posted Apr 2, 2007

Oh the irony! It wasn't long ago Crouch was booed by the England 'fans.' And when we played poorly against Macedonia and Croatia he was slated as not being mobile enough.

There is a lovely line in inconsistency that England fans love to use. It is one which hankers after former players. For example, Scholes and Beckham nevermind that Scholes was slammed for not scoring for three years for England and Beckham was seen as Eriksson's main 'untouchable.' But according to most England fans 'if we played Beckham and Scholes we would be topping the group' blah blah blah. Now it's Crouch's turn...until the 'fans' decide to blame him when we next struggle in a game.

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posted Apr 2, 2007

See, its when you read comments like this by champion1 you realise Crouch won't get the respect he deserves until he retires:

"...and he can score only when served on a platter and the rare great one."

Please, champion1, barring Matt LeTissier and Henry, please furnish me with your comprehensive list of goals by a striker which weren't served on a platter or the odd rare one.

Rooney's goal v Portsmouth in the FA cup...a good 2 weeks of hype about it...

Crouch's goal vs Villa? No-where near the hype, although this is about as good a team goal (with a 25yard finish) as you will ever see.

I don't know if he's England's best but there aren't 3-4 better, so he deserves his place in the squad. Plus, he's unique. No-one else like him in the World, never mind the Premiership.

And as for the guy who compared his temperant to Rooney's...If Rooney had the number of foulds unjustly given the defender's way that Crouch does he would be sent of every other game.

If he were 4 inches shorter and looked more like Gerrard, say, no one would even question his skills...just fret about it when he's injured.

Look at what he does, not what he looks like.

As a final point, you gotta love him for his self aware wit too...saying he 'looks a million dollars' in his post match interview was pure class. He's an absolute gem, and I want to see him at Liverpool for the rest of his career.

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posted Apr 2, 2007

So if LFC had RVN or Drogba, they'd be challenging for the league?

I notice you didn't choose an English striker, say Rooney, or Defoe, or Bent, etc.

Why is that?

Because they're not that good!

Crouch: he scores for club AND country.

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posted Apr 3, 2007

I think we can all agree at the very least Crouch should be a starter for England.

Perhaps hes not the first person on the team sheet ofr everyone, but if we want goals, hes the undoubted man to get them

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posted Apr 3, 2007

Crouch has proven for England, and in the Champions League, that he scores goals. In the league his count is low because he doesn't start every game, nor does he take PKs. I can't think of an English striker who has scored more consistently in the past two years or so.

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posted Apr 3, 2007

I’m Arsenal, gotta say well done to Pool. I was expecting better from us after our defeat at the hands of the Toffees, but I suppose 4 times in one season was too much to expect!

We played poorly, but we’re also unlucky not to convert the few genuine chances we created (a wonder save from Reina and shot deflected off the post from Adebayor), but ultimately Pool deserved their win. We were lacklustre and played with no ambition. I think the fact that out season is “over” has definitely affected the team psychologically; we looked to be playing on “autopilot” on the weekend.

Re. Crouch, I think the vitriol he attracts has always been unwarranted, and the abject lack of football knowledge by many people who comment both for and against him is abysmal.

1. He is gangly and too clumsy on the ball. This is an opinion borne out from his physical appearance rather than fact. His hold up play is one of his attributes and he is far better on the ball then people give him credit for. He has got good feet and a reasonable shot on him.
2. He can play as a ‘traditional’ target man and provide an aerial threat. Again an opinion formed due to his appearance and one that is wrong, wrong, wrong. Heading has never been one of Crouches strong points (in fact he is reasonably poor at it), nor is winning balls in the air. He plays better with the ball played to his feet. If managers / players decide to use him as a long ball target, that is because they are inept. He isn’t a target man, or a ‘fox-in-the-box’ poacher.
3. He hasn’t got the right build. Admittedly he looks like he would blow away in a strong breeze, but as said in point one, he actually holds the ball up well against strong challenges, and holds his own in the box. He certainly goes to ground less then Heskey did, and look at the difference in build between the two players.
4. He’ll only score against ‘weak’ opposition. He can only score against what’s in front of him. Other strikers / forwards have failed to score against ‘weak’ teams as well.

Personally I don’t think he is a great player (merely a ‘good’ player – still that’s no bad thing), and definitely not world class, but I do think he can play a significant role in the England set up. However, that may be an indication of the paucity of quality English strikers rather than an endorsement for Crouch! I rate him above Johnson, but think that if Defoe was given a decent run out for the Spuds and for England he would prove the better player while Bent hasn’t been given enough of a chance to bare comparison.

With Rooney misfiring, Owen remains our most potent goal threat, but obviously injuries are curtailing his progress for England. With all this in mind to not consider Crouch or to completely lambaste him is ridiculous – though at the same time I do recognise that the need for his inclusion in the squad is more indicative of the malaise in our game rather than the fact that he possesses truly world-class talents. One point to remember is that team selection should be based on who can contribute a worthy contribution to the TEAM, not just on selecting the best group of talented individuals.

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posted Apr 3, 2007

Swlabr - Kevin Davis on the outside left??? Oh well, now I have really heard it all. Puh-leeze!

Never mentioned anything about Davis at outside left.

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posted Apr 4, 2007

crouch might have gotten the goals alright, but my real star of last saturday's show at anfield was gonzalez. that is not to say that i'm forgetting that arsenal's consolation came from the right.

overally, the reds deserved to take home the game since their approach was purposeful - you could see with their body language that they were itching for revenge against my gunners (no, they are not goners). arsenal for all their possession had nothing to show at the end of the day, and this was mainly because of gilberto's absence. fabregas was missing the brazilian. denilson tried to pull some strings, but what can a rookie do against gerrard and co. besides, the defence was not at its resolute best; in fact every thing was so un-arsenal like on saturday. till when do we have to rely on hery to suply the goals?

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posted Apr 4, 2007

yes old father, but like redconn says, who's gonna supply the balls. peter is good, but he waits inthe box. england will need two beckhams if peter is to start for the team. comment by jerechikambure

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posted Apr 4, 2007

1. comments by DRUMnBASS-HEAD

2.JereChikambure - yes - it wasnt that long ago we were rejoicing that we had 2 young fast wingers, one naturally left footed, joining the england ranks - now it appears all that fuss was over nothing - neither can keep enough form to cross consistently well, one becomes completely spinless at even a hint of pressure whilst the other run doesnt seem to have the balls to run at defenders.

Shame really. Im wondering of England has actually produced a a good set of atacking players that work together since the world cup?

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