Last time I checked 50% of his goals this season were scored from the edge of the penalty area? And if he wasn't in the 6 yard box to score the goals, we'd all be complaining that he's not a natural goalscorer! Well he is a natural goalscorer, he is in the right position more often than not, and he's scoring goals for us in the best league in the world.
sorry musty, you are making yourself look foolish. You're question was, I quote ..... ....."the prob with Graham is can he score from outside the 6 yard box? " He has proven he can. I sometimes question your agenda?
Musty at the end of the day it doesn't matter where he scores them from, as long as he does score them ! When you look at Scotland's goals for us most of them were in the box, couldn't see people complaining about them
Most, but not all. You asked "can he score from more than 6 yards" so I thought I'd show you a video full of clips of him doing just that!
His corners were average yesterday. Quite a few didn't get past the first man, actually. He had a good game though, overall.
I'm not a Gower fan, because his passing is not consistently good enough, but I will admit he has been playing very well this season, and he did well second half of last season too, so fair play to Gower, when he's been asked to step into another position, he's done so well, I get the feeling while he's not outstanding, he's developing into a very useful utility player, bit like Alan Tate, if Gower could polish off his passing completion rate, I may well be won over, but you can guarantee, that if we are on the back foot, due to a bad pass, Gower is your man, having said that he has made some great assist, and passes into the box, for shot on goal, and I hope he is able to improve on his weakness, and be with us for some time to come! Did I really say that............. please log in to view this image
trundle- I was in the dont like Gower camp when he went hiding in a game where we had alot of youngsters on the field and sousa had a massive injury problem with players,gower being one of the senior pros it was un forgivable he went missing and the likes of kerry morgan,jazz etc played like lions , cant remember which game exactly but early days under sousa when the presure was really on. Under sousa he grew and the same under buck , i do like him but i also see his limitations. Having said that he is liked by managers for a reason and that is probably because he sticks to the tactical side of the game very well . He played some lovely passes yesterday and against wolves , all players have good and bad points gower has good disipline and fits well within our system. I dont think he is premier league class though, like many others he is playing to his maximum potential but any drop off from that standard is glaring on the field of play. He has done really well in the games he has played ,he is probably more mobile and links play faster than kemy who IMO sometimes doesnt move the ball quick enough but its a close thing between them two for the starting position. I am a fan of Gower, he does his best , he doesnt set the world on fire but he is a steady eddie , would be nice toi see him have the confidence to strike for goal more often which is something that kemy doesnt lack! Intresting you should mention that the team starts to win when kemy isnt playing , ive mentioned this myself and it is an intresting point . As ive said before about Kemy (sorry HTR) good player but not a world beater like some think. But like gower ,kemy has a massive part to play for us this season , if he had come on against wolves i dont think we would have lost the game .
Ok, here's my tuppence worth. Apart from top, top superstar players, I think what team you're playing for and confidence are what separate playing in the PL from playing in the conference. Our team is full of players acquired from lower leagues, but we've shown that if you have a solid team ethic and understand the system you're playing, then you don't need to be world beaters individually. Honestly, how many of our players would get into another PL team? Williams and Vorm maybe? The whole thing about "PL class" is a fallacy in my opinion. Obviously players like Silva, Aguero, Messi etc are a different class and if you've got the ability to skin people 1 on 1 in a tight situation that sets you apart, but we're so much stronger as a unit than we are individually. In summation, all of our players are PL "class" because the team is.
We're building Premier League players but when there working together , we already have a Premier league TEAM !! . Gower 's passes can be game breakers though , not the back & forth ones so much , as in his gem to Graham a game or two ago over the defender , superb . Gower also likes to get his crosses into the box low & quick giving opponents less reaction time , low passes don't always get there I'm afraid but when they do , there trouble . If buck wanted someone else to take them , he would .
