Zelalem And The Interpretation Of A Role

[onevision 1,592]

I think 26th of foot is bang on especially the need for Zelalem to work on his weight of pass until then he will continue to frustrate.

[the gunslinger 3,366]

What's the fancy name for a player that won't contest a header in modern football. Dress it up how you like he slows play down and we suffer for it. He's dropped a lot recently and only injuries and suspension see him return and when he does our goals dried up most recently. He's never trusted in the big games.

 

Each to his own I prefer footballers to musical equipment.

[Big Jaws 570]

Well written and thought out article with clearly defined terms and concepts. The sort of article that's right up my street especially with regard to the modern athletes and their geo/tactical roles on the field of play. I rate this kid as a player but I do feel he needs to improve a couple of areas of his game, isn't that why he's here anyway?

 

 

He needs to work on his weight of pass as you rightly point out and he also needs to work on his protecting the ball too. It wont always be the case where he can avoid the opposition trackers/tackles so needs to perfect a more resolute defense of the ball. In his case I think he should concentrate on his body position, rather than upper body strength although that too needs a little work (Rangers have put a bit on him up top since his signing so they must be working on it), and drawing the tackle especially when he has his back to the opposition. Even when he's got all that right though there have been times where he got no help from the officials. On one occasion last night he was facing the left back and went to take him on the outside on the wing he was shoulder challenged. Now I'm not criticising shoulder charges as they are a part of the game and it can be an interesting contest between two guys shoulder to shoulder however when that shoulder challenge starts at about elbow height extends up wards lifting the player into the air then I have to draw the line. No matter how slight either player is that's a rugby tackle and needs the referees intervention.

 

 

Other than that I think he is doing reasonably well and has looked fairly comfortable in the last couple of games with a burley/no nonsense type Dom Ball 'destroyer' beside him.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Big Jaws
Spelling and grammar

[Bruno55 0]

What's the fancy name for a player that won't contest a header in modern football. Dress it up how you like he slows play down and we suffer for it. He's dropped a lot recently and only injuries and suspension see him return and when he does our goals dried up most recently. He's never trusted in the big games.

 

Each to his own I prefer footballers to musical equipment.

 

The fancy name for a player who won't contest a header in modern football is "Lionel Messi" as for slowing games down and we suffer from it, how many games have we lost in this league campaign? ?? It's all about opinions but its the magic hats that counts and he's not doing too bad is he?....

[the gunslinger 3,366]

The fancy name for a player who won't contest a header in modern football is "Lionel Messi" as for slowing games down and we suffer from it, how many games have we lost in this league campaign? ?? It's all about opinions but its the magic hats that counts and he's not doing too bad is he?....

Messi scored a header v us and I've never once seen him shite out of contesting a header.

 

The magic hats view on the metronome seems to be in can't trust him in a big game. Or certainly that he should be benched for them all so far. That may change this weekend I suppose.

[Frankie 8,652]

Messi scored a header v us and I've never once seen him shite out of contesting a header.

 

The magic hats view on the metronome seems to be in can't trust him in a big game. Or certainly that he should be benched for them all so far. That may change this weekend I suppose.

 

He started against St Johnstone so the manager clearly uses him where he feels the tactical need - as clearly explained in the article.

 

To complain about Zelalem not winning headers is like saying Foderingham needs to score more goals. I've seen the lad pull out of one or two challenges and that's annoying but hopefully something he can work on. Last night showed he's clearly trying to work on moving the ball a bit faster so the development work is going on.

Edited February 3, 2016 by Frankie

[Bruno55 0]

Messi scored a header v us and I've never once seen him shite out of contesting a header.

 

The magic hats view on the metronome seems to be in can't trust him in a big game. Or certainly that he should be benched for them all so far. That may change this weekend I suppose.

 

Messi scored a header against us? Wow, you had to go away back to remember him scoring a headed goal? Lol. How many headed goals did Ray Wilkins, davy Cooper, Bobby Russell, Jim Baxter score? Need I go on?...

