10 goals in 26 games, in a team that doesn't create loads generally, considering his personal issues etc etc what a fantastic player we have on our hands. Both of his goals yesterday were superbly taken, get him properly properly fit, and next season if he sticks by us ( I think with the loan we've given him, he should be ours a while ) he really could bang in a shed tone of goals. Our first PROPER striker since Darren Bent days, yes Alan Lee had a fantastic season, but in Chopra I really feel we a top striker on our hands !
I have to agree, he's come with alot of baggage but I think it was a gamble worth paying seeing as we got him fairly cheap. A month or so ago he clearly went off the boil and IMO Jewell was right to drop him and he's come back better for it. With a reputation like he has, he's going to come in for some criticism when not playing well and especially as he can be like all goalscorers not be involved in a game for most of it. Bent was the same, I remember thinking when he was here playing, he had a bad game a saying why the hell hasn't he been substituted he's playing rubbish but then he'd go and score the winner in the final minutes. He's the first proper goalscorer since Bent (unless you count rhodes, I'm trying not to go there), Lee was a different type of player, not a goal scorer more of a target man and his goals came from his work rate, will to put his body on the line, he used to just force the ball over the line whereas with chopra its more about his finishing and movement. I think with players like chopra even if he isn't having a great game, his positioning and movement gives the team and extra dimension and creates space for other players and always gives the team another option for the pass. I go on about it alot but positional sense and balance is vital for a good team, Norwich or more so Paul Lambert is very good at this, picking the right players for a good balanced team and picking players who may not be the best but understand the movement and tactical side of the game.
Alan Lee never fought for it, he was good at putting the ball away but if he'd made a bit of an effort he could've been a 30 goal a season man. I didn't think much of Chops but let's be honest for him to be on 10 goals, at this stage of the season and in a season like this and with his problems is a good achievement. Rhodes never had a chance so we've not actually had a proper finisher since Kuqi and Bent. That's over five years ago! Wickham is a different kind of player. We are 19th in the league gents and we're now happy with the direction of the football club. Just proves it's not about winning every game - if we deliver on the vision that Jewell has laid out over the last couple of weeks then he will be a success.
Hamps were you at the same stadium as me the past 10 years or are we talking about a different team?? If Alan Lee would have put more effort in he could've been a 30 goal a season man, are you joking the reason why he scored was due to his work rate, determination and using his strength, not so much being able to put the ball away!! As for Kuqi, although he scored alot of goals for us, IMO he still wasn't an out and out goal scorer, like Bent or Chopra, he was much the same as Lee really in that it was more his effort and determination which got him the goals and a willingness to shoot. He was a pretty poor finisher (and player) IMO, when he shot he was either likely to hit the corner flag or rip the net off, one of the worst technical players I have ever seen, but his physical presence and work rate made him what he was at Ipswich. Also I actually don't think Bent is a great finisher, I think Stead and Chopra are far superior finishers than Bent, look how often he misses one on one's but what makes him stand out is his movement, pace, strength and the knack of being in the right position at the right time and also he never lets his head drop if he misses a chance he knows he'll get another chance and put it away, I think Owen was the same, not a great finisher but had that instinct.
itfcptc- i couldnt agree more with you about the work rate of lee and kuqi being the reason for alot of their goals but then i couldn't disagree more with you when you say that stead and chopra are better finishers than darren bent. bent is easily one of the best finishers in the premier league with john stead scoring over 10 goals in a season twice!
I'm not arguing about who is a better player, clearly Bent is a better player than either Chopra or Stead and I would want him in my team over both of them and he would score more goals than both, but I think that he isn't as good a finisher as Stead or Chopra. Stead was a very very good finisher, he didn't miss many chances and with one on ones he rarely misses the difference is he didn't have that instinct like, Bent has to be in the right place at the right time, in a match he was rarely in the right area's which is why despite being a good finisher he'll never be prolific. I would be more confident of stead scoring in a one on one situation when he has than I would Bent. Look at most of bents goals, they are generally first time strikes or tap ins thats because he's always in the right positions and they're just him reacting instinctively, he's a different type of striker to say Henry, Van Persie or Van Nistelrooy, who are all technically good finishers but Bent has something you cannot coach, that strikers instinct and the ability to not let your head drop when you miss chances, which most strikers do!! I would bracket Owen into the same sort of category when he was in his peak, not the best of finishers but always knew where to be to score the goals!!
itfcptc You do love us really dont you ? Bet there's a canary shirt in your wardrobe some where ? As for the OP how long do you think it will be before Chops goe's off the rails again?Or do you think that he can find him-self again with your club and sort his life out ? You mention this "loan" keeping him there as if its a HOLD on him, but surely a person with such little respect for money wont worry to much about that ?
