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It's Character Forming

Mario’s Free Kick

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...was brilliant but the GK was so far to his left that it would have been almost impossible to beat him. If he’d gone for the other side of the goal then he had a much bigger area to aim at and even a less good delivery would have scored.

 

He’s defo our best set piece taker but I wish he’d tried the other side.

Edited by It's Character Forming
Not actually referring to the legendary Miami Dolphins QB 🤷🏼
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If players always went over the wall it would be obvious and predictable. Going to the keeper's side can catch him out by wrong footing him. It was an excellent strike and an equally good save.

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16 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Stockdale has always been a decent keeper and played in the EPL.

 

17 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Stockdale has always been a decent keeper and played in the EPL.

He’s always been a bit of a jinx against us but I do remember the hilarity when he conceded two OG’s at Carrow Rd when playing for Stoke.

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Its got to the stage where I am surprised when he doesn't get it on target. He's certainly the best we have ever had from 20 to 25 yards.

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19 minutes ago, keelansgrandad said:

Stockdale has always been a decent keeper and played in the EPL.

Amazed he got up to save that after all them pies

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Always nice for me to see Stockdale play around the EFL and PL since I used to watch him play for my original hometown club Darlington FC - so he's done pretty well

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9 minutes ago, ......and Smith must score. said:

 

He’s always been a bit of a jinx against us but I do remember the hilarity when he conceded two OG’s at Carrow Rd when playing for Stoke.

He was playing for Brighton, I think... because their fans were giving Alex Pritchard a load of stick for choosing to join us over them. He then pinged two free kicks off the bar, both of which bounced in off the unfortunate Stockdale... I remember it well!

"Stockdale's on fire, your defence is terrified..."

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Left footed run up telegraphed where ball would go.  Keeper only needs to see goals at Leeds and Sheff Wed to know which side he needed to favour.  Mario first opportunity for long time to try free kick. 

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2 hours ago, ......and Smith must score. said:

 

He’s always been a bit of a jinx against us but I do remember the hilarity when he conceded two OG’s at Carrow Rd when playing for Stoke.

He was playing for Brighton. 

Great chant that night when a Brighton player missed a sitter near the end.

"He would have scored that - he would have scored that - oh David Stockdale - he would have scored that". 🙂 

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It was nice to see Mario actually get a shot on target for change, it seems a while since he actually hit the target and really trouble the keeper? I thought it was going in; decent save by Stockdale given his weight.

He's playing ok though and still offers something a bit different with his range of passing, plus Farke rates him over others in the squad.

 

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1 hour ago, Thirsty Lizard said:

He was playing for Brighton. 

Great chant that night when a Brighton player missed a sitter near the end.

"He would have scored that - he would have scored that - oh David Stockdale - he would have scored that". 🙂 

I remember that well! Poor ole Stockdale got a lot of jip from the crowd that game.

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3 hours ago, ricardo said:

Its got to the stage where I am surprised when he doesn't get it on target. He's certainly the best we have ever had from 20 to 25 yards.

Have you forgotten Mal Lucas?

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1 hour ago, Pukki Blinders said:

In all honesty I'm pretty sure we, members of an internet forum, don't need to be giving Mario advice on how to take a free-kick 😂

We should just stick to substitution timings................

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As with many things in football it's a game of cat and mouse. Or double bluff. If the keeper starts moving to the right assuming Mario goes for the gap he's left, it's a goal. As it happened it was a good bluff by Stockdale and a good save of an excellent free kick.

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6 hours ago, Mr.Carrow said:

As with many things in football it's a game of cat and mouse. Or double bluff. If the keeper starts moving to the right assuming Mario goes for the gap he's left, it's a goal. As it happened it was a good bluff by Stockdale and a good save of an excellent free kick.

Yes good point.  Also relevant here that Mario scored in injury time in the home fixture vs Wycombe which also went in the top right corner (from Mario's perspective).  For that one, the keeper was much more central and didn't get close to it.  Hence I'm sure it was no coincidence yesterday the keeper stood well over towards that side of the goal.

 

Mario could have decided it might be a bluff by the keeper when he still went for the right, which would have caught out Stockdale had he moved back towards the centre whle Mario was running up,, but given the previous goal he'd conceded to Mario, it was no surprise to me that he stayed there and was able to save it - given where Stockdale was standing, he had that corner of the goal covered against even the best strike of the ball.

 

I think the answer is that, as with penalties, a free kick specialist needs to vary the corner he aims for to keep the keeper honest.  If you look back at Mario's free kicks, he's brilliant but they all seem to be aimed at the top RHC.  if he played the occasional one over the wall it would make it tricky for a GK to stand so far over as Stockdale did yesterday.  Basically if Mario had put it to the left, Stockdale would have been completely stranded.  So that's my view (as a person posting on a Norwich city football discussion board on the internet).  Either it's a sensible conclusion or not, (like with Tony Blair making suggestions about vaccines).

 

And also I agree with @ricardo that I've never seen a better striker of a free kick for City than Mario.  But for this very reason, opposition goalkeepers are going to take notice of him !

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Superb free kick. Was going in. Stockdale pulled off a worldie. 9/10 times that goes in. Don't think we can criticise Mario at all.

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4 hours ago, It's Character Forming said:

Yes good point.  Also relevant here that Mario scored in injury time in the home fixture vs Wycombe which also went in the top right corner (from Mario's perspective).  For that one, the keeper was much more central and didn't get close to it.  Hence I'm sure it was no coincidence yesterday the keeper stood well over towards that side of the goal.

 

Mario could have decided it might be a bluff by the keeper when he still went for the right, which would have caught out Stockdale had he moved back towards the centre whle Mario was running up,, but given the previous goal he'd conceded to Mario, it was no surprise to me that he stayed there and was able to save it - given where Stockdale was standing, he had that corner of the goal covered against even the best strike of the ball.

 

I think the answer is that, as with penalties, a free kick specialist needs to vary the corner he aims for to keep the keeper honest.  If you look back at Mario's free kicks, he's brilliant but they all seem to be aimed at the top RHC.  if he played the occasional one over the wall it would make it tricky for a GK to stand so far over as Stockdale did yesterday.  Basically if Mario had put it to the left, Stockdale would have been completely stranded.  So that's my view (as a person posting on a Norwich city football discussion board on the internet).  Either it's a sensible conclusion or not, (like with Tony Blair making suggestions about vaccines).

 

And also I agree with @ricardo that I've never seen a better striker of a free kick for City than Mario.  But for this very reason, opposition goalkeepers are going to take notice of him !

Yes I largely agree, but take the scenario of the same freekick Vs Brentford. The keeper would've studied Mario's freekicks and may well think "he always goes to his right, but his last one was saved, so this time he'll go for the other side". In that scenario it would be best for Vrancic to stick to the same side! I'd actually be tempted to let Buendia take it as the keeper definitely won't be expecting that!

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2 hours ago, Mr.Carrow said:

Yes I largely agree, but take the scenario of the same freekick Vs Brentford. The keeper would've studied Mario's freekicks and may well think "he always goes to his right, but his last one was saved, so this time he'll go for the other side". In that scenario it would be best for Vrancic to stick to the same side! I'd actually be tempted to let Buendia take it as the keeper definitely won't be expecting that!

Hell, nah! If Vrancic and Buendia are over a free-kick, there's only one man who should take them. And it's not our football heaven.

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I've seen it back a few times, and in honesty, he may have beaten other keepers. Stockdale is a good keeper and read it well

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