Everyone is praising Hooper's strike and fair play he took it well but this shows how Amat made it oh so easy for him. Even schoolboys are told - DO NOT TURN YOUR BACK AND DO NOT DUCK!!! If he'd done his job the shot wouldn't have gone more than a few feet. When I saw it in real time I could see what he'd done. Absolutely criminal. I'm always reluctant to single out our players for criticism but Amat needs a solid boot up the backside and I hope tey sit him down and make him watch the video replay. Lessons have to be learned!
No blame then for a) cheap giveaway b) team captain and left sided centre back who should have picked up Hooper c) goal keeper going walkabout and having a flap ? Well taken shot but it should not have resulted in a goal - it wasn't that good.
Yes of course - but the bottom line is that this was easy to prevent. The ball hung there for ages, wasn't closed down by Amat (the closest to it) then he turned and ducked. For a professional defender that is unforgiveable and we can only hope he learns from that. When my son played schoolboy football this was taught as a fundamental defensive skill. Here we have a Prem player making an error many kids wouldn't make. I'm all for praise where praise is due and I also don't believe in lashing out at the team when it isn't necessary. But we must be able to criticise when there is a blatant error that leads to a goal. Williams's pass v Hull was a poor pass. Not a lot you can say about that. He knows he was to blame as does everyone else. But this was a failing of a fundamental skill which is an entirely different matter and must be corrected so that it doesn't happen again.
I'd take the view that Amat is less culpable that Williams; Amat hasn't had the game time Ash has (weak excuse) but with Norwich players coming through on the right, and given the distance from goal, Amat did the right thing, he moved to cover the pass to the edge of the box for an oncoming forward knowing that his centre back partner was there to deal with the attacker. Had Hooper not shot (the most likely event) and Amat had gone to him he would have left the whole of the right hand side of the pitch empty. FOr me Amat did the right thing, Hooper surprised everyone, Ash didn't take his man and Vorm was .... Vorm.
I think we agree to disagree. How anyone can say Amat did the right thing by turning and ducking is beyond me sorry. I see what you're saying about the space but Williams was well away from Hooper who was clearly Amat's responsibility. Hooper's volley wasn't unexpected. We could all see he was going to hit it. Not sure about Vorm. He was slightly off his line but was he to blame for the goal? Hardly. Hooper hit it perfectly to just be out of his reach. I suppose you could say he was a litlte too far off his line but you have to give the striker credit for beating him I think. The point I'm making is that you can't legislate for mistakes because it's part of football but you can correct failings in technique. If Laudrup agrees with me then he'll be taking Amat to one side, if not then he won't and imo this can happen again.
What a strange post, I think you're being really harsh. Look at the video: please log in to view this image His body position is that because he's been wrong footed - look at his step across - he's not ducking he's trying to get his head to the ball, but because he thought Hooper was going to go to his left, which Amat commits to, he ends up sideways in an attempt to throw in the block. He only fully turns after the ball has passed him, he's doing his best! I think it's about as good an effort as he can do having been wrong footed. I'm not sure why you've picked that - if you're going to criticise the defending, the really bad bit is the lack of challenge on Elmander which gave so much space, he can't help being wrong footed when he's rushing to close down. I'm not sure who's fault the failure to close him down was - Amat looks like he's expecting ?Williams to do it, but then Williams follows Elmander. Or you could question Vorm, but not the attempted block! Vorm is in no mans land. If you want bad defending, Bassong on Dyer was much worse.
It was a first class goal the way i see it. Amat did what anyone else would do when a player strikes the ball with some force just feet from his head...
Well I don't really care if you think it's a "strange post". Sorry and all that. The article isn't about Bassong because I really don't care about him. It's all about opinions and whereas I respect the fact that others see it differently I maintain that Amat made a schoolboy error. However from that angle I think you're right about Vorm - way too far off his line. Dai: "Amat did what anyone else would do when a player strikes the ball with some force just feet from his head... " No. He's a pro footballer and takes one in the face or raises his hands to protect said face. That's why he's paid £10,000 a week. Harsh but true. The more I see that video the more it makes my blood boil. Amat what were you thinking? That ball was begging to be hit.
The game is littered with incidents where players have blocked shots with any part of their body they can. If you had played the game you would know that defenders are taught not to do what Amat did. And keep it civil. Because we disagree doesn't mean I'm talking daft, alright?
You dont get it do you?? this is on about this one incident and not what happened at any other time..He did not do anything that any other player would do in that situation. he never ducked in fact he never moved from the spot and that alone was very brave considering what was about to come at full force towards his head..
Apologies - I've just been informed he's a WUM, so I'll rein myself in Best of luck for the rest of the season. I think Laudrup's a good manager, though I can understand some of the concern, but you've really got no chance of being relegated and I'd just enjoy the European campaign and accept that the league is a write-off this season. I thought the result was correct, and both teams looked disinterested. You obviously showed you can rest players in mid week which must be encouraging. Our squad is paper thin so I'm glad we're not in Europe!
Thanks canary I agree on all points but its going to get tougher and i cant see laudrup being able to up his game as we are nowhere near as a unit as we were previously...We both should just scrape through but its not enough for me to waste money chancing a bet on that we will..
Agreed Rob. The result was a fair one. I hope the wum comment wasn't directed at me. Take a deep breath and keep reining yourself in.
The video posted in this thread only confirms for me that he ducked. If he stands up straight, he takes it in the chest. The shot was telegraphed and Amat should have read what was going on. Vorm too far off his line. Elmander also given too much space by Amat for the knock down. Poor bit of defending. Fix it for next time. Case closed.
He stayed where he was and turned away what anyone else would do in that situation. It was a first class goal that most keepers would have struggled with..give the lad credit...
I could name a number of defenders that wouldn't have turned their backs and would have stood strong. Ashley Williams being one. Full marks to Hooper for a great strike and for beating Vorm from that range, but unlike some goals, this one was preventable. When a goal is preventable, you assess what you could do better, and then put that into practice next time. I'd hope that we take this preventative action to prevent similar goals in the future. I'd be disappointed to see a similar movement from Amat again this season, whether it results in a goal or not. Stand strong.
You cant really blame our lads for that one, it was a world class gpal plain and simple, give the opposition some credit guys ffs !!
To be fair NJ, they aren't saying it wasn't a great goal. All they're saying is that it could have been prevented. Don't know if you saw the 4 Suarez goals against us. His wonder 40 yard strike was a great goal, but, a lot of Norwich fans were saying that although it was a great strike etc, it could have been prevented. He beat Ruddy from 40 yards. I think that's the point your 2 posters are trying to make.
