Bradley Fink started his first game in the blue quarters against Peterborough United since December, when he started against Northampton Town in the EFL Trophy Round of 32. Between these two games, he appeared off the bench sporadically for the Chairboys.
Wycombe’s new number nine has struggled for both gametime and goals since joining the club from Swiss side Basel, scoring just two goals so far in the EFL Trophy, with none in the league so far.
He looks ill-trusted by new manager Michael Duff, with the gaffer giving gametime as a number nine to winger Fred Onyedinma over Fink, but against Peterborough United, he got his chance.
While it would be easy to mark off this performance as a poor one for Fink, there are positives to take from it.
He missed chances, notably in the early stages of the game, where he missed a one-on-one with Posh stopper Alex Bass, and a pair of chances with his head, with the first kept out by a sensational save by Bass, and the second looping just over the net. In a close game where a goal could have shot the Chairboys back into the mix, it’s hard to overlook this.
But it suggests that crucially, Fink is actually getting in the right places to get chances. Wycombe’s passing to Fink was not ideal today, but when decent balls were played into him (for example, Daniel Harvie’s cross), he got shots off.
But importantly too, he’s also the best natural striker at the club for getting into these situations. Fellow striker Cauley Woodrow has failed to show the same line-leading ability as Fink and has even been shoehorned as a 10 or false nine to make up for this. Fred, as mentioned, has played here and even excelled, but he’s not a natural winger, and it may not be sustainable playing him in this position for the long term, although it’s never too late to learn a new position as a footballer.
With so little gametime, he’s undoubtedly going to be rusty and lacking sharpness, combined with the mental pressure of wanting to succeed but having few opportunities to do so. It’s not a pleasant mix, and it’s one I’ve experienced myself as a sportsman. You rush chances, you take risks you wouldn’t otherwise because you’re desperate to show your skills, and ironically, this makes things worse. You can sense Fink’s desperation to prove himself and score when he receives the ball, when he needs to calm down and play his natural game as hard as that can be in the situation.
Some would argue that Fink has had “ample time” to show his ability, yet I would argue he hasn’t. In the league, he has had just 267 minutes, the vast majority being in the most recent match versus Peterborough. In fact, Fink has played just five matches for Wycombe in a competitive environment where he has received over 70 minutes of football, the vast majority coming in cup competitions where the team has also been rotated.
While some are ready to chalk him off and look for something new, I truly believe it is worth persevering with the lanky striker. I believe he has the quality to come good in the quarters. Given a run of games with genuine gametime, not just 10-15 minutes cameos, could truly unlock Fink and allow him the confidence to flourish into the player we hoped he could be. As we know, the current route of gametime has done nothing to help the player.
