I have always had my reservations for Holty for England. I am 100% certain he is good enough to play for England, but I also want to see England building for the future, and at the wrong side of thirty Holt doesn't really fit in with that. When people try to justify Grant Holt for England, the most common argument is that he 'is the second highest English goalscorer after Wayne Rooney.' For me this misses the point. For a starter different strikers play different amounts of time (Rooney has probably played more than Holt!) and get different quality of service too. For instance, Rooney has better players behind him than Holt does, so of course he will score more. Not to mention that had we had even a quarter of the penalties we deserved, Holt's goal tally would be higher (I think Rooney has scored double figures of pens!) I'm not trying to make the case that Grant Holt is better than Wayne Rooney of course, but he should be judged on how he plays!
Grant Holt is so often referred to as a 'battering ram' or an 'old fashioned centre-forward.' For me this is rude, because there is so much more to his game!
Firstly, to state the obvious he is fantastic in the air. That's why he scores headers, wins flick ons and controls long balls forward. He is also very strong and as a consequence very difficult to get off the ball. He works enormously hard for the team of course, I don't think I need to say that. He wins lots of free-kicks (He gives many away too, but usually all free-kicks won/lost are in opposition half so advantage Norwich). He is also able to bury a chance more often than not. Most people appreciate this, but it is often used against him that this is all he does.
Yesterday on Canary Call, a fan said that someone should teach Grant Holt to tackle! I think he is actually pretty decent defensively, he certainly helps out more than almost any other forward in the game right now. His defending on set-pieces if particularly valuable, and if you are playing Jermaine Defoe instead of him for instance, you certainly don't get that.
People often say that Grant Holt isn't our best striker for one up top, because he can't hold the ball up as well Morrison/Wilbraham. Whilst both of those two are good at that, so is Holt. He controls the ball, uses his strength to hold off the opposition and lays-off to a teammate. How often do we see Wes Hoolahan get tackled, yet Grant Holt is hardly ever tackled.
His distribution is also really good; once again, how often do we see Hoolahan/Surman pass a ball straight to the opposition's feet? But Holt never does it! He almost never loses the ball for our team. The more you watch him, the more you realise how good it is. He is capable of as good a cross as Simon Lappin or as good as a chipped through pass as Howson. He has the ability to play these passes and the vision to identify them in the first place, and that's part of why we are so much better with him on the pitch.
He is also capable of the exquisite finish, as he has proved vs Wolves/Everton and so on, and most importantly, no matter who he played against, he has always given defenders a hard time. I have no doubt that there is no defender in the world who would be comfortable playing against Grant Holt and that is as good a reason as any that he should be heading to Polkraine.
In all honestly Grant Holt doesn't really have any weaknesses. At £400,000 he is one of the best value for money buys in my lifetime. He is simply indispensable for the team and utterly irreplaceable so I'm sure you will all join me in saying: We f'ing love Grant Holt!!!
Grant Holt is so often referred to as a 'battering ram' or an 'old fashioned centre-forward.' For me this is rude, because there is so much more to his game!
Firstly, to state the obvious he is fantastic in the air. That's why he scores headers, wins flick ons and controls long balls forward. He is also very strong and as a consequence very difficult to get off the ball. He works enormously hard for the team of course, I don't think I need to say that. He wins lots of free-kicks (He gives many away too, but usually all free-kicks won/lost are in opposition half so advantage Norwich). He is also able to bury a chance more often than not. Most people appreciate this, but it is often used against him that this is all he does.
Yesterday on Canary Call, a fan said that someone should teach Grant Holt to tackle! I think he is actually pretty decent defensively, he certainly helps out more than almost any other forward in the game right now. His defending on set-pieces if particularly valuable, and if you are playing Jermaine Defoe instead of him for instance, you certainly don't get that.
People often say that Grant Holt isn't our best striker for one up top, because he can't hold the ball up as well Morrison/Wilbraham. Whilst both of those two are good at that, so is Holt. He controls the ball, uses his strength to hold off the opposition and lays-off to a teammate. How often do we see Wes Hoolahan get tackled, yet Grant Holt is hardly ever tackled.
His distribution is also really good; once again, how often do we see Hoolahan/Surman pass a ball straight to the opposition's feet? But Holt never does it! He almost never loses the ball for our team. The more you watch him, the more you realise how good it is. He is capable of as good a cross as Simon Lappin or as good as a chipped through pass as Howson. He has the ability to play these passes and the vision to identify them in the first place, and that's part of why we are so much better with him on the pitch.
He is also capable of the exquisite finish, as he has proved vs Wolves/Everton and so on, and most importantly, no matter who he played against, he has always given defenders a hard time. I have no doubt that there is no defender in the world who would be comfortable playing against Grant Holt and that is as good a reason as any that he should be heading to Polkraine.
In all honestly Grant Holt doesn't really have any weaknesses. At £400,000 he is one of the best value for money buys in my lifetime. He is simply indispensable for the team and utterly irreplaceable so I'm sure you will all join me in saying: We f'ing love Grant Holt!!!
Very good point!
