Rich Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 As someone else has finally said, Coloccini's main strength is his aerial ability and we could possible have Beye and Enrique playing (both of whom are capable in the air). Taylor may be the tallest of the bunch, but he's not exactly fantastic in the air anyway. It's fair enough having some power and height in your team, but they need to be able to play as well. The "Invincible" Arsenal team was a big, powerful unit with a lot of flair and technical ability mixed in, but there aren't many teams who prosper simply because they've got a few big lads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikon Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Didn't you know that it's not all about size, it's how you use it Is that what your missus has led you to believe Hehe But look at players like Cannavaro, Puyol, Cordoba to name a few, not tall players but very good in the air. And from what i have seen from Coloccini he seems to be a good in the air, not seen very much tbh. But people say that he's very good in the air.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikon Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Where are you getting your figures from man? Gallas 6'2"? In stilettos, maybe. I'm sure he's not even 6' mate. Then you've got his regular partner, Toure, who must only be about 6' as well. Clichy isn't the biggest, Sagna is smaller than Beye. Vidic, Ferdinand and Brown aside and Man Utd aren't exactly blessed in the air - we had them all over the place on set plays yesterday. Spurs may have Dawson and King (never plays), but Woodgate isn't a tower of strength and their fullbacks are dinky as well - much like the rest of their team (who I believe will be all under 6'). I see the argument mate, but at least use some facts to back it up with, not made up heights I was thinking this also, that no way some of the players mentioned are that tall, but i didn't care to find out for sure.. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptoon Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 wasn't everyone ranting and raving about Bassong's aerial ability? Colo is supposed to be (and what I saw from Man Utd) a rock solid defender in the air. TopToon, not having a go at you - but you mentioned Stevey Taylor being the best defensive header of the ball - and I would venture to say not many people here will agree with you on that. I'd say currently Colo (from what I seen) and Bassong (from the friendlies) looked miles better in the air than young Taylor. I'd also venture to say Habib Beye is pretty solid as well. But regardless, you do raise the height issue - but like others have said - if anyone should be worried, it should be their defenders - with our pace and counter ability - they need to be worried. You speak some sense, Taylor looked the most dominant CB in the air for me on Sunday. Colo looked good too, more of a classy ball playing defender to me and not as big physically as taylor but very good for sure. Its not an argument i want to get into on that subject. I admit i haven't seen much of Bassong at all, hopefully he's really good in the air and on the deck, i know he's very young and 6'0. 100% agree with you saying that they should be worried with our pace. My point is i think we are a CB (Faye type) short and we could regret this especially now Taylor could be out and KK has been bigging up Cacapa. I remember Cacapa being poor in the air last year, in paricular Howard from Derby bullied him big time and could easilly have had a hatrick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen927 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I've love to see the stats for how many headed goals Michael Owen has scored over the years. Like Martins, not the tallest, but its about using space effectively and timing the jump. You can be tall but not be the best in the air. Look at Peter Crouch, he isn't the greatest in the air for his height, he's actually probably more capable with the ball at his feet linking up play. If we can get the jump on them and time our headers better, we shouldn't have much to worry about. A lot of people forget that Bolton havent got that much quality in their squad, I fancy us to cause them more problems than they'll cause us. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptoon Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Where are you getting your figures from man? Gallas 6'2"? In stilettos, maybe. I'm sure he's not even 6' mate. Then you've got his regular partner, Toure, who must only be about 6' as well. Clichy isn't the biggest, Sagna is smaller than Beye. Vidic, Ferdinand and Brown aside and Man Utd aren't exactly blessed in the air - we had them all over the place on set plays yesterday. Spurs may have Dawson and King (never plays), but Woodgate isn't a tower of strength and their fullbacks are dinky as well - much like the rest of their team (who I believe will be all under 6'). I see the argument mate, but at least use some facts to back it up with, not made up heights I was thinking this also, that no way some of the players mentioned are that tall, but i didn't care to find out for sure.. You are right with Gallas yes, sorry i had in my head he was 6'2 for some reason. The rest i did actually look up, check if you want. (they tend to differ by an inch depending on which site you go to). Disagree with you on Woodgate 6'2 he is good in the air as is Dawson 6'2 Arsenal have had problems with their lack of height in the past i.e. BSA Bolton used to beat them. Wenger played Johan Djourdou (6'4) v west brom. We could do with a player like this now Faye has gone. I'm sure their are more minor points we could argue over and sidetrack away from the real issue. Again my point is i think we are a CB (Faye type) short and we could regret this especially now Taylor could be out and KK has been bigging up Cacapa. I remember Cacapa being poor in the air last year, in paricular Howard from Derby bullied him big time and could easilly have had a hatrick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptoon Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I've love to see the stats for how many headed goals Michael Owen has scored over the years. Like Martins, not the tallest, but its about using space effectively and timing the jump. You can be tall but not be the best in the air. Look at Peter Crouch, he isn't the greatest in the air for his height, he's actually probably more capable with the ball at his feet linking up play. If we can get the jump on them and time our headers better, we shouldn't have much to worry about. A lot of people forget that Bolton havent got that much quality in their squad, I fancy us to cause them more problems than they'll cause us. I agree with you there. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Fair enough. In an ideal world we'd have kept Faye for the purpose you suggest (and because he was a good player aside from that), but for whatever reason he wanted away and the club were happy enough to let him go. Maybe there might be someone lined-up to replace him? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toptoon Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Fair enough. In an ideal world we'd have kept Faye for the purpose you suggest (and because he was a good player aside from that), but for whatever reason he wanted away and the club were happy enough to let him go. Maybe there might be someone lined-up to replace him? 100% agree and really hope we do replace him. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
