Now that Aurelio is close to full fitness

[Guest Snorky]

I'm not on my own when it comes to wondering what Crouch has been doing of late. Although he's by far from the best in the air, there is no doubt he can be effective in the air given the right service.

 

Pennant provides some service, but it can be irratic, so this is were Aurelio comes in. Some of the balls he pings in from the left are of the highest quality, so all Crouch needs to do is get on the end of a few them to start regaining his confidence infront of goal.

[Guest Lennon]

Fabio is a gem of a player. Great to see a defender pick a pass out of defence for a change instead of just wellying it upfield.

 

Will Crouch get many games to gain his confidence?

 

The evidence so far says no.

[Mike]

aurelio is a great crosser of the ball, you could be right, but he needs to play alot more to get his form back.

pennant is not a very accurate crosser, you're right there.

[Rimbeux]

Now that Aurelio is close to full fitness, Will we see an improvement in Crouch ?

 

 

Only if can get into his head rather get it on his head.

[Owen1978]

i will give fabio 4 games before he gets injured!

[Guest sniffer]

The crossing will improve with Fabio in the side but that doesn't mean Crouch's heading will improve. For a man of his height, his heading ability is very disappointing, to say the least.

[AnfieldCop]

Another player who can benefit with Fabio at LB can be Babel. Babel running at defenders with Fabio overlapping.

[Guest Sabre]

Yup, Fabio is a top player but he needs to play a string of 6 or 7 games to get into form and produce his best. Crouchy's problem is jumping too early.

[Stevie H]

he's a footballing left-back, a rare commodity. hope to f*** he can stay fit. not so sure crouchy's a factor though.

[realtarragona]

The whole side improves with him playing as he's such a good footballer. Plus instead of hoofs from the left, the strikers get quick balls into the feet, and Crouch can hold them up much better than he can if it was hit in the air.

[Red]

If Fabio has a good run and can start supplementing the few crosses coming from Pennant with good crosses of his own, then maybe Crouch will get the chance to use his cranium a lot more and hopefully, improve his technique.

 

Lot of "ifs, buts and maybe's" however and to be honest, I can't see it happening until we buy at least one winger who's better than both of them.

[Guest Kaizer]

The whole side improves with him playing as he's such a good footballer. Plus instead of hoofs from the left, the strikers get quick balls into the feet, and Crouch can hold them up much better than he can if it was hit in the air.

 

Hold them up or slowing down our play in midfield?

 

Thats the question, I would go for the latter.

[hideNseek]

Fabio is a gem of a player. Great to see a defender pick a pass out of defence for a change instead of just wellying it upfield.

 

Will Crouch get many games to gain his confidence?

 

The evidence so far says no.

 

Agger, Finnan, Arbeloa?

[Eskimo]

Don't know what this big obsession is with getting crosses in from out wide, somehow seems "old school".

[Will]

i will give fabio 4 games before he gets injured!

[Guest Lennon]

Agger, Finnan, Arbeloa?

 

You might have a case for Agger, though he generally looks to hit it long these days, albeit with a bit more finesse. Finnan has his moments, usually when the game is well won and we're in control, but under pressure he's is in the JC, Sami and Riise school for aimless punts.

[Frosty Jack]

Don't know what this big obsession is with getting crosses in from out wide, somehow seems "old school".

 

yeah, crossing is pointless

[£440,000]

yeah, crossing is pointless

 

Goals are a bit "old school" too. I just don't understand the obsession with them.

[Koogan]

Goals are a bit "old school" too. I just don't understand the obsession with them.

 

Metatarsals are the latest craze I hear. Breaking them.

[Gray - YPC]

Aurelio may well prove to be a very, very important player for the remainder of the season as for me he's our best bet in what is probably our weakest position (with the possible exception of left-wing whilst Kewell is out and Babel is finding his feet).

[Stevie H]

Finnan has his moments, usually when the game is well won and we're in control, but under pressure he's is in the JC, Sami and Riise school for aimless punts.

simply not true.

[Leo No.8]

Finnan has his moments, usually when the game is well won and we're in control, but under pressure he's is in the JC, Sami and Riise school for aimless punts.

 

Completely untrue, Finnan only plays it long if there's absolutely no other option available, and is one of the best crossers with either foot we have in the squad.

 

All the talk was of course of Torres but I thought SF was missed against Birmingham, as Arbeloa hardly got forward at all from full-back (he is capable of it) which is important when trying to break down a team defending deep like that.

 

Pennant could have been more productive with Finnan going on the occasional overlap.

[Jarg Armani]

someone picked the wrong forum to criticise finnan...

 

agree about aurelio, he's a class act and i hope for the lad's own sake he can stay fit. we'll struggle to play the ball creatively out of defence as long as hyypia plays though.

[Eskimo]

yeah, crossing is pointless

 

Never said it was, just don't understand the obsession.

 

I guess it depends on what your views are and what you expect from a wide player, personally I think its moved on from your typical "old school" winger, whether that good or not I don't know. Not saying its pointless by any means, although given the lack of bodies when we do get crosses in you sometimes wonder, I'd just like to see more variation from our wide players. The players that I would class as top quality are equally if not more dangerous when they drive into the box with the ball be it from deeper positions or from the byline. I'm thinking of the likes of Giggs, Pires, Overmars (sp) and currently Ronaldo arguably some of the best Prem wide players of recent years, do they stand out on the wing all day and punt in crosses? If they did would they have been half the player?

 

Torres' second goal against Reading, the one set up by Riise is a good example of what I'm talking about.

[honourablegeorge]

Think that's a fair point - and it's where Pennant falls down - there's little goal threat from him coming inside. Real quality out wide means a threat comign inside, the ability to go past a player on the outside, and a good cross or shot at the end of either option.