Both Pelle and JWP scored in their international games. Do you think this will help their composure and increase their accuracy for Saints?
I can think of three occasions this year where JWP was denied by a fairly quality save. They were all kind of similar in that he had a space to shoot at and took a somewhat conservative shot. I think I'm okay with that. They were "good misses" in that he didn't miss the target going by going too much for a corner or for too much power. It would take a good save to get to them, and if that happened it left a chance for someone else to possibly pick up a garbage goal on the rebound. Mostly I think his problem is not due to lack of confidence. It's a combination of him being more of a passer than a scorer, some inexperience maybe in picking times to get really get forward, maybe a lack of physicality dealing with CB's, and just dialing in where he should aim-- that GK's in the premier league are quicker than he might be used to so he needs to be a little less conservative. It would be nice if JWP could stick a few goals in, and he needs to work on it. But for me that shouldn't be his major concern right now. He needs to work on his tackling and positioning. That will lead to more starts. And then if he starts assisting goals and creating, then teams will have to sag off him a little bit worrying about the pass and then he'll get better scoring opportunities. Pelle OTOH, is definitely seriously lacking in confidence right now. So yeah, I think his goal will definitely help.
Goal will help Pelle. He is often on target but keeps hitting post/crossbar or just missing....he must have thought he would never score again.
Actually being named in the squad after his barren run will have helped. Being picked to start will have helped more. Scoring will have helped even more. And missing that sitter will have undone all of that.
Cheered loudly when he scored, the rest of the pub thought there was an Italian in the mist. Its got to help, seriously, its got to.
Everyone's saying how it's been ages since he last scored, but he scored against Palace in the Cup in late January.
That being the last game I attended. The club should obviously transport me to Liverpool with a free ticket to Goodison as I am what Graziano needs!
Was his the longest ever linesman check after scoring? I couldn't previously tell if the linesman check is part of his celebration or not - like an ironic nod to previous incorrect offside calls from his Dutch league days - but either way, this one was like he refused to believe he had actually scored, and that there was nothing or no one ruling it out.
Apparently he has recurring nightmares of scoring an all-important goal and rushing to the fans to celebrate only to find the linesman has already flagged for offside. His girlfriend tweeted that he has offside flags hanging either side of their bed. (May or may not be true)
