I appreciate it’s horses for courses but I couldn’t disagree with this more. I find she talks intelligently about the game and it gives me a greater understanding of what each team might be trying to do. I also trust her judgement a lot more than some former players, who don’t seem to have as much in depth knowledge about the whole pitch (Jenas instantly springs to mind, and Neville’s analysis of goalkeeping is horrific).
Oh without a doubt some of the analysis from former players is horrifically bad. Danny Murphy immediately springs to mind. I just really don’t see any insight from Hayes beyond surface level. Then again as an earlier poster pointed out her trophy cabinet is pretty unrivalled. I just don’t see what she brings to the table apart from pointing out the obvious and trotting out buzz words and phrases to seem as though she’s cutting edge. Your point about Neville’s goalkeeping analysis is spot on and a major shortcoming in all punditry. I’ve always played in goal and usually to a half decent level, and to see some of the basic misunderstanding from top level ex professionals around the fundamentals of goalkeeping astounds me sometimes.
I’ll give her another listen but I’ve always found that when she uses buzzwords and phrases it’s actually in different places to other pundits, and I find them much more relevant. As you say, she knows her tactics, so I’d be surprised if it really was just on the surface. I can’t stand Murphy, he’s so negative and a droner. He doesn’t actually offer much about the future of the same game he’s working on, just points out the negatives of what’s happening.
I'm often surprised by how little people respect the knowledge of ex or current pros, or managers, when compared to their own knowledge as a supporter. Surely it's probable that Neville, having trained every day for 20 years with some of the top goalkeepers around, would have picked up more about the fundamentals of goalkeeping than someone who played to a half-decent but non-professional standard?
Probably because the likes of Danny Murphy, Michael Owen and Lee Dixon waffle absolute bollocks as pundits and commentators. Just like being an ex-player doesn’t qualify you to be a good manager, nor does it qualify you to be a good pundit.
I tend to give pundits slack in general for this reason. But using Neville as an example in this case, he has a tendency to blame the keeper a lot (or even just makes a slight 'the keeper could have done a little better there') when it really is clear the keeper is off balance due to a prior incident or doesn't have the reaction time to reach a powerful shot. I don't actually mind Neville, but if you watch closely he definitely has a blind spot when it comes to keepers. I often wonder if its because as a defender he came to rely on them to help his position out more than they actually realistically could. I could, on the other hand, listen to the argument that he's got higher standards than most keepers are capable of reaching, due to the calibre he played with.
I would have thought so as well but to me it seems glaringly obvious he or other pundits haven’t. Keepers train away from the rest of the team and are only involved in short sided games shooting practice etc. there’s no real opportunity or seemingly desire by them to see what really goes into making a goalkeeper a good player. I think that’s what leads to the lack of appreciation for the fundamentals like positioning, balance, weight distribution, feet movement etc. For the record I think Neville is one of the best pundits out there. I just think the overall analysis on goalkeepers is very poor. An ex league two goalkeeper will give you much more insight and in depth analysis than an ex prem outfield player.
Ridiculous! The pitch would be tiny. They'd all be wrestling and it would get muddy and, wait, this might not be such a stupid idea.
My first thought was why is she pawing her shoulder with a stripped mitton? Then there was movement below… weird what first enters your mind !! Lol
I'm well up for this match can't wait.... Just asking for a friend but they do exchange shirts at the end right?
