The sentiment is not wrong there but I think there is a difference between being patient and giving chances for the sake of it and being patient and giving chances because you know the player is gonna come good. Because if we are gonna catch Manchester City and Liverpool, then we need players like Abraham to step up and he turns 23 years old later this year. He is young but he is no longer young like Gilmour, who is only 19 and more leeway can be given. Abraham needs to start hitting some kind of consistency, especially when you consider this is his second season in the Premier League even though he's played in it with 2 different clubs and he is only 1 year younger than Werner by the way. Furthermore, with Giroud being a decent form since the restart and Werner coming in next season (there might be even Havertz), Abraham needs to step up and prove that he is worthy to be the No.1 striker. He may be doing that earlier this season but he certainly is showing any of that form right now. If a striker is not scoring goals, then he needs to find a way to affect the game in some other ways and again, Abraham is not doing any of it right now. And if we want to be critical, one could say that he has not reacted well to the Werner signing. Giroud has reacted decently by chipping in with some goals, and even Pulisic has reacted well too. Abraham needs to take his chances and prove his worth when given the play time. Otherwise, he is going to be the 2nd or 3rd choice next season.
Someone on the Shed End forum also dissected his league goals:
Aug - 4 goals (2 Norwich, 2 Sheffield)
Sep - 3 goals (3 Wolves)
Oct - 1 goal (1 Saints)
Nov - 2 goals (1 Watford, 1 Palace)
Dec - 2 goals (1 Villa, 1 Arsenal)
Jan - 1 goal (Burnley)
Scoring 7 goals in the first 5 games was a great return but since then, he has scored only 6 goals in 24 league games and that is not a great return for someone who wants to be No.1 striker and if we want to finish in the Top 4, never mind challenging for the title. I know he had some injury problems this season but that only really came into play around December and January, meaning he already didn't score consistently after the first 5 games. Was that early season form simply a case of a player hitting a random purple patch like all players do? I would like to be proven wrong but Abraham is not doing much at the moment to dispel that, especially with his overall performances.
On top of that, there is the situation with Abraham's contract. Is he actually committed to staying and improving at the club or does he care more about getting a big fat contract like CHO? If is the latter, then I am not sure I would want a player with that kind of mindset at the club, especially when he is not backing his own contract demands with his performances. If it is the former, then he needs to get his head down, work hard/smart, play well and the contract situation will take care of itself. He has only 2 years left on his contract and if he does not want to sign one and/or intends to drag this out, then is it worthy for Lampard to continue having him in his long-term plan? If Abraham does not want to sign a new contract, then we very likely need to sell him next summer.
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