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What makes players great at some clubs but not others?

Discussion in 'Southampton' started by lamby, May 16, 2012.

  1. lamby

    lamby Needs a cold shower

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    Not sure there is anything in this but some players do seem to be world beaters at some clubs but distinctly aveage when they move. Take Rudi Skace a great player for Hearts. He then had 18 months with us but from memory did very little. Now back at Hearts and scoring for fun. Channon was another example. Never seemed the same player away from Saints. James Beattie etcf etc.

    Anything in this or is it just my old age making my memory play tricks?
     
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  2. Beddy

    Beddy Plays the percentage

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    Torres is probably another player that is struggling at his new club also Carroll. I have the feeling it is psychological as well as adapting to new styles of play. With Torres for instance with the ridiculous price tag on him, he probably felt he should be scoring hatricks each and every week and probably tried just that bit too hard. Getting more and more anxious as time went on. However may be he is just about turning the corner maybe? As for Carroll not sure about this guy......he was never worth the £50 million Liverpool paid for him or anything like that. He too has his psychological problems but my guess would be the style of play Liverpool seem to stick to which is causing him problems. Rudi was out of his depth at the level we were playing he was up against better grade players, also our style of play was a wee bit more defensive than he was used to, (if a move broke down all getting behind the ball etc)
    I too was rather surprised he did not make a better go of it down here.

    Edit:- Is that not the same as those that are brilliant at club level but cannot make it at international?
     
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  3. Missing Lambo

    Missing Lambo Well-Known Member

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    It's a bit of a girlie answer (?!) but might the player feeling content be an issue. Channon was clearly unhappy at City but loved playing at Saints and later at Norwich. Beattie never achieved the same level of idolatory he had at Saints and he clearly enjoyed it. Skacel played in that very odd team that should have swept the Championship but stuttered into the play-offs. There was clearly something wrong somewhere. By contrast Kevin Davies looked distinctly ordinary in his second spell with us, but has been excellent at Bolton where, as a northern lad, he may feel more at home.
     
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  4. pass the football

    pass the football Well-Known Member

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    Often when a player is something of a big fish in a small pond, the team he moved from would have been built around him to some degree, and the team he moves to, where he is just another big player, is not so accommodating. Imagine if you're a striker and the whole team knows what your runs are going to be and are always looking to supply the ball to you in just the way you like it. If you're any good, you're going to score a lot under those circumstances, then when you move to another club, and the players don't know you very well, suddenly you find your supply line just isn't there anymore. That has certainly happened to Torres and Carroll.

    Another one that springs to mind is Riquelme's brief stint at Barcelona. What a player he was, but Barcelona didn't do enough to accommodate him in the team, so he suffered. It happens to the best players under the right (or perhaps wrong) circumstances.
     
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  5. Saints Fan4Life

    Saints Fan4Life Well-Known Member

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    Some players just don't settle in the area, could be due to a variety of reasons such as family aren't there, or homesick etc
     
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  6. Qwerty

    Qwerty Well-Known Member

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    There definitely is something in this. Some players just don't fit in at some clubs and they never play as well as they could. Or the club might be having a bad spell and the whole becomes less than the sum of it's parts. Sunderland fans will probably laugh their heads off if Kelvin lines up for us against them, but try telling a Plymouth supporter that Paul Wotton is a donkey. Maybe the key point is that being a good team is not just about 11 players who can kick the ball well.
     
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  7. Archers Road

    Archers Road Urban Spaceman

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    On a slightly different note, I've often thought the same thing about managers. Alan Ball, Glenn Hoddle and WGS are three who seem to have struggled after being reasonably successful at Saints.
     
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  8. lamby

    lamby Needs a cold shower

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    Some of that must be expectations. It takes time for managers to put their stamp on a club. The bigger teams aren't prepared to give it.
     
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  9. PompeyLapras

    PompeyLapras Well-Known Member

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    To be fair, Torres was going through a difficult patch towards the end of his time at Liverpool too and didn't do fantastically well in the World Cup either.
     
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  10. Itchen North Matt

    Itchen North Matt Active Member

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    That can apply to anyone moving to a new club. If a player isn't especially adaptable or isn't suited to the role they are asked to play, it can be tough for them. Billy Sharp's spell at Sheffield United wasn't particularly successful because James Beattie was the main man and they wanted Sharp to set him up. Lambert and Sharp have a good understanding and they each play to their respective strengths.
     
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  11. SaintJabie

    SaintJabie Well-Known Member

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    The system a club plays will affect a player's performance. A creative attacking midfielder may do wonders in a club whose idea of defence is to score more than the opposition - plenty of players to pass to and from - but they may struggle in a team which shuts up shop at one-nil.
     
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  12. TheSecondStain

    TheSecondStain Needs an early night

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    Plenty of players seem to misfire when they go elsewhere, be they Saints heroes or others. I thought Rudi Skacel was a good player for Saints. He was often played out of position by George Burley, and I hardly ever saw him in his preferred position of being just behind the strikers. Burley often played him at LB, for pete's sake. The trouble was, he was quite good there too, but totally wasted. Of course at Hearts, Burley played him behind the strikers and he scored a hatful of goals. Now he does exactly the same and he's their top scorer.
     
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  13. Joe!

    Joe! Well-Known Member

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    Albert Luque. Phenomenal player.

    [video=youtube;fvjI1J0ezcI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvjI1J0ezcI[/video]

    Went to Newcastle and ruined his career. (The song in that video is so appropriate <laugh>)
     
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