MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Zip » 14 Dec 2020 17:02

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Snowflake Royal I'd be setting Ejaria a target of at least 15 goals and assists (total) this season based on his potential and experience.

The reason Olise is on set pieces is because he's good at them. And he got on them at 18. Don't buy an excuse of doesn't take set pieces... get good enough to be on them. Obviously got the talent that should be doable.


Ovie took the one against Sheff Weds for Joao's goal didnt he?

He also has taken a number of shots on goal from free kicks recently - none particularly successful


Yes he did and it was superb.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Vision » 15 Dec 2020 08:45

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Snowflake Royal I'd be setting Ejaria a target of at least 15 goals and assists (total) this season based on his potential and experience.

The reason Olise is on set pieces is because he's good at them. And he got on them at 18. Don't buy an excuse of doesn't take set pieces... get good enough to be on them. Obviously got the talent that should be doable.


Ovie took the one against Sheff Weds for Joao's goal didnt he?

He also has taken a number of shots on goal from free kicks recently - none particularly successful


Yes he did and it was superb.


Put a similar ball in for Morrison on Saturday too which he really should have converted as well as one right on Moore's head from a free kick (our regular routine) but he'd strayed offside.

He's no James Ward-Prowse but aside from those shots directly at goal * his set piece crossing has been pretty good. As so often It seems there's a weird double standard when it comes to Ejaria.

* Trying to remember the last free-kick directly at goal we had that was successful. I'm sure I'm forgetting an obvious one but I cant think of a recent one off the top of my head. Swift somewhere in the distant past maybe.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Hound » 15 Dec 2020 09:01

Swift definitely scored a few last year. He had a spell of constantly hitting the post / crossbar if I remember early in the season, but did seem to get worse over the course of the year

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Hound » 15 Dec 2020 09:03

Actually I lie - it was the season before he scored 3. Last one was vs Blackburn in the 4-3 defeat at the end of last year

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Zip » 15 Dec 2020 09:26

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Ovie took the one against Sheff Weds for Joao's goal didnt he?

He also has taken a number of shots on goal from free kicks recently - none particularly successful


Yes he did and it was superb.


Put a similar ball in for Morrison on Saturday too which he really should have converted as well as one right on Moore's head from a free kick (our regular routine) but he'd strayed offside.

He's no James Ward-Prowse but aside from those shots directly at goal * his set piece crossing has been pretty good. As so often It seems there's a weird double standard when it comes to Ejaria.

* Trying to remember the last free-kick directly at goal we had that was successful. I'm sure I'm forgetting an obvious one but I cant think of a recent one off the top of my head. Swift somewhere in the distant past maybe.


I do feel some posters are too critical of Ejaria. You mention the Morrison header on Saturday. It was a terrific ball in by Ejaria and you would have expected Morrison to head it home.
It’s been a good while since we scored direct from a free kick.
One thing that Ovie is really improving on is his physicality....Birmingham apart. On Saturday there were a number of times when he had a couple of players on him but used strength and skill to get away from them. He is having a good season.


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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by URZZZZ » 15 Dec 2020 09:53

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Yes he did and it was superb.


Put a similar ball in for Morrison on Saturday too which he really should have converted as well as one right on Moore's head from a free kick (our regular routine) but he'd strayed offside.

He's no James Ward-Prowse but aside from those shots directly at goal * his set piece crossing has been pretty good. As so often It seems there's a weird double standard when it comes to Ejaria.

* Trying to remember the last free-kick directly at goal we had that was successful. I'm sure I'm forgetting an obvious one but I cant think of a recent one off the top of my head. Swift somewhere in the distant past maybe.


I do feel some posters are too critical of Ejaria. You mention the Morrison header on Saturday. It was a terrific ball in by Ejaria and you would have expected Morrison to head it home.
It’s been a good while since we scored direct from a free kick.
One thing that Ovie is really improving on is his physicality....Birmingham apart. On Saturday there were a number of times when he had a couple of players on him but used strength and skill to get away from them. He is having a good season.


You saw it with Swift a couple of seasons ago

Players who play the sort of role/position of those two will be criticised more than the standard player because there’s a greater expectation on them

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by WestYorksRoyal » 15 Dec 2020 10:52

I see Prutton has predicted a 3-2 win for us. Do pundits keep track of injuries and form when making these predictions? Feel free to dig this up if I'm wrong, but there's no chance we're scoring 3.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by South Coast Royal » 15 Dec 2020 11:10

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Put a similar ball in for Morrison on Saturday too which he really should have converted as well as one right on Moore's head from a free kick (our regular routine) but he'd strayed offside.

He's no James Ward-Prowse but aside from those shots directly at goal * his set piece crossing has been pretty good. As so often It seems there's a weird double standard when it comes to Ejaria.

* Trying to remember the last free-kick directly at goal we had that was successful. I'm sure I'm forgetting an obvious one but I cant think of a recent one off the top of my head. Swift somewhere in the distant past maybe.


