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The Hooper conundrum

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I''ve been a bit mistified by Hooper since his arrival.

I think most of us recognise that on his day he is a quality championship (and even possibly premiership) striker.

Sadly we really haven''t seen enough of him at his best.

He seems to be a player that needs to know he is starting every week. Unlike Jerome or Grabban he doesn''t have the same impact from the bench and actually needs a run of games before he hits form again.

With grabban out for a while now it is essential that Hooper steps up to the plate.

So what should Alex Neil do - is it arm around the shoulder time and telling him he''s the number one guy now with jerome or a.n. Other supporting as appropriate.

Or is it kick up the arse and get out there and prove how good you are.

One thing that for certain is that for our promotion charge to continue we need one of the strikers to hit form again ASAP

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I don''t get it either. On his day, I wonder what he is even doing in this division, he is too good for it, other days he is just anonymous and can''t get into the game.

Hopefully he''ll be motivated to get the big payday of promotion and kick on from here now that Grabban is out for a bit.

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It is a bit of a conundrum, due to Alex Neil saying he doesn''t think Hooper is up to being a loan striker and his formation tends to, always be one up front.

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Hes a great finisher, needs to play up top not number 10 role, better up top in a 2 not lone striker.

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Agree CJRV, he needs to be part of a 2, should work with him and Jerome, both different Jerome likes it into space, Hooper to feet, between them they should scare any defence in this league.

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Never been convinced by him.

Has scored (a few) good goals so has some ability but overall he just doesn''t do enough to justify starting and he''s too expensive to sit on the bench.

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It is clear what Alex Neil likes in his strikers- hard workers who run the channels, constantly move and annoy defenders. Hooper isn''t this and I''d argue Jerome isn''t really either. With Grabban being out we may need to dip into the loan market or we may need to change our style of play a bit.

On a side note I imagine Neil would have bloody loved someone like Grant Holt!

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Hooper is a striker. If we give him decent service, he''ll score goals. He''s far more clinical than Grabban or Jerome. How many chances do you see Hooper miss?

Unfortunately, he doesn''t chase around like a headless chicken or tussle with defenders and as such what he brings to ths team seems to be missed as it''s only relevant if he gets service.

I never saw Lineker on the halfway line linking up play.

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Call it unprofessional or whatever you want he''s one of those players that needs special management. He needs constant encouragement and a run of games or he''s useless. After a run of games with a strike partner he''s a really good top level Championship striker though. He''s not my type of player tbh and I wouldn''t play a flat 442 to the rest of the teams detriment to accommodate him, he''s a decent player but he''s not good enough to justify that.

Jerome is all pace/power and he creates a lot of problems but he doesn''t move enough off the ball and it''s boxing us in and making us look very rigid and predictable now that Grabban''s injured

I''d be looking at a loan asap

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hooper is quality I think Alex Neil smashed him a few times as a defender with accies ..the lad Jerome is a game changer .hooper needs to be fed balls to his feet he doesn''t do much else as in tracking back to help out when the counter attack is on ..

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Hooper working just off Jerome is an excellent combination for this league and we should persevere with it IMO. I was not surprised to see Wes come on at half time on Wednesday but was surprised to see Hoops go off.

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[quote user="Mr Jenkins"]Hooper working just off Jerome is an excellent combination for this league and we should persevere with it IMO. I was not surprised to see Wes come on at half time on Wednesday but was surprised to see Hoops go off.[/quote]

It was presumably because Hooper wasn''t offering enough and AN wanted more creativity after half time.  If Jerome and Hooper start up front today as a pair, then I think Hooper has top score or at least play well, or he will not feature much at all the rest of the season.  He doesn''t entirely seem to fit with the all action pressing game that AN likes.  Funny though, he didn''t seem to fit in Hughton''s set up either. It gets to the point where you have to blame the player rather than managers/systems.  He needs to step in and step up, or he''ll be off this summer.   There is no room for passengers playing their way in over a few games just to get match fitness/sharpness - when they get in the team they have to perform on demand, or they will be out. 

Not surprising to see Morris on the field in that respect either, if the senior players aren''t hacking it the only recourse is to the younger players. 

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[quote user="Clint"]Hooper is a striker. If we give him decent service, he''ll score goals. He''s far more clinical than Grabban or Jerome. How many chances do you see Hooper miss? Unfortunately, he doesn''t chase around like a headless chicken or tussle with defenders and as such what he brings to ths team seems to be missed as it''s only relevant if he gets service. I never saw Lineker on the halfway line linking up play.[/quote]

Hooper is a good finisher and he can be quite a good player when he gets the ball into his feet.

 

But there has to be some responsibility on his part to work hard to get into good positions to receive the ball. To provide his colleagues with that outlet. He wasn''t doing that against Wigan.

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i was watching him on wednesday night and i don''t really think there is a place for players like hooper in the modern game, he is good against teams like blackpool where we can dominate and play it in to him or he is good up in scotland playing for the dominant team  but when things are tight he doesn''t offer a lot in my opinion.

