Pace upfront

[way out west 0]

Guardian piece:  suggests time for Simeon to be given a chance.  Have to agree - Chrissy tried but our options are limited if we play him and Holt. 

[Gingerpele 0]

I would rather Vaughan.

AS i have said many times, Jacksons contribution the the last couple of months last season were very important, and he played very well, but the months before that? He did nothing, ok he might not have had a decent run of games, but he still had a fairly decent amount of game time.

Apparently he has a very good shot to goal ratio? Personally i think he misses far too much, take the Parma friendly for example, two one on ones missed, i know it was only a friendly but he really should have been scoring them. I just don''t have confidence that he is a good enough player, most of the time he doesn''t seem to know how to use his pace, the slower defenders nearly always getting the better of him even in the championship because of positioning, and this season they will be even better.

I think Vaughan offers a lot more, he is fast but also strong and a decent height, he surly has more to his all-round game than Jackson, while keeping the pace.

Holt and Martin probably won''t ever work in this league, both are good players, and both could play important parts this season, but unfortunately its Martin who will be dropped, and when Vaughan (or maybe even Jackson) have a good game, will find it extremely hard to get back into the team.

[Row D Seat 7 0]

I suggested something similar in my ''Paul Lambert''s team selection vs. West Brom'' thread.

Can''t believe a manager of his quality didn''t believe we needed pace up front against two of the more slower centre backs in the Prem.

[morty 0]

Technically what do we actually know about Vaughn anyway?His recovery from his injury, his fitness levels etc?If I''m honest I don''t even know where he was playing last season.

[morty 0]

Anyway Oli had returned from Scunthorpe now, he''ll save us.Lol.

[Yellowfuture 71]

Just watching the game I recorded on Sunday, it`s good to see the whole game again as it becomes a bit of a blurr when you are there and caught up in the emotion.

The truth is we had loads of chances to score, our problem was not a lack of pace but an inability to finish, it will come if we keep playing as we are, it`s more about self belief than pace imo and we have a manager who hopefully can help instill that.

[smooth 114]

thefutureisyellow, I agree we had more chances but they were half chances. Or the ball bobbling to high.

We attack as a unit so midfield in the box for the wing back to cross. I agree our finishing is not looking good enough for premiership survival, but I also note that with pace upfront it offers an alternative. It worked last season as our style of play changed near the end of the season and teams had no idea who simeon jackson was when he started to score.

I believe you can fire up Vaughan after his facial injury for Bolton and tell him to grab the headlines. I agree I have worried about Jackson but I believe he could be a good sub for Vaughan if he needs to come off in the game.

At the moment we do not look like scoring enough, I thought the pace for yesterdays game would have come from elliott bennett, so good play in the middle and martin and surman releasing EB. But taking on fullbacks and using his pace was not on his agenda. A little disappointed by EB, think I would rather Pilkington in the midfield allowing Naughton to run on in the next game.

[Yellowfuture 71]

Before the game WBA had kept one clean sheet in 39 games, it`s 2 now!

I hope Vaughan will be fired up after what happened on Saturday, it could be the spark up fron that we need.

[Salopian 1]

The truth is that pace without control is not much use. We can think of recent NC players who fall into that category.

Without control, in the Premiership a player will be easily dispossessed. One problem is that big men may find it harder than small colleagues. I have to concede that Jackson is disappointing at times, as his control lets him down.

Holty does not have the best control, and Morison''s is not the best. We have to wait to see how good Vaughan is. Chris Martin is as good as any, even if he lacks blinding pace. Possibly the best is Surman, but he, too, lacks pace.

If the ball is headed, hit on the volley or deflected from a cross, then control doesn''t feature, and lon this both Holty and Jackson are good. Getting into position is more important than pace.

[Salopian 1]

The truth is that pace without quick ball control is not much use. We can think of recent NC players who fall into that category.

