Thank feck he never signed for Blackburn.
Robert Lewandowski 2016/17 performances
- Thread starter Kostur
- Start date
-
Nik (@Rood) and Imran (@Annihilate Now!) discuss United's fantastic win away against Athletic Club in the semi-final of the Europa League.
They also pick out the positives of United's 4-3 loss away at Brentford, and Nik reviews a day out at Old Trafford watching Manchester United Women qualify for the Champions League.
He comes across as bit of a belled, but he's a fantastic box striker. Absolutely ruthless.
Poland have a talented group of players at the moment.
The most important of them is imho Napoli's Piotr Zieliński. An intelligent creative central midfielder, with excellent vision and passing ability is what the national team has been lacking since Kazimierz Deyna retirement.
My favourite striker. He is just perfect in everything he does.
Absolutely. I was very impressed by him last season. Hopefully Kaputska gets back on track next season.
I'm Zieliński's biggest fan. First time in my life I see a Polish national with such a technique, first touch, vision. I think he'll be brilliant, always seemed to me like someone who'd fit perfectly in Barca's midfield three.
He's very intelligent on the pitch but not so much out of it though - apart from few rather stupid posts in social media back in the teenage days, you probably remember he was heavily linked with Liverpool - deal apparently collapsed after he posed with LFC shirt (convinced by Polish journalists) before the transfer was announced, causing Udinese to significantly raise the demanded price
He was of the top targets of Klopp.
Maybe it's a good sign. I compared him to Deyna and hope he might be a similar sort of a player and legend. And Deyna, a very intelligent footballer was, as far as I know, also not so much intelligent out of the pitch and couldn't put words together.
Another failed tapping-up scandal by Liverpool?I'm Zieliński's biggest fan. First time in my life I see a Polish national with such a technique, first touch, vision. I think he'll be brilliant, always seemed to me like someone who'd fit perfectly in Barca's midfield three.
He's very intelligent on the pitch but not so much out of it though - apart from few rather stupid posts in social media back in the teenage days, you probably remember he was heavily linked with Liverpool - deal apparently collapsed after he posed with LFC shirt (convinced by Polish journalists) before the transfer was announced, causing Udinese to significantly raise the demanded price
Best team since 1974?
Probably. If they had Kuba and Piszczek from 2012 to go with the others, they'd be a good outside bet for a tournament.
Well, in WC 1982 Poland got the 3rd place, so I'd rather say since 1982. But that 1982 team had some 1974 veterans and Boniek. Not too much potential for the future (1986 was a disappointment and next decades a huge downfall).
Guess the injuries have taken its tool on him.
Liverpool being cheapskates is what fecked up the deal. Napoli got him for €16M iircAnother failed tapping-up scandal by Liverpool?
Did you Lewandowski was close to join Parma before Dortmund signed him?
After yesterday's hattrick, with 50 goals Lewandowski is all time top scorer of Polish national team. Until yesterday, Włodzimierz Lubański was a top scorer with 48 goals.
16 goals in 14 games this season. Although 5 of them were pens, but it's still ridiculous (especially his goalscoring exploits for Poland). Best #9 in the world.
I don't get why people rate penalties worse than a normal goal. You still have to score them and as United fans we've had or fair share of missed/saved penalties that have cost us points.
Also, Lewandowski is probably the best penalty taker in the world. Great skill to have.
It's not even just that, I don't know how it works for him at Bayern nowadays but if he's got a free-kick around ~20th yard, it's a guaranteed goal. Last 3-4 free kicks that I recall from our NT that he took ended up in the net. He's fecking ridiculous.
For some reason I still liked him more at Dortmund.
Seriously? Surely that’s obvious?
Because you get a free shot on goal from 12 yards with as much time to place it as you like.
With that logic tap ins are easier than penalties. Does that mean the bulk of Lukaku's goals are worth less than a goal scorer further out?
A goal is a goal and they still have to be put away regardless of how the shot comes about.
Penalties can be just as difficult if not more so than goals in regular play. The extra time can breed doubt and worry. Not to add the pressure is more intense as all eyes are on you and you're expected to put it in the back of the net.
Tap in still requires player to make movement and position himself in right position.
Penalty is a free shot at goal with out any defenders between Gk and the ball. It's still a goal and needs skill but it's obvious why people specifically mention penalty goals.
Because it's easier to score a penalty than from an open play? Unless he earned that pen himself. We shouldn't discount them, but they are definitely less valuable when we're assessing performance level.
I can't believe this needs to be pointed out to someone on a football forum.
It is strange how many strikers never take set pieces earlier in their career, despite obviously being accurate and clinical from open play and then suddenly develop another weapon in their armory. Drogba was similar, suddenly becoming deadly from dead ball situations later in his career.
I'm glad someone like Rashford has gone down that route for us.
Yeah, no idea if it's down to complacency or some other factor we're not aware of but it's weird.
Meh, then again, a tap in at 2/3-0 and a penalty at 1-1, stats obviously don't tell the whole story.
It's not as simple as that though, is it? We dismiss all penalties, regardless of whether the player won it or contributed to it with his movement. We don't dismiss any goal from open play, regardless of whether it was a tap in, a free header, or a free shot on goal from the penalty spot. Why can't we just look at penalties as just a shot from the penalty spot, against the keeper? That happens from open play all the time. Especially when talking about strikers. Often the player would've scored a "normal" goal if he wasn't brought down for the penalty. It's a bit unfair to disregard it then.
@Trizy I'm on your side.
Because defenders aren't allowed to interfere with your penalty?
In other situations they don't interfere either. A goal is a goal for me.
Also, the keeper has more chance to save a penalty than many shots from open play.
It's just not as one-sided as people are making it out to be, certainly not enough to put all penalty goals in a separate category, below all other goals. It's just stupid imo.
That's not the point. The point is that they are allowed and trying to prevent a goal. Every free header, tap in, etc, comes after a passage of play featuring the opposition doing their utmost to prevent a goal.
A penalty is a free shot from 12 yards with no interference.
How do you rate his performances for Poland? Stats can be misleading.
Carrying us at times. For the last 2-3 years he has been simply immense. There's a lot of talk of who's the best Polish ever (Boniek, Lato, Deyna, etc.), for me, it's Lewy. Before the period mentioned at the start of my post, he was always the hard working guy but not really scoring which was always held against him. Now he's doing both, working his ass off and scoring goals for fun at times.
But most penalties also come from a passage of play featuring the opposition doing their utmost to prevent a goal. You just delay the final shot. A striker might do just as much work in two situations but if he's not brought down and scores he gets more credit than if he's brought down and then scores.
I think this warrants a separate thread but I'm busy now. Maybe later.
is it not only recently he developed into a good free kick taker? All those years at BVB and early ones at Bayern I never saw him take one.
Yup, give or take 1-2 years, that's what's really impressive about it really.
You don't delay the final shot. The final shot is awarded from a central position, 12 yards out and the defenders are not allowed to interfere.
Might be worth starting a thread on this rather than continuing to derail this one.
Cheers. High praise.