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Need For Speed

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ILD

ILD

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I've always been a sucker for signing players with pace but it's not the be all and end all for me when targeting a player. Certain players use their intelligence and positional prowess to mask their lack of pace, i.e. Xabi Alonso. Others solely rely on their pace and more than often don't have the brains to go with it, i.e. Djibril Cissé

I read Gene's post about him wanting a 'pacier Frimino'. Frimino is a good example of a player who many on here deem to be slow. I don't know if I agree with that. He isn't as fast as Mane but it doesn't deem him slow. We are quick to pigeon hole players into two camps; fast and slow. I don't want to go all Glock on this but it's like there is no in between anymore.

Side note - Andy Robertson continues to surprise me with his jet healed runs down the wing. I did not expect him to have pace to burn.
 
On the point of Robertson, I don’t think he has pace to burn. He’s not like Walker for example, who can flick the ball from a standing position then sprint past his marker. What Robbo has is a magnificent sense for the game. He times his runs to perfection so he receives the ball at pace, and they so happen to be at great moments during the passage of play. He’s brilliant at it. And he’s obviously not slow or anything so leaves defenders for dead.

On Firmino, sure, if a quicker version of him existed it would be great. But I wouldn’t be sacrificing him for a player like, say, Aubameyang, to take the place of a quick out and out goal scorer.
Our team is designed so we have two goal scoring wingers. And Firmino does brilliantly to link things up so they other forwards can shine. If the deal was that we could get a jet heeled striker as an alternative option for Firmino, one that could cover both him and the other two on the wing, I’d be all for it of course. And we should be in for a player like that either way as I can’t see us being so lucky with injuries next season.
 
Pace is vital but not just in terms of the speed of the players but in the speed at which they play and move the ball.

The ball will always be faster than the player.

Klopp has got that balance right now
 
Bobby is slow over short distance but rapid over long distance. Think of the amount of end-to-end counter attacks he manages to catch up with Mo and Sadio on, often causing one of the last defenders a new problem.
 
I used to like Gerrard's running power. He built up a lot of steam when he got going.
 
gene hughes said:
If two players are pretty much the same in every way except pace then get the faster one.
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Attacking players who have the game intelligence and skill to compensate for a lack of electric pace are a rarity. They are often once in a generation or once in a club's history level of players like King Kenny. Alonso is another but he was a deep-lying playmaker for which role pace is not required.

If you are looking at a Firmino substitute, I think having pace would give us a useful alternative. Cisse for all his flaws scored 19 goals in the 2005-2006 season. Electric pace with decent finishing ability and control can be a decent asset on the bench.
 
gene hughes said:
He mentions how much it bothered him several times in his autobiography!
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Aye. But my point was that not all players need pace. In fact, you could argue that having a player who has to use more nouse/space/stillness than burning past players with pace can create a more balanced side. It's akin to the slower ball in cricket or a change up pitch in baseball. When everyone is tear-arsing around a sudden change of pace and calmness can be devastating.
 
peekay said:
Attacking players who have the game intelligence and skill to compensate for a lack of electric pace are a rarity. They are often once in a generation or once in a club's history level of players like King Kenny. Alonso is another but he was a deep-lying playmaker for which role pace is not required.

If you are looking at a Firmino substitute, I think having pace would give us a useful alternative. Cisse for all his flaws scored 19 goals in the 2005-2006 season. Electric pace with decent finishing ability and control can be a decent asset on the bench.
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You're talking about Origi...
 
It's not THE most important thing, you actually need to be good, but the difference the pace of Salah and Mane makes is clear for all to see.
 
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