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RvP is a striker, and a strikers job is to score goals. As has said before, the players around him are giving him the goal scoring chances. I'm really pissed off with the media and also friends who keep saying we are a one man team. Did that happen when Ronaldo was the main player of Manure? No they didn't. They were praised as being a "good team".
No - but that's because he's woefully off form not because RVP is the only player with the potential to score goals in our team - and even then if Chamakh had been played regularly up front he'd have bagged a few - bendy managed to in the season before last. Walcott and Ashy would have scored a few too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc Overmars
Quite. Or when Torres was in his best years for 'pool.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edinburgh Gooner
Not just Ronaldo. More so when they had RvN who the media thought was the horses dogs bollocks, could do no wrong, etc. - I don't recall them doing the 'one man team' shit then.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edinburgh Gooner
Coney, I thought of Van Horseface at first, but Ronaldo was/is a machine. He is scoring for fun at Real, and at Manure he was scoring and creating. It seems that because it is Arsenal, the media are focusing on RvP's record. I think that if we had another striker (not one we have atm) they would be putting the chances away too. What I am getting at is, that the rest of the team are not getting the credit from the media that they deserve.Quote:
Originally Posted by Coney
Agreed - although I would say its a little early to be after 'credit'. A little less negative bias would do me ATM.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edinburgh Gooner
Sure - and I have a suspicion that when Ferguson sold RvN when he was still producing for them and showing no signs of slowing, it could have been a smart move to avoid the other players resenting the way the media gave him credit for everything when the vast majority of his goals were simple tap-ins after the likes of Ronaldo and Giggs had done all the hard work getting past defences and passing the ball onto his toe-cap 3 feet from the goal.Quote:
Originally Posted by Edinburgh Gooner
[Actually, the worst case of this I remember seeing was after an RvN goal drought of several matches, he was standing on the 6 yard line facing the goal and a 30 yard shot over his head from Forlan whizzed past, bounced off the cross bar so fast that before he could react at all, the ball hit his leg (which he had not moved - he was standing still not knowing what was happening) and the ball bounced off into the net. The commentator came in his pants and was ranting about how great it was that RvN was showing the return of his fantastic goal scoring talent, etc. No credit to Forlan for the shot that made it all happen. Mind you, what do we expect? Commentators and reporters get onto a mantra and just churn out the same shit week in year out until a new mantra is started and takes over for the next few years. The idea of letting facts get in the way never seems to occur to them.)
Our own players are banging on about how important it is to keep Robin fit. If RVP gets injured then we'll see if the team are still confident, but I think we will suffer without him. Attack wise, we're still not carving teams open like we used to. I don't think this some media conspiracy. Theo, Gervinho, Ramsey and Arteta need to start banging in more goals and getting more assists.
Perhaps we should do like Martin Keown says and sign Henry on loan for a few months as cover...
Can't really see what you are saying here mate. Of course our own players want to keep fit a striker who is probably on the hottest streak in top flight football ATM. Why wouldn't they? Does that mean that we are only doing well because of RVP's individual brilliance? Of course it doesn't. You talk about Theo; Gerv; Ramsey and Arteta gettig more assists. What do you think the fiirst 3 are doing right now - is RVP assisting himself? And Arteta has been positioned too deep to be expecting him to be getting shed loads of assists. As someone points out above, RVP's goals have not tended to be ones of individual brilliance. While he is brilliant, they have been the result of team play.Quote:
Originally Posted by Power_n_Glory
Like it or not - when you have a striker on white-hot form who is also club captain, players are going to be looking to get the ball to him - so he can do what he is put in the team to do. Noone's suggested a press 'conspiracy' - people are frustrated because a rapidly improving team performance is being dammned with faint praise by the implication that we are a one man team - when in fact the team is doing very well ATM at working to a plan for winning games - something that was lacking in the Cesc years - despite the greater incidence of goals from midfield.
I disagree that we are not carving teams open. We're not the invincibles, but I am seeing far more directness and movement that in the endless passing of a year ago. For all his profligacy in front of goal Gervinho seems to be able to get forward almost at will. Theo is rejeuvenated on the right and Ramsey and Santos are far more dynamic than many of our players were last season. We have to understand that teams are far harder to break down than a decade ago - its very telling that the high scoring games this season have generally come between the top teams - those lower down the league are far cagier and know how to defend in numbers. I'd say that our current system has been better against those teams parking the bus than in previous years.
Of course losing RVP would be a big loss - he wouldn't be doing his job if not. Maybe we are a striker light - and we won't get to see whether other players can step into the gap until RVP gets injured. But this 'traditional' method of relying on your striker to get goals is working for me.