AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Isn't Bent the highest scoring striker of the last 5 years in the PL? i think so yes Rooney has 3 more goals in 14 less games in last 5 years to be exact.... where you got that from? a few games ago, bent was on 83 premier league goals over the past 4 years or so and i think rooney was on 84 along with drogba. Since then, bent has scored 2 against arsenal and 1 against stoke but rooney has scored only scored a pen against blackburn since then could be wrong, just wiki stats of Prem goals. (season 06-07/07-08/08-09/09-10/10-11) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Isn't Bent the highest scoring striker of the last 5 years in the PL? i think so yes Rooney has 3 more goals in 14 less games in last 5 years to be exact.... where you got that from? a few games ago, bent was on 83 premier league goals over the past 4 years or so and i think rooney was on 84 along with drogba. Since then, bent has scored 2 against arsenal and 1 against stoke but rooney has scored only scored a pen against blackburn since then could be wrong, just wiki stats of Prem goals. (season 06-07/07-08/08-09/09-10/10-11) fair enough but even if you have to admit that it's very close between the 2 in terms of goalscoring. I personally think bent is better seeing as he done it for weaker sides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Isn't Bent the highest scoring striker of the last 5 years in the PL? i think so yes Rooney has 3 more goals in 14 less games in last 5 years to be exact.... where you got that from? a few games ago, bent was on 83 premier league goals over the past 4 years or so and i think rooney was on 84 along with drogba. Since then, bent has scored 2 against arsenal and 1 against stoke but rooney has scored only scored a pen against blackburn since then could be wrong, just wiki stats of Prem goals. (season 06-07/07-08/08-09/09-10/10-11) Hardly "Research" that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFC-Prideofbrum Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Isn't Bent the highest scoring striker of the last 5 years in the PL? i think so yes Rooney has 3 more goals in 14 less games in last 5 years to be exact.... where you got that from? a few games ago, bent was on 83 premier league goals over the past 4 years or so and i think rooney was on 84 along with drogba. Since then, bent has scored 2 against arsenal and 1 against stoke but rooney has scored only scored a pen against blackburn since then could be wrong, just wiki stats of Prem goals. (season 06-07/07-08/08-09/09-10/10-11) fair enough but even if you have to admit that it's very close between the 2 in terms of goalscoring. I personally think bent is better seeing as he done it for weaker sides Yes, close. I think Bent is one of the best poachers, if not the best along with Hernandez at finding the right positions. Although Rooney will score more different type of goals, but it's close as 'goalscorers'... to be fair, I was harsh on that thread but it was at the time you was claiming Bent to be a better player than Rooney generally (which fair enough if you still hold the opinion) so the thread seemed far more than just 'goalscorers' at the time...where as looking back, it seems harsh and your point you made wasn't really that wrong, so I apologize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sir_gary_cahill Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 haha thanks, let's just leave it at that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildwood Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Ah I do remember those horrible days when we signed a foreign striker and hoped he was the next Angel etc. It's such an odd feeling having a striker that has the ability to score 20+ goals, and without 'bigger clubs' wanting to steal him. Let's face it, everyone above where we should be (6th/7th), won't come in for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamburglar Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Just read the Holt article. Do 'The Mirror' pay him to do that? A quite pathetic article I found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted May 19, 2011 Moderator Share Posted May 19, 2011 Just read that Oliver Holt article on Bent, I won't be buying The Mirror again while he is still on the staff and I hope other Villa fans do the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cracker1234 Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 When Darren “The Truth” Bent made his big money move from Sunderland to Aston Villa in January 2011, football fans everywhere were divided. For some, he was a striker who guaranteed the most important commodity in the game – goals. Others were adamant that this was symptomatic of the Anglocentric attitude towards scouting among Premier League clubs. But what is the truth about Darren Bent? On the face of it, he is surely one of the unluckiest players in the world today. Yes, I know he had a fair slice of luck with that beach-ball goal against Liverpool but take a look at the bigger picture. Last summer, Bent was the only player in the five major leagues of Europe to score 20 goals for a World Cup nation and not be selected for the tournament. Indeed, only Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Antonio Di Natale managed more than Bent’s 24 league goals. It’s a remarkable statistic that might be explained away by suggesting Bent was some sort of one-season-wonder. Of course, that’s not the case. The Villa striker has now scored more Premier League goals in the past three years than any other player. That’s more than Drogba, more than Rooney, more than Carlos Tevez and certainly more than Fernando Torres. And he’s done it in weaker sides than those players have had the opportunity to play in. The counter-argument to this is that Bent has not done it and never would do it at the highest level. Not against the best defences in Europe anyway. Again, it’s worth examining the stats. The table above shows Bent’s goalscoring record over the last three seasons against the top six sides in English football. It is quite astonishing. This is not a small sample that has been extrapolated to draw misleading conclusions – this is his record over more than 40 hours of game time against some of the finest sides in Europe. The 2436 