This from the Telegraph The industriousness of the under-rated George Boyd A return of just two goals since his move to Burnley from Hull City would suggest George Boyd has failed to set to world alight since arriving at Turf Moor, but the clubâs joint record signing has proved a very astute purchase even if his team remains in the relegation zone. Employed by Sean Dyche as a wide midfielder, the Scottish winger is a tireless worker who holds this seasonâs Premier League record for the distance covered in a game, with 8.29 miles during Burnleyâs win over Stoke in November. At the time he featured three times in the Top 10 of long distance runners per match, occupying positions one and four (Swanseaâs Gylfi Sigurdsson, one of the players of the season thus far, was second and third). Burnleyâs lowly status means he is kept busier in defence than attack and he is a noticeably strong and well-timed in the tackle. While his finishing could be better, it took a remarkable save from Robert Green to deny him what would have been an excellent goal at QPR last weekend. If Burnley are to beat Southampton Boyd is likely to play a pivotal role and in the face of a vibrant midfield as adept at keeping the ball as Southamptonâs can be, he may very well need to break his own record for blades of grass covered. BG
So his best ability is he can run a lot? This is why ben arfa and co are better players!! However seeing how Bruce's tactics are negative boyd would be much better suited for us!!
Except Boyd can actually play a fair bit as well as all the running he puts in. Very gifted footballer and the only thing that lets him down is his lack of pace.
don't be blinded by a player's quality. i've seen less skilful players that are more effective in making results happen than more skilled ones. maybe it's a team-player thing.
Have we actually seen any of Ben Arfas 'skill' in a Hull city shirt ? I certainly saw a lot of what George Boyd had in his armory. The opposition might have an exocet missile aimed at me, but if they're not going fire it, i'm going to shoot them right between the eyes, with my little pistol... Ben Arfa appears to have more than a touch of Cameron Stewarts lazy/sulky attitude about him.
Well done to George. 2 goals isn't bad playing for Burnley, despite what that article says. I didn't think we'd miss him, but at the moment I think we do.
I liked Boyd but as with Long, we were probably right to let him go but just failed to replace him properly. We thought we'd got better but it hasn't turned out that way yet.
Good player George. We should never have sold him. If we'd have offered Alu-tech rather than fibreglass, I reckon he'd have stayed.
Thudd is often second to Livermore in distance covered by City players in matches. (Elmo regularly features in the top two as well.)
Top five distances covered by a Premier League player during 2014/15 season.* James Milner – MAN CITY v Stoke – 13.56km – 11/02/15 George Boyd – BURNLEY v Newcastle – 13.55km – 01/01/15 Tom Carroll – SWANSEA v Southampton – 13.47km – 01/02/15 George Boyd – BURNLEY v Stoke – 13.34km – 22/11/14 George Boyd – BURNLEY v Man Utd – 13.30km – 11/02/15 *Data courtesy of the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index, Official Player Ranking Index of the Premier League. The above just shows how much we could of done with Boyd this season. At times when we have needed someone with bundles of energy, endeavour and hard work, he would of been perfect. At the time £3m seemed like a good deal, especially with us getting Diame for £3.5m, however through this period of injuries we have had then he would of slotted into that team and worked his socks off, and we have missed someone who is capable of putting a shift in.
During the first half of the season(up to Christmas), the Premier League player who'd covered the most distance was Jake Livermore(195.5km). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...ier-League-player-rankings.html#ixzz3RcbfVUes
Livermore is an incredible athlete. Funnily enough, so is Meyler. Meyler doesn't move at much of a pace, but he and Livermore are always the ones breaking away in the last few minutes as is Elmo.
Boyd was a good player but as with other threads the same point keeps rearing it's head up. If we are to move on & up we need to improve the quality of players we have at the club, when he was sold it looked like we had enough quality & enough players to cover all eventualities. It's like saying we should of signed Daryl Murphy years ago when we were linked with him as he's now scoring loads in the Championship for Ipswich, or we should have signed Austin, then he gets injured & everyone goes, oh it was lucky we didn't sign him.