I do feel some posters are too critical of Ejaria. You mention the Morrison header on Saturday. It was a terrific ball in by Ejaria and you would have expected Morrison to head it home.
It’s been a good while since we scored direct from a free kick.
One thing that Ovie is really improving on is his physicality....Birmingham apart. On Saturday there were a number of times when he had a couple of players on him but used strength and skill to get away from them. He is having a good season.


You saw it with Swift a couple of seasons ago

Players who play the sort of role/position of those two will be criticised more than the standard player because there’s a greater expectation on them


Absolutely.
It is because they are in the game so much that mistakes are bound to happen, amongst all the good stuff,with both of these players looking to be creative.

It is a lot easier playing the mainly defensive roles like Laurent and Rino-they are generally facing play and just moving the ball on.
Talking of those two I would like to see both doing a bit more in bringing the ball out and there were signs of this in the past two games.

As for the Norwich game, my first ever Elm Park match was against them with the result being 4-4.
I would (presumably as would others) take that but am not expecting it. :wink:

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by muirinho » 15 Dec 2020 11:54

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I do feel some posters are too critical of Ejaria. You mention the Morrison header on Saturday. It was a terrific ball in by Ejaria and you would have expected Morrison to head it home.
It’s been a good while since we scored direct from a free kick.
One thing that Ovie is really improving on is his physicality....Birmingham apart. On Saturday there were a number of times when he had a couple of players on him but used strength and skill to get away from them. He is having a good season.


You saw it with Swift a couple of seasons ago

Players who play the sort of role/position of those two will be criticised more than the standard player because there’s a greater expectation on them


Absolutely.
It is because they are in the game so much that mistakes are bound to happen, amongst all the good stuff,with both of these players looking to be creative.

It is a lot easier playing the mainly defensive roles like Laurent and Rino-they are generally facing play and just moving the ball on.
Talking of those two I would like to see both doing a bit more in bringing the ball out and there were signs of this in the past two games.

As for the Norwich game, my first ever Elm Park match was against them with the result being 4-4.
I would (presumably as would others) take that but am not expecting it. :wink:


Well Mr Prutton of Sky has given us the nod for Norwich, so we're definitely doomed. Pretty obvious he didn't look at the injury list....
https://www.skysports.com/football/news ... redictions


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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Snowflake Royal » 15 Dec 2020 11:59

It's because they demonstrate talent that should deliver a higher level of end product but decision making leads to a disappointing level of end product.

Again take Meite, half the skill of Ejaria, similar age, similar experience, twice the end product.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by WTRoyal » 16 Dec 2020 00:55

WestYorksRoyal I see Prutton has predicted a 3-2 win for us. Do pundits keep track of injuries and form when making these predictions? Feel free to dig this up if I'm wrong, but there's no chance we're scoring 3.

Yup - the combination of that, us being at home, the injuries, and us being live on sky means we're deffo ffcked. It's a perfect storm. Almost worth a Judas bet. Clearly I'd love to be wrong and I'd like nothing better than to make a substantial meal of my words so I can have a couple of points when I watch the match in the pub...

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by SCIAG » 16 Dec 2020 08:21

Snowflake Royal Don't buy an excuse of doesn't take set pieces... get good enough to be on them. Obviously got the talent that should be doable.

Doesn’t particularly benefit the team.

A few years ago Liverpool signed Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam. They were three of the most creative players in the league, creating a large share of their teams’ chances. Surely this would make Liverpool a more creative side? Well, you already know what I’m going to say - they were all set piece takers, and Liverpool already had Steven Gerrard. Adam took his fair share, but Downing and Henderson did not. I think between them they set up one goal in the first half of the season. If we lost Olise and Swift then Ejaria would get more assists, but it wouldn’t benefit the team.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Hound » 16 Dec 2020 09:31

Can't see us winning tonight tbh, but with those results last night, 3 points would open up a nice little gap to Stoke and Bristol C


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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Whore Jackie » 16 Dec 2020 09:41

Anyone know for certain what time KO tonight is?

Just had the weekly email from the club stating 8pm.

This news story from 8 December says 7.45pm:
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2020/december/ticket-info-reading-vs-norwich-city/

Whereas this from 30 November says 8pm:
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2020/november/-two-more-games-picked-for-live-sky-broadcast/

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Snowflake Royal » 16 Dec 2020 10:18

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Snowflake Royal Don't buy an excuse of doesn't take set pieces... get good enough to be on them. Obviously got the talent that should be doable.

Doesn’t particularly benefit the team.

A few years ago Liverpool signed Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam. They were three of the most creative players in the league, creating a large share of their teams’ chances. Surely this would make Liverpool a more creative side? Well, you already know what I’m going to say - they were all set piece takers, and Liverpool already had Steven Gerrard. Adam took his fair share, but Downing and Henderson did not. I think between them they set up one goal in the first half of the season. If we lost Olise and Swift then Ejaria would get more assists, but it wouldn’t benefit the team.

The point being the best player takes the set pieces, so the he'd get more assists if he took set pieces argument doesn't wash with me.

The reason Olise gets the set pieces is he's better at them.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Royals and Racers » 16 Dec 2020 10:19

Whore Jackie Anyone know for certain what time KO tonight is?

