Exactly, his role seems to be taking the ball forward and scaring the defenders which he does just fine. We have goals coming from all sides at the moment so im not worried that he isnt finding the net as yet. I voted 4-6 because i think he will start chipping in a few (he deserves it too) as the season goes on but its not his main role...more of a bonus.
Meh. Long's an honest, hard-working player who does what he can and I like him, but let's not pretend his crap skills are somehow a strength. If you had to pick between Mane, Long and Rodriguez who would you choose?
Long doesn't look out of place in a very good side, so he is doing something right. Mane is an exciting player, but we don't know if he will be able to keep it up or if he will be injured. Wouldn't be worried if Shane had to step in or come on as a sub. Koeman moves in mysterious ways...I suspect sometimes Shane will start ahead of Sadio. That's what we need...depth in each position. However, his lack of goals would be different if he was a main striker for us...but then it would be a different team and he might score more then. Shane is doing his bit and we are flying, so happy to have him.
I like Long. He's not JUST hardworking, he is an intelligent footballer. Check out his run for Cork's goal, completely clearing the space for Cork to run into. He may not be the most skilful player but he will be a huge asset this season.
We definitely paid more then we had to but now that he's here i think most of are happy with what he's doing. If he keep it up for a while longer then it will work out financially..if he doesnt we'll sell him to Liverpool for 20m.
I think it was on SaintsWeb that it is better to look at him as a 12m player rather than a 12m striker. Especially as we do not seem to have signed him to play striker He seems to be like Davis to the team. Someone whose contribution to the team is far greater than what his individual ability (on paper) would seem. Fonte is another one. Valued at 3-5m by Cardiff in the summer but now considered the calming and organisational influence that allowed Lovren to play so well last season (indirectly admitted by Dejan in the interview where he talked about his early Liverpool struggles) These sort of players are invaluable as they significantly contribute to the team performance but go under the radar so are not poached away by other teams. Given what we spent on Long vs. what people valued him at (usually around double the price) I would be fascinated to know the internal valuation of other players like him in the side (like the ones I mentioned)
Long cost 12 million because he'd only just joined Hull and had 3 years left on his contract. Granted, with 12 million we could have got a better striker, but a fox in the box is useful.
We wanted/needed him and we had to pay high because Hull didn't want to part with him. Just like Liverpool, Arsenal and United found, you have to pay high to land a player under those circumstances.
I thought we overpaid at £7.5m so £12m was just far too good to turn down. We definitely miss him though, his tenacity is a great asset to any team, and I can only imagine the problems he'd cause for you against the weaker sides who you keep pegged back on the back foot. He doesn't give defenders a moments rest. His only real downsides are he couldn't score in a brothel the majority of the time and he's a diving little prat. Dives at the wrong times too, there were a few times he was in a scoring position and opted to dive instead, gaining nothing but a wave to get up from the ref.
He's been fouled twice which should have both been penalties which weren't given, refs must be cautious over fouls on Long.
There were a couple of times yesterday where Long got whacked by a defender and I winced at the tackle or body-check. Shane Long seems to go through the wars every time he appears for Saints, such is his reputation for giving defenders a hard time. They seem to spend their time trying to frighten him into being ineffective, but he keeps coming back for more. Watching Long play his game makes you realise that football is still a contact sport. He gives us a lot of steel.
Haven't noticed him diving....perhaps there is more of an incentive to stay on your feet and play the ball at Saints. Now Mane is a little trickster...not a diver per se, but knows how to get in a position for a foul.
It's in the script. Well he'll fall over and win a penalty anyway. I believe it could be a case of reaping what he sows, there were a fair few times for us when he got genuinely done in the box which should definitely have been penalties but got rejected. Though, saying that, you'd like to think that refs would treat these players with suspicion but the real notorious cheats like Suarez, Ronaldo etc. would keep on doing it and keep on getting the calls no matter how obvious so I'm not sure reputations are accounted for. In fairness that could have had something to do with who that pair played for. He rarely dive-dives, I think he only did maybe two at most proper contact less dives in his 6 months here, but he plays for fouls, makes it obvious what he's doing and does go down under the slightest of touches, which isn't much better than diving untouched, if at all.
He hasn't hit the ground running compared to our other signings. But being asked to play an unfamiliar role is taking him time to adapt, though he needs to hit the ground soon or his playing time could be limited. Rodrigues was in a similar situation but had the luxury of time as we had no one else to play that role. But with Mane and Rodrigues (when fit) competition is tough.
He's a good player - gives 100% and can create panic in defences with his quick runs in behind. I think Steve Bruce has used the fee well and has definitely improved our attack but Long will justify his fee with Saints and it's not as if you're short of players to actually score goals.
I agree. OK, we maybe paid a bit too much for him, but that's not his fault. We were/are flush with money and Ronald and Les Reed were/are obviously admirers of his game. We play him as a support to Graziano, and he's doing it better with every game. Koeman mentioned that he'd had a good game yesterday.
