Bristol City’s next steps for Delano Burgzorg mapped out as Boro loanee’s early gaps addressed
Delano Burgzorg is yet to get off the mark for Bristol City, having joined the Robins on loan from Middlesbrough in January
Bristol City forward Delano Burgzorg in action at Ashton Gate(Image: EFL)
Bristol City have to help and improve Delano Burgzorg as he continues to adjust to the Robins’ style of play, Gerhard Struber has explained, while addressing the Middlesbrough loanee’s early gaps.
Burgzorg was the Reds’ third senior addition of the January transfer window, making the temporary move to Ashton Gate from the Riverside Stadium less than a week before the winter deadline, having been at the centre of an on-again-off-again saga.
Struber had suggested prior to the opening of the window that City were close to signing a new centre-forward, later confirmed to be Burgzorg, only for Boro to block the deal midway through January. After Kim Hellberg’s side secured Jeremy Sarminento, however, an agreement was reached.
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Since then, however, the 27-year-old has had a tough start to life in south Bristol. So far, Burgzorg has made seven appearances – two of which have been starts – and is yet to register a goal or an assist.
Though Struber concedes City fans are yet to see the best of the forward, who he views as more of a number 10 than a striker, he feels Burgzorg is still adapting to the playing style in place at Ashton Gate, with further work required.
“I think I would say with Delano Burgzorg, we have to-dos,” the Robins head coach explained on Friday afternoon. “We have, in the process, to jump more and more in our style of play to be really ambitious with the ball in both directions – with the ball and against the ball.
“We can see the one or other gap, and we have to help him, we have to improve him to jump from a different style to our style of football. At the moment, we can see the gap, at the moment, is too big.
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“I would say [he’s] more a number 10,” Struber continued. “He’s developed the game much more in this direction. I would say he’s a player who can develop the game in a good direction from the 10.
“We will see in the end; hopefully, he will score the one or other goal for us, and we can also bring more of his striker potential. At the moment, I would say he is more of a 10 [than] like a striker.”
The Robins’ schedule since Burgzorg arrived in the West Country on January 29 has been packed full of fixtures.
Outside of a clear weekend, when City’s fourth-round FA Cup clash with Port Vale was originally set to be played, the Reds have only had one week-long interval between matches since the final week of January, with seven games played over the course of the last five weeks.
Naturally, such a congested fixture schedule has left little opportunity for Burgzorg – as well as fellow winter additions Noah Eile, Tomi Horvat and Seb Naylor – to work alongside their teammates on the training pitch. In the eyes of Struber, that has made things more challenging for the Boro loanee.
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“I think this is, of course, really difficult for Delano,” the City boss told Bristol Live. “We have no training time; we can bring him not in a process of our principles, and our style of play is a little bit different.
“It has some more rule-breakers, and without training time, it is, of course, really difficult for him to jump into our world of football. Yes, games help him, but to be in the detail really good, you need training, and in this way, we have – at the moment – no time to do something in synchronised moments.
“He would need it [and] this is, of course, for every single player important.”
Bristol City forward Delano Burgzorg shoots during the Robins’ defeat to Middlesbrough(Image: Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
With Saturday’s visit of Coventry City kickstarting another run of three games in eight days for the Robins, with away trips to both Leicester City and Middlesbrough to follow next week, Burgzorg’s training time is set to remain limited in the immediate future.
After next weekend’s meeting with the forward’s parent club, however, the Reds have the rare luxury of a full seven days between fixtures ahead of their clash with West Brom.
Then, after the meeting with the Baggies, the March international break could provide Burgzorg with a chance to get more up to speed with matters in south Bristol.
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