You can't possibly drop him if we continue to play in the same style that we have been. He's the only one of our forwards that can hold the ball up with any consistency and create something for himself. It would need a lot of tactical tweaking before he could be dropped, including a more patient possession based game with a commitment to get many more players forward and into the box from midfield.
Part of the problem in recent weeks is that we seem to have run of ideas when teams execute a decent game plan against us and plan A doesn't work. Push Maatsen back, double mark Gyokeres, press our defensive midfield high up the pitch and suddenly we look very impotent.
Waghorn does make a big difference to the way we play. He pressures high up the pitch and forces mistakes that mean we regain possession in areas that are already dangerous. O'Hare yesterday was winning balls back 15 metres from his own box and with a 35 metre gap to our strikers. We are then massively reliant on an outlet from the wingbacks, or for him to be able to carry the ball 20 metres himself. Even then it is very end to end and hectic. Exciting to watch for fans when it comes off but low chance of success rate because of the skill and passing accuracy required, particularly in the first half of games where teams are fresh and organised still - part of the reason we score so few first half goals I suspect.
