Red_Ink_Squid
Global Moderator
We'll see ya there
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**Official** English Football Season 2024/25
- Thread starter Furball
- Start date
govinda indian fan
State Captain
Read on twitter real madrid want klopp to replace ancelotti. Wow that news to me. thought they would go to xabi alonso. @Skipper Pup mate wonder how our co fans would react if klopp takes over madrid 
govinda indian fan
State Captain
Backing palace to win. Dont want our rivals( city) to win anything this season
Molehill
Cricketer Of The Year
I have no idea why they keep selecting him, the Leeds choke is on again and he's a key reason why. Portsmouth have taken 4 points off Leeds this season entirely because of him. His efforts at the weekend were horrendous, he's a calamity waiting to happen.
Red_Ink_Squid
Global Moderator
My team is Villa rather than City, don't worry. Palace have had our number though so far this season (knocked us out the League Cup, beat us 4-1 in the league when we last played) so they'll fancy their chances.Backing palace to win. Dont want our rivals( city) to win anything this season
SeamUp
International Coach
Last night wasn't pretty but under the circumstances and at this stage of the season all that matters is getting that big W.
Only 10 goals conceded at the City Ground in 15 home games. Least in the league. Might not catch the eye but many successful teams have built their success on a sound defensive structure & I'm more than happy with it because our breaks and build up when we want to can also be exciting when you have players like Anderson, MGW, CHO and Elanga.
United played well until the final 3rd. I would be looking at that performance with a glass half full but they need to build on it.
Only 10 goals conceded at the City Ground in 15 home games. Least in the league. Might not catch the eye but many successful teams have built their success on a sound defensive structure & I'm more than happy with it because our breaks and build up when we want to can also be exciting when you have players like Anderson, MGW, CHO and Elanga.
United played well until the final 3rd. I would be looking at that performance with a glass half full but they need to build on it.
Molehill
Cricketer Of The Year
Slightly alarming for Utd that they looked most like scoring a goal when they put Maguire on up front.
SeamUp
International Coach
It's crazy how having target men or a striker who can score with his head seems to have gone out of fashion thanks to Barcelona and Pep. Or at least there are so few (we have one in Wood).
Molehill
Cricketer Of The Year
I think you could argue that Kane is a half decent target man, his ability to bring others into play is under-rated.
Portsmouth's season improved significantly when our own target man returned from injury, and he hasn't even scored that many goals.
Uppercut
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I would have said it went out of fashion for a while, but now it's been back for some time. The leading world strikers are Haaland, Kane, Lewandowski, then maybe someone like Isak. They're all excellent in the air. Real Madrid are playing Mbappe there, but now he's the one that feels like an outlier - all of the noise was that he felt out of position there and is having to adapt.
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
I think a lot of the "there aren't any target men" type perceptions are actually mistaken in the sense that these players are there, it's just that the role has changed.
A bit like Goalkeepers really. They still exist, it's just that they have to actually be good at football these days, rather than just being the big strong bloke who heads it and kicks people (e.g., Duncan Ferguson).
A bit like Goalkeepers really. They still exist, it's just that they have to actually be good at football these days, rather than just being the big strong bloke who heads it and kicks people (e.g., Duncan Ferguson).
SeamUp
International Coach
It's also to do with the style of play. Most wingers are inverted now (even with overlapping full-backs) and also game plans are preferred to not cross. So you rarely see teams looking to get wide and cross for 'target men' types.
I don't think it's a crazy perception but there is more different styles now and has been the less preferred option for a number years. I grew up watching 2 up front and the big man and little man and now there are false 9s or actually single strikers but they more into feet and movement types that aren't very good at scoring with their head. Of course there will be the class all-rounders like Harry Kane. Another throwback in the Euros last year as a target man was Nicolas Fullkrug. Pity about his injuries at West Ham this season.
I don't think it's a crazy perception but there is more different styles now and has been the less preferred option for a number years. I grew up watching 2 up front and the big man and little man and now there are false 9s or actually single strikers but they more into feet and movement types that aren't very good at scoring with their head. Of course there will be the class all-rounders like Harry Kane. Another throwback in the Euros last year as a target man was Nicolas Fullkrug. Pity about his injuries at West Ham this season.
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govinda indian fan
State Captain
United have been so bad since amriom took over that he makes ten hag look decent
Furball
Evil Scotsman
Pep signed Zlatan and had Lewandowski at Bayern.
Ronaldo has basically spent the last decade being a target man.
Henry at Arsenal (famously scored about 3 goals with his head) pre-dates Pep by more than half a decade.
Even just in an English context, none of Andy Cole, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Teddy Sheringham or Wayne Rooney could be described as target men.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
A lot of big target men (Duncan Ferguson being the perfect example) were actually comically bad goalscorers. I'm pretty sure if you asked most Premier League centre halves of his era, he'd be up there in the top 2 or 3 nightmare opponents purely because of the physical battle you'd have to go through for 90 minutes. I'm pretty sure he'd be nowhere near the consideration if the question was 'who were you afraid of as a match winner.'
sledger
Spanish_Vicente
I mean the reason why teams don't play with a big man/little man combo up top (often with two traditional wingers) systems is because set ups like that necessarily lead to very predictable and one dimensional (i.e., easy for good teams to defend against) styles of play.