The unpopular football opinion thread

[Neil]

I thought Tony "Donkey" Adams was class as well tbf.

 

One of my favourite bits of non-NUFC commentary is him scoring on the last day of the season, "put through by Steve Bould, WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT?!"

 

Yes, I fucking would, as our net bristles for the 4th time.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

I despise Ian Holloway.

[Ronaldo]

Sol was never as quick as Rio.

 

He was much much quicker. When he was at spuds there wasn't anyone who could beat him for pace, he was a beast but put on too much muscle which slowed him down. These days you'd have him keep that pace instead of strength but back then ferdinands & Shearers were all the rage and doing the biz. Few injuries later in his arsenal career and his game was totally different.

 

Early sol was amazing.

 

 

I keep reading that on here. How does muscle slow you down? A sports scientist would laugh at that comment.

 

Sol was strong and quick, but never Rio quick. Prime Rio had absolutely fantastic pace.

[Mr. Snrub]

Sol in his prime at Spurs was lightning quick, Rio never had that kind of pace.

[Super Duper Branko Strupar]

 

I keep reading that on here. How does muscle slow you down? A sports scientist would laugh at that comment.

 

Sol was strong and quick, but never Rio quick. Prime Rio had absolutely fantastic pace.

 

I'm sure you know improved muscle mass doesn't always mean improved muscle strength. Though, you're right in a way, if a footballer puts on muscle mass and doesn't improve explosive strength then their coaches want hung.

 

 

[Mole_Toonfan]

I agree with Ronaldo here.

 

Sol wasn't really pacey at least to prime Rio level, it was more his strength combined with a certain degree of pace that slowed his opponents down.

 

If a man that size is running and getting physical he's going to slow you down that's basically what Sol did.

 

As well as he's fantastically accurate recovery challenges.

 

 

[Stottie]

I'd love to know when we can next expect to have a winger score 12 goals in a season out of nothing and create f*** knows how many chances per game.

 

Late to the party I know, but yeah, at an average of about twenty yards out. Check out Sewelly's vid for the evidence.

[alexf]

Sol used to go on some cracking runs out of defence in his younger years.

[TRC]

Ledley King and Woodgate were both better than Sol.

[Incognito]

Ledley King and Woodgate were both better than Sol.

 

See I could compare Woody but Ledley King. ......nah.

[Incognito]

I thought Tony "Donkey" Adams was class as well tbf.

 

He was .

[The College Dropout]

Cabaye, Anita, Marveaux, Debuchy, Ben Arfa and Santon are all pretty good looking chaps.

Moussa has something about him.... better looking than Debuchy at least.

[The College Dropout]

He's awful at set pieces full stop. Rest of his game (minus the horrible lack of pace) is pretty Rolls Royce, obviously.

He's not good in the air in general. Horrible weaknesses to have as a CB. The rest of his game can be A*.

[The College Dropout]

Last season he was only okay until the s*** hit the fan, but I'm ecstatic that he's staying and don't have any major worries about him being an asset for us again.

 

He actually played far better after his 'personal problems' were revealed in January.

Yep. I was saying week after week that Colo was playing poorly. Nobody was having it. Blinkered on this site to the obvious.

 

Colo has a lot of fundamental weaknesses but compensates for it with his many positive attributes. However, with such flaws there's always the chance they will get exposed. And there are many.

[The College Dropout]

I thought he had a good season all in all and was superb coming back from injury at the end. He made a few errors but nothing you couldn't forgive due to how f***ing great we were at conceding possession and inviting pressure.

 

You've got to protect Colo a little bit by not playing too high a line and partnering him with a dominant header of the ball. One of the reasons Mapou probably won't start with everyone fit.

Almost bang on

[The College Dropout]

Yep i hate Cabaye and Tiote as a partnership.

 

If we are going 4-4-2 and we do get the necessary targets to make it work i want Cabaye and Sissoko as often as possible.

 

Nah. 4-4-2 with wide men that actually want to attack and preferrably with some width Cabaye-Tiote sitting deep with the wide men pushed up a bit and a striker dropping deep a bit to link things. Lovely.

[Guest neesy111]

Yep i hate Cabaye and Tiote as a partnership.

 

If we are going 4-4-2 and we do get the necessary targets to make it work i want Cabaye and Sissoko as often as possible.

 

Nah. 4-4-2 with wide men that actually want to attack and preferrably with some width Cabaye-Tiote sitting deep with the wide men pushed up a bit and a striker dropping deep a bit to link things. Lovely.

 

Recipe for disaster that.

[The College Dropout]

Rio is one of the best CB's of his generation - period. In the last 10/15 years, he would be competing for the top 10 imo. Fine defender. Even though his legs have gone he's still a fabulous CB.

[The College Dropout]

I agree with Ronaldo here.

 

Sol wasn't really pacey at least to prime Rio level, it was more his strength combined with a certain degree of pace that slowed his opponents down.

 

If a man that size is running and getting physical he's going to slow you down that's basically what Sol did.

 

As well as he's fantastically accurate recovery challenges.

 

Disagree a bit. Sol had a bit of that sprinter explosiveness. Over 10 or so metres, in his prime he was faster than Rio over that distance. Rio probably had a higher top speed and faster in a longer foot race or from a running start.

 

And that muscle mass thing is a myth too tbh, especially for taller players. Even David Rudisha is a very strong lad. 100-400m sprinters tend to be noticeably muscular.

[Guest micky_123]

Rio is one of the best CB's of his generation - period. In the last 10/15 years, he would be competing for the top 10 imo. Fine defender. Even though his legs have gone he's still a fabulous CB.

 

Totally agree with this

[Dokko]

Simply put if you think rio was faster than sol you weren't watching the premiership in 1994 or can't remember it.

 

http://e2.365dm.com/12/05/402x210/Sol-Campbell-Tottenham-vs-Blackburn-1994_2758881.jpg?2012-05-02%2010:23:01

 

Tree trunk legs and lean top, it wasn't till his late spuds and early arsenal days did he change shape and lose his pace, you can't keep sprinting around at that speed over and over for 90mins when built like late 90s erly 2000s sol.

 

Ameobi used to have good pace when he was skinny, look at him now.

 

 

 

[The College Dropout]

Robert was a match-winner. He won us matches. Sometimes it might just be a freekick to sink L'pool at home. Sometimes a quality corner for Speed to nod home. But when you had him, Solano, Dyer, Bellamy, Shearer and Speed. You always felt we had a goal in us. Always. As did the opposition. Scared of us.

 

Miss that whole mid set.

[The College Dropout]

Nah Ameobi was never quick. Never.

 

 

[Dokko]

Nah Ameobi was never quick. Never.

 

He had good pace, nothing to crow about but fast enough to cause problems, now he's like a rock.

[leffe186]

Ledley King and Woodgate were both better than Sol.

 

See I could compare Woody but Ledley King. ......nah.

 

I respectfully disagree. Sol was extraordinarily physically gifted, and an excellent CB, but Ledley was better, and comfortably better on the ball. The impact of his injury (at the age of 19 http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/07/29/3272802/ledley-kings-knee-problems-started-in-tottenham-debut) cannot be understated, and what he achieved despite that was astonishing.