Just had the weekly email from the club stating 8pm.

This news story from 8 December says 7.45pm:
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2020/december/ticket-info-reading-vs-norwich-city/

Whereas this from 30 November says 8pm:
https://www.readingfc.co.uk/news/2020/november/-two-more-games-picked-for-live-sky-broadcast/

8 pm

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by SCIAG » 16 Dec 2020 11:08

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Snowflake Royal Don't buy an excuse of doesn't take set pieces... get good enough to be on them. Obviously got the talent that should be doable.

Doesn’t particularly benefit the team.

A few years ago Liverpool signed Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam. They were three of the most creative players in the league, creating a large share of their teams’ chances. Surely this would make Liverpool a more creative side? Well, you already know what I’m going to say - they were all set piece takers, and Liverpool already had Steven Gerrard. Adam took his fair share, but Downing and Henderson did not. I think between them they set up one goal in the first half of the season. If we lost Olise and Swift then Ejaria would get more assists, but it wouldn’t benefit the team.

The point being the best player takes the set pieces, so the he'd get more assists if he took set pieces argument doesn't wash with me.

The reason Olise gets the set pieces is he's better at them.

That makes sense if you compare him to other players at the club, but it doesn’t make sense when you compare him to players who don’t have to compete with Michael Olise for set piece duties. Did Jordan Henderson get worse at creating chances when he joined Liverpool? Did Jobi McAnuff become worse at creating chances when we signed Ian Harte? Did Frank Lampard become worse at set pieces on England duty when he had to compete with Beckham, Gerrard, etc?

Players who are narrowly the best set piece taker at their club receive a big boost to their assist figures relative to players who are narrowly second best, even though the best taker at Club A might be worse than the third best taker at Club B. Even clubs with crap corner takers tend to score three or four goals from corners in a season.

Sure, set pieces are an area where Olise has an advantage over Ejaria. But oddly, there’s more to football than whether Ejaria or Olise is better at set pieces. If two players get the same number of assists but one of them plays in a team with a better set piece taker, which one has done the rest of the game?

Probably easier to talk about with penalties. Imagine if Michael Morrison was the best penalty taker in the world. In that scenario, Lucas Joao wouldn’t have scored as many goals this season. Would that make him a worse striker? Let’s say Joao scored 20 goals with no penalties, while another striker scored 23 including five penalties and finished as the league’s top scorer - would you say that the other striker was definitively the best in the league?

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Hound » 16 Dec 2020 11:11

dunno but after that last Joao pen, I'm up for giving Morro the next one

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Hendo » 16 Dec 2020 11:16

Hound dunno but after that last Joao pen, I'm up for giving Morro the next one


Think Olise would be a fair shout for penalty taker. Got a decent technique (obviously) and seems fairly calm and confident.

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Re: MATCHWATCH : Norwich City (h) sponsored by as tough as it gets

by Snowflake Royal » 16 Dec 2020 11:25

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SCIAG Doesn’t particularly benefit the team.

A few years ago Liverpool signed Stewart Downing, Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam. They were three of the most creative players in the league, creating a large share of their teams’ chances. Surely this would make Liverpool a more creative side? Well, you already know what I’m going to say - they were all set piece takers, and Liverpool already had Steven Gerrard. Adam took his fair share, but Downing and Henderson did not. I think between them they set up one goal in the first half of the season. If we lost Olise and Swift then Ejaria would get more assists, but it wouldn’t benefit the team.

The point being the best player takes the set pieces, so the he'd get more assists if he took set pieces argument doesn't wash with me.

The reason Olise gets the set pieces is he's better at them.

That makes sense if you compare him to other players at the club, but it doesn’t make sense when you compare him to players who don’t have to compete with Michael Olise for set piece duties. Did Jordan Henderson get worse at creating chances when he joined Liverpool? Did Jobi McAnuff become worse at creating chances when we signed Ian Harte? Did Frank Lampard become worse at set pieces on England duty when he had to compete with Beckham, Gerrard, etc?

Players who are narrowly the best set piece taker at their club receive a big boost to their assist figures relative to players who are narrowly second best, even though the best taker at Club A might be worse than the third best taker at Club B. Even clubs with crap corner takers tend to score three or four goals from corners in a season.

Sure, set pieces are an area where Olise has an advantage over Ejaria. But oddly, there’s more to football than whether Ejaria or Olise is better at set pieces. If two players get the same number of assists but one of them plays in a team with a better set piece taker, which one has done the rest of the game?

Probably easier to talk about with penalties. Imagine if Michael Morrison was the best penalty taker in the world. In that scenario, Lucas Joao wouldn’t have scored as many goals this season. Would that make him a worse striker? Let’s say Joao scored 20 goals with no penalties, while another striker scored 23 including five penalties and finished as the league’s top scorer - would you say that the other striker was definitively the best in the league?

Well, it was you who started talking about players at other clubs and I'm only interested about those here.

There's a whole lotta yak in there I'm not really thinking is relevant.

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