bigmick wrote:JBG wrote:The problem is not really with the strikers, is it?
Sorry JBG I don't buy it. I know we aren't creating many one on ones, but against the types of teams we are playing certainly in the last three games you're not going to. Good defences don't concede many clear cut chances, but good attackers carry threat.
Remember the Man U game on Saturday morning. They didn't make a chance all game because we defended really well. Doesn't mean there was no threat though. Doesn't mean that Van Nistelroy didn't get open in the box, run into intelligent areas from free-kicks and make my heart miss a beat every time the ball went accross the area. Doesn't mean that we weren't on the edge of our seats when Rooney got the ball in and around our box. That's threat.
Check out the goals in the Prem every week. How many of them are pure, clear-cut, teams being ripped apart chances? Not many I can tell you. Unless teams are chasing the game and leaving themselves short at the back, they can defend and don't get pulled all over. Goals are made by a clever piece of movement, a piece of skill, a fient to get infront of the guy who is marking you.
Look at our last three goals. Hyppia's was a bit if a freak where a ball hoisted back in drops on him and he scores with a scuffed volley. Garcia made his goal with his alertness and clever movement to get himself open in the box. He got lucky with the rebound but was open in the box through movement. Crouch got open in the box through good movement and finished with a good header. You have to give a little as a striker. it's not good enough to stand around in the box and say the service was sh!te. Come in short, spin and go. Attack the near post when a cross comes in, gamble FFS do something. Last night Cisse gets pushed wide, gets his foot round it and gets a cross in. Straight into the keepers arms. Poor service but where was everybody else? Covered in the box, nobody open and nobody prepared to take a gamble ad go front post ahead of the keeper. It's not just that our strikers are not scoring, it's that they don't look like scoring.
JBG wrote:bigmick wrote:JBG wrote:The problem is not really with the strikers, is it?
Sorry JBG I don't buy it. I know we aren't creating many one on ones, but against the types of teams we are playing certainly in the last three games you're not going to. Good defences don't concede many clear cut chances, but good attackers carry threat.
Remember the Man U game on Saturday morning. They didn't make a chance all game because we defended really well. Doesn't mean there was no threat though. Doesn't mean that Van Nistelroy didn't get open in the box, run into intelligent areas from free-kicks and make my heart miss a beat every time the ball went accross the area. Doesn't mean that we weren't on the edge of our seats when Rooney got the ball in and around our box. That's threat.
Check out the goals in the Prem every week. How many of them are pure, clear-cut, teams being ripped apart chances? Not many I can tell you. Unless teams are chasing the game and leaving themselves short at the back, they can defend and don't get pulled all over. Goals are made by a clever piece of movement, a piece of skill, a fient to get infront of the guy who is marking you.
Look at our last three goals. Hyppia's was a bit if a freak where a ball hoisted back in drops on him and he scores with a scuffed volley. Garcia made his goal with his alertness and clever movement to get himself open in the box. He got lucky with the rebound but was open in the box through movement. Crouch got open in the box through good movement and finished with a good header. You have to give a little as a striker. it's not good enough to stand around in the box and say the service was sh!te. Come in short, spin and go. Attack the near post when a cross comes in, gamble FFS do something. Last night Cisse gets pushed wide, gets his foot round it and gets a cross in. Straight into the keepers arms. Poor service but where was everybody else? Covered in the box, nobody open and nobody prepared to take a gamble ad go front post ahead of the keeper. It's not just that our strikers are not scoring, it's that they don't look like scoring.
Its not as simple as that.
Are you telling me that Robbie Fowler and Fernando Morientes, two proven strikers with over 300 career goals between them, don't know that as a striker you should take gambles?
bigmick wrote:It's about making yourself difficult to play against. If Owen had been playing last night, when the ball goes wide he'd peel back three yards and when the defender glances over his shoulder and eases back he's dart back infront of him and show for the cross. The cross might not even come in but the defender thinks "feck me for a fraction of a second he was in there". Next time it goes wide same defender is feeling for Owen, trying to maintain a physical contact so he can cover his movement. Owen gives the ref the eyes before darting in and going over in a heap. Nothing doing but the defendrs heart misses a beat. Next time it goes wide Owen goes in to the near post early and then peels out and around at pace looking for the ball clipped over.
If his strike partner is Yakubu, he's working the channels. Pace and power so anywhere infront of him and he'll get it giving you a great big target for your out-ball. Soon as it's fed into Alonso he's on his bike looking for the ball towards the corner flag, when it comes he's big strong and powerful and you can all get around him. The defender can't take liberties because if he does, he'll get muscled around and turned. When Owen goes back then darts near, Yakubu stops in his tracks then attacks anything that comes accross the area on the run, going through defenders and brick walls to get on the end of anything that flies accross the box.
You could use different examples for the identity of the strikers, and sometimes they won't score. But this is threat. This is what creates panic in opposiotion defences and is what really good teams posess in abundance. we have everything other than this.
At the other end is E'to who looks a superb player each time I see him. he comes away from the central strikers slot and links up with play, has pace, power and agression and always provides a threat. His goal was a very good one froma fantastic cross and I'm sure many will say Nando would have scored from there given the quality of the cross and the paucity of Ferrera's defending. Maybe, I'm not going to be uncharitable and say that Morientes has lost all ability but you don't often see him attacking headers the way E'to attacked that one. Maybe he would've scored it though I'll give him that.
simolonge wrote:dawson99 wrote:A message to benitez.
You are class....
but...
Find two strikers, and stick with them for more than 20 minutes (sarcastic time, i know its more)
ow are the strikers ever gonna gel if they are never playing together?
And how come mori will get game after game to sort out his confidence when Cisse is lucky to get half an hour?
finally, it the way we play? do we just not give strikers a chance?
Im just off with the way our strikers have all been playing, and trying to find answers.
A message to Dawson 99.
You should be in class....
but...
Rafa will probably not read this or take any notice.
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