But these are supposed to be professionals - are they that easily put off? And I really doubt whether fiddling with the pitch and the grass is really going to benefit one side over another.
Right. If we beat 'Pool on Sunday, it can tell us only one of two things. Either... 'Pool are definitely ****e without Goofy, and never had a chance of finishing top 4, which is what I originally predicted. Or... We deserve to be top of the table, and are there on merit rather than luck. Either way, of course, we'd still be top of the table! Now, losing to 'Pool, that would be humiliating. Imagine the wum-fest that would follow!
Sturridge is overhyped? That is an interesting viewpoint. He has just reached 50 games for us and scored 36 goals. More than any other striker we've ever had in their first 50 games. Including Torres, Fowler, Owen and Suarez. And we haven't even given the poor lad a song
What makes sense to the so called "lesser teams" is to play the big boys looking for a point - and if you can nick all 3, great! When it comes to playing your peers, as it were, or those you consider to be worse teams than yours, then you can try to be more expansive and go for the win. I still think the mentality of many lower half managers is to survive first. Try to lose as few games as possible, and go for the win when you have the opportunity.
You can't base you assessment solely on stats. Sturridge benefited considerably from playing alongside Suarez. Defenders were drawn to Suarez in numbers, giving him plenty of space. It will be much harder when he is the main striker himself and he finds defenders spend more time marking him and closing him down. If he succeeds this season, then the comparisons with players who have scored consistently in the PL over a long period is more meaningful.
Disagree with you there Luke, if anything I thought Sturridge was more impressive last year when Suarez was out of the team.
I'm not suggesting he's a bad player, WY - far from it. The issue, when comparing him with the players listed, is whether he can be a 25 goal a season striker when he hasn't got a world class striker alongside him to feed off. That remains to be seen I think. I don't see him as having outstanding pace or awareness that made the likes of Owen, Fowler or Torres prolific at their peak.
"But these are supposed to be professionals - are they that easily put off?" These are "professionals" who cannot control/pass a ball consistently well in the presence of an opposition player. I imagine hostile noise makes it worse. "And I really doubt whether fiddling with the pitch and the grass is really going to benefit one side over another." Stoke adjusted their pitch dimensions to the minimum legal allowed, so the tripods could do their long ball throws to the box. And the Spanners play hoofball, so the effects of grass on the ball is irrelevant to them.
Couldn't agree more SOS. The difference in us with same personnel is similar to Redknapp's impact after Juande Clueless. Let's see if Poch has Harry's knack (since lost) of turning over top six teams. If he does, who knows what we can achieve?
I know AVB flamed out horrifically last season, but to say he didn't get wins over Top 6 teams is ludicrous: in his first season he got four points off Man Utd, and three off Man City and Arsenal (although he did only manage one point off Chelsea and Everton)
Sherwood had a horrific record for a lot of things. In fact, the ringtone on his mobile is House of Jealous Lovers by The Rapture, quite simply the most obnoxious song in the history of recorded music.
"In fact, the ringtone on his mobile is House of Jealous Lovers by The Rapture, quite simply the most obnoxious song in the history of recorded music." A "No Wave" classic in the 2000s. IMHO it needed more cowbell.
you will see differently Sunday,with no Saurez there,he doesn't find scoring so easy,he won't make 20 goals this season
I didn't say he didn't get wins against the top 6 sides. I was comparing Poch's initial impact to HR's and as we are playing the EPL runners-up on Sunday the ability to take points off the top 6 would be pretty handy don't you think?
But what song doesn't, really? I have a whole new respect for Sherwood. That song is so bad it's hilarious. (And I think they intended it to be, though I'm not sure, tbh.)
Lets hope so mate. I've blabbed on for ages about how I think the squad of players we have is quality, and that it just needed the right manager to prove it. Poch hasn't put a foot wrong so far and I'm getting more and more excited each week as to the potential of just how good this group of players can be.
Think this match should be pretty entertaining. We look a little more solid defensively than last season - however, we need to have people sticking to Sturridge, Sterling and Coutinho like glue. I wouldn't give Fazio his debut - his lack of pace may be a recipe for disaster against Sterling and Sturridge. Dembele might be a good idea as well given his dribbling and ball retention skills. He is a good player at linking defence with attack.
The stronger the team, the better a choice Dembele is IMO. You lose speed going forward compared to Bentaleb, but gain solidity. Though Bentaleb is no slouch here, he looked a little overwhelmed against the top teams last year, whereas it always seemed Dembele came in on fire against the top teams and intimidated them. Still: last week's starters earned another start this week, I think.