Does it MATTER??? ffs!! I had this debate with Lone Rangel on the old 606 Board. He was belittling the number of tap-ins that Trundle was getting. So, don't they count then? The point is, to score a tap in you have to be there. You have to show anticipation and positional nous to get them. If they are so easy why isn't everybody scoring them? Goal poaching is an art. Ace poachers are worth millions for a good reason. Yes, it's good if a poacher can get the 30 yarders as well (a la Shearer) but I'd always have a Jimmy Greaves, Gary Lineker, Michael Owen etc etc etc type in any team of mine. I'm biased because I was a poacher - or goalmouth hanger which was the derisory term used then. Bear with me while I digress a little. On my coaching course, the lads on the course played an eight a side (full pitch 30 mins each way) against members of another team who kindly had made themselves available as "guinea pigs". The captain (call him Chops) of the other side was a really decent player who was involved with almost every thing good that they did. He was mouthy, too. Anyway, because of the open nature of the game, I had one of those great times when everything went right - particularly as I was getting just about perfect service from the wonderful Lenny Allchurch. We won easily and in the club house afterwards, Chops decided to carry on the verbals he had been giving me on the pitch. He ranted on about how I never contributed to the game, wasn't involved in anything and finished off by sneering, "You might have scored five but you only had about six touches in the entire game!" The room went quiet then some of my team mates started sniggering. Chops got even more red-faced and demanded, "Well, I'm right aren't I?" So, Lenny who had been sitting quietly near me, said in this matter of fact voice, "Yes, nice to see I wasn't wasting my crosses." The place erupted and Chops sat down not wanting to exchange opinions with the likes of Len. Anyway, back to Danny. I don't give a flying whotsit HOW he gets his goals so long as he gets them. As they say in golf, a two inch putt counts as one stroke exactly the same as a 300 yard drive. In football, two metre tap-ins count exactly the same as 30 yard drives. Danny now has four in four and is finding his feet. He also has a terrific work ethic and for me is beginning to look every inch a Premiership striker and worth every penny of his transfer fee.
Scot - I think your bang on in fairness . We are succesful because we are a TEAM ! the component parts make us good at what we do, its why alot of players fail when they go elsewhere. The likes of britton and gower are important pieces that fit well into what we do, if you put them into another framework they probably wouldnt do as well ,same for the majority of our side. We play a system that relys on every member playing an integral part ,other teams short cut this by having the odd superstar or 2 that can make a big difference ,like maybe gerrard for liverpool for example. Sometimes you mould a team of superstars into a system that makes them pretty much unbeatable like Barca or Man city but the swans are never going to be on that level are they! We have a system of playing that is going to be our identity for years to come ,our managers are picked to suit this system not the other way around .its why we have made it to the prem league while others have spent millions trying to buy talent and make it work straight away. Our strength is our team ethic and football philosophy,gower ,britton and the rest of our players buy into it and are therefore able to compete at this level as a result. As for prem class , as induviduals i stick by my origional list and Gower aint on it , bless him
RE Danny Graham scoring goals from outside/inside the area WHO CARES!! he is scoring thats all that im intrested in !! Micheal Owen didnt do too bad and i never saw him score outside the area, same with Gary Lineker and loads of other strikers ! Ruud van nistlrooy would be very upset if he was reading this thread LOL Doesnt matter how DG gets his goals as long as he gets them, which he is doing ,lets be happy for the boy that he has made the transistion to prem football that so many before him havent scotland chopra kitson ebanks blake boothroyd the list is long and distinquished
Guys, the reason why Danny Graham hasn't been scoring from outside the box is blatantly obvious. We have two GREAT wingers. Sinclair and Dyer can skin 2-3 players with relative ease. Once they have passed these players, they put the ball into the 6 yard box to which Graham taps it in. We capatalise on the great wingers we have, and Graham, being the great poacher that he is, knows where to be. It's that simple. So, for people to moan about Graham not scoring from outside the box is beyond belief. Who ruddy cares where he scores from, aslong as he scores the bloody goals to keep us in the league. As for the Gower front, I'm not going to get involved. I have always been a Gower fan and when asked to stand up and be counted, he's done it. He's scored some crucial goals and he always gives 100%.
There have always been Gower haters about, Im really glad the guy is making them eat their words! Gower has always given 100% even when things were not going well for him. Like a lot of our team an unsung hero who got us there and is keeping us there.
Gendros with respects I don't think anyone hates gower at all, he is a swans player who contributes to the team, and I think it's right we should question and debate whether a player is good enough to play for us.
