On the day that wrestling was told by the International Olympic Committee that the sport would be cut from the 2020 Games, aficionados of high-quality grappling were treated to the sight of one burly and powerful Englishman (Gary Hooper) battling it out with one terrier-like Swiss (Stephan Lichtsteiner) at every corner. It was an embarrassment for the sport of football. The referee, Alberto Undiano Mallenco, did the right thing and cautioned both in the first half but should have awarded Celtic at least one penalty because what Lichtsteiner was doing was not defending, it was obstructing. Why on earth Juve's coach, Antonio Conte, did not set another player to protect Gianluigi Buffon was baffling because Lichtsteiner should have been sent off. In the second half Simone Padoin and Scott Brown were booked for similar offences but yellow cards were of no use to Celtic. They needed – and should have had – a penalty or two. Just in case you think I'm the only one Rob, the chap from the Guardian seems to thinks so as well
No, burly means large and strong. Stocky means small and strong. They are quite different. Look, you speak a lot of sense sometimes Carrabuh, but like here, you have a tendency to overkill. Just accept it. Hooper is not the type of striker you have automatically assumed he is. I think he's overpriced and unproven, which is why I don't want him. He is like a slower, crapper Aguero, but really not worth it because we don't have the right team. If we could get a Benteke type, that would be great
Yes but the Guardian has an agenda - he's trying to paint a picture of Hooper as a wrestler! The irony of the piece is that Liechtensteiner is about three inches taller! It's a piss take, Carrabuh...
Google translate "Fair enough, I'm wrong and I accept I'm a bit too dogmatic at times, but I'm too proud to suck it up and admit it, so in the interests of keeping face, I'm going to use a weak argument" Well, in that case, let's call it a day. I honestly think that Hooper is the type of ball playing terrier-like centre forward that you would like, though Carrabuh. Except he's British...
In body shape. He's a bit taller and a bit heavier. Not as a player! True, but Claridge knows a long-ball player...
Rob, listen, Burly does not solely mean big as in tall, it also means stocky, a term of your own. Just look it up and you will see.
Wilshere is about 5 foot 7 and I wouldn't say he is stocky at all, I actually think Wilshere's strength is his weakness. I did think you were talking about the sort of player though.
Oxford dictionary: adjective (burlier, burliest) (of a person) large and strong; heavily built: I saw a burly figure approaching a big, burly man It doesn't. And, in any event, that's not what you meant. Dont be disingenuous. You thought he was a big target man. You are tedious when you can't admit being wrong.
I'd say he was quite stocky for a footballer, but yes I suppose he's not that strong compared to some of the burlier (!) midfielders in the Prem. If you look at body shape though, Hooper is very similar. Hooper is a couple of inches taller and a few kilograms heavier and they end up looking a similar shape.
The media seem to solely point out the lack of goals, there has been a couple of lousy finishes by our forwards that could of meant some points, the issues are not so clear cut as that. It's a solely supply line problem we're not getting chances, since we only seem to score from set pieces, it's a major creativity problem, we could score in open play just our current bunch of midfielders don't bring the team together enough or spot what's going on around them.
I'd say there is far more tedium in your pedantic nature Rob. He is a burly target man, like Holt (who is also not tall). He relies on his strength and on long crosses. He is not a through the middle man with the ball on the floor.
He is considerably shorter than Holt. He is not burly, as demonstrated above. Watch some youtube videos of his goals, there's plenty of them! A through the middle man with the ball on the floor is exactly the sort of striker he is, although he can also poach. I've not seen him score any with his head, though I imagine he must have done. http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&v=N-O-EPmMQUE Carrabuh. Just accept you're are wrong on this one. It's not hard: You were right early in the season with regard to Hughton's style. I admit now I was wrong on that. The problem is, you see, you tread a very single-minded line, and when you get things so spectacularly wrong like here, it unfortunately undermines your arguments elsewhere. I've now gone from thinking you had good intuition early in the season to wondering whether it was just a case of a broken clock being right twice a day. If you'd held your hands up and said "oh, ok, Hooper's a different player to what I thought, but I still don't like him because he's not technically good enough", then I'd agree and have a lot more time for you. We wouldn't have had to get pedantic as you back yourself further and further into a corner because you can't admit to being wrong even about something as tiny as this. As it is, you just sound like a mindless person who has one drum you beat irrespective of the evidence. It's not impressive.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=Z6GcgO7rbXw&desktop_uri=/watch?v=Z6GcgO7rbXw Here you go... Four of the first five goals, not a cross, all through balls. I'm sure you'll only be bothered with the one he scores with his head though! Trust me, the issue with him is he's up against crap defences, so I don't think he'd be nearly as effective. An absolute beauty at 3:20 Edit: having watched it, two headers! Out of 24 goals... Some of them are poached, most of them are him played through the middle and a very tidy finish. Case closed. Anyone wanting an informed decision on Hooper should watch this. Some of it is terrible defending, which really does make the SPL look Micky mouse though...
Burly or not. I don't want him. I think he is considerably over priced for a club like us and having only done it in SPL/Championship is a huge risk. I think Wolfswinkel is a lot more accomplished striker who will probably end up a cheaper option than Hooper. Portugese League is a tougher league than SPL and Wolfswinkel has scored goals in Europe too, I know Hooper has but from what I've seen of Wolfswinkel, he has a lot more to his game. I think we need to keep looking abroad to be honest, we won't really make that next step signing players in leagues below us. Unless young and destined to be playing Premier League at some point. By that I mean less Becchio's more Redmond's and Wolfswinkels.
I completely agree. Hooper is a very tidy finisher, great with his feet and definitely a "penalty box striker", but he brings absolutely nothing other than finishing. He doesn't look creative at all and from what I've seen doesn't have the ability to help bring other players into the game. All his goals in that video are either someone sending him through or him poaching. We creat so few chances I don't think that would be good for us. Also, while he does like it played on the floor, I'm not convinced he's technically that good given the low quality of the opposition. I think we can get better for a similar price.