Pace....

[madras]

...is it really that necessary ?

 

a lot of folk on here when posting about players or styles of player they want brought in mention pace first. it's nice, always handy to have but for me will always be a third requisite behind technique and a football brain.

 

thinking of arsenal, they don't have a lot of pace but have my first two requirements in abundance.

[Guest JamesD]

they may not have a team of sprinters, but most of their players have adequate or better than average pace. Very quick team in all aspects.

[Robster]

...is it really that necessary ?

 

a lot of folk on here when posting about players or styles of player they want brought in mention pace first. it's nice, always handy to have but for me will always be a third requisite behind technique and a football brain.

 

thinking of arsenal, they don't have a lot of pace but have my first two requirements in abundance.

 

Agreed. Pace is nice to have but by god the other to components are so much more important.

I dont think Fabregas is blessed with blistering pace but fucking hell what a footballer the lad is. I notice today that the first touch of every Arsenal player is almost 100% perfect. Allows them to play great passes even into tight situations. That can only be through practice and good coaching.

 

Tony Daley is the best example of pace not being the most important requirement

[Baggio]

Arsenal have pace in the areas that they need it, Clichy and Eboue are two of the fastest fullbacks out there because Wenger likes his fullbacks to overlap, they also have pace in the wide areas in Hleb, Rosicky, and Walcott, Adabeyor is surprisingly quick for someone of his size too.

 

Fabregas doesn't really need pace playing in the centre of midfield, what he has got is a great passing ability which he uses to pick out all of these players.

[madras]

Arsenal have pace in the areas that they need it, Clichy and Eboue are two of the fastest fullbacks out there because Wenger likes his fullbacks to overlap, they also have pace in the wide areas in Hleb, Rosicky, and Walcott, Adabeyor is surprisingly quick for someone of his size too.

 

Fabregas doesn't really need pace playing in the centre of midfield, what he has got is a great passing ability which he uses to pick out all of these players.

watch hleb,rosicky, they aren't quick...all technique...clichy and eboue have fantastic footy nouse. no real pace.

 

in the arsenal squad only walcott has real pace.

[Dave]

Clichy has no real pace, are you mad?

[Delima]

Pace is not the most important but it is very important!

 

Adebayor, Van Persie, Rosicky, Hleb, Eboue, Flamini, Clichy, Sagna, Toure, Gallas are not particularly quick but they are all pacey. They are all fine athletes.

 

Fabregas, Scholes, Riquelme are not pacey but they are rarity in this world.

[Baggio]

Arsenal have pace in the areas that they need it, Clichy and Eboue are two of the fastest fullbacks out there because Wenger likes his fullbacks to overlap, they also have pace in the wide areas in Hleb, Rosicky, and Walcott, Adabeyor is surprisingly quick for someone of his size too.

 

Fabregas doesn't really need pace playing in the centre of midfield, what he has got is a great passing ability which he uses to pick out all of these players.

watch hleb,rosicky, they aren't quick...all technique...clichy and eboue have fantastic footy nouse. no real pace.

 

in the arsenal squad only walcott has real pace.

 

Perhaps you should watch them more as Clichy is possibly the fastest fullback in the Premiership.

[madras]

Clichy has no real pace, are you mad?

no i'm not (or at least not on this occasion)

[Dave]

Arsenal have pace in the areas that they need it, Clichy and Eboue are two of the fastest fullbacks out there because Wenger likes his fullbacks to overlap, they also have pace in the wide areas in Hleb, Rosicky, and Walcott, Adabeyor is surprisingly quick for someone of his size too.

 

Fabregas doesn't really need pace playing in the centre of midfield, what he has got is a great passing ability which he uses to pick out all of these players.

watch hleb,rosicky, they aren't quick...all technique...clichy and eboue have fantastic footy nouse. no real pace.

 

in the arsenal squad only walcott has real pace.

 

Perhaps you should watch them more as Clichy is possibly the fastest fullback in the Premiership.

 

Evra would give him a good race.

[Guest JamesD]

what a baseless thread.

[madras]

what a baseless thread.

how ?

