QuoteFootball crime of the decade.
[IMG][/IMG]
£12m down the drain
Football crime of the decade.
[IMG]
I read the last few posts before opening that link. I was expecting a careless miss, a bit of a shocker really, but even though I tend to be very critical of Long's finishing I think this time I wouldn't be too hard on him. He had to move a few steps sideways and when he did get to the pitch of the ball Johnson had just done enough to make it harder for him. Even if Long's header was on target Johnson's pressure, coupled with Long's sideways arrival at the ball, meant Long couldn't put much power into it. I think the defender or Mignolet might have got to it even if it was on target. The defender looked like he might have been able to get in the way. A chance, yes, a sitter, probably not.Originally Posted by back of the net
I dunno Stutts, I think for a striker of the quality we want Long to be that is a sitter. I love watching him play but he misses far too many easy chances
Its really not that complicated!!!
Yea I would not be too harsh on him, I think the no 2 get in the way of where he would have like to got his feet.
Still would have been nice to score on his debut, but scoring there was not easy, it was always a bit of a long shot.
But heading is one of this strengths, he is supposed to be pretty good in the air, which is more than
you can say for Malaysian airlines!
Last edited by tricky_colour; 17/08/2014 at 4:18 PM.
He does, Razor, and it's definitely another entry in the chances missed column.
What worries me a bit more is that it was important he gets among the goals early at Southampton. Confidence is everything in a striker. It would have been brilliant to score but if his mentality is anything like mine was (probably not!) that'll be eating at him for days. But I still think that he had to go sideways to meet the ball rather than run directly on to it, which is what put him at a disadvantage!
I was talking to a mate about this the other day about he is a "confidence Striker".
Im not even so sure about that. If it was the true you would have thought that he would have gone on and got a load of goals after he got the couple of brilliant goals for WBA against Villa. His confidence couldnt have been higher after that surely but he never really kicked on.
He frustrates the hell out of me because he could be so good but I dont think his finishing will ever be up to scratch to be honest
Its really not that complicated!!!
As you well know Razor, the last chapter is the hardest to write.
Confidence can come and go, I think it is like in snooker or golf, you can make one bad shot and your game
goes to pieces., food for thought for Southampton who have just splashed out £12.
Perhaps a bit early to start panicking, he has only played 16 minutes, with until he gets to his 16th game without a
goal!!! Anyhow I don't see it as an easy chance, he had the defender jumping in front of him, and defender misjudged
the flight of the ball completely so Shane did somewhat better than that.
Last edited by tricky_colour; 18/08/2014 at 12:57 AM.
Long is a good attacking player, strong and fast. But he's not a natural finisher. Keane, Aldridge, Ian Wright, Ian Rush...hell, even Andy Cole are/were all players who always knew where the goal was and had potential to be deadly in front of it.
Long doesnt have that.
It's an instinct thing and I don't think it can be taught.
But go easy on him, he's a hurler
Folding my way into the big money!!!
There may be a psychological element to goal scoring such as a black ball complex in snooker.
I could never pot the black, too much pressure, mind you I couldn't pot anything else either
But that's the thing. A good striker will never really think about it, they'll just do it on instinct.
A player who thinks about where he's going to put it has already lost his edge in a one-on-one for example
Folding my way into the big money!!!
It wasn't a sitter...an easyish chance maybe, but wasn't an open goal...
Anyway, it's rather more important he saves his goals for Ireland.
Ah tbh Stutts - i thinks its a very poor miss
Whatever about scoring to not even get it on target from that range is poor - i dont think johnson put him off that much that he would miss the target
Thing Long is a very good player but equally i think y'days attempt was just another poor miss by a striker that should be doing alot better when these type of chances come along
I think he made it difficult for himself by waiting for it to drop onto his head. He should have attacked it with that great leap of his just as he did at Stamford Bridge last season.
Our own Barry Glendenning dedicates a spot in 10 Things to Look Out for This Weekend to the criticism Shane Long has faced the past week: http://www.theguardian.com/football/...o-look-out-for
I'm a big Shane Long fan- met him over the summer on a night out and told him as much and he seemed really grounded, a sound chap. He's an absolutely torrid price at 13/8 to score any time against his old side, WBA. 11/2 for first goal for an interest bet perhaps!Long should be set for success at Southampton
Having passed up a wonderful opportunity to open his Southampton account at Liverpool last weekend, Shane Long will be anxious to break his seasonal duck in front of home fans against his former club West Brom on Saturday, although there’s no real reason for him to be. Averaging just one goal every four games throughout his career, the Irish striker has never been prolific and is renowned more as a tenacious grafter. His £12m price tag was the source of much incredulity when he moved south from Hull City, but in a world where top end Championship strikers now change hands for £10m, it doesn’t seem quite so remarkable.
Responding to suggestions that the purchase of the Irish international smacked of desperation in a press conference last Friday, the Saints manager Ronald Koeman conceded that “in general you pay too much money for players, especially in England, so it’s not unique to Long”. Koeman also said he saw Long as a contrasting player to fellow striker Graziano Pellè, who scored frequently for the Dutchman at Feyenoord. “Long is a different type of attacker and you need both qualities in the squad,” he said, suggesting he did not bring in the man from Gortnahoe in County Tipperary for his goal-scoring prowess. Long has been successful in his three previous spells of employment in England and assuming he maintains his prodigious work ethic, there’s no reason why he should fail now.
I see Jordan Rhodes is rumoured to be wanted by Hull, and with a similar price tag.
Together they'd be the perfect striker. One who doesn't do much but scores a lot and another who doesn't score much but does a lot.
Trading Long for Rhodes is a bad deal for Hull if true.
I suspect Long wouldn't have been sold if Snoddy hadn't got crocked.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks