Pennant Vs Pongo

[Spike]

A while back there was quite a school of thought that we should let Pongo have a go at right wing, and there were several games where Rafa played him there.

 

Anyway, whilst Pennant has disappointed against expectation ( anyone that has seen him play against us will testify how s*** hot he is, although it's important to apprecitate the point of this post being one of expectation against ability) and given the lack of will to hog the touchline or to go at his man, he reminds me a lot of Pongo in that right sided role.

 

Which generally leaves me wondering if it would have been better to have kept pongo on for another season.

Edited November 5, 2006 by Spike Starski

[Benitez]

thing with Pennant is, whereas he's only shone in 2 or 3 games, you still know what he can do, and what he's capable of. And given time there is still a very good chance he can do that on a consistent basis.

 

But with Pongo, I just never even saw that much in him. I really don't see that much of a similarity. Playng Pongo on the wing is as effective as playing Heskey or Cisse there.

 

I'd rather stick with the genuine winger and see what he can do over the course of a whole season.

[slapnuts]

pongo is not fit to lace pennants.......................................... drinks, before he drives home.

[IgPig]

Pennant was a bit better today. Early days. His first touch is incredible and he has all the attributes. Too early to make a decision I think.

[Spike]

thing with Pennant is, whereas he's only shone in 2 or 3 games, you still know what he can do, and what he's capable of. And given time there is still a very good chance he can do that on a consistent basis.

 

But with Pongo, I just never even saw that much in him. I really don't see that much of a similarity. Playng Pongo on the wing is as effective as playing Heskey or Cisse there.

 

I'd rather stick with the genuine winger and see what he can do over the course of a whole season.

 

It's Sammya's tiny black men card

[madaboutlfc]

is it just me or pennant looks slower than past seasons

[floyd the barber]

is it just me or pennant looks slower than past seasons

 

 

maybe its some sorta curse we`ve had since the peak days of owen...

 

cisse,kewell, diouf and even pongo...all were quick of the blocks, pacy players before they joined , yet look liked they were carrying a fecking a lorry on their back when with us

 

now pennant and even gonzalez are struglling to beat players by using their pace and more than often cut inside..

 

it seems we`ve lacked for any sort of pace and skill/tricks since owen/mcmanaman

Edited November 5, 2006 by Winding Wheel

[alias75]

The type of winger Pennant is will always be hot and cold the same with Gonzalez but that type of player while being very inconsistent always has the potential to beat their man and create something out of nothing.

 

For most home games id like us to play with Gonzalez and sometimes Pennant (when were playing Stevie in the middle or resting someone) because these are the players that will help us stretch the game against teams looking to defend, we also have now in Kujt and Crouch 2 strikers very good at feeding off service from out wide.

 

Maybe we could try Bellamy wide for some games?

[floyd the barber]

"Maybe we could try Bellamy wide for some games?"

 

 

oh please no, thats probably my one pet gripe....moving strikers about and trying to turn them into wide players...

 

heskey,diouf,cisse and next bellamy....god i hope not, if it happens...then it surely means craig is out the door.

[_00_deathscar]

By wide I think he means in a 4-3-3.

 

Kuyt --- Crouch --- Bellamy

 

--Sissoko-Alonso-Gerrard--

 

Riise-Hyypia-Carra-Finnan

[alias75]

Yeah thats what i meant more of a 4-3-3 than asking him to defend etc...

 

Pennant is the one new signing im not sure about, im not sure hes good enough to start against the top sides although he may prove to be a good squad player for the majority of home games. For the money we paid for him though im not sure although this was obviously a position we needed to sort out and we couldnt really afford to wait for someone like Alves; the position needed filling.

 

Its still early days though and he has shown brief flashes of what he can offer.

[Stevie H]

i want to see pennant doing what he did for birmingham which made him such a threat. get the ball, one touch, out of his feet and whip an early ball in. he looks sometimes like he's trying too hard and trying to play too much football for us. keep it simple lad and go back to first principles.

[anny road]

Pennant played well yesterday, the only criticism is he sometimes switches off

 

Apart from that he kept the ball, retained possession and he can cross a ball.....he should take all our corners

 

The thing people forget is that we dont get the space Birmingham get....yesterday Reading tried to suffoicate us even at 2-0 refusing to come out...he wont get the room he got at brum, so his effect will be different......he will creat space in the middle fo others to exploit

 

i like him

[Stevie H]

Pennant played well yesterday, the only criticism is he sometimes switches off

 

Apart from that he kept the ball, retained possession and he can cross a ball.....he should take all our corners

 

The thing people forget is that we dont get the space Birmingham get....yesterday Reading tried to suffoicate us even at 2-0 refusing to come out...he wont get the room he got at brum, so his effect will be different......he will creat space in the middle fo others to exploit

 

i like him

think he needs a goal as well. would kick his confidence up.

[anny road]

think he needs a goal as well. would kick his confidence up.

 

 

i actually think he is looking ok......

 

Not sure what people expect from him to be honest

 

we have had this conversation

[Stevie H]

i actually think he is looking ok......

 

Not sure what people expect from him to be honest

 

we have had this conversation

hehe. true. i'm reasonably happy with him so far too, and think there's a lot more in his locker yet.

 

too many alves obsessives on here.

[anny road]

hehe. true. i'm reasonably happy with him so far too, and think there's a lot more in his locker yet.

 

too many alves obsessives on here.

 

 

too many obsessives full f***ing stop

[fyds]

Pennant played well yesterday, the only criticism is he sometimes switches off

 

Apart from that he kept the ball, retained possession and he can cross a ball.....he should take all our corners

 

The thing people forget is that we dont get the space Birmingham get....yesterday Reading tried to suffoicate us even at 2-0 refusing to come out...he wont get the room he got at brum, so his effect will be different......he will creat space in the middle fo others to exploit

 

i like him

 

Beat me to it word for word almost. He was actually quite a lot better yesterday - seemed to understand more of what was expected from him, even against a a totally defensive set-up.

[Rich Gobey]

Pennant played well yesterday, the only criticism is he sometimes switches off

 

Apart from that he kept the ball, retained possession and he can cross a ball.....he should take all our corners

 

The thing people forget is that we dont get the space Birmingham get....yesterday Reading tried to suffoicate us even at 2-0 refusing to come out...he wont get the room he got at brum, so his effect will be different......he will creat space in the middle fo others to exploit

 

i like him

 

 

spot on.

[abc]

He puts an excellent cross in. His control is very good, and when receiving the ball in tight situations he uses a couple of touches to steady himself to find space and time very well.

[Guest Scot]

thing with Pennant is, whereas he's only shone in 2 or 3 games, you still know what he can do, and what he's capable of. And given time there is still a very good chance he can do that on a consistent basis.

 

But with Pongo, I just never even saw that much in him. I really don't see that much of a similarity. Playng Pongo on the wing is as effective as playing Heskey or Cisse there.

 

I'd rather stick with the genuine winger and see what he can do over the course of a whole season.

 

Completely agree. FSP just never really struck me as terribly good. Decent, but not someone with a career at Liverpool.

[Leo No.8]

I think there's a lot more to come from Pennant. He does some things very well and looks to be coming into some form again now.

 

I've thought so far that his link play is very good - you see him play some nice one-twos to find space for himself in behind the full-back, rather than running directly at him and beating him with pace or a trick (he forged an excellent understanding with Fowler in The Carling Cup, they looked like two very clever players working the ball between them). He doesn't quite seem to have enough pace and strength to be very direct in his running though.

 

If you are as small as he is, you have to be absolutely lightning to go past people easily and be able to actually push it and run around the defender and still get there first (like Lennon), otherwise you get eased out of it in the challenge. Wingers like Joaquin and Figo are the opposite - they aren't incredibly quick but use their skill and body strength to beat players. Once they put the defender off balance with a step-over, they can get their body in and they are past, but Pennant isn't big enough to do that.

 

Because of this some people aren't happy, they always want the wide men to be bombing past defenders at will; but top quality wingers like that are exceptionally hard to find and extremely expensive, as Rafa found in his pursuit of Alves who has the potential to be exactly that kind of player.

 

However Pennant has a fantastic touch, a good eye for a pass and delivers a brilliant ball into the box. I think the biggest thing for him to work on is his decision making; as Stevie said I'd like to see him deliver early a little more often with our height up front, then perhaps as the game goes on look to work the one-twos and run at the full-back as a variation. He cuts inside too much at the moment which isn't often productive.

 

Basically he's moved to exactly the right club to fulfill his potential. Rafa is just the man to work on the things he needs to work on with him, analysing his movements on the pitch and how he can make the most of his strengths. I believe he'll prove to a be a very good buy indeed given a little time.

Edited November 6, 2006 by Leo No.8