 

it's on a par with taking issue with "we need wingers" type threads,pace is always brought up and i'm not sure we it's such a prime need.

[johnnypd]

of the arsenal players who played today - Toure, Gallas, Eboue, Sagna, Clichy, Silva, Walcott, Adebayor are all "fast". Fabregas, Rosicky, Eduardo all have a good burst of pace able to take them past players and would be amongst the quicker players in our squad. The only slowish player i can think of is utterly & exceptionally skillful Hleb who knows how to make up for it, and even he would very easily beat the likes of the Milner in a sprint. in general Arsenal play a very fast tempo, something they've been criticised for in the past, but look how their quickness ripped us apart in the league cup, and that's the reserve players.

 

pretty odd thing to say imo, arsenal teams in the past have always utilised pace, they're famous for it. Henry, Anelka, Wright, Reyes, Pires, Vieira, Cole, Lauren, Overmars, Wiltord and so on. It's been reported that Wenger decided to jettison Henry after his time on the stopwatch for sprints started edging higher and higher, physically he was getting worse. he didn't get rid of him cos his decision making or first touch started to get worse!

 

Even closer to home, look at Portsmouth today, absolutely hounded us out the traps, their pace and power literally tore through us, Cacapa, a top, top defender  turned into a fucking clown cos the pompey players had the physical edge, pace and power, that he doesn't possess. Muntari, Utaka, Benjani, Distin, Campbell, Diop, Krancjar, Johnson. you get the picture. What is the one thing Rozehnal has over Cacapa that would make Sam want to sub him on? can you work out what it is yet /rolf harris

 

Let's face it, pace is an essential element in today's game, not for an individual player to have, but for a team to have. no one is saying you don't also need technique or footballing brain, but pace is just as important in the overall makeup of a team. prioritising one over the others, or ruling one key element out in general, is not very helpful. some teams require one aspect more than the others at certain times. a very fast player with a crap technique would walk into a team made up of 11 slow skilful, visionary players, regardless of of those players having a better technique. likewise a very slow player with amazing ability on the ball would walk into a team of fast players with little class. at the minute we need more of all three, pace included.

[johnnypd]

Arsenal have pace in the areas that they need it, Clichy and Eboue are two of the fastest fullbacks out there because Wenger likes his fullbacks to overlap, they also have pace in the wide areas in Hleb, Rosicky, and Walcott, Adabeyor is surprisingly quick for someone of his size too.

 

Fabregas doesn't really need pace playing in the centre of midfield, what he has got is a great passing ability which he uses to pick out all of these players.

watch hleb,rosicky, they aren't quick...all technique...clichy and eboue have fantastic footy nouse. no real pace.

 

in the arsenal squad only walcott has real pace.

 

Perhaps you should watch them more as Clichy is possibly the fastest fullback in the Premiership.

 

Eboue, Sagna AND Clichy would all be up there competing for fastest full-back tbh.

[Tooj]

Unfortunately Madras the way today's game has now gone, pace, power and stamina are all now attributes that are deemed mored important than being able to caress a football, it's a shame really.

[Guest JamesD]

what a baseless thread.

how ?

 

it's on a par with taking issue with "we need wingers" type threads,pace is always brought up and i'm not sure we it's such a prime need.

because one thing pace does is stretch teams and create openings. Every top team has a combination of fast players and smart players who know how to utilize that pace.  Even when dyer came back he made us a much better team simply because he could run at/past defenders. The way sam seems to be setting up, everything is being played in front of the opposition defence, and its fucking boring and unproductive.

[madras]

johnnypd--out of those you listed i would only class walcott as "fast" the others whislst not being slow use football nouse to be first. for example rosicky hasn't gained pace since last season but he is now attuned to the prem league same with hleb who looks 2 yards quicker without actually being so.

[Baggio]

of the arsenal players who played today - Toure, Gallas, Eboue, Sagna, Clichy, Silva, Walcott, Adebayor are all "fast". Fabregas, Rosicky, Eduardo all have a good burst of pace able to take them past players and would be amongst the quicker players in our squad. The only slowish player i can think of is utterly & exceptionally skillful Hleb who knows how to make up for it, and even he would very easily beat the likes of the Milner in a sprint. in general Arsenal play a very fast tempo, something they've been criticised for in the past, but look how their quickness ripped us apart in the league cup, and that's the reserve players.

