Rebellious Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I was having a shave this morning and started to wonder, why do we do so well in Europe and not the Premiership and why do we get so many injuries? My Conclusion - I think there are 4 types of team. 1, The team that does ok in the premiership but not so well in Europe mainly consisting of big strong players and less skill and agility. 2, The team that does well in Europe but gets out muscled in the Premiership mainly consisting of fast skillful players but less strength and height (us). 3, The team that does well in all competitions consisting of a well balanced selection of skillful and strong players with enough depth to rotate. This team may have brought in lightweight skillful players but have held them back for a few months to strenghen them. 4, Last but not least the teams that are plain crap, low skill low strength. Examples of Team 1 - Bolton, Blackburn Examples of Team 2 - Newcastle, ? Examples of Team 3 - Chelsea, Arsenal and ManUre Examples of Team 4 - West Ham, Watford We had upto 10 injuries going into the game in Europe. If you look at our injured players they are all skill based players more than strength based players. This is why we have more injuries than most clubs. Goalkeeper Pavel Srnicek Tim Krul Shay Given More skill to make up for height and size Steve Harper Defender Craig Moore Olivier Bernard Stephen Carr Titus Bramble Peter Ramage Steven Taylor Celestine Babayaro Skill more than strength Midfielder Damien Duff Skill more than strength Nicky Butt Nolberto Solano James Milner Belozoglu Emre Although he played he was 50/50 - Skill more than strength Kieron Dyer Skill more than strength Charles N'Zogbia Scott Parker Skill and determination more than size and strength Attacking Midfielder Antoine Sibierski Striker Obafemi Martins Skill more than determination and strength Giuseppe Rossi Albert Luque Skill more than determination and strength Michael Owen Skill more than strength Shola Ameobi Lacking skill and strength, plays on determination to suceed Looking at the team we put out on Thursday I feel they won using skill and speed where as we may have a harder time beating lesser clubs in the premiership as we get out muscled. Looking at the players we have lost over our recent decline you will notice they were more rounded players. They were either less injury prone, more determined or had a good mixture of size strength and skill. For example Shearer, Bellamy etc. Our team now consists of players with one main attribute ie just pace, just finishing. Basically I think we need at least 3 players that have a good level of skill but with more of an emphasis on strength, that don`t pick up niggly injuries every other week. Do you think our team being so unbalanced is the reason we are struggling in the premiership but doing ok in europe? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussiemag Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Yeh you make alot of sense. players like lucas neill that are leaders and hard as nails. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
STM Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Did you cut yourself shaving? bluebiggrin.gif I agree, we should look to bring in more physical players, especially in midfield. Personally, i'd like to see us bring in someone like Kevin Nolan who provides strength from set pieces and goals from midfield. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest s0ftcore Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 We have alot of players that are, like Rebellious says, fast skillful players but not that good in strength and height but does it help that the tactic doesn't play to their strengths - which rely on pace and skill? Nope Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gray Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 boro are good in europe without any skill involved at all Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnypd Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 definitely lacking some power in central midfield, the sheer athleticism that can eat up ground and challenge for headers. someone like bouba diop or appiah would complement emre or parker respectively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ryunufc Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 yes we have a very unbalanced squad. very much lacking in strength and i guess that is the reason roeder sticks with half fit ameobi rather than rossi/luque. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeletor Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Maybe we do well in Europe because we leave under performing players like Duff and Parker out of the team, whilst also leaving out pure shit like Carr and Babayaro. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebellious Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 It showed more today our physical weakness. Did we win any headers ? We were relentlessly pushed around and bullied all match. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Are the players that you don't comment against, do they have strength?....bramble, moore, carr, ramage, taylor...all have strength..? if they do then doe it not balance out the side? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JamesD Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 no, because you listed 5 defenders. we need strength throughout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebellious Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Are the players that you don't comment against, do they have strength?....bramble, moore, carr, ramage, taylor...all have strength..? if they do then doe it not balance out the side? Rossi I havn`t seen enough of. Bramble has strength but not the skill. Moore is past it. Ramage and Taylor imo don`t have the skill yet but have potential but potential won`t save us from relegation. The ones I have left out I either havn`t seen enough of or are old and past it. We need to have strong and skilled players aswell as fast and skilled like the top teams but we seem to have either or strength or skill. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ryunufc Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 yes again, today is an example of what has been happening since the start of the season. last season under roeder we played simple 4-4-2 with nzogbia and solano providing crosses for shearer and shola. today we had 4 wingers and rossi marked tightly by davis and jagielka. we arguably have more skillful players than last season, but better squad? i disagree with that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pugwash Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 Maybe we do well in Europe because we leave under performing players like Duff and Parker out of the team, whilst also leaving out pure shit like Carr and Babayaro. Amen. Parker is not the player he was last season; after effects of glandular fever? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Morph Posted November 4, 2006 Share Posted November 4, 2006 I think we might fall into the 4th category. Iv'e just thought of a 4th category - Teams with shit personnel in charge. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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