I'm started to get frustrated when I see Rickie popping up on the wing. I love that Rickie is such a technically proficient player, that he's got more in his locker than being a big rough tough target man to knock down a few balls and score goals, but I'm beginning to worry that him dropping out from the front and straying out wide etc. is hurting our attacking threat more than it helps it. I think Rickie's got great link-up play and a good delivery, but if he's the one crossing the ball who's getting on the end of it? I know it's a fairly simplistic question but I feel it's a legitimate one. Rodriguez is obviously a decent goalscorer but he's not exactly proven it at this level nor is he in a great vein of form, his two Premier League goals so far haven't exactly been classics (Although his goal in the cup against Chelsea was a peach). Lallana, Ramirez and Punch can all chip in with goals but usually when we have space to attack and to slip them in. At the end of the day Lambert is our main source of goals, he's the man we rely on to get in those positions and get goals, and when he's not in the heart of things bullying centre-backs we are a much less dangerous side. I guarantee there is no place an opposing manager or player would rather see Rickie Lambert than outside of the box (Unless he's stood over a free-kick of course ). Of course I'm not saying he spends his whole game drifting around aimlessly, neither am I suggesting he plays on the shoulder of the last man the whole game, I just think we need to utilise him more efficiently to harness his ability in a way that would benefit the team most. His job should be kept simple; when we don't have the ball, drop into areas to receive it to feet to pass it on to one of the other attackers, or in position to loft the ball up for knock down, but once the ball has left his foot or head he should be heading in one direction and that's goalwards. I'm all for the rotation of our attacking mids, as I think all of them can slot into each other's position and still be just as effective, but when Rickie roams out wide or into deep areas it's like taking the spearhead from the end of spear and fastening it halfway up the shaft... The spearhead is still just as sharp and as dangerous, but if you try and attack someone then all you're doing is jabbing them with a pole. You can still do damage if you whack them hard enough, but you're better off just leaving the spearhead on the end. Did I stretch that analogy too far? So that's my micro-rant over, but of course I'm writing this to figure out if I'm alone on this or if other people think similarly. So what do you folks think, is Rickie so good and our other players goal-scoring abilities sufficient enough that wherever he is we are still just as or more threatening, or do we need and rely on him to be on the end of things to carry our maximum goalscoring threat?
You are in a rich vein for form, Mikey. Valid point. For me, the jury is still out. Shearer used to play like this and it didn't seem to harm his teams too much. There were a couple of occasions last night when I was hoping Rickie might just play someone in down the line and then get into the middle. We've seen him do it, but not last night against a team that defended very well. Rickie starts to drop deeper when the ball isn't there to be won, and he was robbed of service last night. I'm sure he'd rather be on the end of crosses, but he needs the crosses!
Depends; when we're getting people ahead of him with an eye for goal or a bit of creative flair, it can be pretty effective. When Rickie's dropping deep but no one is making the runs (Rodriguez seemed to be awfully deep himself at times, and none of our central mids are goal-scoring threats), it tends to cause us to bog down.
Haha, thank you kind sir. You might on to something that last night that he went looking for the ball as it wasn't coming to him, understandable I suppose but I feel he needs to just be patient and believe that the lads behind him will provide him with the opportunities he needs. I think when we're breaking or when there's a lot of room to play him dropping deep is great, as you say when people get ahead of him then he can pick them out to great effect. When the other team is deeper in their half or have more than 4/5 men behind the ball I just don't think it gives us anything and again as you say it just bogs us down. Basically if we can get behind the other team then Rickie being deep is great, as he isn't exactly great at getting behind teams whilst he is very good at picking out a ball, when we can't get behind them then we need his ability at the forefront to grind out goals.
I don't mind his recent tendency to float out to the edge of the area when the defense is set, actually; teams have been packing the penalty area against us, which makes it rather difficult for Rickie to win a convincing header, and rather difficult for anyone to work their way through the maze of bodies to get on the end of a knockdown. He got a decent opportunity off a deflected cross from Shaw that ended up being blocked, and it's the one area where he might be able to get enough space to shoot, and also potentially allows him to duck back into the box for a cross without having two defenders nailed to him.
When you are having the shirt ripped off your back (Vidic last night) and Referees are not giving you protection, it must be a bit frustrating and Rickie is intelligent enough to seek other areas where he can be useful, he does seem to be multi-tasking and not being where he is most potent, I still feel a lot of people underate him as a footballer, he is more than just a finisher and careful scrutiny of the stats will also say that he is no slouch over short distances.
Edge of the area is fine for me, anywhere more than about 5 yards further out from the box and I find myself shouting 'Get in there Rickie for god's sake!'.
he's been doing this sice he joined us and probably did before he came. Probably left over from his time as a midfielder. I see nothing wrong with it, I think he uses this time as a breather too, and now we have our best player back hopefully he will start swapping around on the left as well. Rickie and Lallana working together has always been good for us.
Yeah, I know he's been doing it for a long time but I think now more than ever it is a much tougher task for us to score goals, hence my feeling that there is an increased importance on him being right in the mix both scoring and wreaking the havoc he does in the box, creating opportunities for others. Everyone and Lallana working together is good for us, before his injury he was really the lynchpin in our attack for me, he linked individually well with Rickie, Gaston and Punch, and seemed to be the middleman in all our attacking success. Really hope he hits the ground running.
You don't think he drops deeper more when he's tiring? Seemed to be out wide a lot towards the end last night, and it meant he didn't have to do as much running around. He's one of our best creative players in deep positions anyway so it's not always a bad thing, and the fact that Steve McManaman thinks he should stay in the box at all times suggests to me he should probably spend less time in it!
Obviously it's a given that the later a game goes the less likely it is that he's going to the furthest Saints player furthest, but don't think that tells the whole story as we were basically camped in United's half so he didn't really have to cover much ground and at times he actively dropped back out wide whilst we were in possession. Don't even get me started on McManaman, I actually ended up muting the sound on the stream I was watching in the end as he was utterly unbearable.
Watched the OT extended highlights this evening and every time Rickie was in the box and required to win a header he pretty much did. Neither of their CBs could handle him. I know we have to vary our game and not be a one way football team, but there's nothing wrong with a pacy aerial cross and a knock down header or goal attempt from Lambert. It's what he is actually supreme at, and there are none better in the PL at doing it.
You expect me to read everything in front of me... I'm a bloke. If all else fails, either read the instructions or look at all the evidence sorry.
