Yahoo News Ryan Mmaee hits nail on head with Stoke City verdict
It is a shame that Ryan Mmaee isn't able to join in pre-season properly just yet at Stoke City. These six weeks and six friendlies would have been a huge opportunity for the 26-year-old to embrace the physical work needed to set up for a Championship slog and catch Steven Schumacher's eye in what remains a key position waiting to be filled in the starting XI.
The striker is recovering from a knee injury, however, and has only been able to dip his toes into the water so far at Clayton Wood. He has been in rehabilitation through the summer and is hoping to get back in full swing as quickly as possible.
The truth is that injuries have been too much of the story so far since he moved to the bet365 Stadium from Ferencvaros last July. A look back on his list of appearances shows big gaps without playing - from August to October, from January to March and from April to the end of term. He only completed 90 minutes three times, only started 17 league games and scored just three goals; one in August, one in November and one in December.
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So even if he is missing out on the hard fitness work that his teammates are enduring at the moment, he needs to make sure that he does his recovery work right and gets himself into the kind of shape where he can show his potential. He cannot afford another stop-start season if he is going to make a serious claim to be the man trusted to lead the line. That man has to be able to affect games regularly and that means playing regularly and probably scoring regularly.
It is something Mmaee pointed out himself in an interview with TeamTalk, saying: “My personal goals are to be injury free and have much more consistency in my appearances."
It is interesting that he also cited the need to get players around him up front to be at his best.
"I started my career by playing in a two up front, I liked this as I could drop in and be involved with the game," he said. "I don’t like to be too lonely up front; I enjoy having someone close to me. So, a nine with a 10 behind me or wingers coming inside is my favourite position to play.”
That seems a fair self-analysis having watched Mmaee's debut campaign in England - but it means nothing unless he gets the first part right. Alex Neil had expected to him, at a peak age, to hit the ground running quicker than some of the other imports Stoke made last summer. But what has happened has happened and Mmaee has told people what he has to do now.
