Very very interesting article from Jonathan Wilson today. Where have all the goal poachers gone?
Gary Lineker had quite an interesting column in The Times at the weekend.
I wouldn’t make a great manager, which is why I haven’t tried, but it’s not as though I have nothing to contribute. I could definitely help strikers. I don’t think it is that difficult to work out how to score goals but, looking around, I am not sure how many of them really think about it or how much they care.
Take Jermain Defoe. He’s got a lot going for him — he’s sharp, quick, scores great goals. But some help with his movement could get him another ten a season.
I would go through the timing of runs and the need to gamble. I watch most strikers and they react, like defenders, to where the ball is going. You’ve got to guess, to go even if nine times out of ten the ball never reaches you.
That’s damn hard work and I’m not sure people ever gave me much credit. They’d say: “Oh, right place, right time”, but what they didn’t realise is that you’d been making that run all day, making sure you were in the right place all the time, gambling so that you were half a yard ahead of the defender. It’s not rocket science, but only a few seem to understand.
I think he’s right about not getting enough credit for all his tap-ins. If it was that easy to score goals more people would get them. But I don’t know, and Jonathan Wilson doesn’t know, if those extra ten goals a year he’s on about are there to be taken in this day and age. Martin and I were discussing this over email today, and he rightly pointed out that a large proportion of goals these days a) come from outside the box and b) come from attacking midfielders. The goal poacher is rare. I can think of Tim Cahill – not even a forward – and Michael Owen and Kevin Phillips, then maybe Doyle at Reading… Man Utd sold van Nistelrooy… Benni McCarthy perhaps? Clint Dempsey could be our version of Cahill, and Johnson has six yard box instincts, but he’s not going to be prolific without service is he?
The great USS Mariner website has been thinking about journalism in the modern world (Seattle’s local papers are dying – somebody is having their revenge, no?). One of their commenters talked about three journalistic spheres: the sphere of consensus, the sphere of legitimate debate, and the sphere of deviancy.
What are the remaining talking points at Fulham:
Consensus: we are defending very well; Mark Schwarzer is good; better to have kept Hangeland than Bullard; Danny Murphy is a lot more valuable than many people had thought; Clint Dempsey is in the side to stay; Simon Davies has been out of form; Andy Johnson has been about what we expected; Bobby Zamora has played well but needs to score some goals.
Legitimate debate: is John Paintsil wobbling? What will happen with our midfield? Can we carry on with Zamora and Johnson indefinitely? Is our squad now big enough and deep enough?
Deviancy (the realm of nutbars and antisocial people who must be shunned, as I recall): people saying Dickson Etuhu is useless (he isn’t useless, he just isn’t going to be Patrick Viera). I can’t think of any others at the moment.
It’s the legitimate debate that journalists must focus on. And therefore so should we. So:
Is John Paintsil wobbling? I don’t think so, and either way, he has earned the right to prove it either way. It’s easy to overlook just how good our defence was in the first half of the season, and Paintsil was important in that.
What will happen with our midfield? Zoltan Gera visibly started to try hard at the weekend. This might not mean much, but there was a clear “fuck it” moment where he started to hare it around. Nothing much came of it but I’m prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Everyone thinks there’s a player in there; we must hope he emerges soon. Leon Andreasen wanted to leave but with Bullard going and Etuhu struggling perhaps now there is light at the end of the tunnel. He hasn’t impressed me much this season, but again, there’s a good player in there and I want him to get a run of games. I also believe that Simon Davies will play better post-Bullard. He looked very good at times on Saturday. A midfield of Dempsey-Murphy-Andreasen-Davies, with Gera getting plenty of minutes, ought to be good enough for now.
Can we carry on with Zamora and Johnson indefinitely? The hardest question to answer. I think so, although Zamora needs goals. He has barely been shooting in recent weeks, and that needs to change. Hopefully the midfield can make chances for him, and he’ll stick some away. I think he’s good enough, and he and Johnson clearly work well together, so we must (remain) patient.
Is our squad now big enough and deep enough? We need another forward, a left-sided midfielder, and possibly another centre-half. None of these is vital though, so it’s very much a case of ‘find the right player’ rather than ‘find a player’.
In short, things are probably alright as they are.
Finally, a Ben Wright picture, from here:
He has, by all accounts, been absolutely amazing in the non-league game. I look forward to seeing how this translates to the Premiership.
