No. Grzegorz Rasiak Has to be one of the worst I have seen,Poor bloke brought in at the last moment and he was woeful.
Peter Crouch has been misused for ages. Pair him up with Defoe or another player with similar attributes and he'd come good, again. He's rubbish in the lone striker role, so I don't blame him for his lack of form.
Hi PNP Just to enlighten me please can you explain what qualities are needed to play in a 4-4-1-1 (which is what we've been playing) that are not needed in a 4-4-2 which would mean that a particular player would be good in one but not in another. I always thought a good striker's attributes should shine through whatever the system: systems are about the best way to gell your players or to counter the opposition tactics - they don't make individuals better or worse, surely. A combination of the best of Defoe and Crouuch would amount to a top four striker - unfortunately neither is good enough individually. At least Crouch is a bit different from most others and has surprise value from time to time. I can't remember the last time Defoe scored a crucial goal against a decent opponent
Crouch can't play in a 4-4-1-1, at least with van der Vaart, because he's often left extremely isolated. When the ball comes to him he's often double marked. This allows one player to get tight on him and the other to adjust to whatever Crouch does. He doesn't have the pace or strength to deal with it. If he tries to head the ball on or back, then there's always a defender there before any of our players. If he tries to take the ball down, then he'll have one man directly behind him and one trying to get it away from him. The defence can also play as high a line as they want, as there's no risk of a ball over the top exposing them. When played alongside Defoe, virtually all of those weaknesses become far less glaring, as do Defoe's. The defence doesn't want to push too far up, as they know Defoe has the pace to get in behind them off the back of any ball hit long or any flick on or pass from Crouch. They also don't want to drop too deep, as that allows the ball played up to Crouch around the box, which can be a nightmare to deal with if he's got support, especially if it's the shoot-on-sight Defoe. They can't concentrate too much on either man, as the other is a threat and they read each other's games well, too. Adebayor has the pace, strength and physicality to deal with the lone role far better than anyone else that we've got now. If you mark him tightly, then he can turn you or just force you out of the way. This will often leave any second defender miles out of position, if he's moved ahead of the man marking him. If you drop behind the man who's close on him, then you'll leave space between him and the Spurs midfield, which a short pass backwards or wide should easily expose. You really don't want players like Bale, Lennon and van der Vaart moving forward onto easy balls into space, while the others move into or around the box with the striker. If you give him space, then he might be gone by the time you've reacted. Crouch will win most headers, but his accuracy on goal and power with them is poor, whereas the Togoan loves to attack headers from crosses. Systems suit some players far more than others. Some players are good wing-backs, for example, but they're not quite suited to being wingers or full-backs.
Crouch is a very ordinary footballer and useless as a lone front man, he does not have the required skill, pace or strength to play that role. Play him along side another striker in a 442 and he may still make an impact, but in my opinion if he stays he would be better employed from the bench as an emergency centre half or striker, no way he should be starting games in the PL, the CC and EL maybe.
Thanks PNP So, to paraphrase, because Crouch and Defoe are both worse than Adebayor, we need to play both of them so we have to sacrifice a player somewhere else, which is why we always get overrun in midfield against the better teams. Fortunately we've now get Adebayor: but I've a horrid feeling Harry will put Defoe alongside him in a 4-4-2 which will still result in us being stretched in midfield. I agree that some systems suit some players but I still think with the players we've got, 4-4-2 is trying to cover the weakness of the strikers rather than play to the strength we have in midfield.
Crouch can't play in a 4-4-1-1, at least with van der Vaart, because he's often left extremely isolated. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yet unfortunately half a dozen or so of VdV's early goals were from Crouch assists, so Harry will boringly continue with this based on that, as he did at the back end of the season...well whenever he could really! not realising most teams had sussed it out by then...worrying!
The trouble is Crouch is better than Pav !!! We have a crap forward line and an even worse centre half pairing !!
