Popular Post MrBlack Posted April 17, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 23 hours ago, PieFacE said: Random observations, but does Pope generally struggle with shots close to his feet? As it felt like yesterday that's where Ollie was trying to finish. On quite a few shots that he had the general way to finish would be to stick the ball in the far corner but he seemed to keep going low and hard towards Pope's feet. If it is a known weakness, you can guarantee it was Emery that spotted it and advised Watkins where to focus his shots. There is no stone left unturned by Emery, and this is the kind of "that will never work" out of the box thinking he'd come up with. I imagine the chat with Watkins went like this... "Fire the ball at the keepers feet boss? Are you sure? Surely I aim for the corners?" "Good evening, firstly I want to thank the fans. But yes, you will shoot at the keepers feet. I've watched 53 hours of Pope's goalkeeping footage and 71% of goals he conceded were targeted low at his feet. Also, he saves 63% more shots in the corner than those aimed at his feet. Shoot towards his feet" "Ok boss" In fairness, the second one took a deflection that probably wrong footed pope. But Emery probably knew that was going to happen to. 4 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLVillan Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 6 minutes ago, MrBlack said: If it is a known weakness, you can guarantee it was Emery that spotted it and advised Watkins where to focus his shots. There is no stone left unturned by Emery, and this is the kind of "that will never work" out of the box thinking he'd come up with. I imagine the chat with Watkins went like this... "Fire the ball at the keepers feet boss? Are you sure? Surely I aim for the corners?" "Good evening, firstly I want to thank the fans. But yes, you will shoot at the keepers feet. I've watched 53 hours of Pope's goalkeeping footage and 71% of goals he conceded were targeted low at his feet. Also, he saves 63% more shots in the corner than those aimed at his feet. Shoot towards his feet" "Ok boss" In fairness, the second one took a deflection that probably wrong footed pope. But Emery probably knew that was going to happen to. 100% this was in the scouting report. Said exactly the same to a mate after the match. Pope really struggles to get down to stuff that is hit close to his body and low down. It's either a kick-save or it goes in. He can't/doesn't get his hands down fast enough. Another outstanding finite detail that we get with this manager and massive credit to Watkins for having the discipline and intelligence to execute the plan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tinker Posted April 17, 2023 VT Supporter Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 His shooting was great....... best thing he did for me was the header back to Ramsey for the first goal, unbelievable assist. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MrBlack Posted April 17, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted April 17, 2023 15 minutes ago, tinker said: His shooting was great....... best thing he did for me was the header back to Ramsey for the first goal, unbelievable assist. Not sure what size this will come out but it was such a good header. Watched the ball all the way then last second turns his head away to perfectly cushion the ball so that it drops dead weight in the box in front of Ramsey. It was perfection. 5 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pinebro Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Imo Better than Benteke Better than carew 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 1 hour ago, MrBlack said: I imagine the chat with Watkins went like this... "Fire the ball at the keepers feet boss? Are you sure? Surely I aim for the corners?" "Good evening, firstly I want to thank the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wict01 Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 2 minutes ago, Pinebro said: Imo Better than Benteke Better than carew Between the two for me, I still think prime Benteke was the best forward I've seen purely because he was doing all of that in a shocking, shocking team. However I desperately hope Watkins becomes our top prem goalscorer in the next 2-3 seasons, he deserves it! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom13 Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 He's no Benteke. The header assist btw was unbelievable. To get to it, win it, and cushion it under pressure - superb. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sulberto21 Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Benteke struggled to press. He’s a back to goal striker and Ollie is all round now that he has sorted his feet out. Benteke was still a special talent for us though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wict01 Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Just now, Tom13 said: He's no Benteke. The header assist btw was unbelievable. To get to it, win it, and cushion it under pressure - superb. Was gonna say this too, absolutely perfect lay off with his head, while being fouled. What a wonderful team goal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted April 17, 2023 Share Posted April 17, 2023 Watkins and Mings both in team of the week. Absolutely glorious in front of Southgate too, two of the best players on the pitch are two he didn’t pick for the last squad. