because his control is pants and he knows it.
Unfortunately the subs we made just before Mac scored didn't suit the remainder of the game. Waine, nice crosses but probably had the best chance at the end of the game to score from a corner. In general our finishing was terrible, only 2 shots on target.
It's rare we play a decent cross into the box, when he holds up play - we don't have players running off him and clearly he's not fast enough to outpace the defense (a la Sotirio) so those passes are wasted.
When given the chance, you can see he's a competent finisher, strong, good positioning (he's basically an 18 yard box striker or target man) - but he doesn't have the work ethic required for the A-League and we keep expecting him to drop deep to recover balls (almost like a flase 9).
There is some truth in that last paragraph - however I think he has improved since his initial games when he was clearly surprised by the pace in A-League.
I would however not single him out for criticism regarding our loss against the Bulls. We were unable to break through their defence in the middle, and while we managed better from the wing the crosses into the box were aimless at best. Rather than blaming Hemed I would say that we play best with Piscopo on the park, as shown in our games against Perth and Victory. Our forward structure seemed to be more cohesive with Piscopo and Davila both dominating the AM zone.
https://www.a-league.com.au/stats-centre#!/players
Did a comparison:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/10c1-7r4QeeOSqULpl9LWl_MSN95lWiI6Vfb9If9CNIk/edit?usp=sharing
At the time of this post Hemed's min per non pen goal is worse than Waine and Ball, his shooting accuracy is worse and requires 7 shots per non pen goal compared with Waine and Ball 3 and 3.5 respectively. It's still worse when including his penalty goal. Also more min per key pass than Waine (only slightly) and Ball (significantly).
Though he is shooting at twice the frequency of Waine and Ball (just not as effectively) and his involvement in general build up play is higher than Waine - min per pass. Though passing accuracy is worse than Waine (only slightly) but significantly worse than Ball. Hemed is better in the air defensively with more clearances.
So, most of what is measured for attacking players he isn't a standout; and given his pedigree and assume much higher salary, he will be rightfully looked at more closely and have higher expectations of his performances.