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im spartacus wrote the following post at 07/03/2015 1:39 PM:

i was watching him on wednesday night and i don''t really think there is a place for players like hooper in the modern game, he is good against teams like blackpool where we can dominate and play it in to him or he is good up in scotland playing for the dominant team but when things are tight he doesn''t offer a lot in my opinion.

Interesting point, I have seen him working back, winning the ball and setting up a new phase of play, he does have that in his game but maybe he needs to show it more.

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lake district canary wrote the following post at 07/03/2015 11:50 AM:

Mr Jenkins wrote:

Hooper working just off Jerome is an excellent combination for this league and we should persevere with it IMO. I was not surprised to see Wes come on at half time on Wednesday but was surprised to see Hoops go off.

It was presumably because Hooper wasn''t offering enough and AN wanted more creativity after half time. If Jerome and Hooper start up front today as a pair, then I think Hooper has top score or at least play well, or he will not feature much at all the rest of the season. He doesn''t entirely seem to fit with the all action pressing game that AN likes. Funny though, he didn''t seem to fit in Hughton''s set up either. It gets to the point where you have to blame the player rather than managers/systems. He needs to step in and step up, or he''ll be off this summer. There is no room for passengers playing their way in over a few games just to get match fitness/sharpness - when they get in the team they have to perform on demand, or they will be out.

Not surprising to see Morris on the field in that respect either, if the senior players aren''t hacking it the only recourse is to the younger players.

It would be a bit of a blow to Hoops if Morris starts on front of him today, if it does happen hopefully it would give him the motivation to work at the role AN has given him.

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im a pretty big hooper fan and I think the work he does is so underestimated.

At celtic he played as a loan striker but often had support from the 2 wide men as well as the midfield, now at Norwich he''s asked to play a completely different role behind the main forward. There''s such expectation for him to score 25 a season because he did at celtic, but he playing in more of an advanced midfield/deep lying role for us.

Today I thought he was excellent, from sticking the penalty away, to the really neat through ball through to jerome followed by the little dummy to take the man away to leave Howson with a tap in.

I would much rather have hooper in the team than hoolahan. He doesn''t twist, turn or take many touches on the ball but when he does have a few seconds to think he''s either threading it out wide or through to jerome.

Personally Im happy with what he does and may his largely unnoticed work go on

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I think him and Hoolahan link well, but this means playing two up. Hooper on his own with Hoolahan behind leaves us lightweight up front, with no height for crosses.

Hooper behind Jerome or Grabban means no Wes, or a less effective Wes.

I think Hooper suffered from playing in the Premier with nothing to feed off. It must have been demoralising. Now he needs to recognise that his graft will mow earn him chances.

Really hope it comes good for him so he can have a go in the Premier with a less negative team. I also think he is one of the players you can see raise his game when the fans get behind him.

Good discussion this one - well done for the o.p.

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Some players have a particular style of play or particular attributed that necessitate modifications in other parts of the team, or pattern of play, to accommodate them.

At Norwich Hoolahan is an obvious example, though it applies to some degree to Hooper.

Hooper is not a rangy, stretching, fluid lone forward, nor is he a classic number 10 dropping deep and linking midfield, he is not even a goal-hanging poacher, with Fox-like instincts, really coming alive as the ball enters the final third.

Playing Hooper necessitates playing another striker, which immediately reduced tactical flexibility and limits the likelihood of him playing long stretches of games. Playing another striker also tends to ensure that less chances are created, due to the desire to dominate the central midfield area with numbers.

He could be used off a big man, in an Ipswich-style 2D approach, though this is clearly has a significant impact on pattern of play and other team members.

The gifts of Wes Hoolahan and his particular talents clearly give the opposition tactical challenges to overcome, though even his rare skills are not without compromise for the approach, tactics and the composition of the rest of the XI. Often the Team is tactically stronger for the inclusion of Hoolahan, regardless of subsequent personnel changes that need to be made to amortise what he cannot do.

Hooper, whilst a tidy finisher, simply neither warrants such a compromise in the make up of the rest of the side, nor does he pose such a tactical challenge for opposition managers. Hooper will score goals as a flat track bully against much lesser opposition, though Norwich would be weaker overall against equal or better sides should his needs be accommodated and team shape modified as a result.

Parma

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Don''t totally agree with Parma, Hooper is a much better player with the ball at his feet, as showed yesterday, he is quite clever with the ball and at times yesterday the interplay with him and Hoolahan was sublime, also showed he can play with another striker and Wes, the key is in having a midfield that is not static, and with lots of movement and support and the attacking play is much more incisive and more difficult for defences to deal with.

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Well wha is clear is that we have midfielders sharing the goals. A welcome thing. Someone though may well take the Simeon Jackson role for these last 10 games and it could well be Hooper.

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Hooper, one other striker and Wes ....the remaining midfield would by necessity have to be highly defensively structured (even fairly "statically" ordered) to avoid conceding space, counter attack goals, opposition overloading the midfield....

This would in turn the kind of player you could select, possibly limited chance creation and likely fluidity, unless playing much weaker opposition.

The same principle including Grabban, Jerome and Wes - for example - offers much greater fluidity and a tactical penetration, allied with a possible width and defensive element that isn''t present in the combination with Hooper.

He is a luxury that isn''t that luxurious.

Parma

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