minutes equates to a shade over 27 full matches. That’s 20 goals in 27 games against the top six over a three year period. The key to understanding criticism of Bent is that there is far more to being a top-class centre forward these days than merely scoring goals. Universality is the future, not specialisation. It’s an argument that Stan Collymore articulated when explaining why Bent should not go to the World Cup last summer: “Even allowing for his fine season, Carlton Cole and Bobby Zamora remain ahead of him. The reason? Well, at international or European club level, touch, awareness of space and an appreciation of team-mates’ positioning are as vital as the ability to score goals.” The example of Cole was also advanced by Mark Bright and, even if that now feels less appropriate a year on, the issue of bringing others into play is at least a valid one. And besides, Collymore was happy to repeat his criticism of Bent when discussing his impending move to Aston Villa in January of this year: “It just smacks of desperation. As an instinctive striker he gets a solid A, but as an all-round footballer he gets a D. Holding the ball up, his movement, his awareness, that’s why to me he would be massively overpriced. Being a £20m striker means that you have to be able to score goals but if you’re not scoring goals you can drop off, you can get involved in the play, you can draw other defenders in, you can create from wide positions. There’s a massive question mark about Darren Bent’s ability to fulfil that kind of remit.” Collymore and – it has to be said – many other pundits were keen to labour the point that Villa should have been looking for a more complete footballer for their money. The Guardian conducted a poll asking if Bent was worth the £18m fee (said to be rising to £24m) and the result showed 76.8% felt the striker was not worth the money. They were, however, less forthcoming about who this complete footballer might be that would like to come to Aston Villa. Within a couple of weeks of the Bent debate, the agenda had moved on anyway. Edin Dzeko’s arrival at Man City was followed by the £50m move of Fernando Torres and the emergence of £35m man Andy Carroll. The argument that Bent was overpriced was now something of a side issue – and so perhaps it’s better to return to the issue of him ‘just scoring goals’. This criticism is largely justified. Bent’s technique is rudimentary and his hold-up play ordinary. This is a striker who prefers running onto the ball and, while that does have the advantage of forcing the opposition to play a deeper line, it doesn’t lend itself well to playing an active role in linking the play. But some context here may help. Comparing Bent to a Rooney or a Messi is ludicrous and irrelevant. Evaluating his record against, say, Jermain Defoe is a more useful exercise. Defoe is also a player who prefers running onto the ball rather than developing the attack with his hold-up play. And yet, he was the man chosen by Fabio Capello, not only to go to the 2010 World Cup, but also to start the vital game against Germany. It is therefore worthwhile looking at Defoe’s goalscoring record against England’s best teams. His stats over the same three year period against Man Utd, Chelsea, Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are revealing. Defoe has scored five goals to Bent’s 20. This comes from a total game time of 1774 minutes – a goal every 354.8 minutes. Put simply, Defoe has scored five goals in nearly 20 games against the cream of English football compared to Bent’s 20 in 27. And yet, he was in England’s starting XI and Bent was not on the plane. Is it possible, therefore, that – even as a £24m man - Bent can be both limited and underrated? Amid the hoopla of his January transfer, as wags everywhere joined in the mockery of Bent, the words of high-profile Norwegian football scout, Tor-Kristian Karlsen, resonated. Karlsen has long bemoaned the premiums paid on English-based talent and so his balanced assessment was revealing: “For all the criticism he is an established Premier League star who’s proven capable of scoring consistently. The closest you come to an English 20-goals-a-season striker in the top flight. Ideal for any team that plays on the break or employs traditional attacking schemes without sophisticated collective patterns of movement. He has probably found his rightful home at an upper mid-table Premier League side.” It’s a qualified endorsement but also an acknowledgement that Bent was probably the ideal signing for Aston Villa. The suspicion clearly remains that his limitations would be exposed on the world stage. But, given his record, perhaps Bent – ahead of Defoe and the rest – is a man who has earned the right to find out. Ghostgoal The table goes with the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 People may have judged him too early. They may still have. He can easily go the next 15 games with no goals. Im sure he wont, but its possible. But we dont half overate players on here. Better than rooney. Give me a break. Whether your talking out and out strikers, forwards are whatever, ther isnt a moment in football where I would prefer Darren Bent to a fully fit, fully firing Wayne Rooney!! Temperament - I might give him that actually. A world class striker??? Whats that based on then. All the goals hes scored on the top stage in world football. and if he hasnt been given a chance yet, fair dos, but hes not been given a chance for good reason. I actually think hes potetially a world class goalscorer - something I didnt think 1 - 2 years ago, but Im sorry to say, I doubt Darren bent will ever be a world class striker in my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted May 19, 2011 VT Supporter Share Posted May 19, 2011 People may have judged him too early. They may still have. He can easily go the next 15 games with no goals. Im sure he wont, but its possible. But considering his form here pretty much matches the form he's shown over the past 5 years, i.e. consistently scoring goals, would indicate that we haven't judged him too early. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 People may have judged him too early. They may still have. He can easily go the next 15 games with no goals. Im sure he wont, but its possible. But considering his form here pretty much matches the form he's shown over the past 5 years, i.e. consistently scoring goals, would indicate that we haven't judged him too early. True, but that doesnt make him a world class striker like some have said. I mean he ant even got 100 premier league goals, unlike Heskey :winkold: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Best striker to play for Villa in the premiership? Still has to go a little way to beat Yorke for me, but he's heading that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyOne Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 People may have judged him too early. They may still have. He can easily go the next 15 games with no goals. Im sure he wont, but its possible. But we dont half overate players on here. Better than rooney. Give me a break. Whether your talking out and out strikers, forwards are whatever, ther isnt a moment in football where I would prefer Darren Bent to a fully fit, fully firing Wayne Rooney!! Temperament - I might give him that actually. A world class striker??? Whats that based on then. All the goals hes scored on the top stage in world football. and if he hasnt been given a chance yet, fair dos, but hes not been given a chance for good reason. I actually think hes potetially a world class goalscorer - something I didnt think 1 - 2 years ago, but Im sorry to say, I doubt Darren bent will ever be a world class striker in my opinion. Erm...If you're saying that he has the potential of being a world class goalscorer, then that would make him a world class striker. That's what strikers tend to do, purely to score goals. That's what it's based on. It seems you're expecting him to be a forward when he isn't anything of the sort. Bent has been vastly underrated over the years. Spurs didn't give him a chance and the other clubs he's been to were not established Premier League clubs. Now he's at Villa, he'll get given the chance in Euros 2012 I'm sure of it. For a player who's saved us from relegation, you sure love to continue to pick faults with him when his job is purely to score goals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoody Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 As soon as he hits 20 goals next season he's the best striker we've had in a long long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 People may have judged him too early. They may still have. He can easily go the next 15 games with no goals. Im sure he wont, but its possible. But we dont half overate players on here. Better than rooney. Give me a break. Whether your talking out and out strikers, forwards are whatever, ther isnt a moment in football where I would prefer Darren Bent to a fully fit, fully firing Wayne Rooney!! Temperament - I might give him that actually. A world class striker??? Whats that based on then. All the goals hes scored on the top stage in world football. and if he hasnt been given a chance yet, fair dos, but hes not been given a chance for good reason. I actually think hes potetially a world class goalscorer - something I didnt think 1 - 2 years ago, but Im sorry to say, I doubt Darren bent will ever be a world class striker in my opinion. Erm...If you're saying that he has the potential of being a world class goalscorer, then that would make him a world class striker. That's what strikers tend to do, purely to score goals. That's what it's based on. It seems you're expecting him to be a forward when he isn't anything of the sort. Bent has been vastly underrated over the years. Spurs didn't give him a chance and the other clubs he's been to were not established Premier League clubs. Now he's at Villa, he'll get given the chance in Euros 2012 I'm sure of it. For a player who's saved us from relegation, you sure love to continue to pick faults with him when his job is purely to score goals. Im not picking faults at all, Ive never once disputed his goalscoring - Im just purely stating I think people on here overate him beyond belief. That imo is shown by the fact that for 2 weeks he didnt score, this thread never got used. Why, because there was nothing to say other than the service was crap, or maybe because he doesnt offer anything else. Then he scores and hes world class. Doesnt add up. I appreciate your point but I think thers a difference between a world class striker and a world class goal scorer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 we dont half overate players on here. Or underrate them. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground - players are either worldbeaters or hopeless rubbish - often the same player goes through both of these states in a single season. Darren Bent, your lazy, donkeyish, utter rubbish phase awaits you sometime soon... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oaks Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 What was it, once in 34 years or something Sunderland have finished above us... so they get a couple thousand extra a game, Aston Villa are a far more successful club than Sunderland, pretty much always has been, and it doesn't (other than a half a season blip) look like changing any time soon. Rubbish journalists and broadcasters always have to get a reaction by saying something ridiculous, rather than being clever and ingenious, that what people like Holt wants. Its pretty much best to ignore the shite paper he works for anyway, because it makes poor toilet paper at best. Erm Oaks, what's going on with your avvy? How long have you been "out"? 1 week only, thats all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houlston Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 we dont half overate players on here. Or underrate them. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground - players are either worldbeaters or hopeless rubbish - often the same player goes through both of these states in a single season. Darren Bent, your lazy, donkeyish, utter rubbish phase awaits you sometime soon... Yep but I dont think this is exclusive to VT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJVilla Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 Every time I think of Darren Bent playing for Villa I touch myself. He's the natural goalscorer we've been crying out for for about 10 years. That is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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