It was, courtesy of Mr. Jagielka. As stonewall a penalty as you're ever likely to see. If we (Lukaku) hadn't scored from the incorrectly awarded corner even Ron might have lost his rag.
And then the manager complained that it shouldn't have been a corner because Jagielka didn't touch the ball
Does anyone have stats for games won when he featured or didn't? Or goals scored by the team when he is on the pitch? Or goals conceded when he is on? Its not about who scores the goals but winning games. If he gives the attack the space, freedom and openings then he is an important part of the team. If schlong scores 4 and we finish 4th then I will be happy. If he scores 12 and we finish 9th...
Meh. He's a striker/attacking winger/forward. He's supposed to score. Especially with Tadic on the other side.and Pelle an excellent target striker. How much space can he really be creating? Pretend you're the defense. You are facing Long, Pelle, and Tadic. Which guy would you more likely closely and which guy would you give space? I'd give space to the fast guy who can't really score or pass.
Leicester tried that, did not work too well. Pelle needs more chances to score than Long, Pelle must have an horrendous goal to shot ratio.
I was going to say earlier how Pelle seems to hit the post a lot...however, today it was superb use of the post to pass the ball to Tadic
How about all the other games Long has played that weren't against the worst defense in the league? Pelle is much better than Long. In large part because he, you know... SCORES GOALS.
He's just being accurate. When you get those fleeting chances, often you only get sight of the goal for a split-second. Graziano probably only looked up for a moment, then got his head down to strike the ball as accurately as he could. And he hit what he was aiming at plumb. When you only have that split-second, you aim at objects, it's hugely difficult to aim at spaces. He wanted the space inside the post, and 9/10 he'd achieve it, by getting an in-off the post. Too bloody accurate is our Graziano. Mind you, another torso..!
Pelle must have hit the post 4-5 times this season if my impressions are correct. I do wish he'd find his edge again, would rather he buried that shot near post than Tadic be forced to shoot between two from 15yds. He's still bloody good though.
If you stuck People on the wing like how Long has been played then he would be less effective as well. Long generally played upfront with another and averaged around 10 goals a season for some pretty average teams, not great but better than most. He knows where the goal is, would def be better suited playing alongside Pelle.
I'd be slightly surprised if Long averaged 10 goals a season. He's never scored 10 goals in the Premier League. The rest of his game is good to excellent but he's a very poor finisher and always has been.
I have no particular "issues" with Long. I like him well enough, but if he's such a massive part of Saints' success, why has he started less than half the games? Realistically, he is right now probably the 3rd choice striker behind Mane and Pelle, and the 3rd choice winger behind Mane and Tadic if we play 4-3-3. Maybe 4th choice winger if Koemann takes a shine to Elias. Possibly even the 5th choice winger/4th choice striker if Rodriguez can come back.
