Fowler...

[floyd the barber]

well he certainly looks in good shape, possibly the best shape hes been in since the 97-98 season....

 

Couldnt believe how skinny he looked..

 

Lets hope pako can work him on the training ground to get his fitness up so he can really make a difference for us in the coming months...

[Andyjandy]

Is this sarcastic?

 

Personally I thought he looked awful(physically), that said i'm certain he will be almost unrecognizable at the start of next season.

 

I can't wait.

[Guest Red Mist]

He looked fat. Get down to the gym, Robbie.

[stressederic]

Ok he wasn't exactly slimline, but he looked slimmer, certainly than at this point last season.

 

Back then he wouldn't have looked out of place with Goodyear written across his shirt, and you could only watch him on playercam with a widescreen TV

[Spike]

He may have looked fat but he's still no slower than our other forwards with Cisse being the exception

[floyd the barber]

cmon he looked alot slimmer than what ive seen him during his spells with man city and leeds.....of course he has alot of work to do,lets hope he stays free of injury and works hard on the training pitch.

[Andyjandy]

Then surely the thread subtitle should be "less fat than really fat"

[billybunter]

Just loved his last minute bicycle

 

Have missed his technique

[Spike]

Just loved his last minute bicycle

 

Have missed his technique

 

Agree about technique - he's a natural.

 

Posted this in the match thread when i got back:

 

Have to say that a not fully fit Fowler, one that's been through the wars still has something. Whereas the likes of Crouch and Moro play as part of the team system, and almost were signed for a defined function, just watching Robbies movement in comparison - more the anticipation, dragging players off and creating space, is something that we generally don't have too much of up front.

[Guest roger]

Clearly unfit from what I saw last night.

[floyd the barber]

Clearly unfit from what I saw last night.

 

yet still looked more dangerous than a fully fit morientes or cisse

[Guest roger]

yet still looked more dangerous than a fully fit morientes or cisse

 

I agree! Morientes was a bit clueless last night to be honest.

[_00_deathscar]

Honestly thought Morientes didn't have that bad a game.

[floyd the barber]

Honestly thought Morientes didn't have that bad a game.

 

 

agree he did have a decent game, yet he never looks like hes going to score.....his link up play is excellent, as is crouch....and having both in the same side doesnt work for me.

[aka Dus]

Think Robbie might end up playing a lot more than he or Rafa thought this season.

[cestrianred]

(Like most others) I watched Robbie close up for his 30 minute spell last night.

He is so much more intelligent than our other forwards in that he's constantly looking to find space, see where he can link, assess the pay around him & anticipate ahead-all the things we miss from a top finisher to date.

He ain't super fit but he isn't fat-but Pako can probably improve him beyond belief.

He WILL put away chances on the end of the link play from Stevie, Harry & Xabi without a doubt.

 

Robbie looks to shape the play up front & influence it-others (Cisse etc) wait for it to catch them.

[Guest snez1]

Morientes has been absaloutely class this season. We always seem a beter team when he's playing and he's exceptional in his link up play.

 

BUT he never looks like he's going to score. If he had a few more goals this season everyone would be sucking his c**k. Perhaps we can't and won't accomodate him for much longer due to his lack of goals but in nearly every other department i think e's bee very, very good this season.

 

He's had 2 poor games this week and still got 2 excellent asists to his name.

 

Must say though, Robbie's finish showed exactly what i hoped i'd see: He hasn't lost that finishing ability. Fantastic technique and i know that Nando Crouchie and Djib would all have failed to put that away. In a few more weeks when Pako's had his way with him and got him fit then he will start banging them in.

[Leo No.8]

I thought Robbie looked as chubby as he has for about the last 7 years.

 

Having said that though, his movement in the short time he was on absolutely put our other strikers to shame.

 

There were a few times (Rafa alluded to the same), when his movement was so good he made himself loads of space, but he didn't have the pace to capitalise.

 

If Rafa's team can work on him the way they have Kewell to get him an extra yard or two over the ground I believe he really could still be something like the Robbie of old...

[Jimi Rojo]

A typical moment was a Fowler run down the left channel, the defender followed and Kewell was able to continue his run right up to the edge of the box in the empty space created by Robbie.

It will be interesting to see what level of fitness Fowler can achieve now that he is fully motivated.

[gkmacca]

A typical moment was a Fowler run down the left channel, the defender followed and Kewell was able to continue his run right up to the edge of the box in the empty space created by Robbie.

It will be interesting to see what level of fitness Fowler can achieve now that he is fully motivated.

 

Yes, I agree. Robbie combined quite well with Kewell during his time at Leeds, so I hope that will develop again now. Great to see him back, even if all of these super-thin fans are appalled by his supposedly massive girth.

[Owen1978]

If he scores goals like that fat b*stard Micky Quinn did ive got no problem?

 

Fat people Rule!

[Rex Ham]

A typical moment was a Fowler run down the left channel, the defender followed and Kewell was able to continue his run right up to the edge of the box in the empty space created by Robbie.

It will be interesting to see what level of fitness Fowler can achieve now that he is fully motivated.

 

Fully motivated?

 

How do we know? From the press conference?

 

Can 7 years of apathy with the game be swept aside that easily?

 

I hope so, but surely only time will tell..

[Ramón Benítez Hernández]

 

 

Can 7 years of apathy with the game be swept aside that easily?

 

 

 

 

[Billy Dane]

Fully motivated?

 

How do we know? From the press conference?

 

Can 7 years of apathy with the game be swept aside that easily?

 

I hope so, but surely only time will tell..

 

 

You didn't see the game last night then?

[Ombudsam]

He's slimmer than he was when he scored against the mancs and that was only about 3 weeks ago.

 

I don't think rafa should let kewell and him have a break in the summer