[Big Jaws 570]

I was just wondering to myself Rousseau if you had ever read anything relating to Boris Arkadyev or Yakushins time at Dynamo Moscow in particular the methods employed by the former and/or with regard to later peace-celebrating tour of the UK after World War II and how it was considered by the British media both before and after the tour. They played Rangers on that tour at Ibrox in front of 92,000 and there's also a Davie Meiklejohn piece in the Daily record archive that I found I think on microfilm in the Uni library many years ago (sorry no source).

 

 

To cut a long story short there are some parallels as Arkadyev would get the players to write critiques of each other after each game. There's not so much of a need for the written word these days when everything in and around Ibrox and Auchenhowie is filmed including the analysis and preparation stages. I believe from the Warburton interviews that this self critique is a common occurrence. The upshot is that players develop a better understanding of how each team member impacts the game, and with Warburtons emphasis on value to the squad, pitch geography, interchangeable forward lines, midfield etc etc etc this information can turn what is essentially decent players into an excellent and exciting team to watch play.

[Anchorman 0]

Cracking read. Specifically on the benefits of a 'metronome' (while I admit to disliking these types of terms as it is 'food and drink' for people pretending to know what they are talking about, thinking they sound like they do, by using the terms. Although, not in the case of the author).

What I would say is that while I am sold on the benefits of the role itself I'm not all that sold on Zelalem being able to do it all that well. I feel that he gives the ball away far more than people are saying on here. I also think his passing isn't nearly incisive enough (a few 'hospital' balls which stop the flow). Last night for example I actually thought he made a number of errors. He isn't very 'street-wise' to tackles coming his way. He can learn obviously but in his case there is a lot to learn.

He's maybe a victim of the young superstar 'hype' that came with him. I have seen nothing at all to justify that. The 'litmus test' for me is always 'if he was playing in a Falkirk jersey, for example, would I notice him as a player?' The answer in Gideon's case for me is unfortunately - No.

And before anyone says 'but he's a metronome so you wouldn't notice him' - Mikel Arteta passed my 'litmus test' with flying colours when he arrived. Similar age (Mikel just turned 20 the month he arrive) but Arteta had far more in his locker than Zelalem has. He played with a shoulders back\head up authority than Zelalem doesn't really have. He was also very 'cute' at riding tackles and making cluggers look stupid. He also knew how to strike a ball when required (this should be a fundamental requirement for a player. Although in saying that I remember Derek Ferguson had to work really hard on that element of his game as it let him down often)

I wish the lad well and I will continue to cheer him on, but I don't see that potential that others see unfortunately. Its just one mans opinion and I would love to be proved wrong.

[Frankie 8,652]

Cracking read. Specifically on the benefits of a 'metronome' (while I admit to disliking these types of terms as it is 'food and drink' for people pretending to know what they are talking about, thinking they sound like they do, by using the terms. Although, not in the case of the author).

What I would say is that while I am sold on the benefits of the role itself I'm not all that sold on Zelalem being able to do it all that well. I feel that he gives the ball away far more than people are saying on here. I also think his passing isn't nearly incisive enough (a few 'hospital' balls which stop the flow). Last night for example I actually thought he made a number of errors. He isn't very 'street-wise' to tackles coming his way. He can learn obviously but in his case there is a lot to learn.

He's maybe a victim of the young superstar 'hype' that came with him. I have seen nothing at all to justify that. The 'litmus test' for me is always 'if he was playing in a Falkirk jersey, for example, would I notice him as a player?' The answer in Gideon's case for me is unfortunately - No.

And before anyone says 'but he's a metronome so you wouldn't notice him' - Mikel Arteta passed my 'litmus test' with flying colours when he arrived. Similar age (Mikel just turned 20 the month he arrive) but Arteta had far more in his locker than Zelalem has. He played with a shoulders back\head up authority than Zelalem doesn't really have. He was also very 'cute' at riding tackles and making cluggers look stupid. He also knew how to strike a ball when required (this should be a fundamental requirement for a player. Although in saying that I remember Derek Ferguson had to work really hard on that element of his game as it let him down often)

I wish the lad well and I will continue to cheer him on, but I don't see that potential that others see unfortunately. Its just one mans opinion and I would love to be proved wrong.

 

Ah a point made constructively - we may disagree but posts like the above are so much more worthwhile than he didn't contest a header or passed the ball backwards once.