The key reason Pelle is perfect for Saints is that he is very similar to Lambert in terms of physicality and probably even better at using his body than his predecessor. It would be a safe assumption that Saints have signed Pelle for the chief reason of replacing Lambert - who was excellent at holding a ball up while being able to use his strong frame against defenders. The Premier League, unlike La Liga and most other foreign leagues that rely more on skill and flare, is a physical one - just ask Dani Osvald, who blamed the physical demands of the Premier League as his kryptonite, ultimately seeing him under-perform. Adaption is the main problem for most foreign footballers coming into the Premier League for the first time - they either succeed or they drastically fail. A more high profile example of this notion came with Andriy Shevchenko's somewhat disastrous spell at Chelsea - he just couldn't adapt. Lambert is a typical English goal-scorer, not far different from Teddy Sheringham back in his days playing for Tottenham and England. In a description of himself Pelle said:
Im a typical English striker - tall and strong..."
He doesn't just have the right to make that statement but he also has the reason: he's 6 ft 4 inches tall - 2 inches taller than Lambert - giving him an edge in aerial dominance, and weighs 84 kg - 7 kg leaner than Lambert - making Pelle a physically superior striker. At Feyenoord, he proved he can use his height and frame to assist and score goals from various areas in the final third. Although it might be stupid to compare him to the Swede in other areas, If we look at Pelle's height and frame, the similarities between himself and Zlatan Ibrahimvoic are strikingly similar and they both know how to score goals by using their strengths. At around £8-9 million and with his highly impressive statistics abroad over the last two years at Feyenoord, Graziano Pelle arrives at Saints in goal scoring fashion by netting two in his first game with a 6-0 win over Sporting Hasselt in pre-season. He's certainly looking to be a good signing. Are you happy with the signing of Graziano Pelle? Share your assessment below in the comments thread.
