I disagree. I think he has.
Our defence
- Thread starter rurikbird
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I disagree. I think he has.
Think you're wrong. There has been several incidents in the latest matches that show he hasnt. But, this as subjectively as it gets I guess when it comes to judging these things.
I hope I am wrong too, but it is how I see it.
Yeah, he looks back to his best and his concentration levels are top notch again as well. For me its doesnt seem like he has lost anything, but as I said this is very subjective in judging these things. He is, as you say, so good at reading the game and getting himself between the striker and the ball anyway.
Not letting matip play more than 2 games in 10 days?
I dunno man, i think hitting the crossbar is more of an "on target" attempt than a scuffed shot that the keeper picks up.
Had the keeper moved out of the way it goes in. Hitting the bar isn’t on target as it doesn’t result in a goal.
Hitting the bar is, by definition, not a shot on target.
I learnt that when Kenny II was manager and we would hit the post 6 times and the crossbar 3 times per match and come out with 0 shots on target.
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Yeah, looks like better business with each passing day!
Just as an aside, that "Bring it on" look on his face as he came out for the kickoff reminded me of Djibril Cissé waiting to be subbed on in Istanbul and sporting the exact same expression.
The guy is a warrior AND he can play. If he keeps on the way he's going, it's frightening to think how good he could become.
The guy is a warrior AND he can play. If he keeps on the way he's going, it's frightening to think how good he could become.
I’d love this stat to be more widely used and celebrated. VVD alone is responsible for catching opposition strikers offside more than 1.5 times per game in the EPL - that is arguably a more reliable indicator of quality than things like tackles, which in our defensive set-up are only used as a last resort. I’m sure Maguire makes more tackles per game than Van Dijk and that’s bad - football statisticians need to try to quantify the actual ways top teams defend rather than focus on outdated or easy-to-quantify but mostly meaningless categories.
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Yes I've often thought that (esp. on 6CM) the criticism of our high line is sometimes ridiculous because it focuses only on one aspect of the game (how it is possible to get at us) whilst ignoring that it is enabling us to score a lot more goals, to our benefit when playing against teams we have struggled to break down in the past.
The implementation and strict discipline required to maintain it is top level football.
Despite playing a much higher line (and usually compacting the game into the opposition's half of the field) we have conceded only one goal more than Chelsea (and 5 more than City but we are miles ahead of any other team bar Wolves - who have scored 40 goals less) !
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