 

pretty odd thing to say imo, arsenal teams in the past have always utilised pace, they're famous for it. Henry, Anelka, Wright, Reyes, Pires, Vieira, Cole, Lauren, Overmars, Wiltord and so on. It's been reported that Wenger decided to jettison Henry after his time on the stopwatch for sprints started edging higher and higher, physically he was getting worse. he didn't get rid of him cos his decision making or first touch started to get worse!

 

Even closer to home, look at Portsmouth today, absolutely hounded us out the traps, their pace and power literally tore through us, Cacapa, a top, top defender  turned into a fucking clown cos the pompey players had the physical edge, pace and power, that he doesn't possess. Muntari, Utaka, Benjani, Distin, Campbell, Diop, Krancjar, Johnson. you get the picture. What is the one thing Rozehnal has over Cacapa that would make Sam want to sub him on? can you work out what it is yet /rolf harris

 

Let's face it, pace is an essential element in today's game, not for an individual player to have, but for a team to have. no one is saying you don't also need technique or footballing brain, but pace is just as important in the overall makeup of a team. prioritising one over the others, or ruling one key element out in general, is not very helpful. some teams require one aspect more than the others at certain times. a very fast player with a crap technique would walk into a team made up of 11 slow skilful, visionary players, regardless of of those players having a better technique. likewise a very slow player with amazing ability on the ball would walk into a team of fast players with little class. at the minute we need more of all three, pace included.

 

Villa are another example of someone outside the top 4 who use pace well.

 

Young and Agbonlahor are as dangerous as anyone on the counter attack.

[madras]

what a baseless thread.

how ?

 

it's on a par with taking issue with "we need wingers" type threads,pace is always brought up and i'm not sure we it's such a prime need.

because one thing pace does is stretch teams and create openings. Every top team has a combination of fast players and smart players who know how to utilize that pace.  Even when dyer came back he made us a much better team simply because he could run at/past defenders. The way sam seems to be setting up, everything is being played in front of the opposition defence, and its f****** boring and unproductive.

you post it yourself and that has nowt to do with pace

[Guest JamesD]

i'm just saying a team without pace/one that doesn't know how to use it usually plays poor football.

[madras]

i'm just saying a team without pace/one that doesn't know how to use it usually plays poor football.

and i'm saying it's not the be all and blah blah as a lot of people think

[Baggio]

what a baseless thread.

how ?

 

it's on a par with taking issue with "we need wingers" type threads,pace is always brought up and i'm not sure we it's such a prime need.

because one thing pace does is stretch teams and create openings. Every top team has a combination of fast players and smart players who know how to utilize that pace.  Even when dyer came back he made us a much better team simply because he could run at/past defenders. The way sam seems to be setting up, everything is being played in front of the opposition defence, and its fucking boring and unproductive.

 

 

 

[Baggio]

i'm just saying a team without pace/one that doesn't know how to use it usually plays poor football.

and i'm saying it's not the be all and blah blah as a lot of people think

 

Nobody has said it'd the be all, they've said it's an important asset that a team needs along with players with good technique.

[madras]

i'm just saying a team without pace/one that doesn't know how to use it usually plays poor football.

and i'm saying it's not the be all and blah blah as a lot of people think

 

Nobody has said it'd the be all, they've said it's an important asset that a team needs along with players with good technique.

and my point is that some players eg arsenals, appear quicker due to technique and nouse (as i have given rosicky,hleb) than true pace.

[Robster]

I think most players that make it to the Premiership have exceptional pace... thats probably what set them out against all the rest as they were growing up and developing through youth teams etc.

Once they reach the top level, apart from the odd whippet like Henry etc, the ones that then stand out above the rest are the ones with supreme technique.

I dont think Rooney has supreme, Henry-like pace but he is certainly one of the best players in Europe, if not the world at the minute.

 

Granted Arsenal may have good pace in all the positions but its they basic ability to pass and contol the ball that makes them what they are today.