colinmk Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Height is important but so is strength and we have good strength throughout the team really. Especially with the likes of Colo and Jonas coming in. Beye and Taylor are very strong and good in the air and Martins can jump as high as anyone in the league. If we added a big midfielder playing instead of Butt then we would be sorted in this department I think. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 How many times have we heard this bollocks about height over the years... Barca have a team of midgets, they can play football quite well though. Mark my words, if Taylor is out and we don't replace Faye we WILL get punished. Hardly 'midgets' Pique 6'2 Marquez 5'11, Henry 6'2, Hleb 6'1 Gudjohnsson 6'1 Different bloody league in spain anyway, give me a Premier League example? Arsenal. Man Utd. Tottenham. Etc. It can be important, but it's not the be-all and end-all. er i think your point here is moot, they all have tall cb's good in the air i.e. Man u have vidic and Duck face who are both good in the air, Tottenham have loads, Arsenal played with Gallas 6'2 who is solid and johan djourou 6'4 !!! I'm just saying that we are short on a big physical CB now Faye has gone! stop telling lies, nobody is impressed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parky Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 People make too much of a big thing about height imo. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattypnufc Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 http://www.cityshowcase.co.uk/upimages/resource/feature/big%20issue%20Urban%20small.JPG Though you were advertising this shite at first in order to generate money for a ST... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
broonalegeordie Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 ameobi is tall.................. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest rebel_yell12 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 I've love to see the stats for how many headed goals Michael Owen has scored over the years. Like Martins, not the tallest, but its about using space effectively and timing the jump. You can be tall but not be the best in the air. Look at Peter Crouch, he isn't the greatest in the air for his height, he's actually probably more capable with the ball at his feet linking up play. If we can get the jump on them and time our headers better, we shouldn't have much to worry about. A lot of people forget that Bolton havent got that much quality in their squad, I fancy us to cause them more problems than they'll cause us. No stats over Owen's career but wasn't it like 6 of his 11 goals last season from his head? And there was the match away to Russia, when Owen had the assist for Rooney by somehow managing to get his head on a ball that looked about 5 feet over his head. I agree that it's about seeing the arc of the ball, timing and using space. No reason Oba and Owen can't continue to get headers. Especially since Oba seems to jump like he's on a trampoline. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 People make too much of a big thing about height imo. This. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nufc 4 life Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 You mentioned people that are 6ft plus in your OP. However, height is not the main component in winning a ball in the air. Yes if someone is 5ft 5 and is up against someone who is 6ft 2, 9 times out of 10 the 6ft 2 player will win the ball. However, if you have a player who is 5ft 10 against a player who is 6ft 2, that player will have just as much a chance of winning the ball if they have a decent leap. Positiong is also a huge factor to winning the ball in the air, look at Owen and how many goals he has scored with his head, he didn't really challenge for those balls, he just positioned himself correctly. Martins, quite a short player and yet due to a huge leap he towered above all of manures defenders to score on Sunday. Time of your jump and awareness also factor and it's the abiltity to put all of those components together that makes someone a good player in the air. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alan Shearer 9 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 How many times have we heard this bollocks about height over the years... Barca have a team of midgets, they can play football quite well though. Hardly 'midgets' Pique 6'2 Marquez 5'11, Henry 6'2, Hleb 6'1 Gudjohnsson 6'1 Different bloody league in spain anyway, give me a Premier League example? What kind of freak are you that knows the height of every single football player? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theregulars Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 We so should fill our team with strong players who are supposedly good in the air. Smith's awesome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 If you've got people that can deliver, then height isn't that important. Three of our best chances (including the goal), came from corners. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offshore Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Having the tallest defenders doesn't make you the best defense, although against Bolton it'll probably make more of a direct difference than against any other team in the prem. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offshore Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Worth a punt? http://www.visithoustontexas.org/images/yao-ming-houston-rockets.jpg which one? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Worth a punt? http://www.visithoustontexas.org/images/yao-ming-houston-rockets.jpg look at his the size of his heels Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thespence Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 At one point we had a lot of aerial power with Gary, Duncan, Alan, Rob + 2 centre backs & then it was like Alan + two centre backs & if Craig was one of them centre backs he was so slow getting back into position he didn't even go up for our corners. I remember when we used to play Arsenal & Patrick used to compete with Alan for our goalkeeper kicks, freeing up there centre backs to mop up, I thought that was a smart move by Arsène. I think we are okay for height now with Habib, Fabricio, Steven + Jonas in midfield. Yes, it would be nice to have a traditional target man to ping it upto but Obafemi jumping ability probably makes him more of a threat goal scoring wise aerially than most fella's who are 6ft+. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Height is actually an irrelevant subject, what matters is the ability to contest and head the ball. Which, of course, is helped by height. Colo, Taylor,Owen, Martins,Viduka and Beye all are very good at contesting the ball aerially. As well as this we have Jonas who is a man mountain, that's 7/11. I think attacking wise we should all be looking at how good our delivery of the ball is, not the size of the players. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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