Hi Saints fans. I thought i would put up a link showing the latest stats on Guly-do-Prado. The reason i am doing this is because during the Wigan game my friend that sits next to me in the Itchen decided he'd had enough of the constant berating of Guly and made his feelings known to the other ST holders behind us . Maybe it wasn't the time or place and it did get a little heated but this wasn't just a one off. We put up with it all last season till the last day when we made our feelings known. Please don't get me wrong i appreciated other people opinions and welcome comments in a constructive way but it isn't just one game, every home game ( last season ) Guly was being made the scape goat . It got to a point where i thought the guys behind us were paying over £600 a year just to have a go at Guly, it was that bad. Now i appreciate he is not everyones cup of tea, he does make the odd mistake as do most of the team. All i ask is the next time you go to watch saints please cut him some slack, he is a quality player off and on the ball and hopefully the stats link below will give you some insight into what adkins is trying to acheive. Do you think Nigel picks him every week for the fun of it? He maybe marmite, but he's our marmite and i'm greatful for it. http://sfcplayerstats.wordpress.com/2012/08/27/guly-do-prado/
The only thing I cant stand eith any player is a low work rate. Laziness is unacceptable at any level in football, let alone in the premiership. He doesnt track back as much as he should and something needs to be done about it.
But in another game like City he tries really hard and does more than his fair share of work. Its the inconsistancy which annoys me.
I think I saw somewhere that only 11% of his passes on Saturday were forward passes. That's the issue. I understand that he brings value to the team defensively but going forward right now, when he doesn't either have the confidence or ability (pace, skill) to either take on the full-back or get into more advanced positions, he's not what we need in a 4-3-3. The 4-3-3 worked against Man City because they have as much width as we do right now i.e nowt. Everything went through the middle and we had enough bodies to block it. Richardson used to get forward on the overlap a lot last season but now we've stepped up a league, Clyne may not be able to do that as much (though he did play well v Wigan). His body language is very mixed when he's on the pitch. It's so hard to tell what's going on in his head on any given day. Like when the team scores a goal - he's not joyous like the rest but he just jogs over and does some high fives. Unless it's him that scores, and even then he can be Balotelli-like by barely breaking a smile. The exception was Coventry home/away last season. Maybe he knows that every time he does something poor in a game, he's going to get twice as much stick as any other player? Hard to tell. Adkins like him, anyhow.
Cheers super...ous (not typing that). The game I remember most from him was Leeds away, the one where Kelvin came over all Gordon Banks. Any defensive running or midfield header to be done in the final third and Guly was there. Any other team in the Championship and half of the Premiership as well would have lost that game, by the way. Another good moment was when he was getting loads of stick for his performances (even though we were winning every week), groans when he started or got near the ball, and he popped up with two first half goals. I think that was Middlesbrough at home and I was kind of hoping he would celebrate by running towards the Northam and flipping them all the bird.
Every team has a scapegoat, who all the 'supporters' are first to blame. If it was Lee Barnard, nobody would have a problem because he looks like he runs head down solidly for 90 minutes. It's the same principle with Scott Parker, the nation love him and yet he is nowhere near as technically gifted as Gerrard/Lampard. Every team needs a player like him, and every team needs a player like Guly who does less defensively, but makes up for the other players technical deficiencies.
If you don't like Guly now then you never will as he is not going to suddenly change his game after two years. Sadly on the terraces the booing of certain players can gain a momentum. If players lack ability then in the fans eyes they can make up for it by getting 'stuck in' which as the article shows, Guly is not the best at. I like Guly but it can be hard to defend him during a live game as he is prone to making the wrong decisions but I have never seen this lazy Guly which is a urban myth. At the time of writing he is our best right midfielder so people should support him.
Anyone would think Matt Le had a good game every week, those that saw him regularly, know how frustrating he was some weeks, but he would always bounce back with something special, can't see Guly doing anything like that, but a hat trick against United might sway a few opinions, I can dream can't I?
Le Tiss ate down the Triangle chip shop and was overweight, he never tracked back, couldn't tackle to save his life but going forward with the ball was sublime! He literally banged them in from all over the pitch. Guly on the other hand, for all his running channels and work off the ball, seems to add little in attack of any potency. Yes I have watched him play an absolute cracker but also seen him be anonymous, my view is that he becoming somewhat a busted flush. Inconsistent, someone that is flattering to deceive. I would love to see him demand the ball more, try more surging runs, take the player on but at the moment seems unwilling or unable to do so. I can understand the abuse and the support he gets but think ultimately he is not as good as some people try to make out nor as bad as others portray him! And yes fans should lay off him.....it doesn't do any player any good getting abuse from the fans especially as he is often no better nor any worse than others in the team. That point is a given.
Guly haters = clueless about football......or blind!!! He doesn't take people on because he isn't a dribbler he is a creator or passer. Different people have different tricks. Our dribbler is Lallana and that is why Lallana loses the ball more, because he takes people on. Both in there to do different things. As for the forward passing???? Do you watch the games? Did you not notice that there are not many forward passing options in those first 2 games? Our 2 goals were basically from fast open attacking play. Guly is not there for those kind of attacks. And if you wanna have a moan about not taking people on, then moan about Puncheon in that first game. Anonymous. Guly, Adam, Schneiderlin and Lambert are our 4 key players. Take one of them out and the system (both previous 4-4-2 and current 4-3-3) is broken as we have NO replacement on our books at the moment for any of them. Maybe we will get some replacements or backup soon but for me if we are dropping one of the front 3 for Ramirez then it will Rodrigues. Guly will come into his own then because he will have someone to make a forward pass to!!!
You my friend are talking absolute bollocks. If you took the time out to watch him for a sustained period you would be astonished at the extent to which he gets up and down the pitch and is back defending.