" Alan Lee never fought for it, he was good at putting the ball away but if he'd made a bit of an effort he could've been a 30 goal a season man. " Completely disagree with this 100%. Lee was a work rate style striker, certainly not a finisher !!!! He battled hard every single game !!!
Alan Lee, what a waste of space he was, slower than a tortoise, not just physically either. Your damn right he had to work hard for every single goal he scored because he was a poor striker. Sometimes when he played up top with Pablo it was laughable, Pablo was playing balls through to Lee & he was about two pages behind in the script..! I can just imagine it, Lee thinks..."what, uh, oh ****, that was for me" He knew how to fall over though, I will give him that, for such a big guy he was always on his arse. Sorry, not a fan of Mr Lee...
I thought for the time he was a good striker for us and tbh helped us through a pretty difficult time in the last year of Royles reign, always worked hard often upfront on his own but it was clear that as Magilton got better players in and we were a more passing team that Lee didn't really fit in. Tbf we could probably do with a similar type player atm a target man someone to play off. And tbf to him, he's not the only player to be 2 pages behind Pablo, there weren't many who could keep up with him but when they did it worked a treat, I'll never forget some of the football we played to beat the scum a couple of years ago when Dos Santos and Pablo really clicked that day.
" Alan Lee, what a waste of space he was, slower than a tortoise, not just physically either. Your damn right he had to work hard for every single goal he scored because he was a poor striker. " Another weird statement - not amazing by any stretch of the imagination but a good player for us !!!
Thank you hoppers - that's exactly it. He was like a beached whale! As for Stead being better than Bent, well that just makes a mockery of anything football-related you post, ever.
Chopra, like JET and a few others this season have spent the first half of the season looking lazy and uninterested. Fair play to both in now showing workrate, commitment, interest and a 90 minute a game attitude but for me effort and determination are the two things you should always show. You may be outplayed and outclassed at times and I cant accept this but I can never understand how some can show so little so often. If they go on and continue with this aptitude until the end of the season then I will start singing their praises but I think 3 games worth of consistancy is probably a bit soon for me to start showing forgiveness. On the history of our strikers subject. I think where PTC is coming from is that Stead has more qualities than Bent but at a lesser standard. If you consider marks out of 10 for a range of things you want from a striker than Bent is probably 10/10 for 2 or 3 areas but at a level 2 for the other 5. Stead is probably at 6/10 for all area's of his game. Bent is brilliant in the 6 yard box and there is probably no one better than him for what he does but if you watch matches in which he is playing he will do little other than score. I know scoring is the main point and I am not knocking him but if he doesnt score he doesnt do anything productive for the team. I would prefere Bent everytime but I would also acknowledge he is limited in what he does. Stead doesnt have the clinical finish but would work well outside the box, scored some fantastic longer range goals and had very good control and vision. He lacked pace and power and Im not suggesting he is a premier league player.
It makes a mockery of your education and intelligence more like and this coming from someone who said Lee could be a 30 goal a season man if he worked harder!! If you read my post again, I clearly say Bent is by far a better player and would prefer him in my team than Stead by a long shot. But Stead was the better finisher at one on one's, he just rarely was in those positions to get the chances, whereas Bent has a few of those every game. Look at how many one on one's Bent misses when he's got time, even watching yesterdays game where he missed 2, Stead never missed these but Bent just has that instinct in the penalty box. So because I think Sonko is better in the air than Messi does that mean that I think Sonko is the better player??
Sonko's better than Messi? I'm extremely good from a dead ball 20-30 yards out but it doesn't mean I should be a professional footballer.
all this talk of our strikers has got me thinking and I have to agree with a lot of ptc's comments although as soon as Bent left us he instantly become a millions times better at one on ones. I remember watching him and Kuqi and being so frustrated with the amount of goals they should have scored given they were able to finish more difficult chances but miss when it was easier to score.... If they had been a little less wasteful that season we would have easily got promoted. As for Stead, I always rated him, he was a decent all round player and every time he went on a decent run he was dropped as soon as he had one poor match, personally I thought him and Pablo would be a pretty decent partnership then Keane rocked up and everything fell apart. In my opinion we haven't had a quality striker since the incredible Marcus Stewart, Bent comes closest but for me Chops still has a lot to do to be considered in the same breath as some our great players and another 10 goals this season will go some way to doing this...