Without control, in the Premiership a player will be easily dispossessed. One problem is that big men may find it harder than small colleagues. I have to concede that Jackson is disappointing at times, as his control lets him down.

Holty does not have the best control, and Morison''s is not the best. We have to wait to see how good Vaughan is. Chris Martin is as good as any, even if he lacks blinding pace. Possibly the best is Surman, but he, too, lacks pace.

If the ball is headed, hit on the volley or deflected from a cross, then control doesn''t feature, and on this both Holty and Jackson are good. Getting into position is more important than pace.

I accept that in counter-attacking pace is very important, but then so is control.

[morty 0]

You only have to look at Wright Phillips last night to appreciate pace isn''t everything.

[exiled blue 0]

"You only have to look at Wright Phillips last night to appreciate pace isn''t everything."

exactly.that`s what a lot of man city fans say about milner. he`s basically a cross country runner who decided to play football!. swp`s trickery causes defences more problems than his speed. his low centre of gravity ties big plodding defenders up in knots.

and as for david silva... ;)

[ca 1]

[quote user="thefutureisyellow"]Just watching the game I recorded on Sunday, it`s good to see the whole game again as it becomes a bit of a blurr when you are there and caught up in the emotion. The truth is we had loads of chances to score, our problem was not a lack of pace but an inability to finish, it will come if we keep playing as we are, it`s more about self belief than pace imo and we have a manager who hopefully can help instill that.[/quote]

 

I also watched the game on Sky+ yesterday and like you thought we had loads of chances to score, but no-one to finish.

Think we need another experienced striker, a centre back and a goalie in the Jan window.

[chicken 0]

Pace should be split into two categories:

- Acceleration

- Speed

I say that because some of the players we have arn''t slow, the problem is that their acceleration is not as good.

SWP can change up through the gears quickly and this coupled with skill can be more than enough at times to get past defenders who tend to be slow on the acceleration front.

Anything that can buy you that little bit of time to play a good ball or for a fellow player to make a run for you to feed.

As others have said though, pace is only really useful if you can do something with it. I can think of a number of strikers that have been like that but never quite cut it because of their lack of ability rather than pace.

It''s also down to players getting the right opportunities to score.

[morty 0]

[quote user="chicken"]Pace should be split into two categories:

- Acceleration

- Speed

I say that because some of the players we have arn''t slow, the problem is that their acceleration is not as good.

SWP can change up through the gears quickly and this coupled with skill can be more than enough at times to get past defenders who tend to be slow on the acceleration front.

Anything that can buy you that little bit of time to play a good ball or for a fellow player to make a run for you to feed.

As others have said though, pace is only really useful if you can do something with it. I can think of a number of strikers that have been like that but never quite cut it because of their lack of ability rather than pace.

It''s also down to players getting the right opportunities to score.[/quote]Lee Croft had pace.I don''t think I need say anything further to illustrate the point![:D]

[paul moy 235]

[quote user="morty"][quote user="chicken"]Pace should be split into two categories: - Acceleration - Speed I say that because some of the players we have arn''t slow, the problem is that their acceleration is not as good. SWP can change up through the gears quickly and this coupled with skill can be more than enough at times to get past defenders who tend to be slow on the acceleration front. Anything that can buy you that little bit of time to play a good ball or for a fellow player to make a run for you to feed. As others have said though, pace is only really useful if you can do something with it. I can think of a number of strikers that have been like that but never quite cut it because of their lack of ability rather than pace. It''s also down to players getting the right opportunities to score.[/quote]

Lee Croft had pace.

I don''t think I need say anything further to illustrate the point!

[:D]
[/quote]

Indeed and he was a terrible finisher. We''ve just sold our best pacey finisher IMO.

[ron obvious 1,514]

I remember Otsemobor giving Gareth Bale a 2 yard start, then beating him over the next 20. So pace not everything then. Speed of thought beats speed of foot any day.Of course, if you''ve got both ...... you''re probably Lionel Messi.