The Fish 10663 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Rayvin said "those were the days" in another thread and for some reason my brain ended up thinking about how excited I got during the halcyon days of Robert, Solano, and Shearer looming over the ball whenever we got within 30yds (not that it mattered in Robert's case). Even when the shot wasn't on (not that it mattered in Robert's case) and the ball was delivered into the box (Speed ) we were a real threat for set-pieces. someone recently crunched some numbers and created this list of "deadliest freekick takers in the Prem". What they meant is "deadliest freekick taker from the past 14 years so that the players topping the list are known to our target audience". Top 10 1: Juan Mata: Shots 28, Goals 5, Conversion 17.9 (per cent) 2: Sebastian Larsson: 90, 11, 12.2. 3: Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink: 62, 6, 9.7. 4: David Beckham: 54, 5, 9.3. 5: Nolberto Solano: 78, 7, 9.0. 6: Thierry Henry: 144, 12, 8.3. 7: Danny Murphy: 67, 5, 7.5. 8: Ryan Giggs: 73, 5, 6.8. 9: Leighton Baines: 76, 5, 6.6. 10: Laurent Robert: 154, 10, 6.5. So this table is a little pointless (no Shearer for a start ). However it seems pretty rare to have three experts in the team at the same time. All that aside, I was thinking about our team's unbelievable lack of threat from set pieces. All I've seen at NUFC since Pardew is loft it to the back post, gone are the days of Souness setting 5 players who were a threat (Shearer, 2 centre backs, + 2 others) in a bunch, then them splitting just as the kick is taken. Even simple things like the Nobby toe-tap to Shearer, Nolan's shadowing of their 'keeper, none of that happens. Is it lack of ability, or is it a lack of coaching? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex 34719 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Solano scored some from miles out too. Beautiful right peg on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5151 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Pardew really didn't seem to have it in him to properly coach attacking play. In the final third we were either reliant on individual brilliance (Cabaye) or we were utterly blunt. Same problem with free kicks and corners I think. Pardew just wasn't a creative manager when it came to breaking teams down or exploiting weakness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Instead of looking for set piece ability in potential signings and addressing a problem that we have in the team we just exclusively look for bargains that we might make a profit on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) Instead of looking for set piece ability in potential signings and addressing a problem that we have in the team we just exclusively look for bargains that we might make a profit on.To take things slightly off track here, this is (imo) exactly why, despite our much lauded chief scout, we keep signings players who don't seem to do much here(Anita, Haidara, Mbiwa etc). There seems to be little consideration of what is needed, instead we just sign players we think we can make money on. Of course that won't work if they don't come here and play well. Back on topic, I don't think we've got anyone at the club who has anything like the ability on set pieces of Nobby, Robert or Shearer. Colback would be the one I'd be looking to (maybe SDJ if we ever get him on the pitch) if we are wanting to have shots. But I'd like to hope now Pardew is gone we'd put some effort into set plays (but with the same coaching staff I'm not confident). Edited January 29, 2015 by David Kelly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Santon and Haidara both strike a mean ball Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayvin 5151 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Wasn't R.Taylor our preferred free kick taker back when he was fit? I don't know if that makes up for his shortcomings elsewhere, but he has a decent fucking shot on him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Santon and Haidara both strike a mean ballWithout any control though unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Fish 10663 Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 Wasn't R.Taylor our preferred free kick taker back when he was fit? I don't know if that makes up for his shortcomings elsewhere, but he has a decent fucking shot on him. Yeah, he's decent at set pieces, but unfortunately hasn't enough to the other parts of his game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Wasn't R.Taylor our preferred free kick taker back when he was fit? I don't know if that makes up for his shortcomings elsewhere, but he has a decent fucking shot on him.Aye clearly he'd be our main set piece taker if he was fit and worth a place in the team (I have doubts about whether either will ever happen now mind). He's not as good as some seem to think because of his strikes against the tramps but he's much better than anyone else we have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Without any control though unfortunately. I think Santon has a fair amount of accuracy, when hitting a moving ball anyway. He went through a phase of having a lot of decent efforts from range that opposition 'keepers kept somehow stopping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 I think Santon has a fair amount of accuracy, when hitting a moving ball anyway. He went through a phase of having a lot of decent efforts from range that opposition 'keepers kept somehow stopping.Can't say any of them stick in my mind. Mind you I'm begining to think there might be something in the suggestion that drugs fuck up your memory! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 It was a couple of seasons back now like, it got to the point where my pal was putting him on to score first every week because he kept having these efforts. He got one eventually as well but if I recall I don't think it was as first goalscorer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Didn't he score against Wigan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 He did aye, an equaliser though. So no payout for my pal! (gutted) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anorthernsoul 1221 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 It is nothing short of disgraceful if your paid 20k+ a week and can't take a set piece, laughable even. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneColdStephenIreland 74 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Was Cabella on set piece duty at Montpellier? Surely he can get one up and over the wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Kelly 1217 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 He did aye, an equaliser though. So no payout for my pal! (gutted)Must have been a drug free weekend for me that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClubSpinDoctor 0 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 Was Cabella on set piece duty at Montpellier? Surely he can get one up and over the wall. Maybes with a size 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Gloom 21759 Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 (edited) We've been awful at set plays for fucking ages now, the odd crackerjack from R Taylor aside Edited January 29, 2015 by Dr Gloom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKANDWHITEGEORDIE 0 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Pardew really didn't seem to have it in him to properly coach attacking play. In the final third we were either reliant on individual brilliance (Cabaye) or we were utterly blunt. Same problem with free kicks and corners I think. Pardew just wasn't a creative manager when it came to breaking teams down or exploiting weakness. He wasn't a creative player either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLACKANDWHITEGEORDIE 0 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 We've been awful at set plays for fucking ages now, the odd crackerjack from R Taylor aside I doubt Pardew wouldn't know what a set play was. He had a football degree in 'hoofball'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitman 2204 Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 tbf we've been fairly shit at any sort of set piece for years, especially corners. Its just that under Pardews reign the patient flatlined. That floaty free kick to the back stick, fucking hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now