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duke313 Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 Quote "One of the first things Emery told him was to only make runs through the width of the box instead of stretching out wide." Elite tier coaching. Emery could probably turn Keinan Davis into an elite centre-forward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinker Posted April 18, 2023 VT Supporter Share Posted April 18, 2023 23 hours ago, wict01 said: Between the two for me, I still think prime Benteke was the best forward I've seen purely because he was doing all of that in a shocking, shocking team. However I desperately hope Watkins becomes our top prem goalscorer in the next 2-3 seasons, he deserves it! Benteke picked up injuries and took time to get back to form once he was fit. He also had a questionable attitude, trying to force moves. Only at the top of his game for 2 seasons as well and then faded away on big money. Watkins every time for me, not even close. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brommy Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 23 hours ago, MrBlack said: Not sure what size this will come out but it was such a good header. Watched the ball all the way then last second turns his head away to perfectly cushion the ball so that it drops dead weight in the box in front of Ramsey. It was perfection. I'm glad Ollie knew what he was doing because when I saw it from my seat near the front centre of the Upper Holte, my instant reaction was - he must have been fouled for his header to be so far off target - 'PENALTY!' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panto_Villan Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 (edited) 18 minutes ago, tinker said: Benteke picked up injuries and took time to get back to form once he was fit. He also had a questionable attitude, trying to force moves. Only at the top of his game for 2 seasons as well and then faded away on big money. Watkins every time for me, not even close. I mean Watkins has only been at the top of his game for a max of half a season, so Benteke is still well on top there. Watkins is looking great these days but he’s doing it with much better players around him, playing in a proper formation organised by a far better coach. Put Watkins in the Lambert team and we go straight down imo. Benteke was a special talent who kept us up by himself one season. Maybe Watkins is a better striker for the system we have right now, but Tekkers was the better player for us overall. Edited April 18, 2023 by Panto_Villan 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turvontour Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 23 hours ago, duke313 said: Watkins and Mings both in team of the week. Absolutely glorious in front of Southgate too, two of the best players on the pitch are two he didn’t pick for the last squad. Moreno for me. Was very influential 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 On 16/04/2023 at 17:44, ChesterDad said: And rightly so - Let’s just take a little rain check for a small moment here. Ollie has been very poor for us, you can’t overlook this fact - right know he is looking like a very different proposition, but we just need to see if this is a permanent transition into a new Ollie Watkins or he has hit top form and his confidence levels are sky high. In my humble opinion - I think Unai is turning him into a top striker, I don’t think he scores his second goal - pre Christmas which considering this is just a short while back - the transformation is even more remarkable and is credit to his ability and willingness to learn and adapt, however I would just err on the side of caution for the time being You make it sound like he was poor for a very long time He was poor only for one year playing under a clown and still hit double figures 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAMAICAN-VILLAN Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 On 17/04/2023 at 16:00, MrBlack said: Not sure what size this will come out but it was such a good header. Watched the ball all the way then last second turns his head away to perfectly cushion the ball so that it drops dead weight in the box in front of Ramsey. It was perfection. Mental that he seems to have developed footballing intelligence. Which i never thought was possible at his age or stage of development! Would indicate he has always had it, just needed the right muse and circumstances to bring it all out of him! The fact he did this on purpose, as well as his random skill the other day to beat two players is mad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobzy Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 1 hour ago, Zatman said: You make it sound like he was poor for a very long time He was poor only for one year playing under a clown and still hit double figures Wasn't even poor - just asked to take the central defenders out of the game whilst also running the channels and bringing the midfield up the pitch. All while needing to score goals to keep fans onside. Yeah OK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omariqy Posted April 18, 2023 Share Posted April 18, 2023 I refuse to judge any player under that fraud of a manager. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts