Did i really?
Would like to see some proof of that.
Will apologize if i am wrong but i cant imagine me ever saying that Tevez is better than him.
Greenlizard0 Weekend Football Thread ** spoilers ** [14th - 17th Jan 2012]
- Thread starter red11
- Start date
Would like to see some proof of that.
Will apologize if i am wrong but i cant imagine me ever saying that Tevez is better than him.
Soldato
No he's not.
Soldato
I bet they don't put that kind of performance in against Spurs this Sunday.
Soldato
Nope, Dzeko gets the match winner today, gives him a lift right in time for the team he scored 4 against earlier in the season
Wont help Spurs' cause that they'll have to play Defoe or Pavlacantspelltherestofhisname up front even if it is against Savic
i bet they don't either, atleast they'll let us play our game though and not crowd us out ... i hope
Soldato
Got bored halfway through the first half, particularly as the only channel showing it was Spanish commentary unless I watched on a computer.
Caporegime
Grrrrr the match has been postponed tonight because the pitch is frozen!! 
Same with Crouch, I'm convinced it is because they were (probably) tall as teenagers so never had to jump properly to beat people in the air as kids (bearing in mind they were playing against kids of varied ability, not premiership opponents), so during their development they didn't learn stuff like timing of jumps, heck even spring in the jump, impeding the opponent etc.
Compare this to say a Tim Cahill, below average height but probably grew up having to really hone his heading skills to compete, imagine if Crouch or Mertesacker had his technique, you could literally play a high ball in out of the reach of mortals and they would dominate it.
If you look down over the years at the best headers of the ball in football, very few of them were giants (6'6"+), plenty of top guys around the 6'-6'4" range (to be fair in part this is because there have simply been fewer players of that height, but those that we have seen, weren't really any better than shorter players)
Last edited:
As someone who plays regularly, and is 6ft 8, I can vouch for the above. No doubt about it i am useless in the air, but i never played in school.
Im much better now, win most headers both defensively and attacking its just my accuracy thats the issue, that and the referees seemingly thinking its not possible for someone my height to win every ball without 'cheating'
It's easier to score a header if you have two feet planted on the ground than if you're jumping. Players like Crouch trade chance of winning the ball for accuracy.
And it works. Only Cahill has scored a higher percentage of headed goals in the Premiership than Crouch.
Crouch scores his share of headed goals because his size means he gets so many opportunities. I'd be more interested to see his headed chance conversion rate than his percentage of headed goals.
I've always maintained that Crouch is poor in the air and had he had the desire to attack the ball and heading ability of somebody like Shearer, he'd be unplayable.
I've always maintained that Crouch is poor in the air and had he had the desire to attack the ball and heading ability of somebody like Shearer, he'd be unplayable.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 18 Oct 2002
- Posts
- 33,188
Well you've noticed two things, someone who doesn't stand still and climb all over the player has a higher percentage, and because of who Crouch is and often who he has played for, teams give Crouch more crosses to head in than they would Defoe.
The real question is how many shots with his head has he made vs goals with head, compared to other players, and that number is likely not impressive.
Every "great" header of the ball I've see is someone who attacks the ball on the run with a lot of momentum, standing still the pace of the shot is mostly dictated by the pace of the cross, and a slow cross is very hard to score, because even accurate the keeper/defenders have time to get across the goal.
When Ramos comes in at full speed and whacks the ball, it can be half a foot from the keeper and they still don't have time to react.
Its MUCH easier to score when moving fast and in the air than standing still.... not least because you're much harder to make when moving and much easier to put off when standing still in the box the whole time.
Seriously though, a HUGE portion of Crouches headed goals shouldn't stand because he's fouled to win the header.
Him and Kevin Davies, no idea, the latter fouls more than anyone else in the league, usually with double the fouls of the second worst offender, yet rarely(for the number of fouls) gets deserved yellow cards and deserved second yellows for repeat offending. Crouch is somewhat the same, he should get carded FAR more than he does for fouling and cheating in the box.
The one thing I'd say in Crouch's defence there Baz is, Crouch is built like a wet paper towel, if he tried to play like Shearer, he'd have probably had dozen's of injuries throughout his career, he doesn't have the strength or build to take repeated hard knocks.
That is ultimately the problem, above a certain height the vast majority of tall guys end up lanky, not build that well, have less good balance, a lot less speed and physically couldn't take the hits that Ramos/Terry/Ronaldo do when they run into the box from a corner at full speed. I don't think Crouch can do more than he does, he's made a career out of idiot managers thinking he's a better option than a real striker, which he isn't. But a guy with his build is playing really the ONLY way he can.
Last edited:
Bit surprised at the amount of flak Mancini is getting in the media, or rather, talk of Man City being in "crisis". The way people were carrying on you'd think they were 8 points adrift from the top, not clear by 3 with a much better goal difference. Yes they could have done better in the CL but their draw was tough, knocked out of the FA Cup by one of the top 4 sides in the country, and are in the Carling Cup semi.
Yes, with the resources MC have available they should be winning the league, we all know that, and based on the season so far, it looks like they will, so where's the problem?
Yes, with the resources MC have available they should be winning the league, we all know that, and based on the season so far, it looks like they will, so where's the problem?
Soldato
It's easy to criticise Mancini because he's made it that way.
The talk of City's demise was obviously premature though, two defeats at home in a row in cup competitions was never going to have much baring on their league ambitions (not in my opinion anyway)
Caporegime
Indeed Mancini just brings it on himself, the stupidity of the card waving pretty much sums him up.